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Jean Redpath
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Jean Redpath | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|4|28|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|08|21|1937|04|28|df=y}} | death_place = [[Tucson, Arizona]], U.S. | genre = [[Folk music|Folk]] | occupation = Singer | website = }} '''Jean Redpath''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (28 April 1937<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2060}}</ref> β 21 August 2014)<ref name="Obit"/> was a Scottish [[Folk music|folk]] singer. ==Career== Jean Redpath was born in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> to musical parents. Her mother knew many [[Scots language|Scots]] songs and passed them on to Jean and her brother, and her father played the [[hammered dulcimer]]. She was raised in [[Leven, Fife]],<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=The Songs of Robert Burns, Volumes 1 & 2|others=Jean Redpath|year=1996|publisher=[[Greentrax Recordings]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11051684/Jean-Redpath-obituary.html|title=Jean Redpath - obituary|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> Scotland, and later returned to Edinburgh, taking [[medieval]] studies at the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref name="Obit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/22/jean-redpath|title=Jean Redpath obituary|last=Schofield|first=Derek|date=2014-08-22|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> To help pay her way through her studies, she sang for beer money and undertook part-time work as a driving instructor and undertaker's assistant.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13176641.Jean_Redpath/|title=Jean Redpath|website=HeraldScotland.com|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> The Scottish poet and folk-song collector [[Hamish Henderson]] was working in the [[School of Scottish Studies]] at the university and Redpath took a keen interest in the archive of tapes and discs of music and songs. She learned about 400 songs, together with the oral folklore that went with them. In March 1961, at the age of 24, she arrived in the United States with just eleven dollars in her pocket.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.linnrecords.com/artist-jean-redpath.aspx|title=Linn Records - Jean Redpath|website=Linnrecords.com|access-date=2017-01-15|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202081057/http://www.linnrecords.com/artist-jean-redpath.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her first performance was in [[San Francisco]]. Later she met up with [[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]] and [[Bob Dylan]] in [[Greenwich Village]]. The natural warmth and power of her voice brought her to perform at [[Gerde's Folk City]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1963, following a concert performance, she signed with [[Elektra Records]]. In 1975, she switched to the Philo label. From 1972 to 1976, Redpath was artist-in-residence at [[Wesleyan University]] in [[Middletown, Connecticut]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> She lectured in folklore and acted as cultural resource in the local school system.<ref name=":0" /> In 1976, Redpath embarked on a project to record all the songs of [[Robert Burns]], some being folk songs, some Burns's own compositions, and most a mixture of the two. Twenty-two volumes were planned, but when her collaborator, the composer [[Serge Hovey]], died after seven volumes, the project came to a premature end. Hovey had done the instrumental arrangements for 323 songs, and Redpath felt no other musician could replace him. The albums won critical praise from around the world. In 1986, she recorded ''Lady Nairne'', a collection of songs written by Scottish women. Redpath sensitively reconstructed songs that might otherwise have been lost. Between 1974 and 1987, Redpath appeared regularly on [[Garrison Keillor]]'s "[[A Prairie Home Companion]]" APM radio show. She also appeared on [[Robert J. Lurtsema]]'s "[[Morning pro musica]]" broadcast from [[WGBH (FM)|WGBH]] in [[Boston]].<ref name=":1" /> Redpath toured throughout the U.S. and Canada, played venues in South America, Hong Kong, and Australia, including the [[Sydney Opera House]], and performed often at the [[Edinburgh Folk Festival]]. In 1977, Royal Jubilee Year, Redpath appeared at a royal banquet at [[Edinburgh Castle]] for [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-jean-redpath-mbe-1-3518648|title=Obituary: Jean Redpath MBE|website=Scotsman.com|access-date=2017-01-15}}</ref> Starting in 1979, Redpath was a lecturer at the [[University of Stirling]], Scotland, with occasional trips to teach at [[Wesleyan University]].<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p838/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Jean Redpath|last=Brennan|first=Sandra|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=17 May 2010}}</ref> She gave courses for ten years in Scottish Song at the Heritage of Scotland Summer School at the [[University of Stirling]]. She was awarded the [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in 1987, as well as being named a [[Kentucky colonel]] by the Governor of [[Kentucky]]. Redpath also received honorary doctorates from the [[Royal Conservatoire of Scotland]], [[University of Stirling]] and the [[University of St Andrews]], and was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2008.<ref name=":3" /> A portrait of Redpath by [[Alexander Fraser (artist)|Alexander Fraser]] hangs in the [[Scottish National Portrait Gallery]] in Edinburgh.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title = Jean Redpath, 1937 - 2014. Singer and lecturer β Alexander 'Sandy' Fraser|url = https://www.nationalgalleries.org/object/PG%203110|website =Nationalgalleries.org|access-date = 2016-01-19}}</ref> In 1996, she launched the Burns International Festival.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} In 2009, Redpath made an appearance on the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'', singing "Some Kind of Love" by the late [[John Stewart (folk musician)|John Stewart]] of [[The Kingston Trio]]. Letterman promoted her album ''By Request'' during her appearance, although the song "Some Kind of Love" does not appear on that album. This led to some confusion for viewers who wished to obtain a recorded version of the song.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} In 2011, she returned to her [[alma mater]] to become artist-in-residence at the [[University of Edinburgh]]βs Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies.<ref name=":2" /> She kept her links to Scotland, owning a house in [[Elie and Earlsferry|Elie]] during her life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eliehistory.com/explore/local-worthies-jean-redpath-mbe/|title=LOCAL WORTHIES - Jean Redpath MBE (1937-2014)|date=6 November 2016|website=Eliehistory.com|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref> ==Death and legacy== Redpath died from cancer on 21 August 2014 at a hospice in [[Tucson]], [[Arizona]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-28890309 "Folk singer Jean Redpath has died"], Bbc.com; 21 August 2014; accessed 21 August 2014.</ref> In the town where Redpath was raised, [[Leven, Fife|Leven]] in [[Fife]], there is a street named in her honour: Jean Redpath Wynd. ==Discography== *''Skipping Barefoot Through the Heather'' (1962) Prestige PR 13020<ref name ="FRSB" >Pohle, H. (1987) ''Folk Record Source Book''; p. 388</ref> *''Scottish Ballad Book'' (1962) Elektra EKL 214<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Laddie Lie Near Me'' (1963) Elektra EKL 274<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Songs of Love, Lilt, Laughter'' (1963) Elektra EKL 224<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Frae My Ain Countrie'' (1973) Folk Legacy FSS 49<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Jean Redpath'' (1975) Philo PH 2015<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 1'' (1976) Philo PH 1037<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''There were Minstrels'' (1977) Trailer LER 2106<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Song of the Seals'' (1978) Philo PH 1054<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Angels Hovering 'Round'' with Lisa Neustadt and The Angel Band (1979) Philo /> *''Father Adam'' with Abby Newton (1979) Philo PH 1061<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Lowlands'' (1980) Philo PH 1061<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 2'' (1980) Philo PH 1048<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 3'' (1981) Philo PH 1071<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 4'' (1981) Philo PH 1072<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Haydn: Scottish Songs'' (1984) Philo PH 1082<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Love Is Teasin''' (1984) Philo/Minnesota Public Radio *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 5'' (1985) Philo PH 1093<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''The Scottish Fiddle'' (1985) Lismor LIFL 7009<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''Lady Nairne'' (1986) *''Anywhere Is Home'' with Lisa Neustadt and The Angel Band (1979) Philo /> *''A Fine Song For Singing'' with Abby Newton (1987) *''Songs of Robert Burns vol. 6'' (1987) Greentrax TRAX 005<ref name ="FRSB" /> *''First Flight'' (1989) Philo *''Songs of Robert Burns vol 7'' (1990) Philo *''Leaving the Land'' (1990) Philo *''The Miller's Reel'' with Rod Paterson, David Hayman, Phyllis Logan (1996) BBC/> *''The Moon's Silver Cradle'' (1996) Jean Redpath Records *''A Woman of Her Time'' (1997) Jean Redpath Records *''Think On Me'' (1998) Jean Redpath Records *''Still the Night'' (1999) Jean Redpath Records *''Now & Then'' (1999) Jean Redpath Records *''Summer of My Dreams'' (2000) Greentrax *''Maiden Voyage'' (2002) Jean Redpath Records JR-112 ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://archives.library.sc.edu/repositories/5/resources/866 Jean Redpath archive] at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections *{{IMDb name|3521562}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Redpath, Jean}} [[Category:1937 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Musicians from Edinburgh]] [[Category:21st-century Scottish women singers]] [[Category:Scottish folk singers]] [[Category:British music educators]] [[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Stirling]] [[Category:Wesleyan University faculty]] [[Category:Elektra Records artists]] [[Category:People from Leven, Fife]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Arizona]] [[Category:Scottish expatriate musicians in the United States]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]] [[Category:Scottish women music educators]] [[Category:Scottish music educators]] [[Category:Scottish women academics]] [[Category:20th-century Scottish women singers]]
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