April 7, 2007
PUT YOUR DAD'S RECORDS ON...:
Corinne Bailey Rae, ever contradictory: The singer has an indie-rock past, jazz leanings and uncalculated songs (Ann Powers, April 2, 2007, LA Times)
People have been making assumptions about Corinne Bailey Rae since she was a child. The 28-year-old English singer-songwriter grew up in Leeds, the oldest daughter of a father from the Caribbean and a mother from Yorkshire."I remember in grade school, a teacher was doing an assembly on Bob Marley," she said when she was in town to attend the Grammys as a nominee in several categories, including best new artist. "He called all the black children out of the class -- we thought we'd done something wrong. And he said, 'I need one of you to bring in a Bob Marley record.' He asked me, 'Does your dad have any?' I said, 'No, but my mum has!' "
She laughed. "My dad hates reggae. He's from St. Kitts, which is a really British island, with Victorian values. He doesn't have a strong Caribbean accent. He didn't play Caribbean music in the house. He was really into soul music, collecting soul 45s."
Rae apparently inherited her father's contradictory gene.