{{Short description|Scottish singer (1943–2020)}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Barry St. John | birth_name = Eliza Janet Thomson | image = | caption = | alias = Liz Thomson | birth_date = November 1943<ref name=kutner>[http://www.jonkutner.com/come-away-melinda-barry-st-john/ "Come Away Melinda (Barry St John)"], ''JonKutner.com''. Retrieved 15 March 2017</ref><ref name="Check"/> | birth_place = [[Gallowgate, Glasgow]], Scotland | death_date = 24 July 2020 (aged 76)<ref name="Guardian">[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/27/barry-st-john-obituary Barry St John obituary], ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref> | death_place = [[Hither Green]], London, England | origin = | genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[R&B]] | occupation = Singer | years_active = c.1961–1990s | label = [[Decca Records|Decca]], [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]], [[Major Minor Records|Major Minor]], Bradley's | associated_acts = Bobby Patrick's Big Six | website = }}

'''Eliza Janet Thomson''' (November 1943<ref name="Check">{{Cite web|url=http://companycheck.co.uk/director/700410501/BARRY-ST-JOHN-GALVIN/summary|title=BARRY ST. JOHN GALVIN director information. Free director information. Director id 700410501|first=company check|last=ltd|website=Companycheck.co.uk|access-date=5 October 2020}}</ref> – 24 July 2020),<ref name="Guardian"/> who recorded as '''Barry St. John''', was a Scottish female singer who had a No. 47 hit in the [[UK Singles Chart]] in December 1965 with "[[Come Away Melinda]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100533540|title=Barry St. John|website=Oxfordindex.oup.com|access-date=4 March 2017|archive-date=22 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022195446/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100533540|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]] | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 479}}</ref> It was her only solo chart success.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/barry-st-john-mn0000148062 |title=Barry St. John &#124; Biography & History |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref>

==Biography== Born and raised in [[Gallowgate, Glasgow]], Scotland, Liz Thomson sang from a young age, and joined local [[beat music|beat group]], Bobby Patrick's Big Six, before they moved to London in January 1962. The group toured Germany and played clubs in [[Hamburg]], before Thomson decided to start a solo career and returned to England.<ref>[http://wfmuichiban.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/crayons-to-perfume-girl-of-week-barry.html "Crayons To Perfume Girl of the Week: Barry St. John – the lil' gal with the big voice!"], ''WFMU Rock'n'Soul Ichiban'', 28 July 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2017</ref>

As Barry St. John, she signed with [[Decca Records]] in 1964 and released her first single, a version of [[the Jarmels]]' "[[A Little Bit of Soap]]". Her follow-up, a [[cover version]] of [[the Newbeats]]' hit "[[Bread and Butter (song)|Bread and Butter]]", made the German pop chart later that year. Although she continued to release singles in the UK, they had little success. In 1965, she moved to [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia Records]], and had her only [[UK Singles Chart]] entry with "[[Come Away Melinda]]", a [[the Weavers|Weavers]] song previously recorded by [[Harry Belafonte]] which St. John recorded at the suggestion of record producer [[Mickie Most]].<ref name=kutner/> Later releases on Columbia were less successful, although several became popular a few years later on the [[Northern soul]] scene. In 1968, she recorded further solo singles, on the [[Major Minor Records|Major Minor]] label, and also released an album, ''According to St. John'', produced by Mike Pasternak, alias [[Emperor Rosko]].<ref>[https://www.discogs.com/Barry-St-John-According-To-St-John/release/8058552 Barry St John, "According to St John"], ''Discogs.com''. Retrieved 15 March 2017</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzpy563TUfA|title=Barry St John: Cry Like A Baby 60s Music|last=Lee Ricketts|date=20 May 2015|access-date=28 August 2018|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

She was a member of the [[Les Humphries Singers]] between 1972 and 1973, but stayed on as a session singer for the band until 1975. St. John was also a background singer on many records, including [[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]]'s ''[[Tanx]]'' (1973), [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973), [[Rick Wakeman]]'s ''[[The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album)|The Six Wives of Henry VIII]]'' in the same year, the concept album ''[[The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast]]'' (1974), and [[Andy Fairweather Low]]'s, ''[[La Booga Rooga]]'' (1975).<ref>{{cite book|title=Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2006 |page=721|author=Graham Betts|date=2006|quotation=BARRY ST JOHN ; UK singer from Glasgow who sang backing for Pink Floyd, Elton John, Rick Wakeman and the Tom Robinson Band}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sweatsoaked.com/2012/02/barry-st-john-major-minor-northern-soul/ |title=Barry St John (Major Minor) Northern Soul - s w e a t s o a k e D |access-date=5 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208054059/http://www.sweatsoaked.com/2012/02/barry-st-john-major-minor-northern-soul/ |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Credits">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/la-booga-rooga-mw0000839142/credits |title=La Booga Rooga – Andy Fairweather Low &#124; Credits |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> She performed as a [[session musician]] for a string of other artists including [[Alexis Korner]], [[Long John Baldry]], and [[Duster Bennett]] in the late 1960s, and with [[Bryan Ferry]], [[Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel]] and [[Elton John]] in the 1970s.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=2355/6}}</ref> Her other project work the following decade encompassed [[Vivian Stanshall]], [[Kevin Coyne]], [[John Cale]], [[Daevid Allen]], [[Tom Robinson]] and [[Whitesnake]].<ref name="AMG"/> Her work continued into the early 1990s with [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] and [[Jorge Ben Jor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/barry-st-john-mn0000148062/credits |title=Barry St. John &#124; Credits |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref>

She died in July 2020, in London, England, at the age of 76.<ref name="Guardian"/>

==Discography== ===Singles=== * "[[A Little Bit of Soap]]" / "Thing of the Past" (Decca, 1964) * "[[Bread and Butter (song)|Bread and Butter]]" / "[[Cry to Me]]" (Decca, 1964) * "Mind How You Go" / "Don't You Feel Proud" (Decca, 1965) * "Hey Boy" / "I've Been Crying" (Decca, 1965) * "[[Come Away Melinda]]" / "Gotta Brand New Man" (Columbia, 1965) * "Everything I Touch Turns To Tears" / "Sounds Like My Baby" (Columbia, 1966) * "[[Cry Like a Baby]]" / "Long and Lonely Night" (Major Minor, 1968) * "[[By The Time I Get To Phoenix]]" / "Turn on Your Light" (Major Minor, 1969)

===Albums=== * ''According to St. John'' (Major Minor, 1968)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.magic-potion.net/park-sable---sandie-shaw.html|title=Magic Potion Listings|website=Magic-potion.net|access-date=28 August 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. John, Barry}} [[Category:1943 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Scottish women singers]] [[Category:Scottish pop singers]] [[Category:Scottish session musicians]] [[Category:Singers from Glasgow]]