Georgie Fame
Encyclopedia
Georgie Fame is a British
rhythm and blues
and jazz
singer and keyboard
player. The one-time rock and roll
tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits
, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison
and Bill Wyman
.
in Pwllheli
, North Wales
he was offered a job there by the band leader, early British rock'n'roll star Rory Blackwell
.
At sixteen years of age, Fame went to London and, on the recommendation of Lionel Bart
, entered into a management agreement with Larry Parnes
, who had given new stage names to such artists as Marty Wilde
and Billy Fury
. Fame later recalled that Parnes had given him an ultimatum over his forced change of name:
Over the following year he toured the UK playing beside Wilde, Joe Brown
, Gene Vincent
, Eddie Cochran
and others. Fame played piano for Billy Fury in his backing band The Blue Flames. When the backing band got the sack at the end of 1961, the band were re-billed as "Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames" and went on to enjoy great success with a repertoire largely of rhythm and blues numbers.
and such blues
musicians as Willie Mabon
and Mose Allison
, and was one of the first white artists to be influenced by the ska
music he heard in Jamaican cafes in and around Ladbroke Grove
. Black American soldiers who visited the Flamingo Club
, where the band had a three-year residency, would play him the latest jazz and blues releases from America, "Midnight Special" by Jimmy Smith
, "Grooving With Jug" by Gene Ammons
and Richard "Groove" Holmes, and "Green Onions
" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
. Fame Later recalled;
In August 1963 the band took a weekly Friday night spot at "The Scene" on Great Windmill Street
. In September 1963 the band recorded its debut album Rhythm And Blues At the Flamingo live at the Flamingo Club. Produced by Ian Samwell, who had previously played with Cliff Richard
, and engineered by Glyn Johns
, the album was released, in place of a planned single, on the EMI
Columbia
label. It failed to reach the chart but the October 1964 follow-up Fame At Last achieved No. 15 on the UK album chart. In 1964 Fame and the band appeared on five episodes of ITV
's Ready Steady Go!
.
When Ronan O'Rahilly
, who then managed him, could not get Fame's first record played by the BBC
and was also turned down by Radio Luxembourg
, he announced he would start his own radio station
in order to promote the record. The station became the offshore pirate radio
station, Radio Caroline
.
Later Fame enjoyed regular chart success with singles, having three Top 10 hits, which all made number one in the UK Singles Chart
. His version of "Yeh Yeh
", released on 14 January 1965, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart and a total of 12 weeks on the chart. The following-up single, in 1965, was "In The Meantine" which also charted in both UK and US. Fame made his US television debut that same year on the ABC Hullabaloo
series. Fame's single "Get Away
", released on 21 July 1966, spent one week at No. 1 on the UK chart and 11 weeks on the chart in total. The song, originally recorded with a view to using it as a television jingle for a petrol advertisement, was later used as the theme tune for a quiz show on Australian television. At this point Fame disbanded his band and went solo.
song "Sunny
" made No. 13 in the UK charts in September 1966. The follow-up, "Sitting In The Park", made No. 12. His greatest chart success was "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde
" in 1967, which was a number one hit in the United Kingdom
, and No.7 in the United States
. "Yeh Yeh" and "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs
.
, ex-keyboard player of The Animals
, in 1971, and they worked together extensively for a time. In 1974, Fame reformed the Blue Flames and also began to sing with Europe's finest orchestras and big bands, a musical tradition he still currently pursues. During the 1970s, he also wrote jingles for several UK radio and TV commercials, and composed the music for the feature films Entertaining Mr Sloane
and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972).
band, as well as his musical producer
. Fame also played keyboards and sang harmony vocals on such tracks as "In the Days before Rock 'n' Roll" from the album Enlightenment, whilst still recording
and touring as an artist
in his own right. Fame played organ on all of the Van Morrison albums between 1989 and 1997, and starred at Terry Dillon's 60th birthday party on 10 May 2008. Morrison refers to Fame in the line "I don't run into Mr. Clive" in his song "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore" featured on the 2008 Keep It Simple
album. Fame appeared as a special guest on Morrison's television concert show presented by BBC Four
series on 25 April and 27 April 2008.
Fame was also founding member of friend Bill Wyman
's early band Rhythm Kings, touring with the band. He has also worked with Count Basie
, Eric Clapton
, Muddy Waters
, Joan Armatrading
and The Verve
.
Fame has frequently played residences at jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's
. He has also played organ on Starclub's
album. He was the headline act on the Sunday night at the Jazz World stage at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival
, this following a headline gig the night before at the "Midsummer Music @ Spencers" festival in Essex.
On 18 April 2010, Fame, together with his two sons Tristan Powell (guitar) and James Powell (drums), performed at the Live Room at Twickenham Stadium
, as part of the 10th birthday celebrations of "The Eel Pie Club". Part of the proceeds from the concert will benefit The Otakar Kraus
Trust, which provides music and voice therapy for children and young people with physical and mental difficulties.
The trio performed later that same year at the opening night at Towersey
Festival.
Fame has made several albums on his own Three Line Whip label since the late 1990s, mostly new original compositions with a jazz/R&B framework.
Viscount Castlereagh and was believed to be heir to the marquessate. When tests determined that the child was actually Fame's, the Londonderrys divorced. The couple had one son, James, after their marriage. Nicolette Powell died on 13 August 1993, after jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge
.
and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation, and a supporter of The Otakar Kraus Music Trust.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
player. The one-time rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
.
Early life
Fame took piano lessons from the age of seven and after leaving Leigh Central County Secondary School at 15, he worked for a brief period in a cotton weaving mill and played piano for a band called The Dominoes in the evenings. After taking part in a singing contest at the Butlins Holiday CampButlins
Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....
in Pwllheli
Pwllheli
Pwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a population of 3,861, of which a large proportion, 81 per cent, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones -...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
he was offered a job there by the band leader, early British rock'n'roll star Rory Blackwell
Rory Blackwell
Rory Blackwell was a British rock and roll musician, bandleader of The Blackjacks, singer, drummer and songwriter.-Biography:...
.
At sixteen years of age, Fame went to London and, on the recommendation of Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
, entered into a management agreement with Larry Parnes
Larry Parnes
Laurence Maurice "Larry" Parnes was an English pop manager and impresario. He has been described as "the first major British rock manager... Parnes' stable encompassed most of the most successful pre-Beatles British rock singers."...
, who had given new stage names to such artists as Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...
and Billy Fury
Billy Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
. Fame later recalled that Parnes had given him an ultimatum over his forced change of name:
Over the following year he toured the UK playing beside Wilde, Joe Brown
Joe Brown (singer)
Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...
, Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
, Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
and others. Fame played piano for Billy Fury in his backing band The Blue Flames. When the backing band got the sack at the end of 1961, the band were re-billed as "Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames" and went on to enjoy great success with a repertoire largely of rhythm and blues numbers.
The Blue Flames
Fame was influenced from early on by jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and such blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicians as Willie Mabon
Willie Mabon
Willie Mabon was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist.-Career:Born Willie James Mabon, and brought up in Hollywood, Memphis, Tennessee, he had become known as a singer and pianist by the time he moved to Chicago in 1942. He formed a group, the Blues Rockers, and in 1949 began recording...
and Mose Allison
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
, and was one of the first white artists to be influenced by the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
music he heard in Jamaican cafes in and around Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road in west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is also sometimes the name given informally to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles...
. Black American soldiers who visited the Flamingo Club
Flamingo Club (London)
The Flamingo Club was a nightclub that operated in Soho, London, between 1952 and the late 1960s. It was located at 33-37 Wardour Street from 1957 onwards, and played an important role in the development of British rhythm and blues and jazz....
, where the band had a three-year residency, would play him the latest jazz and blues releases from America, "Midnight Special" by Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, "Grooving With Jug" by Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
and Richard "Groove" Holmes, and "Green Onions
Green Onions
Green Onions is the debut album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in October of 1962. It reached number 33 on the Pop Albums chart in the month of its release...
" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones , Steve Cropper , Lewie Steinberg , and Al Jackson, Jr....
. Fame Later recalled;
In August 1963 the band took a weekly Friday night spot at "The Scene" on Great Windmill Street
Great Windmill Street
Great Windmill Street is a thoroughfare running north-south in Soho, London, England. It is dissected by Shaftesbury Avenue. The street took its name from the windmill on the site which was first recorded 1585 and was demolished during the 1690s...
. In September 1963 the band recorded its debut album Rhythm And Blues At the Flamingo live at the Flamingo Club. Produced by Ian Samwell, who had previously played with Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, and engineered by Glyn Johns
Glyn Johns
Glyn Johns is a musician, recording engineer and record producer.-Career:He has worked with such artists as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Easybeats, The Band, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Clash, The Steve Miller Band, Small Faces, Spooky Tooth, The Ozark...
, the album was released, in place of a planned single, on the EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Columbia
Columbia Graphophone Company
The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...
label. It failed to reach the chart but the October 1964 follow-up Fame At Last achieved No. 15 on the UK album chart. In 1964 Fame and the band appeared on five episodes of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
.
When Ronan O'Rahilly
Ronan O'Rahilly
Ronan O'Rahilly is an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline.O'Rahilly's parents owned the private port of Greenore in Carlingford Lough, County Louth...
, who then managed him, could not get Fame's first record played by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and was also turned down by Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
, he announced he would start his own radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in order to promote the record. The station became the offshore pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station, Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
.
Later Fame enjoyed regular chart success with singles, having three Top 10 hits, which all made number one in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. His version of "Yeh Yeh
Yeh Yeh
"Yeh Yeh" is a Latin soul tune that was written as an instrumental by Rodgers Grant and Pat Patrick and first recorded by Mongo Santamaría on his 1963 album Watermelon Man . Lyrics were written for it shortly thereafter by Jon Hendricks of the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. This version of...
", released on 14 January 1965, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart and a total of 12 weeks on the chart. The following-up single, in 1965, was "In The Meantine" which also charted in both UK and US. Fame made his US television debut that same year on the ABC Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo (TV series)
Hullabaloo is an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABC's American Bandstand.-Overview:...
series. Fame's single "Get Away
Getaway (Georgie Fame song)
"Getaway" is a number-one single for Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. It topped the UK singles chart in July 1966 for one week, and was the second number one for Georgie Fame, who would mark his final number-one single at the beginning of 1968 with "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde"....
", released on 21 July 1966, spent one week at No. 1 on the UK chart and 11 weeks on the chart in total. The song, originally recorded with a view to using it as a television jingle for a petrol advertisement, was later used as the theme tune for a quiz show on Australian television. At this point Fame disbanded his band and went solo.
Solo
Fames' version of the Bobby HebbBobby Hebb
Bobby Hebb was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his writing and recording of "Sunny".-Biography:...
song "Sunny
Sunny (song)
"Sunny" is the name of a song written by Bobby Hebb. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century."...
" made No. 13 in the UK charts in September 1966. The follow-up, "Sitting In The Park", made No. 12. His greatest chart success was "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde
The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde
"The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a song recorded by the English R&B singer Georgie Fame. Released as a single, the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 24 January 1968, remaining for one week...
" in 1967, which was a number one hit in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and No.7 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. "Yeh Yeh" and "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Price of Fame
Fame continued playing into the 1970s, having a hit, "Rosetta", with his close friend Alan PriceAlan Price
Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
, ex-keyboard player of The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, in 1971, and they worked together extensively for a time. In 1974, Fame reformed the Blue Flames and also began to sing with Europe's finest orchestras and big bands, a musical tradition he still currently pursues. During the 1970s, he also wrote jingles for several UK radio and TV commercials, and composed the music for the feature films Entertaining Mr Sloane
Entertaining Mr Sloane (film)
Entertaining Mr Sloane is a 1970 black comedy film directed by Douglas Hickox. The screenplay by Clive Exton is based on the 1964 play of the same title by Joe Orton...
and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972).
Recent work
Fame has collaborated with some of the most successful performers in the world of popular music. He has been a core member of Van Morrison'sVan Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
band, as well as his musical producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Fame also played keyboards and sang harmony vocals on such tracks as "In the Days before Rock 'n' Roll" from the album Enlightenment, whilst still recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
and touring as an artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
in his own right. Fame played organ on all of the Van Morrison albums between 1989 and 1997, and starred at Terry Dillon's 60th birthday party on 10 May 2008. Morrison refers to Fame in the line "I don't run into Mr. Clive" in his song "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore" featured on the 2008 Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple is the thirty-third solo studio album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on March 17, 2008 by Exile Productions Ltd./Polydor in the U.K.. and on the Lost Highway Records label on April 1, 2008, in the U.S....
album. Fame appeared as a special guest on Morrison's television concert show presented by BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
series on 25 April and 27 April 2008.
Fame was also founding member of friend Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
's early band Rhythm Kings, touring with the band. He has also worked with Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
and The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
.
Fame has frequently played residences at jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
. He has also played organ on Starclub's
Starclub
For the club in Hamburg, see Star-Club.Starclub was an early 1990s rock band from England.-The band:*Owen Vyse - Vocals, guitar, Hammond organ, keyboards*Steve French - Guitar, backing vocals*Julian Taylor - Bass, backing vocals*Alan White - Drums...
album. He was the headline act on the Sunday night at the Jazz World stage at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival 2009
The 2009 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24–29 June 2009.- Registration :In a similar way to previous festivals, tickets for the 2009 event required pre-registration through the festival website...
, this following a headline gig the night before at the "Midsummer Music @ Spencers" festival in Essex.
On 18 April 2010, Fame, together with his two sons Tristan Powell (guitar) and James Powell (drums), performed at the Live Room at Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...
, as part of the 10th birthday celebrations of "The Eel Pie Club". Part of the proceeds from the concert will benefit The Otakar Kraus
Otakar Kraus
Otakar Kraus was a Czech , operatic baritone and teacher.He was born in Prague and studied there with Konrad Wallerstein and in Milan with Fernando Carpi. He himself was the teacher of a number of important British basses, including Robert Lloyd, Willard White, John Tomlinson and Gwynne Howell...
Trust, which provides music and voice therapy for children and young people with physical and mental difficulties.
The trio performed later that same year at the opening night at Towersey
Towersey
Towersey is a village and civil parish about east of Thame in Oxfordshire. The village was part of Buckinghamshire for most of its history, but the boundary was moved in 1933 when Towersey was swapped for Kingsey.-History:...
Festival.
Fame has made several albums on his own Three Line Whip label since the late 1990s, mostly new original compositions with a jazz/R&B framework.
Personal life
In 1972, Fame married Nicolette (née Harrison), Marchioness of Londonderry, the former wife of the 9th Marquess. Lady Londonderry already had given birth to one of Fame's children during marriage to the marquess; the child, Tristan, bore the courtesy titleCourtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
Viscount Castlereagh and was believed to be heir to the marquessate. When tests determined that the child was actually Fame's, the Londonderrys divorced. The couple had one son, James, after their marriage. Nicolette Powell died on 13 August 1993, after jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. Brunel's colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds...
.
Views and advocacy
Fame is a supporter of the Countryside AllianceCountryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation, and a supporter of The Otakar Kraus Music Trust.
Singles
- "Do the Dog"/"Shop Around" (January 1964) ColumbiaColumbia Graphophone CompanyThe Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...
DB 7193 - "Do Re Mi"/"Green Onions" (Apr 1964) Columbia DB 7255
- "Bend a Little" (Jul 1964) Columbia DB 7328
- "Yeh YehYeh Yeh"Yeh Yeh" is a Latin soul tune that was written as an instrumental by Rodgers Grant and Pat Patrick and first recorded by Mongo Santamaría on his 1963 album Watermelon Man . Lyrics were written for it shortly thereafter by Jon Hendricks of the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. This version of...
" (Dec 1964) Columbia DB 7428 - "In the Meantime" (Mar 1965) Columbia DB 7494
- "Like We Used to Be" (Jul 1965) Columbia DB 7328
- "Something" (Oct 1965) Columbia DB 7727
- "Get AwayGetaway (Georgie Fame song)"Getaway" is a number-one single for Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. It topped the UK singles chart in July 1966 for one week, and was the second number one for Georgie Fame, who would mark his final number-one single at the beginning of 1968 with "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde"....
" (Jun 1966) Columbia DB 7946 - "SunnySunny (song)"Sunny" is the name of a song written by Bobby Hebb. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century."...
" (Sep 1966) Columbia DB 8015 - "Sitting in the Park" (Dec 1966) Columbia DB 8096
- "Because I Love You" (1967)
- "Try My World" (1967)
- "The Ballad of Bonnie and ClydeThe Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde"The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a song recorded by the English R&B singer Georgie Fame. Released as a single, the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 24 January 1968, remaining for one week...
" (1967) CBSColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
CBS 3124 - "Peaceful" (1969) CBS 4295
- "Seventh Son" (1969)
- "Rosetta" (with Alan PriceAlan PriceAlan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
) (1971) - "Ali Shuffle" (1974)
- "Yes Honestly" (1976)
- "Sweet Perfection" (1976)
- "New York Afternoon" (1986) (Mondo KaneMondo KaneMondo Kane is a German rock band from Cologne. Their sound has been shaped by musical traditions of the 1970s. The influences of the band, according to their own statements, are heavy metal and hard rock bands such as AC/DC, Danko Jones, Rainbow and Black Sabbath.-History:Friends Timo Lindenschmidt...
feat Georgie Fame, produced by Stock Aitken WatermanStock Aitken WatermanStock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
) - "That's Life" (with Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
) (1996)
Albums
- Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo (1964) Columbia 33SX 1599
- Fame at Last! (1965) Columbia
- Sweet Things (1966) Columbia
- Sound VentureSound VentureSound Venture is a jazz album recorded by Georgie Fame and the Harry South Big Band in 1966. Featuring many of the Britain’s top jazz musicians, and arranged by leading big band arranger Harry South, the album was a break from Fame’s earlier R&B hits....
(1966) Columbia - The Two Faces of Fame (1967) CBS
- The Third Face of Fame (1968) CBS
- Seventh Son (1969) CBS
- Shorty featuring Georgie Fame (1969 - live album not issued in the UK) CBS
- Georgie Does His Thing with Strings (1970) CBS
- Fame and Price, Price and Fame: Together! (1971) CBS
- Going Home (1971) CBS
- All Me Own Work (1972) Reprise
- Georgie Fame (1973) Island
- Right Now (1979)
- Closing the Gap (1980)
- In Hoagland (with Annie RossAnnie RossAnnie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
) (1981) (featuring the songs of Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
) - Samba (1986) Ensign RecordsEnsign RecordsEnsign Records was started in 1976 by Nigel Grainge, as an independent Phonogram subsidiary.-History:Grainge had been the head of A&R at Phonogram in London for the previous two years and directly signed Thin Lizzy, 10cc, The Steve Miller Band, and a worldwide license for the successful All...
ENYX 605 - No Worries (1988)
- Cool Cat Blues (1991)
- Three Line Whip (1994)
- The Blues and Me (1996)
- Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose AllisonTell Me Something: The Songs of Mose AllisonTell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison is the twenty-fifth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Mose Allison and Ben Sidran, released in 1996. It charted at #1 on the Top Jazz Albums chart.-Recording history:...
(1996) - Name Droppin': Live at Ronnie Scott's, Vol. 1 (1997)
- Walkin' Wounded: Live at Ronnie Scott's, Vol. 2 (1998)
- Endangered Species with The Danish Radio Big Band (recorded 1993, released 1999)
- Poet in New York (2000)
- Relationships (2001)
- The Birthday Big Band (1998 55th birthday concert) (2007)
- Charleston (2007)
- Tone-Wheels 'A' Turnin (2009)
Compilation albums
- Hall of Fame (1967)
- Fame Again (1979)
- On the Right Track: Beat, Ballad and Blues (1992)
- The Very Best of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (1998)
- Funny How Time Slips Away (2001)
- Somebody Stole My Thunder: 1967–1971 (2007)
- Georgie Fame: Mod Classics 1964–1966 (2010) Ace RecordsAce Records (UK)Ace Records Ltd. was started in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick's pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing...
(CDBGPD 206)
External links
- [ Georgie Fame biography, Steve Huey, AllMusic]
- "The Entertainers: Georgie Fame", on Grampian TelevisionGrampian TelevisionGrampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
, broadcast 28 May 1979, at youtube.com