Field Bilk
Bernard Stanley Bilk , MBE (born January 28, 1929 in Pensford , Somerset , † November 2, 2014 ), in Bath , Somerset known under the name of Mr. Acker Bilk , was a British jazz clarinetist .
Life
Bilk's father was a preacher and his mother an organist, so that he was already musically influenced in his youth. He came to the clarinet during his military service: Because he fell asleep while on guard in Egypt in 1947, he was under military arrest for three months, where he taught himself to play the clarinet to pass the time. After his release he first became a blacksmith , but quickly got into music and was a member of the Ken Colyer Group by the mid-1950s . In 1958 he founded his own band with the Paramount Jazz Band. Trademarks were bowler hats and goatees as well as the striped waistcoats of the entire band. His nickname Acker comes from a southern English dialect expression for friend or mate.
He toured England and Germany with the Paramounts and celebrated his first chart success in both countries in 1960 with the instrumental title Summer Set . Another successful title was his version of the instrumental piece Petite fleur , composed by Sidney Bechet .
Another song, which he named after his daughter Jenny, was chosen as the theme tune for the children's television series Stranger on the Shore in 1961 . Under the title of the television series ( Stranger on the Shore ) it became a world hit in a new recording with the Leon Young String Chorale . In the USA, the quiet clarinet instrument reached number 1 and was a million seller . In the UK , where it reached number two, it was more than a year on the charts and is still the best-selling instrumentals of all time.
In the early 1960s he made a celebrated appearance with his Paramount Jazz Band in the Potsdamer House of Officers of the Soviet Army .
With the beginning of the beat era , jazz music generally faded into the background, and so Acker Bilk became quieter in the hit parades. In 1976 he had another top ten hit in England with his instrumental version of the title Aria . As a famous jazz clarinetist, he traveled all over the world well into old age. In 2001 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire . On November 10, 2011, he and his band performed together with his legendary jazz colleagues Chris Barber and Kenny Ball in a farewell performance at the Berlin Tempodrom . Also in 2012 he was on tour with Chris Barber in Germany.
Acker Bilk, who gave his last concert in August 2013, died in November 2014 of cancer in a hospital in the south-west English city of Bath.
Discographic notes
- Mr Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazzband (Lake, 1958/59)
- Mr Acker Bilk's Lansdowns Folio (Lake, 1960/61)
- The Traditional Jazz Scene (Teldec, 1959–63)
- Mr. Acker Bilk and the Leon Young String Chorale (1965)
- Stranger on the Shore / A Taste of Honey (Redial, 1962-65)
- Acker & Cuff (Macjazz, 2004) with Cuff Billett
- Can't Be Without You; Mr. Acker Bilk & The Norman Candler Strings (2016 Memorylane / Intersound Germany)
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1960 | 7 Ages Of Acker | - |
UK6 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
|
| Acker Bilk's omnibus | - |
UK14 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
|
|
| 1961 | Field | - |
UK17 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
|
| Golden Treasury Of Bilk | - |
UK11 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
|
|
| Best Of Barber And Bilk Volume 1 | - |
UK4 (43 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
with Chris Barber |
|
| Best Of Barber And Bilk Volume 2 | - |
UK8 (18 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
with Chris Barber |
|
| 1962 | Stranger On The Shore - The Best Of | - |
UK6th  (28 weeks)UK |
US-  |
First published: 1962
|
| Best Of Ball, Barber And Bilk | - |
UK1 (24 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1962
with Kenny Ball and Chris Barber |
|
| 1963 | A taste of honey | - |
UK17 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1963
|
| 1964 | A touch of Latin |
DE48 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: 1964
|
| 1976 | The One For Me | - |
UK38 (6 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1976
|
| 1977 | Sheer Magic | - |
UK5 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1977
|
| 1978 | Evergreen | - |
UK17 (14 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1978
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1960 | Summer set |
DE24 (24 weeks) DE |
UK5 (20 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
and His Paramount Jazz Band |
| Goodnight Sweet Prince | - |
UK50 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
and His Paramount Jazz Band |
|
| White Cliffs Of Dover | - |
UK30 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
and His Paramount Jazz Band |
|
| Buona Sera | - |
UK7 (18 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1960
|
|
| 1961 | That's my home | - |
UK7 (17 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
|
| Stars and Stripes / Creole Jazz | - |
UK22 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1961
|
|
| Stranger On The Shore |
DE17 (32 weeks) DE |
UK2 (55 weeks) UK |
US1 (21 weeks)US |
First published: 1962
with The Leon Young String Chorale |
|
| 1962 | Limelight |
DE48 (4 weeks) DE |
- |
US92 (3 weeks) US |
First published: 1962
with The Leon Young String Chorale |
| Frankie and Johnny | - |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1962
|
|
| Above The Stars | - | - |
US59 (6 weeks) US |
First published: 1962
|
|
| Gotta See Baby Tonight | - |
UK24 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1962
|
|
| Lonely | - |
UK14 (11 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1962
|
|
| 1963 | A taste of honey | - |
UK16 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1963
|
| Only You (And You Alone) | - | - |
US77 (3 weeks) US |
First published: 1963
|
|
| Moonlight Tango |
DE18 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: 1963
with The Leon Young String Chorale |
|
| 1964 | harem |
DE17 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: 1964
|
| La Paloma |
DE31 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: 1964
with The Leon Young String Chorale |
|
| 1976 | Aria | - |
UK5 (11 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1976
|
Filmography
- 1964: The merry women of Tyrol
Web links
- Acker Bilk recordings in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official website
- Obituary The Guardian , Nov. 3, 2014
- Acker Bilk in theInternet Movie Database(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jazz legend Acker Bilk dies aged 85. Retrieved November 2, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Clarinet legend Acker Bilk dies . Message on the n-tv website from November 3, 2014, accessed on November 3, 2014.
- ↑ In Germany the song reached number 24 in the singles charts, cf. Ehnert, Günter (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956–1980 . Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 29; 10th place in Great Britain, cf. Nugent, Stephen, Anne Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955–1974 . In: Gillett, Charlie, Simon Frith (Eds.): Rock File 4 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, p. 88
- ^ Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 110
- ^ Homeland GDR. Adventures. Considerations. Findings. Documents , including Helga Bornstädt: Mister Acker Bilk in Potsdam , ed. Horst Jäkel, GNN-Verlag Schkeuditz 2015, p. 228, ISBN 978-3-89819-416-7 .
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bilk, field |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bilk, Bernard Stanley (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz clarinetist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 28, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pensford , Somerset , England , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd November 2014 |
| Place of death | Bath , Somerset , England , UK |