George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly (born August 17, 1926 in Liverpool , † July 5, 2007 in London ) was a British author and jazz singer.
Live and act
From 1965 to 1973 he was a television and film critic for The Observer . He also gave readings on art history with an emphasis on surrealism . He later wrote a column - Mellymobile - for the satirical magazine Punch .
As a singer, he was influenced by classic blues singers like Bessie Smith . During the time of the trad jazz revival (in the 1950s) he worked with Mick Mulligan's Magnolia Jazz Band (with trombonist Frank Parr ). He sang with John Chilton's Feetwarmers in the early 1970s and later with the Digby Fairweather band . In 1978 he recorded the song 'Old Codger', written especially for him, with The Stranglers .
He also contributed to the television series 1000 Masterpieces : he contributed to paintings by Max Ernst , René Magritte . These texts were also printed in the books accompanying the series, are sporadically repeated on 3sat , ZDFkultur and Planet and are now available on DVD publications (see 1000 Masterworks # Literature ).
Melly died of lung cancer at the age of 80 . He leaves behind his wife Diana and three children.
bibliography
- Revolt into Style, Pop Arts in Britain (1971)
- Rum, Bum and Concertina (autobiography of his time in the Navy) (1977)
- Owning Up (autobiography of the Trad Jazz Revival) (1978)
- A Tribe of One: Great Naive and Primitive Painters of the British Isles (1981)
- Great Lovers (1981)
- Scouse Mouse (Autobiography - Childhood) (1984)
- It's All Writ Out for You: Life and Work of Scottie Wilson (1986)
- Paris and the Surrealists (1991)
- Don't Tell Sybil: Intimate Memoir of ELT Mesens (1997)
- Hooked! Fishing Memories (2000)
- Slowing Down (memoir) (2005)
- Take A Girl Like Me (biography of his wife, Diana Melly) (2005)
Discographic notes
- Goodtime George (Spectrum, 1951-73)
- Nuts / (Warner, 1972)
- Son of Nuts (Warner, 1973)
- It's George (1974)
- The Ultimate Melly (Candid, 2005) with Digby Fairweather
Web links
- Literature by and about George Melly in the catalog of the German National Library
- George Melly website
- George Melley's records "Nuts" and "Son of Nuts" in the BBC Review ( Memento from March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Hot Jazz, Warm Feet (autobiography by John Chilton, with chapters on Melly) (2007)
- Obituary in ZEIT, July 5, 2007
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Melly, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Melly, Alan George Heywood (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz singer and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th August 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 5, 2007 |
| Place of death | London |