Charlotte Greig (10 August 1954 – 19 June 2014) was a British novelist, playwright, music journalist, singer and songwriter.

Early life

Charlotte Greig's father was in the navy and the family travelled the world. In 1962, she attended Charsfield village school, later described in

Ronald Blythe Ronald George Blythe (6 November 1922 – 14 January 2023) was a British writer, essayist and editor, best known for his work ''Akenfield'' (1969), an account of agricultural life in Suffolk from the Fin de siècle, turn of the century to the ...

's book ''

Akenfield ''Akenfield'' is a film made by Peter Hall (theatre director), Peter Hall in 1974, based loosely upon the book ''Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village'' by Ronald Blythe (1969). The production company Angle Films that produced the film ...

'', where she learned to sing folk songs. At the age of 10 she was sent to a convent boarding school, St Stephen's College, Broadstairs,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, where she learned to play piano. She studied philosophy at

Sussex University The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provide ...

during the 1970s, a setting recounted in ''A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy''.

Career

Journalism

After university, Greig worked as a music journalist in print and radio. In 1990, she presented a six-part series on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

called ''Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'' on

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

s in popular music. It was based on her own book of the same title, published in 1989. In 1991, she wrote another Radio 1 documentary, ''British Black Music'', and went on to present popular music features for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Woman's Hour'' and ''Kaleidoscope''. By 1998, Greig was working for ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'' magazine, reviewing

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

Music

In the same year, she issued the first of her own albums, ''Night Visiting Songs''. It consisted of four traditional songs, with the rest written by herself. This has set the tone for her subsequent albums: acoustic understated gothic folk music. Unusually, she plays

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

and mountain dulcimer, with occasional electronic additions. Four further albums are collaborations with guitarist Julian Hayman. Her main influences are

Lal Waterson Elaine "Lal" Waterson (15 February 1943 – 4 September 1998) was an English folk singer and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder. She was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1998, s ...

and

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

. She appeared on the Topic anthology ''A Woman's Voice'' (many other anthologies exist with the same title). In 2007, she curated and contributed to ''Migrating Bird'', a tribute album to the late

, released on Honest Jon's record label. In addition, Greig's song "Crows" was released on a compilation album entitled ''The Crow Club'' on People Tree Records, an offshoot label of

Acid Jazz Records Acid Jazz Records is a record label based in East London formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of jazz music for which it is most famously known for producing. Background The l ...

. In 2014, Greig released "Studies in Hysteria" by ''Doctor Freud's Cabaret'', a collection of songs in the voices of Freud's early patients, featuring a number of guest vocalists including

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan C ...

, Julie Murphy,

Jon Langford Jonathan Denis Langford (born 11 October 1957) is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Langford is a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, the post-punk group The Three Johns, and the alternative count ...

, and Angharad van Rijswijk.

Writing

In 2007, her first novel, 'A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy', was published in the UK by Serpent's Tail. It was also published in the US (Other Press), and in translation in Italy (Tropea), Sweden (Voltaire), and Turkey (Sel Yayincilik). She has written two radio plays, ''The Confessions'' (2009) and ''Against the Grain'' (2010), both broadcast on

. Her most recent play was a Radio 4 docu-drama to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Profumo Scandal The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model Ch ...

, entitled ''Well, He Would, Wouldn't He'' (2013), and featuring

Mandy Rice-Davies Marilyn Foreman (21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014), better known as Mandy Rice-Davies, was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservativ ...

. She has also written musical theatre pieces. ''I Sing of a Maiden'', co-written with

Rachel Trezise Rachel Trezise (born 1978) is a Welsh author. Her debut collection of short stories, ''Fresh Apples'', won the inaugural Dylan Thomas Prize in 2006. Early life Rachel Trezise was born in Cwmparc, Rhondda in 1978. Her family is of Cornish orig ...

, was an exploration of folk song and young motherhood in the Welsh valleys (2008). The second, ''Dr Freud's Cabaret'', with Anthony Reynolds, featured songs in the voices of Freud's early patients, including The Wolf Man, The Rat Man, Anna O, and Dora. In 2013, her first crime novel, 'The House on the Cliff', under the name Charlotte Williams, was published by Macmillan. The second, ''Black Valley'', was published in August 2014, shortly after her death by suicide. These novels have been published in translation in the US (HarperCollins) the Netherlands (Ambo Anthos) and Germany (Lyx Verlag).

Discography

Albums * ''Night Visiting Songs'' (1998) * ''Down in the Valley'' (2000) * ''At Llangennith'' (2001) * ''Winter Woods'' (2003) * ''Quite Silent'' (2005) * ''Dr Freud's Cabaret'' (2014) Anthologies * ''The Executioner's Last Songs'' (2003) * ''A Woman's Voice'' (2004) * '' Migrating Bird '' (2007) * ''John Barleycorn Reborn'' (2007) * ''James Yorkston:When the Haar Rolls in Covers Disc'' (2008) * ''Crow Club: Various Artists '' (2009) * ''Like the Sun Feeds From Flowers'' (with

Anthony Reynolds Anthony Reynolds is a Welsh musician. He has worked as a solo artist and in collaboration with others in his bands Jack and Jacques. Jack In 1993, Reynolds moved to London, where he formed the group Jack, on lead vocals, signing a music publ ...

) (2010)

Bibliography

Fiction * ''A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy'' (2007) * ''The House on the Cliff'' (2013) * ''Black Valley'' (2014) Non-fiction * ''Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'' (1989) * ''Icons of Black Music'' (1999) Plays * ''I Sing of a Maiden'' (with Rachel Trezise) (2008) * ''The Confessions'' (2009) * ''Against the Grain'' (2010) * ''Dr Freud's Cabaret'' (with Anthony Reynolds) (2010) * ''Well, He Would, Wouldn't He'' (with Mandy Rice Davies) (2013)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greig, Charlotte 1954 births 2014 deaths Psychedelic folk musicians Alumni of the University of Sussex British journalists British women novelists 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists British women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights