Sadly, Dolly Collins died some years ago. Following a rather difficult divorce from Ashley Hutchings, bass player with Fairport Convention 1967 -1969, and founder of Steeleye Span and the various generations of the Albion band, Shirley found she could no longer sing in 1982. I never though I would hear her do so again. However, in the most remarkable comeback in music history, this year, 2016, at the age of 81, she has recorded a new CD “Lodestar”.
My younger daughter kindly gave me a copy for my birthday recently, and I have listened to it. I must admit, at first I thought it was a man doing the vocals, so very changed was her voice; but after a while, particularly in the higher register notes and the livelier tunes, the old Shirley was clearly discernable. This is actually a very good CD, which I can recommend to anyone. The music is unique, utterly unlike anything else, but it does have a charm and beauty making the whole thing a very enjoyable experience.
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