Frank Chacksfield

Frank Chacksfield
Материал из Wikipedia Frank Chacksfield
Birth name Francis Charles Chacksfield
Born 9 May 1914
Battle, East Sussex, England
Died 9 June 1995 (aged 81)
Kent
Genre(s) Orchestra, big band
Occupation(s) Bandleader, conductor, composer
Instrument(s) Piano
Years active 1938 – 1991
Frank Chacksfield (9 May 1914 - 9 June 1995[1]) was a popular English conductor in the easy listening style. From the 1950s onwards, Chacksfield was one of Britain’s most famous orchestra leaders, and his fame spread around the world.[2] Early in his career he was fortunate to have several big sellers in the United States, which firmly established his reputation world-wide.[2] During his recording career with Decca alone, it is estimated that he sold 20 million copies.[citation needed]Содержание [убрать]
1 Career
2 Selected discography
2.1 Major albums
2.2 UK hit singles
2.3 Others
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
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Career

He was born Francis Charles Chacksfield[3] in Battle, East Sussex, England,[1] and is remembered by many music lovers and record collectors for his numerous albums and appearances on radio and television during the era following World War II.[2]

Chacksfield learned to play the piano as a boy and became the deputy organist for the local church.[1] Although his parents discouraged his pursuit of music as a career, he persevered.[1] In the late 1930s, when he was in his mid 20s, he was leading small musical bands in the UK.[1]

At the beginning of World War II he joined the Royal Corps of Signals. Just as he was assigned a post overseas he became ill. While he was recovering he was allowed to make a BBC broadcast. The broadcast led to his being posted to the Army’s entertainment section, ENSA, at Salisbury.[4] He was assigned to ENSA, and after the war he became a regular performer on the BBC.[5]

After the war, Chacksfield supported Charlie Chester’s comedy group, Stand Easy.[1] The connection with Chester led to Chacksfield’s first recording, as the accompanist for Frederick Ferrari, one of Chester’s lead singers.[1] During this time, he conducted orchestras for Henry Hall and Geraldo.[1] In 1953, he formed an orchestra he called ‘The Tunesmiths’ and won a recording contract with Parlophone.[5] Within two years, he expanded the group from a traditional big band into an orchestra with strings and released a series of ‘mood music’ albums.[5] His sound was similar to Mantovani and Melachrino.[5]

Chacksfield had two big U.S. hits in 1953, «Ebb Tide» and, from the score of Limelight, «Terry’s Theme».[5] A third single that year, «Golden Violins» appeared in the Cash Box chart (Billboard only ranked to 20 positions at that time). Chacksfield was also responsible for the musical arrangement of the first UK entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 1957; «All» by Patricia Bredin. Because the BBC’s musical director Eric Robinson insisted on accompanying Bredin to the contest in Frankfurt, Chacksfield did not get the chance to perform as a conductor on this international stage. Radio and television commitments frequently found him in Éire during the 1960s and 1970s.[2] In 1965/66 he co-hosted a series with French conductor Roger Roger, each playing their own (and other artists’) discs.[2] During 1972 Chacksfield took a 40-piece orchestra to Japan, performing 15 shows in 12 cities in 16 days - in addition to a television recording and two radio shows.[2]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Chacksfield recorded a large number of instrumental recordings for Starborne Productions. The recordings were licensed for use by easy listening radio stations and functional music companies. The vast majority of these recordings were not made commercially available to the general public until 2007 by Starborne Productions.

Chacksfield continued to record into the 1990s; his last album was Thanks for the Memories (Academy Award Winners 1934-55), released in 1991.[1]

He died on 9 June 1995, aged 81, in Kent, having suffered for several years from Parkinson’s disease.[2]

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Selected discography

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Major albums
Ebb Tide, London LL 1408
Velvet, London LL 1443
Evening in Paris, Decca LK 4081
Evening in Rome, Decca LK 4095
If I Had a Talking Picture of You, Decca LK 4135
Opera’s Golden Moments, London Phase 4 21092
The New Ebb Tide, London Phase 4 44053
Globe-Trotting, London Phase 4 SP 44059
The New Limelight, London Phase 4 SP 44066
Hawaii, London Phase 4 SP 44087
Foreign Film Festival, London Phase 4 SP 44112
New York, London Phase 4 SP 44141
Beatles Songbook, London Phase 4 44142
Simon & Garfunkel & Jimmy Webb, London Phase 4 44151
Plays Bacharach, London Phase 4 44158
Chacksfield Plays Rodgers & Hart, London Phase 4 SP 44223
The Glory That Was Gershwin, London Phase 4 44254
Music for a Merry Christmas, Richmond B 20056
TV’s Golden Hits, Compleat Records 671020-1

[5]

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UK hit singles
«Little Red Monkey» (1953) - UK #10 †
«Terry’s Theme from ‘Limelight’» (1953) - UK #2
«Ebb Tide» (1954) - UK #9
«In Old Lisbon» (1956) - UK #15
«Port-au-Prince» (1956) - UK #18 ‡
«Donkey Cart» (1956) - UK #26

Credited as :

† Frank Chackfield’s Tunesmiths, featuring Jack Jordan - clavioline

‡ Winifred Atwell and Frank Chacksfield

All others credited to Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra

[6]

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Others

Starborne Productions releases that include recordings by Frank Chacksfield are: Starborne Limited Edition #1 Starborne Limited Edition #2 Starborne Limited Edition #3 Starborne Limited Edition #4 Starborne Limited Edition #5 Starborne Limited Edition #6 Starborne Limited Edition #7 Starborne Limited Edition #8 Starborne Limited Edition #9 Starborne Limited Edition #10 Starborne Limited Edition #12 Starborne Limited Edition #15 Starborne Limited Edition #18 Starborne Limited Edition #21 Starborne Limited Edition #22 Starborne Limited Edition #25 Starborne Limited Edition #29 Starborne Limited Edition #33 Starborne Limited Edition #37 and Starborne Limited Edition #44.

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See also
List of British pop musicians of the 1950s
List of British pop musicians of the 1960s
List of artists under the Decca Records label

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References
^ a b c d e f g h i «Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine». Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
^ a b c d e f g The Robert Farnon Society at rfsoc.org.uk
^ Rateyourmusic.com
^ Janet Morris remembers … The Frank Chacksfield Band
^ a b c d e f Spaceagepop.com
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 99. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

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External links
The Frank Chacksfield Band in the 1930s
The Decca Years 1953-75
Frank Chacksfield Complete Discography