TINA LAWTON .... continued
Her second LP, titled Singing Bird, appeared approximately 6 months after the first and, once again, the choice of material reflected her deep and passionate interest in British folk song. Though Tina preferred her first album, public and critic alike received Singing Bird just as enthusiastically. Adelaide reviewer, Graham Reade, was in no doubt that she “is this country's best female singer of folk songs”. Again, she was supported on the album by harpist Hew Jones and also by the flautist Russell King.
 Her third and final LP, Fair & Tender, was considered by many to be her best, revealing a mature development in her voice and in her interpretation of the songs. While the rich tradition of British folk song again supplied the material, the musical arrangements, this time provided by jazz musician Don Burrows, all reflected a greater sophistication in her approach. Burrows himself played flute, while George Golla (guitar), Lal Kuring (cello) and Herbie Marks (virginal, piano accordion) made up the highly accomplished musical support.
Her mother remembered Tina's enormous appreciation for her accompanists, to whom she would send 'thank-you' notes adorned with her sketches. Don Burrows recalled after her death how “she would often drop me a little 'thank you' note, always with some funny little drawing. How I wish I had kept them! Tina was such a good person to work with; she always knew exactly what she wanted in the music. This type of professionalism is only found in real artists and 'near enough' was never 'good enough' for her.”
Tina made at least two concert trips to Vietnam. The first was a brief tour under the auspices of the Australian Forces Overseas Fund as a member (with Tim McNamara and Lee Gallagher) of an entertainment group to perform for the Australian troops soon after their arrival in the war zone. In doing so she alienated some of her more radical folksinger friends with whom she had performed at 'protest' concerts but, though hurt by some of their comments, she believed what she was doing was right and went ahead.
On her return from this first tour she was interviewed on Adelaide television by Joan Disher and performed the song 'The Cruel War' with a depth of passion and conviction that many have never forgotten.
During this and her later visit her letters and sketchbooks were filled with acute observations on the suffering of the local population and the young boys, American and Australian, sent to kill, die and be maimed in the jungles of Vietnam.
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