Eve Graham

Eve Graham
Birth name Evelyn May Beatson
Born (1943-04-19) 19 April 1943
Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, UK[1]
Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1963-2000
Associated acts The New Seekers

Eve Graham (born Evelyn May Beatson; 19 April 1943) is a Scottish singer who found fame in the early 1970s with the pop group, The New Seekers.

Biography

Graham began her career during the 1960s as a band singer with the Cyclones in Scotland and later with the Cyril Stapleton Band, based in London England. She joined The Track in the mid-sixties and was a founder member of The Nocturnes, originally alongside Sandra Stevens (later of Brotherhood of Man) and then Lyn Paul (her future colleague in The New Seekers), recording for UK Columbia Records between 1967-69.[2]

In 1969 she joined songwriter Roger Cooke for a single release, again on Columbia, called 'Smiling Through My Tears' shortly before becoming a founder member of The New Seekers in 1969 and was lead singer on the majority of their early hits, including the world wide Number One hit - "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". Other songs that featured Graham as lead vocalist included the US and Canadian smash "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma", the British Top 5 hit "Circles", the Japanese No.1 "The Greatest Song I've Ever Heard" and the ecologically conscious Roger Cook-Roger Greenaway composition "We've Got To Do It Now".

Graham's three-octave range was showcased on several songs, most notably the British and European smash hit "Never Ending Song of Love", in which she reached D6. Though mainly a vocalist, she played acoustic guitar on stage in the Chuck Berry-influenced skiffle number "Good Old-Fashioned Music" and kazoo in the comic song "(Ever Since You Told Me That You Loved Me) I'm A Nut".

In 1974 the group disbanded and Graham moved onto solo cabaret work, but rejoined a reconstituted New Seekers in 1976 and sang lead on their hits "It's So Nice To Have You Home" and "I Wanna Go Back". In 1978 she left once more, and again performed as a solo singer, as well as marrying another ex-New Seeker Kevin Finn (known professionally as Danny Finn) on 1 June 1979. They toured as a duo for many years and released one single Ocean and Blue Sky.

Graham retired in 2000 after a last charity performance, and originally said that she could not envisage being tempted out of retirement. In 2005 former New Seekers record producer David Mackay produced a new album with her - The Mountains Welcome Me Home. It was released as a CD and DVD, and contains Scottish traditionals and new recordings of old New Seekers songs. A Christmas themed album, "Til The Season Comes Round Again", followed in 2006.

In 2008, she told The Independent newspaper that after the band broke up she found work fitting bras, in a branch of Debenhams department store in Essex. She lived in Crieff, Perthshire with her husband Kevin, who worked for a kitchen and bathroom design company. Kevin died on 22 February 2016 after a short illness. Graham told The Independent that owing to contractual problems she has not received any royalties since 1973.[3]

Discography (excluding The New Seekers)

References

  1. ↑ Samantha Booth (12 March 2011). "New Seekers star Eve Graham looks back 40 years after their greatest hit". dailyrecord. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Eve Graham and colleagues in The Track/The Nocturnes, thenewseekers.com; accessed 25 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Christie's Music News, themusic.com.au; accessed 25 April 2015.
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