Search - Lesley Duncan :: Sing Children Sing

Beautiful and powerful album available on CD at last!

David V Barrett | London, UK | 03/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For the last several years I've not been able to understand why Lesley Duncan's five albums weren't available on CD. She is one of the finest singer-songwriters Britain has ever produced, a fact that is recognised by other artists - there have been over 150 different recordings of the "Love Song" track from this album, including by Elton John and Olivia Newton-John - but sadly not by the general public. Lesley, although a recording artist (and backing singer to people like Kiki Dee and Dusty Springfield) since the early Sixties, always hated performing live, which meant she rarely promoted her own albums."Sing Children Sing" is a beautiful album, with excellent production by her first husband Jimmy Horowitz, superb musicianship by Chris Spedding, Elton John and others, all of it perfectly integrated with Lesley's fabulous voice. Some of her songs are soft and gentle, but many of them are a lot harder-edged than, say, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Fiona Apple, Tara McLean or Dido, to name some of today's near-equivalents. Or, from her own generation (her albums were released in 1971-1977), she's easily on a level with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins or Carole King, and as distinctive as any of them.I just hope that Demon bring out the other four albums, "Earth Mother" with its powerful title track one of the first ecologically-aware songs, the beautiful "Everything Changes", "Moon Bathing" and "Maybe It's Lost"; and perhaps persuade Lesley Duncan to come out of retirement to bring her music to the attention of a whole new generation of listeners...."

Showcases Lesley Duncan as serious singer/songwriter

Robert Miller | 12/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lesley Duncan's debut album, "Sing Children Sing", showcases her remarkable talent as an early 70s singer songwriter of folksy material. By then, she had come a long way from being a backup singer for the legendary Dusty Springfield and was making beautiful music of her own. Blessed with a slightly gravelly but attractive voice - hints even of a late 60s Marianne Faithfull before she completely lost her soprano - Lesley definitely had the chops to make it but commercial success somehow eluded her throughout her recording career. Her songs had a certain intimacy which she put across to great effect. Listen to "Chain of Love", "Lullaby", "Love Songs", "Sunshine" and the title track and you'll see what I mean. There aren't any out and out fillers or bad tracks on this album, though "Mr Rubin" needn't have gone on for over 7 minutes. "Help Me Jesus" would have been perfect if not for the jauntily rousing chorus which grates. But that's nitpicking. "Sing Children Sing" is such an unbelievably enjoyable and uplifting album I can't wait to hear her follow up album, "Mother Earth". Lesley Duncan is obviously a major British talent that got away. Now that we've got her back on CD, do check her out. You won't regret it."

Beautiful album

Robert Miller | Eastern USA | 01/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have this on vinyl and am delighted to see it's available on cd. Lesley had a wonderful soft voice. I wondered after listening to Help me Jesus whether Elton John influenced her or she influenced him! It's a jaunty and fun track that you could easily imagine Elton John singing in the old days (when he still had the crystal clear high voice!) The lyrics to "Sunshine" are stunning and totally contemporary (For every man in power, there are two you don't see) - everyone should hear this song. There are no bad tracks on this cd, many are absolutely gorgeous. Perhaps Lesley is one more example of the big record companies inability to market talented people, despite their ability to market the micro, midget and non-talents that abound on their rosters these days in particular. This cd is eminently worthwhile."