Somersault / Doffing

Helen Watson has one of the most distinctive and beguiling voices on the British roots music scene. These two classic albums, recorded for Fledg'ling Records in the late 1990s, are intriguing, magical collections of her jewel-like original songs and a gorgeous reading of songs by some of her favourite songwriters - including Junior Parker, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham and John Hiatt. This is two of Helen Watson's finest albums united in a splendid new 2CD set.Helen Watson's Somersault from 1997 is an intriguing, magical collection of her jewel-like original songs and a gorgeous reading of the Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham classic Out Of Left Field. The album presents a previously unrecorded side of her music. Doffing, first released in 1999 saw one of Britain's most distinctive and acclaimed voices pay tribute to some of her favourite songs and songwriters. An extraordinary album, from an idiosyncratic reading of Junior Parker's Mystery Train, through the exuberant high jinx of the Maddox Brother's I Want To Live & Love to the deep soul of Paul Kelly's Personally and the beautiful acapella take on Springsteen's Ain't Got You.CD1: Help You Forget / Smoke Signals / You'll Never Go Away / Out Of Left Field / Close To Making Sense / Ground Floor Flat / Value / Home Before You Know It / Flag / All Weather Girls / Kicking In My Stall / Wasted On Me / Lowish Time CD2: Keep What I Got / Personally / Mystery Train / I Want To Live And Love / Cruisin' / I Thank The Lord My Prayers / Losing The Feeling / Barefootin' / Icy Blue Heart / Ain't You Got / Have Mercy / I'm Your Puppet / That's All It Took / I Thought About You / Lush Life