Multi award-winning actor Tom Conti – known to millions through his film roles in Shirley Valentine, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and the satirical Heavenly Pursuits with Helen Mirren – can now be heard with Argyll music producers Wild Biscuit on an independent release by Glasgow based writer and artist Sheila K Cameron.
Yesterday I Felt Two Inches Tall is an evocative poem of loss and longing, spoken by Tom Conti with original music composed and arranged by Wild Biscuit.
Sheila says of the poem: ‘The words for Two Inches Tall were begun while waiting at a bus stop in Glasgow trying to avoid a very cold wind. I think it’s about sad times in my own life and about the lives of other people who have to stand at bus stops and who know what it’s like to lose someone they really loved’.
It was perhaps appropriate then that Wild Biscuit met Tom Conti on an icy cold day in December to record Two Inches Tall – but there was no chill in the studio as the team got to work on the deeply moving and lyrically haunting piece.
That Tom Conti has lent his deep, resonant and so recognisable vocal delivery to this latest collaboration between Sheila and Wild Biscuit is something of an exclusive. Recording poetry is not something Tom takes lightly:
‘I have often been asked to record poetry, most recently to well known musical classics’, he explains. ‘My answer has always been “No’”, because I believe that however well-meaning, the voice intrudes on the message from the poet to the reader.
‘This time, however, I made an exception, believing, I hope not incorrectly, that the power of the words and the brevity employed might be resilient enough to withstand destruction and that, since the writer is also a fine lyricist, a voice might have been, from the outset, in her head. It was a pleasure to record it’.
Composer and producer John Saich of Wild Biscuit says: ‘Composing and arranging Sheila’s work has been a fascinating journey, her writing has such a genuine depth and I’m delighted Tom Conti has himself endorsed that to such a high degree’.
Sheila has collaborated with Wild Biscuit on many of her songs and poems over the past two years. Several examples of this winning formula, including a personal tribute by Sheila to the celebrated author Doris Lessing, have reached the top of BBC Radio 6 play lists and been broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.
Yesterday I Felt Two Inches Tall is available here as a CD and download and also here.
More information on Wild Biscuit is here.
The photograph of Tom Conti above is by copyright holder, Mike Alsford and may not be reproduced without permission.
I am delighted that Sheila’s work is being recognised in this way and that you are giving it some well deserved publicity. Tom’s voice is perfect to emote her words and the Wild Biscuit collaboration I know will be excellent, having heard some of their other work.
Sheila sent me some of her music and words a while back and I played them out on my Sunday Late show on BBC Radio Cumbria and the response was immediate and fullsome. Sheila also kindly agreed to chat to me on air about her life, work and the reasons behind her poetry. I have since played the pieces again and they received the same plaudits. If you haven’t listened to her other tracks, I strongly advise you to do so.
More please Sheila!!!
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