I met him once. The old Queens University Fringe Festival in Belfast...which ran in parallel with the Queens' Festival...put him on on the last night of the Fringe in the Green Room in the Europa Hotel. I and some of the other Fringe staff were working at the Neil Innes gig up in the Students' Union, and after that was over we all ended up down at the Europa to see Aker....
...and we stayed on in the Residents' Bar, drinking with him and Neil and Neil's manager Steve Mather. God, that was a hard night's partying...
At about two Aker disappeared up to bed.
At about three he reappeared out of the lift, still carrying a bottle of whisky, circled round the spiral staircase down to the ground floor twice, went down it, and vanished into the middle of early 1980s' Belfast - still in his spangly waistcoat!!!
Apparently he missed his flight the next day...AND the one booked for him the day after as well!
I remember his clarinet (or whichever woodwind instrument it was) instrumental being a hit single in about 1976. As anachronistic as it was, I really enjoyed it. It was such a soothing pleasant melody.
In fairness it doesn't come across that well on a tambourine
Lol! But to set the record straight I got as far as grade 6 on the clarinet. 'twere a long time ago though. I realised there were easier and more reliable ways to make money
Kenny Ball passed recently now Acker, maybe only Chris Barber left as a big name from that late 50s - 1960s Brit Trad Jazz era.
He appeared with his band on Jools's Holland's Later only last year still sounding good. Sad to hear about Acker Bilk. Popular at a time when the public respected jazz musicians more with some of them having success in the charts. It's impossible to imagine that happening now. RIP Acker.
While Stranger On The Shore will always be associated with him as a theme tune, in some ways it's a shame it will be mainly used to remember him. Lovely melody, but didn't stretch his talent,. He was renowned for his speed and register transitions when playing trad jazz.
I and my future wife as teenagers in the late fifties, used to go to different traditional jazz clubs each week. The favourite bands toured these clubs regularly.
Our favourite was the Eel Pie Island Hotel at Twickenham. It was a pretty run down place even then, like something out of a Tennessee Williams play.
We saw Acker Bilk there a few times.
We didn't see him again until well into this century, at the Lowry, Manchester, where he was appearing with the bands of Chris Barber and Kenny Ball.
He was signing CDs after the show in the foyer. I had a quick word with him. I jokingly said "We try to see you whenever we can." He looked pleased at that. Then I added, "The last time was in the fifties at Eel Pie Island" He looked genuinely amazed, laughed and said "That takes me back!"
I've his first album, somewhere. A ten inch LP "Mr Acker Bilk Presents."
Liked the collars on the band's shirts in the cover photo.
He was a regular on telly when I was younger and Jazz was a bit more popular than it is now !
Can anyone remember the TV show that had Stranger On The Shore as it's theme tune..........actually the TV show might have been called Stranger on The Shore......
The TV show with Richard Vernon was one of my earliest childhood memories. I have checked it on Wikipedia and it only ran to five episodes. Strange what sticks when you are a kid.
He is perhaps best remembered* as the punchline to a joke.
A woman having a bath gets her toe stuck in the tap. All the best efforts by her and her husband fail to remove it, so in desperation they call a plumber. In order to preserve at least some of her modesty her husband gives her his bowler hat to place over her privates. The plumber comes in, takes one look and says "I can free you madam, but I'm afraid Acker Bilk's had it."
Comments
...and we stayed on in the Residents' Bar, drinking with him and Neil and Neil's manager Steve Mather. God, that was a hard night's partying...
At about two Aker disappeared up to bed.
At about three he reappeared out of the lift, still carrying a bottle of whisky, circled round the spiral staircase down to the ground floor twice, went down it, and vanished into the middle of early 1980s' Belfast - still in his spangly waistcoat!!!
Apparently he missed his flight the next day...AND the one booked for him the day after as well!
And knew how to spell his name. ;-)
like you and all the others in the thread, doh
Indeed.
Your loss.
But then why would we expect an X-Factor fan to know anything about good music?
RIP Acker. British Jazz Legend.
While Stranger On The Shore will always be associated with him as a theme tune, in some ways it's a shame it will be mainly used to remember him. Lovely melody, but didn't stretch his talent,. He was renowned for his speed and register transitions when playing trad jazz.
Our favourite was the Eel Pie Island Hotel at Twickenham. It was a pretty run down place even then, like something out of a Tennessee Williams play.
We saw Acker Bilk there a few times.
We didn't see him again until well into this century, at the Lowry, Manchester, where he was appearing with the bands of Chris Barber and Kenny Ball.
He was signing CDs after the show in the foyer. I had a quick word with him. I jokingly said "We try to see you whenever we can." He looked pleased at that. Then I added, "The last time was in the fifties at Eel Pie Island" He looked genuinely amazed, laughed and said "That takes me back!"
I've his first album, somewhere. A ten inch LP "Mr Acker Bilk Presents."
Liked the collars on the band's shirts in the cover photo.
Great tone, sad loss.
I think Vera Lynn was the first Brit to top the American chart but Acker was the first in the pop era.
The TV show with Richard Vernon was one of my earliest childhood memories. I have checked it on Wikipedia and it only ran to five episodes. Strange what sticks when you are a kid.
A woman having a bath gets her toe stuck in the tap. All the best efforts by her and her husband fail to remove it, so in desperation they call a plumber. In order to preserve at least some of her modesty her husband gives her his bowler hat to place over her privates. The plumber comes in, takes one look and says "I can free you madam, but I'm afraid Acker Bilk's had it."
*well, not really
Stranger On The Shore was the number one on the very first Sunday chart show when Pick of the Pops moved to Sundays on 7 January 1962.