Recently, John Potter asked to let him have a list of the singers I’ve worked with over the years, a list that became bigger and bigger as I looked back. Here it is – with some caveats towards the end…
GB work with singers
Ronnie Dukes and Ricky Lee
Val Doonican
David Whitfield
Dusty Springfield
Alma Cogan
Kathy Kirby
Dickie Valentine
Des O’Connor
Roy Castle
Sid and Eddie (later known as Little and Large)
Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
Vera Lynn
Ronnie Hilton
Donald McIntyre
Hildegard Behrens
Yvonne Kenny
Wilhelmina Fernandez
François Le Roux
Adelaide Hall
Hilliard Ensemble (and separately, John Potter, David James, Gordon Jones)
Sarah Leonard
Lucy Skeeping
Valdine Anderson
Melanie Pappenheim
Anna Maria Friman (and separately, Trio Mediaeval)
Tom Waits
Mac Cocker (Jarvis’s father)
Jarvis Cocker
Father John Misty
Wesley Stace
Red Byrd
Orlando Consort
Singer Pur
Vox Altera
The Song Company
Eivør Pálsdottír
Runi Brattaberg
Holly Cole
Jessica Walker
Iarla O’Lionaird
Natalie Merchant
Gavin Friday
Bertrand Belin
Claron McFadden
Peyee Chen
Chris O’Gorman
Orlanda Bryars
James Cave
Hans Otto Weiss
Anja-Nina Bahrmann
Maarten Engeltjes
Anna Fraser
Alex Knight
(additional groups)
Latvian Radio Choir
Estonian National Men’s Choir
The Crossing
Les Elements
Swedish Radio Choir
(although these were in an educational context – workshops in the music department that I ran at Scraptoft – I add them anyway. I played bass in voice/bass duos)
Karin Krog
Sheila Jordan
(I count these, but you might not)
In 1990, I recorded The Sinking of the Titanic for Crepuscule in the Chateau d’Eaux at the Printemps de Bourges Festival. Michel Duval, who ran the record company, invited me to be
musical director for performances with, separately Tiny Tim and Yma Sumac. Although these were eventually cancelled, I did have a long exchange of faxes with Tiny Tim’s management on many matters and he said that “Mr Tiny is thrilled to be working with Mr Bryars…”
Sadly, those were the days of faxes that came through on a thermal paper roll, which deteriorated rapidly and became unreadable after a short time… But I do still have the 1968 magazine that I was given on joining Tiny Tim’s fan club…
Afterthought
Although I didn’t actually play with Lulu, she did appear with her band when I worked at Greasborough in the mid-60s and we spoke several times. That was when she uttered the memorable words about me ”listen to him, he’s intelligent…”
There are quite a few singers who I worked with at Greasborough who I haven’t mentioned as they might not mean anything to anyone now but who were stars on that circuit: Julian George (who memorably combined The Lord’s Prayer with the song “I Believe”), Susan Lane (repertoire from Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy films), Barry Parkinson (“Barnsley’s own Sammy Davis Junior)…