Betsy Cook
Betsy Cook is an American-born singer, songwriter and musician. Since the late 1970s, she has worked mainly in the United Kingdom and collaborated with various British artists such as Gerry Rafferty, Ray Jackson, Lindisfarne, George Michael, Paul Young, Seal and Marc Almond. She later became affiliated with the acclaimed producer Trevor Horn and worked on several of his projects in the late 1980s and early 1990s before releasing her own album, The Girl Who Ate Herself, in 1992. As a songwriter, Cook was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1988 for the song "Telling Me Lies".
Career
Cook worked for many years as a session musician and backing vocalist for a variety of artists. Her earliest work was with Gerry Rafferty, providing backing vocals on his 1979 album Night Owl. The album was produced by the London-born producer Hugh Murphy, whom Cook married. The album also featured contributions from Richard Thompson and his wife Linda Thompson, with whom Cook would begin a working relationship. The same year, she also worked on albums by Mike Heron and the singer/comedian Richard Digance. Cook would work with Rafferty again as a backing vocalist on his 1980 album Snakes and Ladders, again produced by Hugh Murphy.
In 1981, Cook worked as a session musician for Bonnie Tyler,Sally Oldfield, and also for Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady, playing various keyboard instruments on his album Hard Station, which was also produced by Hugh Murphy. Cook would work with Brady again on his 1983 album True for You, on his 1984 live album Full Moon and again on his 1991 album Trick or Treat.