As previously mentioned on these pages, Bridget St John’s story is every bit as fascinating as her peers, and a lesser-known part of her history comes under the magnifying glass on a new Cherry Red Records 3CD Boxset Bridget St. John: From There / To Here – UK/US Recordings 1974-1982. It covers her post-Dandelion period and features 17 previously unreleased tracks, including alternate versions and previously unheard compositions. The boxset was compiled and curated by Bridget, and it includes sleevenote reminisces and never before seen imagery from a fascinating and little-known period in her career.
Between 1969 and 1972, Bridget St. John released three well-known seminal albums on British DJ John Peel’s short-lived Dandelion label. Her debut album, Ask Me No Questions, was the first album to be released on the label. She followed with Songs for the Gentle Man in 1971 and Thank You For… in 1972. Despite the familiarity of these releases today, mainstream success alluded her, and in 1976, following the release of Jumble Queen on Chrysalis (1974), she moved to the US, essentially disappearing. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that she began making occasional forays back to the UK.
She still lives in NYC, where she also performs – she performs with Myriam Gendron next month (featured on KLOF Mix Episode 13 here) on 23 September at Public Records (233 Butler Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 – Tickets).
In a 2018 interview with Dave Freak for Folk Radio, Bridget St John shared insights into her early years and the period covered by this new boxset.
The Dandelion Years
“John [Peel] was my first producer – and I believe the perfect person to start me off on this journey. He liked what I did and was supportive of the person I was and of my growth. I had twelve songs I wanted to record; he never questioned my choice but guided me through the sessions. The whole album was recorded in 10 hours – two five-hour sessions. It was a lot of fun – especially when John really got into the production of Ask Me No Questions. He explored the BBC sound effects library and put together the mix of birds and church bells. If I do hear the track, it’s something that I still love to listen to – and I am back in the small studio on Old Bond Street.”
Bridget St. John – Live (French TV May 1970):
New York 1976-77
“For a few years before I went, I had some curiosity about visiting New York, but never followed through. When I first went there – in the summer of 1976 – I had booked a flight to return within six weeks. I had been seeing someone who had left the UK months before to travel, who ended up there and suggested I come. I really knew nobody there. I had the contact numbers for Chrysalis publishing, for a couple of music business people who were fans, and for my friend Stefan Grossman’s parents. The little impressions I had of New York were through music and movies, so I basically arrived with few preconceptions and an open mind. They say that no one has a neutral reaction to New York – you either like it or you don’t – and I very quickly grew to like it a lot. By the time I returned to the UK at the end of the six weeks, I knew I wanted to be back there and made all the arrangements to make that happen. I did not have a timeline in mind going forward – I just knew where I wanted to be, so I returned in late November of ’76. By then, Stefan’s parents kindly offered me a place to stay – without them at the beginning of this journey, my return would not have been possible.”
She continued to perform, opening for John Martyn in 1977…
“In June of 1977, I got my first gig at the recently relocated Kenny’s Castaways on Bleecker Street, opening for John Martyn, who was touring America and Canada that summer.
“This first gig led to several years of playing New York clubs, either solo or with a band: Kenny’s, The Bitter End, The Bottom Line; some colleges and clubs in the Tri-state area; appearances at The Wollman Rink Concert, in Central Park, opening for Dion and Robert Klein, and at Carnegie Hall opening for The Paul Winter Consort. I went to Nashville briefly to record three tracks with Dave Perkins and members of his band. By September of 1978, I had my own apartment and knew I needed to do whatever it took to pay my bills.
“Over the 40 years, I have been here, I never [put down] my guitar but have done many things to make it possible to still keep playing. I started off waitressing at Kenny’s (having never done that before), then bartended, and then cooked in the small kitchen there. Eventually, I became involved in the management side of things – at Kenny’s, at The Bitter End, and The Cat Club.”
Post-1982
The Boxset covers up until 1982, which ties in with the arrival of Bridget’s daughter in 1983:
“Once my daughter was born, in 1983, I played very little live music until 1995; and in 1990 stopped doing other work in nightclubs and found other ways to supplement a living … for a few months I cleaned apartments; I worked as an assistant to a wonderful artist Eng Tay, and then found my way into helping my ‘elders and wisers’ as I call them. Never anything medical, but anything else they might need. I seem to be good at organising – other people at least! To this day I work with a 95-year-old a couple of times a week.”
Bridget would later return to the UK, but not until 1995:
“In 1995, See For Miles reissued my Dandelion albums on CD, and at that time, for several reasons, I was feeling that I would like to start playing live. I also had many unreleased recordings that I wanted to put out. Through the introduction of Nigel Cross, who I have known for decades and who has been a supporter of my work for a long time, I met John Tobler, founder/ owner of Road Goes On For Ever records. I played him the tracks – which would become my fifth album – Take the 5ifth – released on John Tobler’s label. He was instrumental in getting me my first London gig at The Weavers, which I did with an American guitarist/ friend of mine, Mick Gaffney. It went really well and opened me up to wanting to continue doing more.”
Bridget St. John: From There / To Here – UK/US Recordings 1974-1982, 3CD Box Set
Release Date: 26 August 2022
Pre-Order via: Cherry Red | Amazon
Following Bridget’s move to New York, what followed was a wealth of new material that fed her trademark sound into the melting pot of New York’s musical landscape, pulling in different influences and sounds, different musicians and different approaches to songs which were explored on a number of recording sessions. The recent rediscovery of Bridget’s tape archive has unearthed numerous recordings captured during that very fertile period in her career, and the artist herself has hand-picked 17 previously unheard highlights, presented here alongside her own contextual sleevenotes.
Also including ‘Jumblequeen’ and 1995’s ‘Take The 5ifth’ (which comprises material from that same New York era), ‘From There / To Here’ at last provides a definite overview of the decade that followed Bridget St. John’s association with John Peel and Dandelion, and is a perfect companion to our previous box set covering those years.
Tracklisting
DISC ONE
JUMBLEQUEEN
1 SPARROWPIT
2 SONG FOR THE WATERDEN WIDOW
3 I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN TAKE IT
4 SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL
5 LAST GOODNIGHT
6 CURIOUS AND WOOLLY
7 WANT TO BE WITH YOU
8 JUMBLEQUEEN
9 SWEET PAINTED LADY
10 LONG LONG TIME
FURTHER UK RECORDINGS
11 3DB AUSTRALIA
12 BUMPER TO BUMPER
13 GROW
14 NANCY ALICE (LATER)*
15 JUST LIKE A WOMAN (BATTERED ORNAMENTS VERSION)*
16 LITTLE SONG (TAKE 2)*
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
DISC TWO
TAKE THE 5IFTH
1 CASTAWAY
2 CHAMILLE
3 MAKE-ME-WHOLE
4 JEALOUS JAILER
5 I NEED IT SOMETIMES
6 BEST I CAN
7 MAYBE IF I WRITE A LETTER
8 CRAZY HEART
9 FEEL MY LOVE
10 SONG FOR JOHN
11 YOU MAKE IT ALL RIGHT
12 SAFE PLACE
13 TALK TO ME
14 MANHATTAN MADHATTERS
15 ONE NIGHT WONDER
16 CATCH A FALLING STAR
17 FLYING FOR NOW
DISC THREE
THE NEW YORK SESSIONS
1 MOODY
2 EASY COME EASY GO
3 CURIOUS AND WOOLLY (NEW YORK VERSION)*
4 CASTAWAY (NEW YORK SIMPLER VERSION)*
5 WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO (NEW YORK 1976)*
6 SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL (NEW YORK ROCK VERSION)*
7 I NEED IT SOMETIMES (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
8 FACE TO FACE (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
9 COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME
10 KEEP YOU IN TOUCH*
11 TALK TO ME (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
12 CRAZY HEART (UNKNOWN VERSION)*
13 FEEL MY LOVE (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
14 HELP HIM THROUGH IT (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
15 FLYING FOR NOW (UNKNOWN VERSION)*
16 SUNNYSIDE UP (ROXY RECORDERS VERSION)*
17 CURIOUS AND WOOLLY (RIGHT TRACK VERSION)*
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED