Acker Bilk: Difference between revisions

'''Bernard Stanley''' "'''Acker'''" '''Bilk''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014), known professionally as '''Acker Bilk''', was aan [[United Kingdom|British]]English [[clarinetist|clarinettist]] and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of [[goatee]], [[bowler hat]] and striped waistcoat.

Bilk's 1962[[1961]] instrumental tune "[[Stranger on the Shore]]" became the UK's biggest selling single of [[1962]]. It spent more than 50 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at number two, and was the second [[List of Billboard Hot 100 number-ones by British artists|No. 1 single in the United States by a British artist]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.regentcentre.co.uk/event/mr-acker-bilk-paramount-jazz-band |title=Mr. Acker Bilk & the Paramount Jazz Band |publisher=Regent Centre |access-date=3 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226135516/http://www.regentcentre.co.uk/event/mr-acker-bilk-paramount-jazz-band |archive-date=26 December 2008 }}</ref> In [[CHUM Chart|Canada]] it was number 4 for 4 weeks before peaking at number 3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/62-05-14-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - May 14, 1962}}</ref>

After returning from Germany, Bilk became based in [[Plaistow, Newham|Plaistow]], London, and his band played in London jazz clubs.<ref name=Bio/> It was from here that Bilk became part of the boom in [[trad jazz]] in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. In 1960, their single "Summer Set" (a pun on their home county), co-written by Bilk and pianist Dave Collett, reached number five on the [[UK Singles Chart]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Guinness British Hit Singles| first1=Dave |last1=Roberts| page=65| year=2009| publisher=Guinness Superlatives}}</ref> and began a run of 11 chart hit singles. ("Summer Set" was also used prominently in [[Daniel Farson]]'s controversial 1960 television documentary ''Living for Kicks'', a portrait of British teenage life at the time).<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nvA1MSk3K2A Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20130814165947/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvA1MSk3K2A&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvA1MSk3K2A|title=Living For Kicks 1960|access-date=25 July 2021|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1961 "Acker Bilk and His Paramount Jazz Band" appeared at the [[Royal Variety Performance]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1741583/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_11|title=The Royal Variety Performance 1961 (TV Movie 1961)|date=12 November 1961|website=IMDb.com|access-date=3 November 2014}}</ref>

Bilk was not an internationally known musician until 1962, when the experimental use of a string ensemble on one of his albums and the inclusion of a composition of his own as its keynote piece won him an audience outside the UK. He had composed a melody, entitled "Jenny" after his daughter, but was asked to change the title to "[[Stranger on the Shore]]" for use in a British television series of the same name. He went on to record it as the title track of a new album in which his deep and quavering clarinet was backed by the [[Leon Young (musician)|Leon Young]] String Chorale.<ref>Godbolt, Jim. ''A History of Jazz in Britain, 1950 – 70.'' London: Quartet, (1989), {{ISBN|0-7043-2526-8}}</ref>

Bilk's success tapered off when [[British Invasion|British rock and roll]] made its big international impact beginning in 1964 and he shifted direction to the cabaret circuit. However, he did record a series of well-regarded albums in the mid-1960s. Three of them, including the 1965 collaboration ''Together'', with the Danish jazz pianist and composer [[Bent Fabric]] ("The[[Alley Cat (song)|Alley Cat]]"), were also released successfully in the United States on the [[Atlantic Records]] subsidiary [[Atco Records|Atco]]. In 1968 the album ''Blue Acker'', produced by [[Denis Preston]] and with arrangements by [[Stan Tracey]], illustrated that Bilk remained highly regarded as a musician, even by those (like Tracey) on the "modern jazz" side of things. Duncan Heining rates it as "one of the highlights of British jazz of the period".<ref>Heining, Duncan. ''[https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/trad-dads/ Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers: British Jazz, 1960-1975]'', (2012), p.23</ref>

In 1954 Bilk married his childhood sweetheart, Jean Hawkins,<ref name=independent/> whom he met in the same class at school.<ref>{{cite web |title=acker bilk and jean bilk |url=https://www.famousfix.com/topic/acker-bilk-and-jean-bilk}}</ref> The couple had two children:, Jenny and Pete. After living near London in [[Potters Bar]] for many years, the couple retired to [[Pensford]].<ref name=TiB80/>

Bilk was part of a consortium which took over the [[Oxford Cheetahs]] [[Motorcycle speedway|speedway]] team in 1972. They were rebranded as Oxford Rebels as part of the takeover.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.speedwayplus.com/SveinKaasa.shtml|title=Svein Kasa|website=Speedway Plus|access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>Bamford, R & Shailes, G (2007). “The Story of Oxford Speedway”. {{ISBN|978-0-7524-4161-0}}</ref>

Bilk has been described as the "Great Master of the Clarinet".<ref>{{cite web|title=Acker Bilk|url=http://www.storyvillerecords.com/artists/acker-bilk|publisher=Storyville|access-date=21 April 2014}}</ref> "Stranger on the Shore"&nbsp;– which he was once quoted as calling "my old-age pension"&nbsp;– remains a standard of jazz and popular music alike.<ref>{{Cite book|title = All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music|editor-last = Bogdanov (ed.)|editor-first = Vladimir|publisher = AMG|year = 2002|location = San Francisco|pages = 110}}</ref>

|''London isIs myMy cupCup of teaTea''

| ''The One forFor Me''

|align="center"| —104

* [https://www.ackerbilk.org Official site]

[[Category:20th-century BritishEnglish male musicians]]

[[Category:21st-century BritishEnglish male musicians]]

[[Category:BritishEnglish blacksmiths]]