Jean Redpath MBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 28 April 1937) is a singer of folk songs and Scottish music

Music of Scotland

Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music...

.

Redpath was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots

Scots language

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

 songs and passed them on to Jean and her brother; her father played the hammer dulcimer. She was raised in Leven, Fife

Leven, Fife

Leven is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, north-east of Kirkcaldy and east of Glenrothes....

,

Scotland, and later returned to Edinburgh, taking medieval studies at the university. Hamish Henderson

Hamish Henderson

Hamish Scott Henderson, was a Scottish poet, songwriter, soldier, and intellectual....

 was working in the School of Scottish Studies and Redpath took a keen interest in the archive of tapes and discs of music and songs. To help pay her way through her studies, she worked as a driving instructor and undertaker's assistant. She learned about 400 songs, together with the oral folklore that went with them.

In March 1961, at the age of 24, she went to the United States. Her first performance was in San Francisco. Later she met up with Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and performer.-Life and career:Elliot Charles Adnopoz was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents in 1931. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy...

 and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

. The natural warmth and power of her voice brought her to perform at Gerde's Folk City

Gerde's Folk City

Gerdes Folk City was a music venue in the West Village in New York City. Initially opened as a restaurant called Gerdes, by owner Mike Porco, it eventually began to present occasional incidental music. It was located at 11 West 4th Street , having moved in 1970 to 130 West 3rd Street before finally...

. In 1963, following a concert performance, she signed up with Elektra Records

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

. In 1975 she switched to the Philo label. From 1972 to 1976 Jean was artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 in Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...

. She lectured in folklore and gave talks in schools.

In 1976 Redpath embarked on a project to record all the songs of Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

, 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

Serge Hovey

-Life:Hovey was born in New York City in 1920. He studied piano with Edward Steuermann and composition with Hanns Eisler and Arnold Schoenberg. He was musical director for the first American production of Bertolt Brecht's Life of Galileo in Los Angeles in 1947...

, died after seven volumes, the project came to a premature end. Hovey had done the instrumental arrangements for 323 songs, and Redpath felt that 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 has sensitively reconstructed many songs that might otherwise have been lost.

Between 1974 and 1987, Redpath appeared regularly on Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor

Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...

's "A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...

" APM radio show. She has appeared also on Robert J. Lurtsema

Robert J. Lurtsema

Robert J. Lurtsema was a public radio broadcaster.Lurtsema hosted the classical music show Morning pro musica on WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1971 until his death from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis...

's "Morning Pro Musica" broadcast from WGBH

WGBH (FM)

WGBH is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of NPR and PRI. The license-holder is the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns WGBH-TV and WGBX-TV....

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

Redpath has toured throughout the U.S. and Canada, has played venues in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, and Australia, including the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

, and has performed often at the Edinburgh Folk Festival

Edinburgh Folk Festival

The Edinburgh Folk Festival has had a shadowy existence since about 1951. Hamish Henderson was instrumental in creating the first "People's Festival" in 1951, with funding from the British Council, The Communist Party and the Scottish TUC, this was revived in 2002 by the Scottish Socialist Party...

. In 1977, Royal Jubilee Year, Redpath appeared at a royal banquet at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

 for Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

. Redpath has been musically successful, despite never having had formal musical training.

Since 1979, Redpath has been a lecturer at the University of Stirling

University of Stirling

The University of Stirling is a campus university founded by Royal charter in 1967, on the Airthrey Estate in Stirling, Scotland.-History and campus development:...

, Scotland, occasionally making a sojourn to Wesleyan University. For ten years she gave courses in Scottish Song at the Heritage of Scotland Summer School at the University of Stirling.

She was awarded the MBE, as well as being named a Kentucky colonel

Kentucky colonel

Kentucky colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the Governor and the Secretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation...

 by the Governor of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. A portrait of Redpath by Alexander Fraser

Alexander Fraser

Alexander Fraser may refer to:*Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie, died by 1332 AD*Alexander Fraser , soldier and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West*Alexander Fraser Alexander Fraser may refer to:*Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie, died by 1332 AD*Alexander Fraser...

 hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery on Queen Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. It holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. In addition it also holds the Scottish National Photography Collection...

 in Edinburgh.

In 1996 she launched the Burns International Festival.

In 2009, Redpath made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman

Late Show with David Letterman

Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...

singing the song "Some Kind of Love" by the late 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 has led to some confusion for those viewers who wanted to obtain a recorded version of the song. In fact, she has not yet recorded the song.

Discography

• Skipping Barefoot Through the Heather (196?)
• Scottish Ballad Book (1962)
• Laddie Lie Near Me (1963)
• Lilt and Laughter (1963)
• Frae My Ain Countrie (1973)
• Jean Redpath (1975)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 1 (1976)
• Song of the Seals (1978)
• Father Adam (1979)
• Lowlands (1980)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 2 (1980)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 3 (1981)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 4 (1981)
• Haydn: Scottish Songs (1984)
• Songs of Robert Burns vol 5 (1985)
• Lady Nairne (1986)
• A Fine Song For Singing (1987)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 6 (1987)
• First Flight (1989)
• Songs Of Robert Burns vol 7 (1990)
• Leaving the Land (1990)
• The Moon's Silver Cradle (1996)