Harry Parr-Davies was a Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

.

He was born Harry Parr Davies in Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The town encompasses the electoral wards of Briton Ferry East and Briton Ferry West....

, Neath

Neath

Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...

, South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

 and was a musical prodigy

Child prodigy

A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...

, having composed whole operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

s by the time he was in his teens. He came to the attention of composer Sir Walford Davies, who encouraged him to study at Oxford. At the age of fourteen he had already composed six songs, and left Wales to expand upon his juvenile success.

From 1934, he worked as accompanist for Gracie Fields

Gracie Fields

Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...

. He wrote songs for Jack Buchanan

Jack Buchanan

Walter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...

 and Anna Neagle

Anna Neagle

Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...

 among others. His best-known songs included "Pedro the Fisherman", "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye

Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye

"Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye" is a song by Harry Parr-Davies, made popular during the Second World War by Gracie Fields. It appeared in Fields' 1939 film Shipyard Sally. Its use in the film is patriotic, Stephen C...

" and "Sing as You Go".

He provided additional lyrics for Jan Peerce

Jan Peerce

Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....

's best-selling recording of "Bluebird of Happiness

Bluebird of Happiness (song)

"Bluebird of Happiness" is a song composed in 1934 by Sandor Harmati, with words by Edward Heyman and additional lyrics by Harry Parr-Davies.Harmati wrote the song for his friend, the tenor Jan Peerce, the leading singer at Radio City Music Hall...

" (music by Sandor Harmati

Sandor Harmati

Sandor Harmati was a Hungarian-American violinist, conductor and composer, best known for his song "Bluebird of Happiness" written in 1934 for Jan Peerce.-Biography:...

, words by Edward Heyman

Edward Heyman

Edward Heyman was an American musician and lyricist, best known for his compositions "Body and Soul", "When I Fall in Love", and "For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed many songs for films.-Biography:...

).

In 1939 the show Black Velvet included Parr-Davies's song "Crash, Bang, I Want To Go Home". Other wartime shows which featured his work included Big Top, Happidrome (starring Tessie O'Shea

Tessie O'Shea

Teresa Mary "Tessie" O'Shea was a Welsh entertainer and actress.Born in Cardiff to Nellie Theresa and James Peter O'Shea, a soldier who was the son of Irish emigrants, Tessie was reared in the British music hall tradition, appearing on stage as "The Wonder of Wales" as early as the age of six...

), Full Swing, The Knight was Bold and The Lisbon Story. In the course of the war he was seconded from his regiment to join Gracie Fields in ENSA

ENSA

ENSA may refer to:* ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association* ENSA * École Nationale des Sciences Appliquées d'Oujda, an engineering school in Morocco* EC-Council Network Security Administrator...

.

In 1944, his musical, Jenny Jones, which had a Welsh setting, was a flop, but it was followed by the successful revue Fine Feathers (1945), Her Excellency (1949) starring Cicely Courtneidge

Cicely Courtneidge

Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress and comedienne. The daughter of the producer Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End, by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.After the...

, and Dear Miss Phoebe (1950).

Parr-Davies was at the peak of his success when he died of a perforated ulcer

Perforated ulcer

A perforated ulcer, is a very serious condition where an untreated ulcer can burn through the wall of the stomach , allowing digestive juices and food to leech into the abdominal cavity. Treatment generally requires immediate surgery...

, for which he had declined to seek medical attention.

Songs by Parr-Davies used in George Formby films

• "Bell Bottom George" (Park/Parr-Davies)
• "If I Had a Girl Like You" (Park/Parr-Davies)
• "In My Little Snapshot Album" (Harper/Haines/Parr-Davies)
• "It's in the Air" (Parr-Davies)
• "Noughts and Crosses" (Hunter/Parr-Davies)
• "Swim Little Fish" (Park/Parr-Davies)
• "Your Way Is My Way" (Parr-Davies)

External links