Eliza Janet Thomson (November 1943 – 24 July 2020), who recorded as Barry St. John, was a Scottish female singer who had a No. 47 hit in the UK Singles Chart in December 1965 with " Come Away Melinda". It was her only solo chart success.

Biography

Born and raised in

Gallowgate, Glasgow Gallowgate is a neighbourhood of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It takes its name from the major thoroughfare through the territory, which is part of the A89 road. Administratively, it is part of the Calton ward of the Glasgow City Council area. ...

, Scotland, Liz Thomson sang from a young age, and joined local

beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

, Bobby Patrick's Big Six, before they moved to London in January 1962. The group toured Germany and played clubs in Hamburg, before Thompson decided to start a solo career and returned to England. As Barry St. John, she signed with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1964 and released her first single, a version of

the Jarmels The Jarmels was an American doo wop rhythm and blues group formed in 1959 in Richmond, Virginia best known for their only 1961 hit, " A Little Bit of Soap". Career The start of their big break came in 1960 when they were at a local (Richmond) ...

' "

A Little Bit of Soap A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

". Her follow-up, a cover version of the Newbeats' hit " Bread and Butter", made the German pop chart later that year. Although she continued to release singles in the UK, they had little success. In 1965, she moved to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, and had her only UK Singles Chart entry with " Come Away Melinda", a Weavers song previously recorded by Harry Belafonte which St. John recorded at the suggestion of record producer

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

. Later releases on Columbia were less successful, although several became popular a few years later on the Northern soul scene. In 1968, she recorded further solo singles, on the

Major Minor Major minor may refer to: Music * Major and minor, the adjectives used to describe the tonality of a scale, key, or chord * Major-minor tonality, a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or ...

label, and also released an album, ''According to St. John'', produced by Mike Pasternak, alias Emperor Rosko. She was a member of the Les Humphries Singers between 1972 and 1973, but stayed on as a session singer for the band until 1975. St. John was also a background singer on many records, including

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

's ''

Tanx ''Tanx'' is a 1973 album by rock band T. Rex, the eighth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968, and the fourth under the moniker T. Rex. It was released on 16 March by record label EMI. ''Tanx'' was a musical departure from previou ...

'' (1973),

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's '' The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), the concept album ''

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's desig ...

'' (1974), and Andy Fairweather Low's, ''

La Booga Rooga ''La Booga Rooga'' was the second solo album by Andy Fairweather Low, and was released by A&M Records in 1975. It was Fairweather Low's most successful album, with an eclectic musical styling. The opening track was a cover of Clarence Willia ...

'' (1975). She performed as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

for a string of other artists including Alexis Korner, Long John Baldry, and

Duster Bennett Anthony "Duster" Bennett (23 September 1946 – 26 March 1976) was a British blues singer and musician. Based in London, his first album ''Smiling Like I'm Happy'' saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowing ...

in the late 1960s, and with Bryan Ferry, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

in the 1970s. Her other project work the following decade encompassed Vivian Stanshall,

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

, Daevid Allen, Tom Robinson and Whitesnake. Her work continued into the early 1990s with Squeeze and

Jorge Ben Jor Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba, ...

. She died in July 2020, in London, England, at the age of 76.

Discography

Singles

* "

" / "Thing of the Past" (Decca, 1964) * " Bread and Butter" / "

Cry to Me "Cry to Me" is a song written by Bert Berns (listed as "Bert Russell") and first recorded by American soul singer Solomon Burke in 1961. Released in 1962, it was Burke's second single to appear in both ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot R&B Sides and ...

" (Decca, 1964) * "Mind How You Go" / "Don't You Feel Proud" (Decca, 1965) * "Hey Boy" / "I've Been Crying" (Decca, 1965) * " Come Away Melinda" / "Gotta Brand New Man" (Columbia, 1965) * "Everything I Touch Turns To Tears" / "Sounds Like My Baby" (Columbia, 1966) * " Cry Like a Baby" / "Long and Lonely Night" (Major Minor, 1968) * " By The Time I Get To Phoenix" / "Turn on Your Light" (Major Minor, 1969)

Albums

* ''According to St. John'' (Major Minor, 1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. John, Barry 1943 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Scottish women singers Scottish pop singers Scottish session musicians Musicians from Glasgow