Lynsey Leigh
Davies and her forties show.
Lynsey Leigh-Davies
Lynsey
Leigh Davies was born into a musical family, so it is no wonder she
is so passionate about her music. Lynsey was fortunate enough to
have had her CD listened to by the one and only Tony Christie who
commented that her voice was akin to the late, great Patsy Cline.
However, Lynsey's audiences say that if you close your eyes she
sounds just like Brenda Lee (Little Miss Dynamite). So it comes as
no surprise that this is her favourite era.
The 40’s/50’s/60’s time was an exciting one which Lynsey wants
to relive through her music, like all-time greats such as The
Shirelles, The Crystals and The Ronnettes. With Lynsey's vast knowledge of
songs, she is able to cater for most occasions - Birthday, Wedding
Anniversary, Reunions & Corporate Functions.
Lynsey comes as a full package for bookings/gigs with a
comprehensive selection of P A Equipment complete with her own Sound
& Lighting technician. Her knowledge of music can be tailored to
suit most any occasion or venue.
Lynsey Leigh-Davies and her
forties show
Lynsey Leigh Davies and her forties show features classics such as
White Cliffs of Dover/Love Letters/Moonlight Bay/Lay Down Your
Arms/Berkeley Square/bill Bailey/As Time Goes By/Side by Side/Let me
Call You Sweetheart/I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles/Lambeth
Walk/Falling In Love again/Lillie Marlene/Smile/Someone To Watch
Over Me/Swinging On A Star/You Are My Sunshine/Slow Boat To
China/You Made Me Love You/Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye/April
Showers/Bless Em All/Kiss Me Goodnight Sgt Major/This Is The Army Mr
Jones/Siegfried Line/Sailor/Autumn Leaves/Bye Bye Blackbird/That
Lovely Weekend/We’ll Meet Again and many more.
Here, Lynsey talks to Digger at www.retrosellers.com
Digger:
Hello Lynsey. I’ve been getting myself ‘In the Mood’ this
morning and have been playing your forties CD.
Lynsey: It was such fun recording that Album, beautiful tracks such
as Berkeley Square to stirring stuff like Kiss Me Goodnight Sgt
Major, I just love it!
Digger: That’s what it’s all about really.
Lynsey: Exactly right. I said to my husband Alan yesterday that the term
you used the other day “When I had a proper job” was a good one.
I hated my last proper job, but it got our two girls into private
school. We never had holidays and we paid for their schooling. The
youngest now - she’s passed her exams to be a barrister.
Digger: That was a result then!
Lynsey: She’s got a really good job with two of the lads she was at
private school with. The times I took her to that school - if I had
a pound for every time I made that journey I’d be rich. But as
long as they’re happy and doing what they want to do then that’s
great.
Digger: Why is the forties and retro so popular?
Lynsey. I think it’s because people are so depressed at the
moment, and feeling so let down by the Government and Banks etc.
People
are happy when they reflect on bygone years, whether it’s
40’s/50’s/60’s. I feel the same when I do a “normal gig”
which is based mostly on sixties music.
Digger: In your press release you say that you love those decades. What
it is about them you like?
Lynsey: You reflect on the time you were growing up.
Digger: It wasn’t perfect of course and for my American friends in
the sixties predominately meant memories of Kennedy and Vietnam.
Lynsey: Yes, but it was all going on in our country in the
sixties. We met a couple from Liverpool last week and they have
invited us up there. They plan to take us to the Cavern and places
like that.
Again nostalgia that we all long for - Penny Lane, Ferry across the
Mersey, they all hold fantastic memories for me.
Digger: How many of these gigs are you doing?
Lynsey: Typically at the least two a week, but we can do up to four
and sometimes even more, so it keeps us busy. We have eight
grandchildren and like to spend time there.
Digger: The CD has got the songs from that wartime period. Does it sell
well?
Lynsey: Yes we put a stand up displaying the CD’s and when people
have enjoyed the show they often want a memento of the evening, so
the CD is perfect! And I’m very happy to sign them.
Digger: What are the best things about doing what you do?
Lynsey: Because I love what I do, and so many people say how much it
shows. Then whether I’m feeling tired or on top of the world, I
never short change anyone.
I say to them the only time you will ever see me look at my watch on
a gig is because it’s then time to slow it down; because that’s
the way we work.
Digger: With some acts you notice that they’re doing all the cues to
the other musicians as in "Lets get off..."
Lynsey: Well that’s not the way we work. We do it because we love
it, and if we stopped loving it then we would not do it anymore.
Digger: The public aren't stupid they know what they like.
Lynsey: Exactly right people will come over and say “It does show
how much you enjoy your work."
Digger: I can’t hear your Black Country accent in the singing at all.
Where does that go?”
Lynsey: Well you know we’ve discussed this times gone by,
because you get someone like Annie Lennox who’s got a really
strong Scottish accent and she’s out there singing. What happens
to that I just don’t know. And the same with the Liverpool groups
or anyone.
Digger: You CAN hear a bit of the Scouse on some of The Beatles
recordings.
Lynsey: I think it’s probably because they wanted it that way.
Digger:
What
sort of feedback are you getting from people who attend your shows?
Lynsey: You’ll always get a least one person coming up to you
at a gig saying “We so enjoyed it, we had a brilliant time”. I
like to put little things in the show like “just to test you are
listening, A MILLION HOUSEWIVES EVERY DAY…………..and let the
audience finish it off. We also have a little chat about the times
and how we hadn’t got to lock our back doors. And all those silly
little things that get the atmosphere going. And we have Sing-alongs
and they just love it.
Digger: There must be less people now that actually remember it first had
though, mustn’t there?
Lynsey: There must be obviously because of the age group, and yet
they’re into it. Kind of brings you closer, this kindred spirit
and the belonging.
Digger: I was talking to Viv The Spiv who plays a kind of Walker from
Dad’s Army character...
Lynsey: I don’t know him but we have had one or two people come like
that.
Digger: Viv has the patter and the cockney rhyming slang – he’s
hilarious and I’m in stitches when I’m on the phone to him. He
say the same thing, it’s like an inherited memory.
Lynsey: Yes.
Digger: Even if you weren’t there people still know about it.
Lynsey: Yes, I think we still need to have some pride in something, you
know and we haven’t. Nowadays there’s no pride in anything
anymore and even when we’re not old and decrepit we’re saying
certain things shouldn’t be done and it shouldn’t be handled
like this. You’ve got to have a sense of pride and it’s very
very difficult to find something to have a sense of pride in nowadays,
isn’t it?
Digger: You’re obviously proud of what you’re doing. I’m trying to take
what I’m doing the best that I can. I think there are still some
youngsters who still have that kind of pride and it’s nice when
you bump into them.
Lynsey: Oh gosh, yes. I know that I’ve done okay, ‘cos obviously I
get mixed audiences more in my ordinary stuff than in the forties,
but when the younger ones come up to me and say “We’ve had a
brilliant night.” Then you know you’ve done your job.
Digger: That’s your cue to dip into your bag and say “Would you like
to buy one of these CDs?”
Lynsey: Talking about accents, I pinned you down to being an Essex boy
even though you’re in Northampton now.
Digger: That’s weird isn’t it?
Lynsey: You never lose it.
Digger: You’ve got quite a strong accent, if you don’t mind me saying
so.
Lynsey: No, not at all I’m very proud of mine. When they say Birmingham,
that’s when I get angry!
Digger: That’s like calling a New Zealander an Aussie, or someone from
The Wirral a Scouser. I’m very careful not to presume and always
ask people where they’re from.
Lynsey: There’s a few miles between the Brummies and us here and
we are VERY different.
Digger: There’s a strange accent here, there’s a very definite
Northampton accent and it’s almost like a sound which is a cross
between Birmingham and Norfolk, which, of course, is exactly where
we are geographically.
Lynsey: Yes, funnily enough my friend who I’ve just been on the phone
to. I actually did the club with her last time and it’s in your
neck of the woods, called Casey's in Daventry. We shall be going
over and doing the duo. She’s there on Monday and it’s a lovely
little club and we have a really good laugh. Once we’re together,
we’re laughing.
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People having a
great time at one of
Lynsey's forties shows
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Digger: So, where are you heading with these shows?
Lynsey: Well if you spoke to Alan about that he’d have different
thoughts about it. I’m just out there enjoying every minute of it.
As usual Alan’s a little more ambitious than me in that respect.
We have a conversation with a friend of ours Andy Hart, formerly of
the band Budgie, that maybe at some point we could team up with him
and a friend to perhaps maybe do a little bit of a spot of ABBA,
maybe sixties as well. But at the moment he’s doing some work with
Mike Sheridan and having a ball, so who knows? Alan my hubby and
sound technician has always through out our business life been more
ambitious. And it was probably to do with losing my Dad younger. I
was only five when he died it was from there that I got the gift.
Digger: How old was he?
Lynsey: He was forty one. Six years away at Arnhem. He was hand-picked
and there were only two from Brierly Hill where we lived who went
over to Holland. That was ’44. It is a musical family and my grandma
was the lady who had a brilliant future ahead of her. They wanted
her to go to Broadway and play Topsy in Uncle Tom’s cabin. I think
I’ve got something here on Irish notepaper saying what a rich
soprano voice she’d got. And she trained at The Guildhall School
Of Music for years and my dad, of course, got it off of her. He
toured with the London Operatic Society as Boy Caruso. She missed
him and said to my granddad “I want him back.” So they got him
back and it could have been much different, probably, if he hadn't
been called-up and gone to Arnhem. But when I go out, that’s the
thing that spurs me on. Because I’ve got a brother and a sister,
she can’t sing and he can but he’s very shy and won't go on
stage. And I suppose I’m kind of flying the flag and every time I
go on stage I’m thinking of my dad and he’d be very proud.
Digger: It’s like an X Factor story.
Lynsey: I suppose it is.
Digger: The difference is, you have the talent and are doing all the
graft. The modern thing is that they want instant fame for
fame’s sake. They want to famous in five minutes and it doesn’t
work that way, does it?
Lynsey: No, well when I finish a gig each night I know I’ve given my
best. Alan says “I never have to tell you to smile or do this or
do that." Because he’s very critical.
Digger: I'm sure he's also very complimentary when you do well, I should
imagine?
Lynsey: Well he loves me very much and he’ll tell anyone that
he’s one of the luckiest fellows alive, and it was the best thing
we ever did when we got together. But he’s also my biggest critic
and he does like things right. Alan and I (and people smile
when I say this) never fall out, we spend 24/7 together and we
don’t argue. It’s good when you think about it. He thinks it’s
so sad when you see famous artists miming. It angers me and I
wouldn’t dream of doing it.
Digger: It devalues everything. I just hope that the people who go to see
your show appreciate it that you’re doing it properly.
Lynsey: I think they do, you know, and they say they can hear every word.
This modern stuff, you can’t tell what they’re singing.
Digger: I went to see the Bacharach tribute the other day – three
female singers and a band and Chris Dean - and you could hear all
the lyrics. There were a couple of fluffs in there but I thought
that was great, not in a nasty way but because it made it more real.
Lynsey: Sometimes your brain says one thing but something else comes out of
your mouth and I say “Well, it is live, you know.” And people
love it. In the nicest way because it’s something to smile about.
‘Cos Alan does all sorts of naughty things while I’m on stage
like I’ll be describing one song and he’ll put another one on.
But he’s like that at home, I’ll go to put my shoes on and
he’s put stuff in my shoes or I go to put a coat on and he’s
tied the sleeves together. (Both laugh) And this is how we live our
lives. It has always been fun and it will always be that way.
Digger: Do you ever pay him back?
Lynsey: Oh certainly yes and we’ll laugh and I’ll say he’s got
to pack his carrier bag because I won’t give him a suitcase,
people love the banter. When I get on and do a new club you tell the
audience you are nervous i.e. I’m a bit nervous as I’ve never
played here before so will you look after me? That normally gets
them on side, although I feel so at home doing the stuff I love, I
don’t really get nervous.
Digger: That first thirty seconds to get people on your side is really
important.
Lynsey:
Yes, yes it is. And to a certain degree, and I don't know why it is,
but because I love my music so much when I'm singing I'm in a kind
of world of my own and I'm out there and loving that song and the
audience. It's strange because my partner Kas is confident and full
of patter, but when we do a new venue she feels sick. I don't. You'd
think it was the other way round on stage as she comes across as so
confident.
Digger:
You
hear that a lot that many pros are ill before a performance.
Lynsey:
Although I come from a musical background I've only been doing this
professionally for six years in May. We were on holiday in Gran
Canaria at one of the Princess hotels. We couldn't afford it now but
we could when it first started-up. It was a five-star and I always
remember this fellow playing on a piano and he was on his own. A huge,
beautiful room and I went in and started to chat to him, as you do,
and he told me about himself. And I sat beside him on the stool and
said "Do you know so-and-so song?" and he said "Yes, but I
haven't got the words." And I pointed to my head to say that I
knew them. And he played it and I started singing and the next thing
you know, because I'd got lost in it, the room was absolutely full
of people. These two people from London asked Alan if I was a
professional singer and he said "No" and they said
"Well, she should be doing this professionally." A few more years went by
and my family grew up and then, probably about eight years ago, we
started to go to Tenerife. There was this guy from Norfolk who ran a bar
there and I got up doing a bit of karaoke. I did my own slant on
it and he also said I should be doing it professionally. So, when I
came home I thought "I'll have a go at this." And I
remember going on stage the first time, 'cos it's one thing doing a
karaoke but it's another holding a whole night. My feet were
stuck to the floor and I was thinking "Oh my God!" But
eventually I got over that. I think dad's memory helps me and gives
me this edge. But even now, after doing this for some years, and my
dad's been gone since I was five, the oldies still sometimes come
and say "I remember your dad, he'd got a super
voice."
Digger:
What
a lovely thing to carry around with you.
Lynsey with pipers
Typical
song list:
-
Hello Dolly
-
White
Cliffs Of Dover (Vera Lynn)
-
Love
Letters
-
Moonlight
Bay
-
Lay
Down Your Arms
-
Berkeley
Square
-
Bill
Bailey
-
As
Time Goes By
-
Side
By Side
-
Let
Me Call You Sweetheart
-
I’m
Forever Blowing Bubbles
-
Around
The World
-
Lambeth
Walk
-
Falling
In Love Again
-
Smile
-
Someone
to Watch over Me
-
Second
Hand Rose
-
Don’t
Bring Lulu
-
Swinging
On A Star
-
You
Are My Sunshine
-
Slow
Boat to China
-
You
Made Me Love You
-
Wish
Me Luck as You Wave Goodbye
-
April
Showers
-
Bless
Em All
-
Kiss
Me Goodnight Sgt Major
-
This
Is the Army Mr Jones
-
Hand
out Your Washing on the Seigfried Line
-
Sailor
-
How
Much Is That Doggie In The Window
-
You
Made Me Love You
-
Autumn
Leaves
-
Bye
Bye Blackbird
-
We’ll
Meet Again
Lynsey Leigh-Davies
Lynsey Leigh-Davies and her forties/wartime show March 2010.
More information can be found at:
Lynsey
Leigh Davies
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