Wednesday, December 16, 2009

'Al' Bowlly (1899-1941) - an appreciation

A voice like no other. A former barber and jockey, born in Mozambique, he travelled for many years, performing with bands where he could and busking for pennies where he couldn't. A voice that was too good to remain sidelined for long. In his 42 years, he recorded more than 1000 tracks, most of which are still being made available to this day. I would put his singing voice up there with that of Sinatra or Brel for being being able to span the generations with the same emotional power. Ladies and Gents, I give you, Allick Albert Bowlly.













3 comments:

treefrogdemon said...

Also, Richard Thompson wrote a song about him...sort of.

sourpus said...

Yes, its a little strange sometimes for me, whenever I mention Al in conversation with music enthusiasts, it is 'Al Bowlly's in Heaven' which is nearly always mentioned. I dont recall the RT song that well, but it certainly made Al's name widely known.

treefrogdemon said...

I've put it in the 'box, sourpus, in case you want to hear it again!