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Bridget St John

An English folk singer-songwriter from East Molesey, Surrey, whose music John Peel's Dandelion label was formed to release, and whose cello-like voice and sparse guitar made Ask Me No Questions in 1969.

Origin
East Molesey, Surrey, England
Years active
1968-1976, 1999-present
Genres
folk, folk rock
Labels
Dandelion, Chrysalis
Also known as
Bridget Anne Hobbs

Sheffield to John Peel

Bridget Anne Hobbs was born on October 4, 1946 in East Molesey, Surrey, into a musical household; her mother and sisters were accomplished pianists, she gave up piano at 11 and studied viola and trumpet, and she bought a guitar for 20 pounds, a gift from her grandmother, before finishing school. She first performed at Sheffield University in 1964-65 and played her first proper gig at a pub in Rotherham. In 1967 she spent three months in Aix-en-Provence, where she met the American singer-songwriter Robin Frederick.

In 1968 she returned to London with Frederick and met John Martyn. The poet Pete Roche introduced her to John Peel for his Night Ride show, and Al Stewart recorded her first Peel sessions on his ReVox. In 1969 four songs appeared on the compilation John Peel Presents Top Gear, and Peel and Clive Selwood formed the Dandelion label initially to release her music. Peel called her the best lady singer-songwriter in the country.

Dandelion, Chrysalis and New York

Ask Me No Questions (1969) was produced by Peel and recorded in nine to ten hours, with most songs written while she was a student in Sheffield. Songs for the Gentle Man (1971) was produced by Ron Geesin, who arranged most of the strings, and Thank You For... (1972) was the last for Dandelion, which folded for lack of commercial success. In 1970 she sang a duet with Kevin Ayers, "The Oyster and the Flying Fish", on Shooting at the Moon. Jumblequeen (1974) was on Chrysalis, and she came fifth in Melody Maker's readers' poll for female singers that year. She sang on Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn and Amarok.

In 1976 she moved to Greenwich Village in New York and was out of public view for more than twenty years. She returned with Take the 5ifth in 1996 and played a Nick Drake tribute concert in New York in 1999. She reunited with Ayers on "Baby Come Home" in 2007, recorded with Michael Chapman in 2016 and sang on Will Sheff's "Tommy McHugh" in 2023. Her 2016 show at the Schoolhouse in Brooklyn was recorded in full by a taper. Cherry Red issued her Dandelion albums and BBC recordings as a four-CD set in 2015 and From There/To Here, a three-CD collection of UK and US recordings from 1974 to 1982, on August 26, 2022.

Records

Songs

Anne Briggs, Pentangle

Where to go next

Reference

Interviews

Live performance archives

Sources

  1. Bridget St John, Wikipedia
  2. The Gentle Songs of Bridget St. John, Atwood Magazine
  3. Bridget St John's Dandelion albums and more collected on new box set, The Second Disc (2015-03-16)
  4. Schoolhouse 21 Oct 2016, NYC Taper