Dana Gillespie

Dana Gillespie
Background information
Birth name	Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie
Born	30 March 1949 (1949-03-30) Woking, Surrey United Kingdom
Genres	Folk, teen pop, blues
Occupations	Musician, Actress
Instruments	Vocalist
Labels	Rev-Ola, Decca, RCA, Bellaphon Records, Ace Records,
Associated acts	Dana Gillespie and her London Blues Band
Website	Dana Gillespie

Dana Gillespie (born Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie, 30 March 1949, Woking, Surrey) is an English actress and singer.

Career

Gillespie was born to the Baron De Winterstein Gillespie, an Austrian radiologist, and his wife. She grew up in England and her family's villa in Maccagno, a village on Lake Maggiore, Italy. She was the British Junior Water Skiing Champion for four years, until an injury forced her retirement.^{[citation needed]}

She recorded initially in the folk genre in the mid-1960s, although she was more known at this time for being the girlfriend of Donovan. Some of her recordings as a teenager fell into the teen pop category, such as the 1966 single "Thank You Boy", produced by Jimmy Page. Her acting career got under way shortly afterwards, and it overshadowed her musical career in the late 1960s and 1970s. After performing backing vocals on the track "It Ain't Easy" from David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, she recorded an album produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson in 1973, Weren't Born a Man. Subsequent efforts have been in the blues genre, appearing with her London Blues Band. She is notable for being the original Mary Magdalene in the first London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar which opened at the Palace Theatre in late 1971. She also appeared on the Original London Cast album which was released the following year.

She is a close friend and associate of Angela Bowie, David Bowie's former wife. She is an ardent follower of Indian spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba. She performed in his Indian ashram on various occasions and also done three bhajan-based albums that were inspired by visits to Satya Sai Baba.

Gillespie is a regular at Basil's Blues Bar on Mustique in the Caribbean, for three weeks in January through to February. This mostly features her London Blues Band, but she also invites other acts. In 2005, Mick Jagger appeared as a guest and sang songs such as: "Honky Tonk Women", "Dust My Broom" and "Goin' Down".

Dana Gillespie and her London Blues Band

Selected discography

• Foolish Seasons (Decca, 1967)
• Box of Surprises (Decca, 1968)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (Original London Cast Recording) (MCA, 1971)
• Weren't Born a Man (RCA, 1973)
• Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle (RCA, 1974)
• Mojo Blues Band and the Rockin' Boogie Flu (Bellaphon Records 1981)
• Blue Job (Ace Records, 1982)
• Solid Romance (Bellaphon, 1984)
• It Belongs to Me (Bellaphon, 1985)
• I'm a Woman (The Blues Line) (Bellaphon, 1986)
• Hot News (Gig 1987)
• Sweet Meat (Ace Records, 1989)
• Amor (Gig, 1990)
• Blues It Up (Ace Records, 1990)
• Where Blue Begins (Gig/Ariola, 1991)
• Boogie Woogie Nights (with Joachim Palden) (Wolf, 1991)
• Big Boy (with Joachim Palden) (Wolf, 1992)
• Methods of Release (Bellaphon, 1993)
• Andy Warhol (Trident, 1994)
• Blue One (Wolf, 1994)
• Hot Stuff (Ace Records, 1995)
• Have I Got Blues For You (Wolf, 1996)
• Mustique Blues Festival (1996) (BCF, 1996)
• Cherry Pie (with Big Jay McNeely) (Big Jay Records, 1997)
• Mustique Blues Festival (BCF, 1997)
• Back to the Blues (Wolf, 1998)

Selected filmography

• Sunday Pursuit (1990)
• Strapless (1989)
• Scrubbers (1983)
• Bad Timing (1980)
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)
• The People That Time Forgot (1977)
• Mahler (1974)
• The Lost Continent (1968)
• Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966)

Bibliography

• Bowie, Angela, Backstage Passes, Jove Books, Berkeley Publishing Group (1993)

External links

• Dana Gillespie, official site
• Dana Gillespie at the Internet Movie Database
• Dana Gillespie at HorrorStars