When Judy Dyble died aged 71 on July 12, 2020, the progressive world lost one of its shining lights. The ex-Fairport Convention and Trader Horne singer and instrumentalist was loved in rock and folk circles alike, having also collaborated with Robert Fripp, Tim Bowness and late Big Big Train vocalist David Longdon. Soon after her passing, Sid Smith looked back on her life.
Judy Dyble once told me that although she’d left music behind, music kept on trying to find her. The comment was typical of her self-effacing personality, downplaying her contribution to art in various lineups and combinations. In discussing her time with Fairport Convention, the pre-King Crimson era Giles, Giles, & Fripp, the slow-burning cultish success of Trader Horne or the late flowering of her solo career from the 00’s, Judy was always exceedingly generous about her collaborators past and present, frequently giving the impression that she couldn’t quite understand why all those people wanted her to work with them.
