Klarinet Archive - Posting 000971.txt from 2000/12

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Black Dyke.
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 15:01:15 -0500

A wonderful musician and arranger, who I used to work with at EMI came from
a Salvation Army
background as a trombonist and organist. His ship was sunk in the Med,
during the 2nd war, and he was in the water for 6 hours before being
rescued. He arranged Frank Chacksfield`s world wide hits "Ebb Tide" and the
theme from "Limelight" - Charles Chaplin wrote this tune by whistling it to
Leon Young in Chaplin`s hotel suite in London. Chaplin wanted Leon to write
the rest of the music for the film, but Leon did not want to give up his
"day job". He took Chaplin`s theme back to EMI, arranged it as an
"instrumental" for the orchestra
recording, which then went on to make literally "millions" for Chacksfield.
As did Ebb Tide. Chacksfield passed on, 4/5 years ago. Leon gave him his
initial "leg up" in the business. Decca Records wanted their own
"Mantovani", so they plucked a musician already on their books and sent him
to Leon for conducting lessons. Leon earned £25 for each of those
arrangements.

You are wondering what connection this has with Black Dyke. Well you`ll see
the relevance when I show you further what an excellent musician Leon was.

He also "sorted" "Stranger on the Shore", (the clarinet tune which went on
to become a TV sig. tune and another world wide hit) from which the trad.
jazz
clarinettist Acker Bilk also made <his> millions. I can`t relate more of
that story, of which there <is>. (Have you heard the "famous Acker Tone". I
asked him once what kind of reed he used. He said, "Don`t ask me, ask my
driver"). Leon Young was the organist and choirmaster of
Tonbridge Parish Church for 40 years, contributing arr. for the choir, and
giving recitals in the church also. He was a fellow of the Royal College of
Organists. He also had his own broadcasting radio orchestra thru` the
`50s,`60s &`70s. He became a "Tin Pan Alley" arranger in Central London
after the war, and stayed the course till 1982, when he retired, aged 65 on
an EMI pension. He has a composition called "Serenade to a Mandarin", which
he placed with an American publisher. I was listening to that on the radio
as a kid without realising what it was. He told me that he never received
<any> royalty, yet it was one of Chackfield`s "specials". For the last
couple of years in the office, he`d come in, in the morning, and greet the
other guys with, "I <hate> music". He was only able to enjoy a few years
retirement before he died. One of the "unsung" heroes of British Light
Music.

His Salvation Army background gave him a subtle insight to brass bands. He
didn`t like the "sound" of the "famous" bands in U.K. saying that the
Salvation Army bands all had (have) a much more mellow tone. He lent me an
L.P. of the Canadian Central Band to demonstrate his point. It did have a
very different sound than any English band. No brassyness anywhere. Only the
"saxhorn" tone, which when one thinks of it, perhaps <is> the true sound
which should emulate from this instrumentation, (trombones excepted).

Please remember that without the music writers, all you
clarinettists/instrumentalists would have nothing to play! Please don`t
photocopy, unless it`s with the publisher`s or writer`s permission. Please
don`t grudgingly
pay for a work which in many cases has taken longer to write than the
preparation time for half a dozen difficult works <you> wish to perform.
(End of sermon).

Best,
Tony W.

From: <JMarioneau@-----.com>

> I have a recording of the black Dyke Mills Brass Band and it is wonderful.
> James Marioneaux

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