Lesley Duncan - Earth Mother 1972 - Plain & Fancy

Lesley Duncan - Earth Mother 72 - Plain & Fancy

I forgot to post about this gem. Duncan was one of those enigmas at once beautiful and possessed of a great voice not to mention accomplished on multiple instruments but for some reason never achieving the stardom thrust on others. Backing singers it seemed to me often suffered by comparison with their stars. Eddi Reader and Annie Lennox, Kiki Dee and Elton, there are many and yet Duncan released a few albums and none cracked the top charts befitting such a lovely voice. Whether it was the 'Christian' thing, too detailed and complex a thesis to go into in depth here, but she was clearly possessed of a faith which limits the audience and only Bob (Dylan), Van Morrison and perhaps Patti Smith have mastered the interests of the Christian mystic with the more secular rock 'n' roll style. Born again Christian rock is anathema too me and usually uniformly dreadful but here Lesley excels and sings like an angel (oops!) 

Lesley Duncan (12 August 1943) was one of England's top session vocalists, Lesley Duncan sang on recordings by Elton John, the Dave Clark Five, Pink Floyd, the Alan Parsons Project, Michael Chapman, and Joyce Everson and the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar. Her songs have been covered by Elton John, Olivia Newton-John, and Long John Baldry. 

While her vocals and songwriting brought her respect from the British music press, Duncan was unable to break through as a soloist. Dropped by MCA in 1976 due to poor album sales, she continued to work with producer Tony Cox as a singles artist until 1986. Her last album vocal appearances came in 1979 with "If I Could Change Your Mind" on the Alan Parsons Project album Eve and in 1980 with "Hold on to Love" from the album Exiled by the Bob Mitchell/Steve Coe Mysteries. Duncan's early albums, Sing Children Sing and Earth Mother, were released on CD in the early 2000s. During her latter years Duncan continued to perform with Jimmy Horowitz on keyboards and Chris Spedding on guitar. She died from cerebrovascular disease at age 66 on March 12, 2010, on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. 

by Craig Harris

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