Acker Bilk
Acker Bilk -- or Mr. Acker Bilk, as he was billed -- has won immortality on rock oldies radio for his surprise 1962 hit "Stranger on the Shore," an evocative ballad featuring his heavily quavering low-register clarinet over a bank of strings. To the jazz world, though, he has a longer-running track record as one of the biggest stars of Britain's trad jazz boom, playing in a distinctive early New Orleans manner. After learning his instrument in the British Army, Bilk joined Ken Colyer's trad band in 1954 before stepping out on his own in 1956. By 1960, a record of his, "Summer Set" -- a pun on the name of his home county -- landed on the British pop charts, and Bilk was on his way, clad in the Edwardian clothing and bowler hats that his publicist told his Paramount Jazz Band to wear. Several other British hits followed, but none bigger than "Stranger," which Bilk wrote for his daughter Jenny. The single stayed 55 weeks on the British charts and crossed the sea to America, where it hit number one in an era when radio was open to oddball records of all idioms (Bilk gratefully called "Stranger" "my old-age pension"). Released on English Columbia in Britain, several Bilk albums came out in America on the Atco label, and he continued to have hits until the British rock invasion of 1964 made trad seem quaint. With that, Bilk moved into cabaret and continued to have some success in Europe, leading jazz bands, recording with lush string ensembles, and even scoring another hit, "Aria" (number five in Britain), in 1976. Continuing to perform through the 2000s, Bilk slackened his pace so that he could pursue, like Miles Davis, a hobby of painting.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Stranger On the Shore: The Best of Acker Bilk
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr. Acker Bilk - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
Lounge - Released by Iswjdigital on 10 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr. Acker Bilk - Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
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60 Timeless Classics from the Giants of Traditional Jazz
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stranger On The Shore
Jazz - Released by Polydor Records on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clarinet Moods
Jazz - Released by Castle Communications on 14 Jul 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Acker Bilk The Gold Collection
Pop - Released by One World Productions on 1 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Acker Bilk & His Clarinet: Love Serenade (Rerecorded)
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stranger on the Shore
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Stranger on the Shore
Jazz - Released by Jazz All Stars on 3 Jul 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In a Mellow Mood
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stranger on the Shore (Original Album with Bonus Tracks)
Jazz - Released by Nostaliga Classics on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Acker Bilk
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Luck for You, Luck for Me (Remastered)
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24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Backup the Best of Barber, Ball & Bilk
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Dixieland - Released by BackUp Best Sounds on 22 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo