Beverley Craven

beverley craven出生於斯里蘭卡, 幼年時回到英國,在嚴格的古典音樂教育下長大,她7歲學習鋼琴，求學時深受Elton John、Kate Bush和Billy Joel的影響，使她對流行音樂產生濃厚興趣。由于填詞譜曲樣樣皆行，加上天生一副好噪音，終獲Epic的親睞，在1989年加盟該旗下，開始朝歌壇進軍。15歲錄制單曲發(fā)行，歌曲創(chuàng)作方面深受著名女歌手凱特·布什的影響。1990年出版?zhèn)€人首張同名專輯“beverley craven”，展現出她獨特的歌喉和卓越的創(chuàng)作才能。她的嗓音充滿著張力和高貴感，在低吟淺唱中潛藏著內斂的激情，帶著一縷飄渺的質感；大部分歌曲曲調平易抒情、輕靈理性，歌詞更是簡潔優(yōu)雅，充滿著詩意和哲思，配合上靈秀的鋼琴和小提琴伴奏，別具特色。
在制作人Paul Samwell-Samwell-Smith的策劃下，發(fā)行于1990年的同名處女作“Beverley Craven”不僅推出了“Promise ME”，、“Holding On”、“Woman To Woman”和“Memories”4首暢銷單曲外，并一舉獲得英國Q親志票選為1991年[最佳杰出藝人]殊榮，由此可知Beverley魅力可見一斑。
by Charles Donovan
Beverley Craven is an English singer/songwriter and pianist, specialising in orchestrated ballads that position her as a kind of easy-listening Kate Bush. Since 1990, she has recorded a handful of albums for Epic, and though each has sold less than its predecessor, she remains a popular live figure, her profile only dented by long lay-offs between recordings.
Craven (b. 28th July 1963, Colombo, Sri Lanka) grew up in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England. Encouraged by her mother, a classical violinist, she took up piano at the age of seven. Upon leaving school, she attended art college, whilst performing with various bands in London pubs, and writing songs. When her compositions came to the attention of Bobby Womack, she was invited to tour Europe with him for several months as a backing vocalist. In the late 1980s she signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music, followed by a recording contract with Epic. Sessions for her debut album were initially supervised by Simply Red producer Stewart Levine, but Craven considered the results too glibly commercial, and started from scratch with veteran Carly Simon producer Paul Samwell-Smith, a choice far more in keeping with her subdued, confessional songwriting. Following the astonishing success of her first single "Promise Me," now widely acclaimed as a contemporary standard, her self-titled debut album exploded throughout Europe. Intriguingly, when the Levine versions of such hits as "Holding On" and "Memories" appeared as b-sides, they were labelled, with obvious derision, as "west coast version". At the 1992 Brit awards, eight months pregnant with her first child, Craven took Best British Newcomer, performing to an enraptured audience. Since then, Craven's career has lost momentum. She has devoted time to her three daughters with songwriter husband Colin Campsie (whose work has appeared on albums by Natalie Imbruglia and Bewitched), and recorded only occasionally. Subsequent albums have not lived up to the commercial standard set by her debut, although she remains an intermittently active presence both on the lower reaches of the UK chart, and with the occasional concert hall gig.