Dolly Collins

Dorothy Ann Collins called Dolly (born March 6, 1933 in Hastings , East Sussex , † September 22, 1995 in Balcombe , West Sussex ) was an English folk musician.

life and work

Dolly Collins grew up in a family interested in arts and folk songs in southern England. She learned to play the piano at school and was taught by the composer Alan Bush in London .

In 1966 she began working with her younger sister Shirley , a recognized folk musician. Dolly arranged some of her sister's songs and accompanied her on her 1967 album Sweet Primroses on the portative . In 1969 they recorded the album Anthems in Eden together with about a dozen other musicians and singers after the centerpiece of the record, the 28-minute song cycle A Song-Story , had been produced a year earlier with the support of the BBC . The two sisters performed together regularly.

Dolly has also worked for other musicians and bands, including The Incredible String Band on The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (1967), Matthews' Southern Comfort on their debut album (1969) and Peter Bellamy on The Transports (1977).

Dolly made her last studio recordings with her sister for the album For As Many as Will (1978). Although she withdrew from the music scene, she continued to compose and shortly before her death completed a cycle The Pity of War on the First World War and a mass that she had written together with the poet Maureen Duffy .

Discography (selection)

• Shirley and Dolly Collins - Power of the True Love Knot (Polydor, 1968)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins - Anthems in Eden (EMI Harvest, 1969)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins - Love, Death and the Lady (EMI Harvest, 1970)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins - For as Many as Will (Topic, 1978)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins - Harking Back (Live in Concert 1978/1979, Durtro, 1998)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins - Snapshots (Fledg'ling, 2006)

Web links

• Obituary