The Singer's Tale by Carol Grimes

The Singer's Tale by Carol Grimes

Described as a high-spirited veteran' by the Evening Standard, Carol joined her first groups, Shades of Grey and The Race, from the mid '60s, and went on to sing with the bands Babylon, Delivery and Uncle Dog before releasing her solo albums. Carol also performed alongside Cream, Alexis Korner, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, The Graham Bond Organisation, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy and Freddie King. Carol lived in London amongst a rag popsicle bag of people' during the counter culture years. A so-called community of freaks, immigrants, photographers, artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, drug dealers, models, fashionistas, groupies and hangers-on. Described by the press as fuelled by LSD, hashish, grass and sex, it was a time of change. Not for women though, and Carol witnessed appalling male behaviour in the music business. She became politicised and in 1976, performed at the first Rock Against Racism gig and went on to support Rock Against Sexism. Carol is still performing and is the Musical Director for the Bloomsbury Sing for Joy Choir and The Wildflowers Choir in Folkestone.

'This is a musical, political and social history spanning the 1940s and the war-torn London of Carol's birth, through schools, foster homes, teenage sex, cigarettes and listening to music on the jukebox in '50s seaside Britain. Sleazy studios and nefarious Nashville goings-on in recording studios in the '60s, from Nashville to Notting Hill, where roots reggae and reefers had become de rigueur against the backdrop of the rising punk era of the '70s. And all the while we occupy a ringside seat in our singer's imagined, and real, theatrical circus. It's a wild and unforgettable show.
The Singer's Tale is a confessional, an irreverent romp, bawdy and boisterous. It is a work of psychological astuteness offering an unflinching look at the terrible hurt, pain and sadness that we, as human beings, are capable of inflicting upon one another, and how we can learn from that. It is a celebration of life. Expect darkness and light, ugliness and beauty, comedy and tragedy' Cheryl Moskowitz