3. Brenda Wootton And Richard GendallChildren Singing
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about music as a comfort. Because I’m so attached to Brenda Wootton’s voice, when I think of home, I think of Brenda Wootton. This record was played constantly. Growing up, we lived in a downstairs flat, it was very dark, and very damp, with rotten doors, but it was full to the brim with books. I find that what this record does is make me feel very warm, even though the environment in which I would have first heard it proba-bly wasn’t that comforting. Despite this, my ad really created this world that felt complete, and Brenda Wootton’s record contributed to that feeling. I will always talk about this record — it’s one that I’ll take to the grave with me. As a kid, hearing all of these school kids singing in Cornish was fantastic. I thought, “I can’t wait to grow up and find all of these Cornish speak-ers out there in the world.” It is a tribute to all of the people that speak Cornish, and who made this multidimensional world for us to exist in.
Brenda Wootton is the most Cornish voice ever, for me. She is incredible. There’s a homeliness and an all-encompassing musicality to her singing that I think goes beyond the folk genre. Perhaps this is the reason why she’s been overlooked, but I think she’s incredibly important within the folk canon. She’s done loads, yet she still doesn’t get much of a mention. She created a folk tradition that feels completely natural, she had her own folk club, her own pottery… she’s big in France! And yet I find her voice so comforting. I play this record a lot to my son now. It just takes me right back to being three or four, and feeling like everything is ok. It’s like a sonic quilt — something you can really cling to.
