 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jim A
Date: 2002-09-14 04:47
Here is something I have wondered about for a while now. Saw one of those ads on TV for some sort of CD and every artist was refered to just by first/last name. Except for Mr. Acker Bilk.
In fact, using the Mr. seems to be more the rule than the exception. I have seen it so often that I thought maybe it might actually be his first name.
Any ideas on this?
Jim
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Author: Robert
Date: 2002-09-14 07:03
As far as I know, his first name is actually Bernhard. "Mr. Acker Bilk" is his performing name.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-09-14 14:05
I can see where the Mr. intro would be stage preferable to Bernie Bilk. Also, some might get the impression that his last name was Ackerbilk without the Mr. He gets a fair amount of razzing on this board but he's made a living playing it his way....which ain't that bad,really in my opinion.
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Author: Dan Borlawsky
Date: 2002-09-14 16:42
Sorry, Bob, we disagree on your last point. My opinion -- on the sole basis of tone quality, he gets a negative 10.
But then, he has sold a lot more recordings than I have; what does that tell you about the taste of the general public (the same could be said for rap music[?] and other genres as well).
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Author: David
Date: 2002-09-14 23:35
'Acker' is a nickname. Mr Bilk comes from Somerset, a county in England, an in the local dialect, 'Acker' means 'friend', 'buddy' or 'mate'. As in "How's the Combine Harvester, me old acker?"
Of course it loses something in print (sic) as you have to do it in the unique Somerset accent. Get into character first. Park the tractor, don a smock, put a straw in your mouth and phonetically it's
" 'Ow's the Caaaarmboine Aaaaarvister, me old aaacker?"
I think the phobia most clarinetists have stems from when they were learning, and their mums would make them demo to their friends and relations. "Go on dear, play that "Stranger On The Floor" tune."
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Author: John Kelly - Australia
Date: 2002-09-15 01:36
Dan,
I disagree with your point about Acker's tone. Before he went commercial he did his apprenticeship playing strictly New Orleans jazz and he greatly admired George Lewis [probably still does] Acker do you look at Sneezy, speak up if you do?
He based his playing on Lewis's style and tone and I think Acker's tone has always been pretty good [in the jazz setting] but a little schmaltzy in the commercial stuff you frequently hear in aeroplanes, elevators and posh toilets.
Of course I have quite a few Acker LPs from my teenage days and the style of presentation on the covers was always the of the Olde Worlde Gentleman and liner notes were written in flowery prose.....hence the "Mr". I don't know about the Acker bit, but David's post from the UK probably explains it I suspect.
Acker's always been pretty good at self promotion you know!
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Author: Andy
Date: 2002-09-15 14:57
So not many of us want to sound like him.
Not many of use will ever sell the amount he has, be able to play the clarient for a living for as long as he has or have his list of credits.
A man who was voted by the British public in the 70's as the "person they would most like to meet", even more so then the queen. He has done more for the clarinet then most of us combined. (Greg Smith, Larry Combs and HAT all excluded, as are many others, but those names spring to mind!)
Cheers,
andy
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2002-09-15 15:20
say what you want. I like his music, his sound and if i could play and sound like him i would be a happy player.
I think the only thing I have over him is age.
peace
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-09-15 16:25
There's room for both schmaltz and sophistication in my little corner of the world......
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-09-16 02:56
Bernard Bilk's manager dictated the "Mr. Acker" monicker as well as the wearing of bowler hats by him and his group. And yes, he's not at all bad as a Jazz player. I will offer US$10 to the first person who sends me convincing evidence that, let's say, Sabine Meyer has sold more records than Bilk. But... complaints from other Clarinet players about "Stranger on the Shore"? Gee, perhaps the poor guy sheds tears all the way to his bank.
And David, thanks for enlightening me on a bit of Somerset slang. But... didn't you mean "*Strangler* on the Floor"?
Regards,
John
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-09-16 03:30
As to people thinking his surname is Ackerbilk...
It does happen. Every few years in the music retail business...we DO get someone in the store asking for "some clarinet player whose last name is Ackerbilk or something like that."
Additionally, another name that frequently is abused is that of Andrea Bocelli. (I'm not gonna comment on his singing or his music...lol). Botticelli, Bonocello, Andrew Bochelini, etc...
But even funnier was the time someone asked for "Harry CONNICHEK, Jr."
Katrina
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2002-09-16 05:18
Several items:
1 - I have never been an Acker Bilk fan myself, but I've only heard that commerical stuff. I would never have liked Al Hirt or Pete Fountain if I had only heard them in certain settings. Can anyone suggest a good Acker Bilk jazz album that's in print?
2 - Mr. Bilk's commercial success also points to the dichotomy about reedy vs. dark or dry clarinet sounds. Clarinet players generally dread reedy sounds, but the public can't seem to get enough. I'd love to hear some comments on that phenomenon.
3 - On the subject of terrific sounds: While playing up at the "Rheinfest on the Mississippi" in St. Paul, MN I heard a terrific jazz player named Lajos Dudas. He's Hungarian by birth, but was brought to the festival by St. Paul's German sister city, Neuss. (possibly a suburb of Dusseldorf) Check him out at http://www.lajosdudas.de
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-09-16 14:01
Getting back to the original question, "Mr. Acker Bilk" rather than "Acker Bilk" is simply the result of repetition and putting the name that way on record jackets. It's the way he got known, just as, for example, Patti Page is known as "Miss Patti Page."
It's the same thing as Ivan the Terrible, George "The Animal" Steele and various other names with an epithet.
Ken "The Explainer" Shaw
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2002-09-16 14:35
Concerning public tastes, there are a lot of people that like mushy, sentimental schmaltz. This holds true not only in the world of music, but in the visual arts as well. The top-selling painter in the world is a guy (can't think of his name at the moment) who bills himself as a "painter of light" whose artwork is of mushy, sentimental, idealized scenery. Art critics abhor his work, but the public eats it up. I'm sure this phenomenon extends to other areas as well.
A very appropriate analogy to explain this phenomenon would be to observe that more people would prefer to eat candy than to partake of subtly nuanced flavors of a fine meal prepared by an expert chef. Acker Bilk and the "painter of light" are the top candy manufacturers of the clarinet and painting worlds.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-09-16 15:36
Ken mentioned: "George "The Animal" Steele"
Didn't he play principal for a few seasons in New Jersey? ...GBK
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-09-16 16:07
Don...
It's Thomas Kinkade...really sappy stuff...
katrina
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-09-16 19:22
Ken: Patti Page became known as "Miss Patti Page" through repeated use of that identifier by a disc jockey on WNEW, New York, who referred to her as "The singin' rage, Miss Patti Page." In not much time, she was called that by many disc jockeys, a copycat bunch if ever there was one. She was, as far as I know, never billed as such, and no jackets or labels of any of her records ever referred to her as anything other than "Patti Page," aside from a few liner notes which mentioned the popular identifier.
But in the case of Bernard Bilk, he was never "Acker Bilk" at all. His manager prescribed "Mr. Acker Bilk" as a billing name, having come up with the catchy title out of thin air as managers sometimes will. (It's hard for me to imagine being Joe Dorsey and having your manager tell you that you would thenceforth be known as Engelbert Humperdinck. I'd rather be Johann S. Bach, myself.) Every venue featuring Bilk had that name out front long before he recorded under that name or became extremely popular. And when records were made, the jackets and labels referred to him as "Mr. Acker Bilk," which was and is -- in its entirety -- his stage name.
On the other hand, perhaps I have got everything wrong.
Regards,
John
former disc jockey (or josh dickey, as G. Bernard Owens was wont to cite)
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-09-17 14:29
Thanks, John.
There's a classical DJ in NYC (I won't dignify him with the title "announcer") who refers to "Wolfgang Mozart" and "Johann Bach." We get so used to standard names that anything else sounds bizarre. Worse than the simpering late-night lady (New Yorkers will know her) who speaks of "Johannnne Sebastiennnnnnnnnnnne Baaach," but not much.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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