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Eve Graham

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Eve Graham
Birth nameEvelyn May Beatson
Born (1943-04-19) 19 April 1943 (age 81)
Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, UK[1]
GenresPop
OccupationSinger
Years active1963-2000

Eve Graham (born Evelyn May Beatson; 19 April 1943) is a Scottish singer who found fame in the early 1970s with the pop group, The New Seekers.

Biography

Graham began her career during the 1960s as a band singer with the Cyclones in Scotland and later with the Cyril Stapleton Band, based in London England. She joined The Track in the mid-sixties and was a founder member of The Nocturnes, originally alongside Sandra Stevens (later of Brotherhood of Man) and then Lyn Paul (her future colleague in The New Seekers), recording for UK Columbia Records between 1967-69.[2]

In 1969 she joined songwriter Roger Cooke for a single release, again on Columbia, called "Smiling Through My Tears" shortly before becoming a founder member of The New Seekers in 1969 and was lead singer on the majority of their early hits, including the world wide Number One hit - "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". Other songs that featured Graham as lead vocalist included the US and Canadian smash "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma", the British Top 5 hit "Circles", the Japanese No.1 "The Greatest Song I've Ever Heard" and the ecologically conscious Roger Cook-Roger Greenaway composition "We've Got To Do It Now".[citation needed]

Graham's three-octave range was showcased on several songs, most notably the British and European smash hit "Never Ending Song of Love", in which she reached D6. Though mainly a vocalist, she played acoustic guitar on stage in the Chuck Berry-influenced skiffle number "Good Old-Fashioned Music" and kazoo in the comic song "(Ever Since You Told Me That You Loved Me) I'm A Nut".

In 1974 the group disbanded and Graham moved onto solo cabaret work, but rejoined a reconstituted New Seekers in 1976 and sang lead on their hits "It's So Nice To Have You Home" and "I Wanna Go Back". In 1978 she left once more, and again performed as a solo singer, as well as marrying another ex-New Seeker Kevin Finn (known professionally as Danny Finn) on 1 June 1979. They toured as a duo for many years and released one single Ocean and Blue Sky.[citation needed]

Graham retired in 2000 after a last charity performance, and originally said that she could not envisage being tempted out of retirement. In 2005 former New Seekers record producer David Mackay produced a new album with her - The Mountains Welcome Me Home. It was released as a CD and DVD, and contains Scottish traditionals and new recordings of old New Seekers songs. A Christmas themed album, "Til The Season Comes Round Again", followed in 2006.[citation needed]

In 2008, she told The Independent newspaper that after the band broke up she found work fitting bras, in a branch of Debenhams department store in Essex. She lived in Abernethy, Perthshire with her husband Kevin, who worked for a kitchen and bathroom design company. Kevin died on 22 February 2016 after a short illness. Graham told The Independent that owing to contractual problems she has not received any royalties since 1973.[3]

Discography (excluding The New Seekers)

  • The Track :
  • Nocturnes :
    • "I Do, I Do" b/w "Wish You Would Show Me Your Mind" (single) - Columbia DB 8158 (UK) February 1967
    • "Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)" b/w "Save the Last Dance for Me" (single) - Columbia DB 8219 (UK) June 1967 / Columbia C23 594 (Germany) September 1967
    • "A New Man" b/w "Suddenly Free" (single) - Columbia DB 8332 (UK) January 1968
    • "Carpet Man" b/w "Look at Me" (single) - Columbia DB 8453 (UK) July 1968 / Columbia C23 863 (Germany) August 1968
    • "Montage" b/w "Fairground Man" (single) - Columbia DB 8493 (UK) November 1968
    • "Da Doo Ron Ron" b/w "Carpet Man" (single) - Columbia 1C006-04 976 (Germany) October 1971 (recorded in 1968)
    • "Nocturnes" (album) - Columbia SCX 6223 (UK) - 1968
  • Roger James Cooke :
    • "Smiling Through My Tears" (with Eve Graham) b/w "Ain't That a Wonderful Thing" (single) - Columbia DB 8596 (UK) June 1969
    • "Study" (album) - Columbia SCX 6388 (UK) - 1970 - includes "Is it You That Has the Power?"
  • Eve Graham and Danny Finn :
    • "Ocean and Blue Sky" b/w "I Couldn't Love You More" (single) - Chrysalis CHS 2269 (UK) April 1979
    • "Your Love" b/w "Falling in Love Again" (single) - Celebrity Records ACS 3 (UK) February 1981
    • "On the Road" ("Woman of the World" album, repackaged - cassette only) - Celebrity Records (UK) 1981
  • Viva :
    • "Chris Must Stay" b/w "Light of the World" (single) - Cambra CMB 01 (UK) November 1981
  • Eve Graham (solo) :
    • "Thanks for the Memories" (album) - 1973 - unreleased until 2012 on iTunes
    • "Woman of the World" (album) - Celebrity Records ACLP 007 (UK) - 1980, re-released as "Evergreen" - 2012 on iTunes
    • "Highland Cathedral" b/w "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" / "The Mountains" (cd single) - Scotdisc CDITV4S 722 (UK) - September 2005
    • "The Mountains Welcome Me Home" (DVD) - Scotdisc DVITV 721 (UK) - October 2005
    • "'Til the Season Comes 'Round Again" (album) - Scotdisc CDITV 742 (UK) - 2006
    • "Love Won the Fight" (digital download) - Scotdisc - 2014 on iTunes & Amazon mp3

References

  1. ^ Samantha Booth (12 March 2011). "New Seekers star Eve Graham looks back 40 years after their greatest hit". dailyrecord. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Eve Graham and colleagues in The Track/The Nocturnes, thenewseekers.com; accessed 25 April 2015.
  3. ^ Christie's Music News, themusic.com.au; accessed 25 April 2015.
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