Acker Bilk has died

[John Wright]

....... Like Kenny Ball, I've never felt Acker Bilk really had much connection with true jazz and when he did, it was only in the more modern collaborations where the Trad element had diminished. Sorry if this seems harsh. This kind of stuff is more pop music than genuine jazz.

...... He may have eventually become more credible yet I think the whole "Trad jazz" boom casts a shadow over the music insofar that it distorts the wider public perception of what the music really is about.

I'll await the brickbats........

I think I agree with everything you have said Ian. My friends (and some of you here) know me well as a 78rpm old jazz and dance band record collector and have often asked me why I wasn't into Acker Bilk or Chris Barber who I could see in live performance. I usually could not give them a convincing answer, I'd just mumble about 'commercial pop, not real jazz' and said I preferred many local pub jazz bands who might sound rough but were playing more in the spirit of 'original' jazz, playing mainly old arrangements with their attempts at solos/breaks thrown in. I have been to a Chris Barber gig once, and a Humph gig (with Ronnie Scott, Kathy Stobart and Jack Parnell) again just once, and felt no great desire to go to others, but very much enjoyed the local Monday Night jazz down the pub when we had that.

RIP Acker.

[kernelbogey]

[...] I'll await the brickbats........

I anticipated, in my opening post, that those more knowledgeable than I might not revere Acker Bilk's version of trad jazz. Nonetheless, he made an impact on me as a mid-teenager in the 50s/60s. So I honour him as someone who gave me great pleasure - indeed joy - at that time of my life. I doubt that I could listen to the Beatles' She Loves You more than once now (not having heard it in decades) whereas back then it was for me a joyfully cheering disc that I could happily listen to over and over. (I remember a pirate station playing it more than twelve times consecutively!) Our musical tastes as adults are, I suggest, built on earlier foundations that we may now not wish to excavate and examine. And why shouldn't they change? (I feel much that way about Tchaikowsky's symphonies, to which I once was devoted.) So thanks, Ian, John and others, for comments. And - yes - RIP Acker.

[Serial_Apologist]

I anticipated, in my opening post, that those more knowledgeable than I might not revere Acker Bilk's version of trad jazz. Nonetheless, he made an impact on me as a mid-teenager in the 50s/60s. So I honour him as someone who gave me great pleasure - indeed joy - at that time of my life. I doubt that I could listen to the Beatles' She Loves You more than once now (not having heard it in decades) whereas back then it was for me a joyfully cheering disc that I could happily listen to over and over. (I remember a pirate station playing it more than twelve times consecutively!) Our musical tastes as adults are, I suggest, built on earlier foundations that we may now not wish to excavate and examine. And why shouldn't they change? (I feel much that way about Tchaikowsky's symphonies, to which I once was devoted.) So thanks, Ian, John and others, for comments. And - yes - RIP Acker.

I think some of those early foundation as probably stronger than otherwise - that being the case for me at any rate - otherwise we'd all still be listening to "She Loves You". In that period when pop meant Adam Faith, luckily I had my parent's love of the classics to build on; discovering jazz for me was an important act of individuation, as Jung might have it.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

A few months back a friend lent me the DVD of "Beat Girl" (early 60s) which starred Adam Faith as a angry rebel beat yooof (avec guitar and invisible band) and is now a cult classic. I heard a interview with Adam RIP where he said he could have been the British James Dean "if only"...not on the strength of that Sunshine!

My partner and I bumped into him in Harrods one Christmas years ago..."he's very small in real life" was her opinion as he bounced off. And he was.


BN

[kernelbogey]

[...]Adam Faith as a angry rebel beat yooof (avec guitar and invisible band) and is now a cult classic. I heard a interview with Adam RIP where he said he could have been the British James Dean "if only"...not on the strength of that Sunshine!

Well, and didn't we think young Cliff, with Move It etc something of the James Dean, back then...?

[gurnemanz]

Only 12 when Stranger on the Shore + TV prog came out. I think I probably liked his music and remember getting gently mocked for this by my seriously jazz-loving elder sister, 18 years old, and already a frequenter of the 100 Club. She did eventually convert me to "proper" jazz - I recall a Sidney Bechet LP playing a part there. Bilk was a bit of a cult figure in a middle-of-the-road sort of way, often on TV. Maybe his slightly wacky name helped, (similar to Bilko - another cult of the period). I can remember a school friend amusing us my turning his school jacket inside out and creating a passable Acker Bilk striped waistcoat effect.

[Serial_Apologist]

A few months back a friend lent me the DVD of "Beat Girl" (early 60s) which starred Adam Faith as a angry rebel beat yooof (avec guitar and invisible band) and is now a cult classic.


BN

Is that the one with the scene in which a cuckolded girlfriend finds out, and confronts AF with "You baaastard!" I remember us chauvinistic 14-year olds laughing our socks off at that one.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Yes, the rich girl in it decides to strip to prove she's "with it" and "no square, man." Adam mumbles "Go girl go!" and one of the other girls shouts, "Strip like a Frenchie!" No doubt in the belief that only flirty French femmes would rip their clothes off to the wildness of the John Barry Seven! Vik Flick on guitar. (sic)

The film was released after a load of cuts as an "X". If only they had cut Adam completely and left more posh Beat Girls in it ....

BN

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

yeah beat was the new gap year for posh girls way back then eh .....

he could hold his own could Acker

[Ian Thumwood]

I've never quite understood the appeal of George Lewis and find his regular going out of tune a bit disconcerting. His appeal seems to typify the differences between Trad and Moderns in the 50's / 60's whereby the former preferred something earthy and "authentic" whereas the latter seemed to prefer a more technical approach. Thankfully this split no longer exists with the avant garde of the 60's re-connecting with the music's origins. I bet that the reaction to this duet would have been more favourable amongst more modern fans twenty years afterwards.

It's weird how Lewis seemed to capture the imagination of British jazz fans as he seems almost to throw-back to the jazz of Freddie keppard's era or the kind of jazz that missed out being recorded. Tracks like Keppard's "Salty dog" and "Stockyard Stomp" seem to have a nostalgic appeal for them because of their poor acoustic recording which does add to their magic. When you hear a contemporary like Lewis, it is a little bit disappointing when exposed by the better recording quality. The clip doesn't seem to offer any suggestion of Bilk being inferior to Lewis but I bet fans at the time would have been in heated debate after hearing this double bill. I concur with Calum that Bilk was not slouch on that clip but the relaxed groove is something that I found more memorable. So much for stiff, British rhythm sections!