Barbara Dickson OBE | |
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.jpg) Dickson in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Barbara Ruth Dickson |
| Born | (1947-09-27)27 September 1947 (age 77) Dunfermline, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, actress, presenter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Labels | RSO,Epic,VoiceprintGreentrax,Transatlantic |
| Website | www |
Barbara Ruth DicksonOBE (born 27 September 1947)[1] is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" (a chart-topping duet with Elaine Paige), "Answer Me" and "January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on theUK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a number of hit singles, including four which reached the top 20 on theUK Singles Chart.[2]The Scotsman newspaper has described her as Scotland's best-selling female singer in terms of the numbers of hit chart singles and albums she has achieved in the UK since 1976.[3]
She is also a two-timeOlivier Award-winning actress,[4] with roles includingViv Nicholson in the musicalSpend Spend Spend, and was the original Mrs. Johnstone inWilly Russell's long-running musicalBlood Brothers.[5] On television she starred as Anita Braithwaite inBand of Gold.
Dickson was born in Dunfermline[1] and went toWoodmill High School. She spent her early childhood inRosyth before her family moved to Dunfermline in the 1950s. Her father was a cook on a tugboat atRosyth Dockyard and her mother was fromLiverpool. She went to Pitcorthie Primary School when she moved to Dunfermline.
Dickson's singing career started in folk clubs around her nativeFife in 1964. Her first commercialrecording was in 1968. Her early work included albums withArchie Fisher, the first of which,The Fate O' Charlie, a collection of songs from theJacobite rebellions, was released in 1969. Her first solo album wasDo Right Woman in 1970.
She became a well-known face on the British folk circuit of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but changed her career course after meetingWilly Russell. He was at that time a young student running a folk club inLiverpool. He showed Dickson the first draft of what later became the award-winning musicalJohn, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert and asked her to perform the music. The combination of his writing, the cast (includingAntony Sher,Bernard Hill andTrevor Eve, who were unknown at the time) and Dickson's idiosyncratic interpretation ofBeatles songs made the show highly successful.[6]
The show's co-producer,Robert Stigwood, signed Dickson to his record label,RSO Records, for whom she recorded the albumAnswer Me, arranged and produced byJunior Campbell, the title track becoming atop 10hit in 1976.John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert also led to her guest residency onThe Two Ronnies, which brought Dickson's singing to the attention of more than ten millionBBC Television viewers every week.[7]
Andrew Lloyd Webber andTim Rice also spotted Dickson inJohn, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert, and invited her to record "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from their new musicalEvita, which became her second hit in 1977. She contributed two tracks toScouse the Mouse a children's album (1977) withRingo Starr and others. During the late 1970s, Dickson also contributed backing vocals to two best-selling albums by the Scottish singer-songwriterGerry Rafferty:City to City (1978) andNight Owl (1979). Other solo hits, including "Caravan Song" and "January February", followed for Dickson in 1980.[8]
An abridged version of the song "Best of Friends", sung by Dickson, was used as the closing theme forAndy Robson, anITV children's television series broadcast during 1982 and 1983. It was never released commercially until 2021 when the full version featured on the Special Edition release of Dickson's albumHeartbeats.[citation needed]
In 1982, Willy Russell invited Dickson to star in his new musicalBlood Brothers in the pivotal role of the mother, Mrs Johnstone. Although at first reluctant to accept, having never acted before, she accepted, and garnered critical acclaim, as well as theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1983. She has reprised the role many times, including in 2004 at theLiverpool Empire Theatre.
In 1984, Tim Rice approached Dickson to take part in the recording of theconcept album for the musicalChess in the role of Svetlana. Dickson's songs on the album include "I Know Him So Well", a duet sung withElaine Paige. The song was a worldwide hit, and remained at number one on theUK Singles Chart for four weeks.[2] According toGuinness World Records, it remains the best-selling female duet.[9]
Starting in 1983, Dickson and her backing band began appearing in musical interludes for the BBC Scotland comedy showScotch and Wry. In 1984, Dickson starred in her own television special for BBC2, in which she travelled around Scotland.[10]
During the 1990s, Dickson appeared in various television dramas, includingTaggart,Band of Gold andThe Missing Postman. The writer and director Chris Bond created a stage show for Dickson in 1996 calledThe Seven Ages of Woman, which won her theLiverpool Echo Actress of the Year Award. It premiered at theLiverpool Playhouse and toured extensively in 1997 and 1998.
She was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 1998, when she was surprised byMichael Aspel at theGroucho Club in London.[citation needed]
In 1999, Dickson starred inSpend Spend Spend, a new musical bySteve Brown and Justin Greene. The show, based on the rollercoaster life story of pools winner,Viv Nicholson, played in theWest End to capacity audiences. For her portrayal of Nicholson, Dickson was awarded Best Actress in a Musical at the 2000Laurence Olivier Awards. Dickson went on to star in the UK tour of the show.
Further theatre work followed inFriends Like This, the Heather Brothers musicalA Slice of Saturday Night andFame. During 2006, Dickson appeared as the Timekeeper inAlan Ayckbourn andDenis King's fantasy musical playWhenever forBBC Radio 4. She returned to television in the BBC daytime drama seriesDoctors with her episode, "Mama Sings The Blues", being broadcast in March 2008.[citation needed]
In 2003, Dickson worked with Russell again, providing backing vocals for his albumHoovering the Moon. In 2004,The Platinum Collection, featuring some of her most successful recordings, reached number 35 in the UK Albums Chart.[2] Her 2004 album,Full Circle, was produced and arranged byTroy Donockley, and saw Dickson returning to her folk roots. In 2006, she issued a collection of the songs ofLennon, McCartney and Harrison,Nothing's Gonna Change My World.[11]
Dickson's twenty-fourth studio album,Time and Tide, was released in January 2008, featuring a mix of contemporary and folk songs, including "Palm Sunday", which marked Dickson's return to songwriting after a break of almost twenty years. A live DVD,Into the Light, was released to coincide with the release ofTime and Tide, and included, as well as some of her best-loved hits, several tracks from her new album. A double live CD,Barbara Dickson in Concert, was released in April 2009, and was followed later in the year by her autobiography,A Shirt Box Full of Songs.
Between February and March 2011, Dickson undertook a tour of the UK and Ireland to promote her new studio album,Words Unspoken. Arranged and produced by Troy Donockley, the album included tracks such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Jamie Raeburn" and "The Trees They Do Grow High".[12]
A tribute album to her friendGerry Rafferty –To Each And Everyone – The Songs of Gerry Rafferty – was released in September 2013, and her album,Winter, a collection of seasonal favourites, was released in time for Christmas 2014.[13]
2018'sThrough Line was followed byTime Is Going Faster, Dickson's 25th studio album, which spent three months in the Official Folk Album Chart and received widespread acclaim, particularly for her own compositions. The single, "Where Shadows Meet The Light", marked her first single release since 1995's "Love Hurts". A completely revised and updated paperback edition of Dickson's autobiography,A Shirt Box Full of Songs, was released to tie-in with the new album, together with an audiobook and Kindle edition.
Her first online show,Barbara Dickson: Ballads And Blether, streamed on 20 March 2021 with a limited-edition DVD and CD of the evening available through her official website. The same year, she presented a series of podcasts,Answer Me Ten... With Barbara Dickson, in which she interviewed several well-known female singers, includingPetula Clark,Toyah,Kiki Dee,Kim Wilde andEddi Reader.[citation needed]
Between March and April 2022, Dickson and her band toured the UK in support of the albumTime Is Going Faster.[14]
In March 2022, Dickson starred inBBC Radio 4'sThe Road and the Miles to Dundee, written byVal McDermid and directed by Turan Ali.[15]
In 1984, Dickson married former actor Oliver Cookson,[16] who went on to work as an Assistant Director in television for the BBC,[17] and has three sons. As of 2015, she and her family had lived inEdinburgh for a number of years.[18][19] She was awarded anOBE in theQueen'sNew Year Honours in 2002 for her services to Music and Drama.[18]
Interviewed forFern Britton Meets in 2017, Dickson discussed her conversion to Catholicism while living inRichmond during her 30s, and the crisis that she had suffered while appearing in Willy Russell'sBlood Brothers 2004 Liverpool stage production. It resulted in Dickson taking a four-week break from her starring role; once she had sufficiently recuperated, Dickson moved to London'sWest End, when theBlood Brothers Liverpool run transferred there. She said that her personal crisis led to many years ofstage fright and she withdrew from public performing until therapy helped to work through her anxieties.[16][20][21]
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