Carol Grimes is one of British music’s great soul and blues voices, with a career spanning more than five decades.
She first came to prominence in 1969 fronting Delivery, the blues band that would evolve into one of the more adventurous ensembles of its era, before forming Uncle Dog in 1972. Her 1974 solo album Warm Blood announced her as a formidable vocalist in her own right, recorded with members of Area Code 615 and the Average White Band. She followed it with an album cut in Memphis alongside an extraordinary cast – the Brecker Brothers, the Memphis Horns, Duck Dunn and Willie Hall.
Through the late ’70s and ’80s, Carol led bands including Sweet F.A. and Carol And The Crocodiles while working extensively as a session vocalist, and in 1984 she founded Eyes Wide Open, releasing a string of acclaimed albums on the Line label. Her artistry has always reached beyond the stage: she has worked in music theatre and vocal education, holds an MA in Voice Movement Therapy, and in the late ’90s joined The Shout, the pioneering vocal choir founded by composers Orlando Gough and Richard Chew.
Carol continues to perform and record, with a devoted following across the UK and Europe – a singer whose voice carries the whole history of British soul, blues and jazz within it.
In recent years Carol has added author to her many roles, publishing her acclaimed memoir The Singer’s Tale – described by reviewers as “a wild, candid, sometimes unsparing journey” – which she has also brought to the stage as a one-woman show, performed at venues including Ronnie Scott’s. She remains a vital presence on the London jazz scene, performing at clubs such as the Vortex and appearing alongside long-time collaborator Ian Shaw, with whom she recorded the 1990 duo album Lazy Blue Eyes. More than five decades in, Carol continues to sing for her supper – a voice that carries the whole history of British soul, blues and jazz within it.
