George Shearing: Jazz Piano Legend: 1919-2011

Thursday, February 17, 2011

SONGS I LOVE:

Gone! One of the greatest musicians, truly. I often listened to him in the 50s on the family radio and was the first time I heard Lullaby Of Birdland. The radio announcer (we call them DJs now) would always say, "Ladies and gentlemen, here's the George Shearing Quintet with, Lullaby Of Birdland." It could be from the BBC? Can't remember.

PARKER, ARMSTRONG, ELLINGTON:

It was one of the first few jazz standards I was introduced to, composed by Shearing himself in 1952. I later found out that the title referred to Charlie 'Bird' Parker, another jazz great who was together with Louis Armstrong and 'Duke' Ellington.

COLE, LEE, TORME:

Britisher Sir George Shearing, who was blind, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II lately. He was one of the best jazz pianist and concert performer having recorded over 300 songs. Legends who had appeared and recorded with him would include Nat King Cole (image), Miss Peggy Lee and Mel Torme.

UNIQUE SHEARING SOUND:

As a teenager he received only 3 years of formal training at a school for the blind. He was a natural and his musical education came from listening to Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. He developed the special 'Shearing sound' characterised by the distinctive sound of the Glen Miller big band.

SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN:

Also recorded by Shearing, Russ Hamilton and so many others, September In The Rain (1937), is another personal favourite. His repertoire of songs would definitely have been played in the dance cabarets of the Great World, Happy (Gay) World and New World amusement parks in Singapore in the late 50s and 60s in Singapore.

Images: Google Search.

Original Article (Website/Newspaper Information): Andy Lim

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Medical Doctor Lee YS, Pop Singer From Penang

Thursday, December 2, 2010

DR LEE Y. S. HAILS FROM PENANG, MALAYSIA:

Dr Lee Yan San commented about his friend Russ Hamilton - 60s UK pop singer who made it big with, We Will Make Love - when he visited this blog and saw the postings. I replied to thank him and we kept in touch via email. When I requested for Yan San's home recordings, he was kind enough to send me two CDs: (1) Russ Hamilton songs and (2), his own (above image) entitled, For Baby. Below are extracts of his note, sent on March 22nd, 2010. Dr. Lee explains why and how he made the compilation:

A Serious President?

"I also include the 'commercially' made CD for you since your interest in songs seems to be rather similar to mine. I made the CD (after my term as President of our Malaysian Medical Association) to give to friends since those who do not know me well thought me to be a very serious person (which I need to be when carrying out my duties), so I thought I would give them a taste of my lighter and fun side.

Roland Workstation Mixer:

My daughter is very musical and helps me with the backing vocals and the strings which I have to record over 3-4 tracks with my Roland workstation mixer to make it sound like an orchestral backing. My lead guitarist and good friend, Frank Rozells, who is presently working in New Dehli came to visit me recently and we had a jam session in my house. I enclose our latest effort for you.
Violin and Guitar Sounds:

As usual my daughter puts in her violin music to enrich the sound. I also enclose a duet I did with my friend, so that you can hear him perform too. He is very good and also an excellent guitarist. He is doing very well in India but used to play in hotels in Penang, Malaysia."

The Vocalists and Instrumentalists:

The instrumental group that helped Dr. Lee (vocals/harmonica) with his home jam sessions are: Frankie Rozel (lead guitar/harmony), Dr. Lee Hai Leong (bass guitar), Suedy Suwendy (harmony), Lee Hai Lin (violin/vocals), Clifford Cheam (rhythm guitar), John Lim (steel guitar), Michael Kay (keyboard), Lee Hai Choo (keyboard), Wayne, Noel and Rachel (music mixers).

CD Statistics and Songs Recorded:

The CD was recorded between 1985 - 1997 and re-compiled in May 1999. Songs are: Lonely Christmas, Leavin's Not The Only Way To Go, Sadie, The Cleaning Lady, I'll Never Find Another You, Nowhere Man, It's Alright, Filks On The Road, I Did What I Did For Maria, Rhythm Of The Rain, Exclusively Yours, Paloma Blanca, Mr Tambourine Man, Lodi, No Secrets, Standing At The End Of The Line, Mission Bell, Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone, For Baby And I'm Sorry.

Trivia:

Any Singapore medical doctors who are 60s pop singers too?

I know one Member of Parliament who has an active guitar group. Do you know who this person is?

You can read more about Lee Yan San if you click his name below:

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(9) From Dr. Lee, Penang With Russ Hamilton - The Malaysian, UK, Sing60s Music Connection

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A note about Russ Hamilton from Dr. Lee Yan San, Medical Practitioner, Penang, Malaysia.

Dr. Lee said...
"Thanks for your nice tribute to Russ Hamilton. Russ is an exceptionally great and friendly gentleman. I am so glad to have met him (image: Russ Hamilton, sister, Dr Lee, family) and done a long interview with him for our Malaysian radio station few years back. We became close friends.

I was so sad when his twin sister contacted me to let me know that Russ had passed away. He once told me that We Will Make Love was his most successful song and of the songs he wrote, he loved Little One most... a lullaby he wrote for his niece in Canada. He said he wrote and sang Reprieve of Tom Dooley after meeting his friend Lonni Donegan at the studio when he was recording the hit Tom Dooley.

He had also given me his unreleased songs which are now a real treasure to me. I have collected all his released songs and made into a CD to keep. I contributed to his biography at Wikipedia some time ago."

March 3, 2010 4:14 PM

Thank you, Dr. Lee for writing. I must say that Russ Hamilton and his songs will always be with us as we remember 60s music. He's one of the greatest singers really. It would be wonderful to have a copy of his CD with the unreleased songs as a souvenir.

Regards,

Andy Lim

(You can access Dr. Lee's blog by clicking on his name above.)

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A note about RUSS HAMILTON IN PASSING - From The Original Chevelles, The Echoes, UK.

This comment about RUSS HAMILTON appeared on my posting which I missed reading:

Anonymous said...
"Just a note about Russ Hamilton aka Ronald Hulme, he was a good friend to myself and my band, he helped us get into the business, we were supposed to see Russ last year in November but his nephew called us in October and told us about his passing, he was a great friend, a mentor and an all around nice guy. He is truly missed but never forgotten, whenever we perform we always do Rainbow and dedicate it to Russ."

Sincerely,

The Original Chevelles, The Echoes. Saturday, May 09, 2009
British 60s Pop Influence With Russ Hamilton
, (Original Posting)

Thank you for writing. I must apologise for not reading nor replying your note when you sent it.

Regards,

Andy

March 3rd, 2010.

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British 60s Pop Influence With Russ Hamilton

Saturday, May 9, 2009

,

Russ Hamilton was a superstar in Singapore 60s. His songs were so dear to the hearts of many Singaporeans that his records sold out within days.

In the UK, it was "We Will Make Love" that caught record buyers attention, whereas in the USA, it was the flip, "Rainbow". Imagine a single reaching the top 10 in the UK while its other side made waves across the waters. "Rainbow" reached Number 4 in the US**.

He received his Golden Disc for a million copies sold, very soon after its release on Friday, October 4th, 1957. In Singapore, many of his songs he released reached the Hit Parade Charts and "WWML" stayed on for some time.

Russ Hamilton composed his own songs, and one was written for his girl. "Wedding Ring" managed the top 20 but was "insufficient to consolidate his position as a major pop star."

His fortunes with his hit songs faded after a while and were not on the airwaves in recent years. Apparently not not only were the songs "unfashionable in style, but the meaning of the lyrics had suffered from the changes in word usage."

Singapore youths today may find his songs 'mushy'. Seniors though, are still playing the beautiful ballads with the lilt, soft and quiet that only Russ Hamilton could deliver. All his songs are classics now, all. Some of them are, "*My Mother's Eyes," "I Had A Dream", "*Little One" and "I Still Belong To You". Russ Hamilton was backed by Johnny Gregory & His Orchestra. Golden oldies for that relaxing evening.

(When my grandson Joshua was only 2 years old, he recognised many nursery rhymes that I used to sing before his afternoon naps. But he knows his pop songs better and learnt "Little One" before others. Meaningful lyrics and soothing music make this one of the best songs for little children. Try it out because Joshua is asleep within 10 minutes.)

* Children songs.

**Cliff Richard never achieved this kind of hit status in the United States. In 1960, he toured with The Shadows in the U.S. and were well-received; however, lacklustre support and distribution from the record company proved costly, and the chance was lost.

(Extracts from: 45rpm.org.uk, Wikipedia and Oriole Record cover EP - 7005 literature/image.)

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