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
Similar artists
-
-
Greensleeves
Klassiek - Released by Jasnet Records on 17 okt. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keep Calm and Listen Acker Bilk
Jazz - Released by Blue Moon Recordings on 20 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Acker Bilk - Greatest Jazz Hits
Traditionele jazz en dixieland - Released by Flat Five Records on 17 apr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
JAZZY CITY - Club Session by Acker Bilk
Jazz - Released by Rare Jazz Recordings on 2 jun. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Hits
Jazz - Released by Rare Jazz Recordings on 6 jan. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barber and Bilk
Jazz - Released by Violet Hill Records on 12 nov. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Taste Of Honey (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 16)
Jazz - Released by Marathon Media International on 20 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr. Acker Bilk
Jazz - Released by Sunday Club Records on 16 mei 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lonely (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 14)
Jazz - Released by Marathon Media International on 20 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Mr. Acker Bilk's Lansdowne Folio (EP) (All Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Hit Singles Records on 4 mrt. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Jazz Master (A Special Selection of Original Songs)
Jazz - Released by Orange records on 16 nov. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The White Cliffs of Dover (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 30)
Jazz - Released by Marathon Media International on 20 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Creole Jazz (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 22)
Jazz - Released by Marathon Media International on 20 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Members Club
Jazz - Released by Allstar Recordings on 28 feb. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-