This is a list of some singers and songwriters whose work does not always get the attention it deserves. Some are well-known, some are not, but all deserve your attention.

Sandy Denny

Hardly neglected really, not a year seems to go by without another Best of.. and she was twice female singer of the year while she was just a singer in a folk band with no hits. Nevertheless, there are many that do not know her work, or just put her down as the 'Sound of Laura Ashley'. There is more to her than that. Her best work was probably with Fairport Convention¹. The two Albums with Iain Matthews² still in the band display a tension that led to some great harmonies and counter melodies as they vied for the tune. On going solo, she made several albums, and inevitably her folk roots were left behind. If that is your interest, you may find that it ends when the massed 'Mantovani' violins come over the garden wall on Like an Old Fashioned Waltz, her penultimate album. One Sandy Denny website stands out from the many available, should you wish to investigate further.

Claire Martin

With 7 CD's (full discography available on a Claire Martin website) and many years solid work in Jazz Clubs big and small, she re-interprets into jazz unusual or forgotten songs from a wide variety of songwriters. More recently she seems to be moving into the mainstream (A dreadful Help³ with Liam Gallagher⁴ on a recent album) but that may not be a bad thing, if it gets her talent recognised more widely. Ditto her presenting work with BBC Radio3⁵

Eva Cassidy

Somewhere there is a spotty youth who decides what category a singer's work falls into, so that they may be appropriately catalogued. As with many of the artists here, Eva's work is hard to classify, thus difficult to find. You will come across this US singer in the 'Blues' section of most stores. If you can, buy first the CD Live at Blues Alley Once it gets going it will take your breath away, but it is hardly 'blues', more gospel/light jazz/standards. Listen to her version of Wonderful World or Sting's Fields of Gold. You may hear or read that she was 're-discovered' by Terence Wogan Esq⁶.. Don't let that put you off. If you haven't come across her yet, there is an apparently independent Eva Cassidy website, with her full sad story. (Since this was written, Eva Cassidy has become a major phenomenom with some 10 million album sales. If you haven't heard her by now, you have been spending far too much time on h2g2!)

By way of a footnote, it has to be said that the latest album Imagine lacks some, well it has to be said, imagination. There is a cover of Sandy Denny's Who knows where the time goes that adds nothing to the writer's own interpretation, nor does the title track or the much lauded Danny Boy move this listener in anything like the same way as the first hearing of Live at Blues Alley. I am reminded of a singer called Ian Shaw who performs wonderful vocal gymnastics. Mightily impressed as I watched him throw heart and voice into some soul classics, I caught sight of a member of the audience nearby who was apparently far more familiar with the originals than I, and who visibly winced in a real pain as the singer swooped up and down the old tunes. And that little vignette made me realise that to transmit a song with feeling, the singer must feel the song. I am reminded a little of those operatic crossovers. 'Wow, what a voice' or 'Wow, what a performance' but not 'Wow what a song'. Does that matter?? Perhaps, now the honeymoon with Eva's voice is over, I am wondering whether, however wonderful the voice, the singer can always bring something to the song, and whether her promoters would have been better advised to leave it to the first couple of albums to illustrate Eva's talent.

June Tabor

A beautiful, mournful voice, suited especially to the sadder folk ballads, sometimes exquisitely sung solo with no accompaniment whatsoever, especially anti-war songs such as Willie McBride and And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, the latter about about Gallipoli. Other 'stand-out' interpretations would be China Wings about pigeon racing and Hard Love about dealing with child abuse. Elvis Costello is quoted as saying that if you don't like her voice, you don't like music'. There is an Anthology album available, which provides a good introduction.

Jennifer Warnes

Most will know her duet with Joe Cocker⁷Up Where We Belong from the film An Officer And A Gentleman or another Movie theme The Time Of Our Lives from Flashdance, but the reason she is on this list is for one album only Famous Blue Raincoat her album of Leonard Cohen⁸ songs. Magnificent.

Eric Bibb

Personal blues with a touch of religon, from those hotbeds of The Blues, New York and Sweden! Has toured frequently in Europe since the early 80's, and with 3 or 4 albums to his name. Deserves, and will get, must get, greater recognition. In the USA it seems that he has been helped and supported by Taj Mahal. You can look at the Eric Bibb website for more information, and if you find his music a little sweet and light, try Keb Mo, another protegee of Taj Mahal with a straighter line back to Robert Johnson⁹.

Shawn Colvin

A long-established US folk singer. In the UK, at least, it was Cover Story an album of excellent covers that first brought her to prominence. Her version of the Police song Every Breath You Take particularly got a lot of airplay. Move on from that to some of her own songs, particularly the angry and bitter 'break-up' album A few small repairs, and if you want to pursue an interest, there is a rather snazzy Shawn Colvin website run, apparently, by her record company. She is often bracketed with the estimable Mary Chapin Carpenter¹⁰ and regularly sits in with many other performers, notably Van Morrison recently.

Shelby Lynne

A US 'Country' singer, who had been around Nashville for some years before releasing the very impressive and multi-faceted I am Shelby Lynne last year. She was promoted heavily in the UK (For some reason there seems to be a policy to try out 'off centre' US artists in the UK before launching in US). A glance at the Shelby Lynne website indicates that she is getting better known in America. Must be more good stuff to come.

Guy Barker

A splendid British Jazz trumpet player, Guy Barker is really here to represent those many, many musicians of prodigious talent who train, practice and play their hearts out over the years without receiving the reward of wide recognition and reasonable wealth that their virtuosity deserves. As these things go, Guy Barker is fairly prominent. He has played with innumerable bands and groups, from Georgie Fame to Sting, Carla Bley¹¹ to Tina Turner, has made four CD's, of which the first Isn't It is perhaps the most accessible (though hard to find), and one of which Out of the Blue was nominated for the Mercury Music Award¹². He has written music for a film (The Talented Mr Ripley in which he also appears briefly as the trumpet player in the jazz club scene - possibly the rendition of 'Americano' is the best thing about this meandering film, which is, incidentally, partly set on Ischia) and tours regularly. He has more musicianship in his little finger than....(insert name of your choice)

Rupert Holmes

Almost everyone over, say, 30 will remember Escape(The Pina Colada Song), but Rupert Holmes remains too little known as a writer of catchy intelligent songs. Claire Martin recorded The People Who You Never Get To Love and Partners in Crime, the latter a neat series of cameos of SM relationships, reminding people of his work. His canon of recorded work is quite large, but little known. Reminiscent of Sondheim, he has moved on to musical shows, and writes Remember Wenn, a US TV series. He once had a spell with The Strawbs¹³!

Daves True Story

Music for Grown-ups. These lyrics are very, very good. Quirky subjects. Many very much songs that suit their native New York well. Beautifully recorded on Chesky. The Dave's True Story website is not currently working, but when it does you can find there lyrics, audio clips and details of albums and gigs. Chuckle as wife tries to retrieve errant spouse from FemDom mistress in Dear Miss Lucy, wonder at the rhyme of Trollope with wallop in I'll Never Read Trollope Again. If you take nothing else from this entry, get to know these guys.

Paul Brady

This guy should be a superstar, but is relegated to the ranks of a 'Musician's Musician'. Maybe best known through Bonnie Raitt, one of the many people he regularly works with. A quick look at the Paul Brady website reveals page after page of collaborations. Spirits Colliding must be one of the all-time great 100 albums. Perhaps our spotty friend finds Paul's work difficult to classify, for some reason the 'folk' category is the usual home, which makes for confused marketing.

David Gray

Hopefully, all Irish and Brit researchers know this Manchester lad. He has been around a while, but in 1998 came up with the amazing album White Ladder, a current chart success in the UK. He is only just breaking in the USA, hence his inclusion here, for our American friends. Like many of the better known artists above, there is a David Gray website to look at for full details. (Please bear in mind that this entry was written some two years ago, and Mr Gray is now very well established on both sides of the Atlantic)