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Whistling Jack Smith
John O'Neill (1926–1999) was a British musician, known as a singer, whistler, and trumpeter. Biography Born in Stanley, County Durham, England, to Northern Irish parents from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, O'Neill was largely self-taught as a musician, and learned to sight-read music scores. O'Neill had a UK top five hit single with "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" credited as 'Whistling Jack Smith' (a play on "Whispering" Jack Smith). He recorded this as the solo whistler for a set fee and was never acknowledged as its performer, nor paid any royalties. When the track was aired on ''Top of the Pops'', O'Neill and his family were shocked to see an actor appear on stage to mime to the recorded backing track. Some sources attribute the single to British Decca/ Deram producer Noel Walker, as producer and performing artist although the b-side of the single "The British Grin and Bear" is co-attributed to Walker. O'Neill was a member of The Michael Sammes Singers (also known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley, County Durham
Stanley is a former colliery town and civil parish in County Durham, North East England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, the town lies south west of Gateshead. Stanley was formerly divided into three distinct settlements – the main town of West Stanley and the mining villages of East Stanley and South Stanley. Through a process of gradual expansion, these have become amalgamated into one town, with East and South Stanley no longer officially used as town names (although they are still recognised colloquially). The civil parish of Stanley was created in 2007 and takes in not only Stanley, but the villages of Annfield Plain, Tanfield, Craghead, Catchgate, Tantobie, Tanfield Lea, South Moor, White-le-Head, Bloemfontein, Clough Dene, Greencroft, Harelaw, Kip Hill, The Middles, New Kyo, No Place, Oxhill, Quaking Houses, Shield Row, and West Kyo. The current parish covers the vast majority of the former Stanley Urban District Council area, with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2–E4/F4 Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' ("funny" bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (low bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German ''Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classification systems can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'', which do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. In general, the political position of ''The Times'' is considered to be centre-right. ''The Times'' is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, such as ''The Times of India'', ''The New York Times'', and more recently, digital-first publications such as TheTimesBlog.com (Since 2017). In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as , or as , although the newspaper is of nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (song)
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is the theme to the 1966 film of the same name, which was directed by Sergio Leone. Included on the film soundtrack as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (main title)", the instrumental piece was composed by Ennio Morricone, with Bruno Nicolai conducting the orchestra. A cover version by Hugo Montenegro in 1968 was a pop hit in both the US and the UK.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 66. It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history. Ennio Morricone version Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer who created music for hundreds of films. In the 1960s, director Sergio Leone was impressed by a musical arrangement of Morricone's and asked his former schoolmate to compose music for one of his films, ''A Fistful of Dollars''. This led to a collaboration between the two on future Leone films, many of which came to be referred to as "Spaghetti Westerns". After a stea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 million page views, according to comScore. Ownership The ''Post'' was the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean "Dinky" Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews bought ''The Denver Post'' from the Times Mirror Co. on December 1, 1987. Times Mirror had bought the paper from the heirs of founder Frederick Gilmer Bonfils in 1980. Since 2010, The Denver Post has been owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which acquired its bankrupt parent company, MediaNews Group. In April 2018, a group called "Together for Colorado Springs" said that it was rais ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (soundtrack)
''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released in 1966 alongside the Western film ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', directed by Sergio Leone. The score is composed by frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, whose distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling permeate the film. The main theme, resembling the howling of a coyote, is a two-note melody that is a frequent motif, and is used for the three main characters, with a different instrument used for each one: flute for Blondie (Man with No Name), arghilofono (ocarina) for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco. Among other elements, the score complements the film's American Civil War scenes, containing the mournful ballad "The Story of a Soldier", which is sung by prisoners as Tuco is being tortured by Angel Eyes. The film's famous climax, a three-way Mexican standoff, begins with the melody of "The Ecstasy of Gold" and is followed by "The Trio". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works, Morricone is widely considered one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time. His filmography includes more than 70 award-winning films, all Sergio Leone's films since ''A Fistful of Dollars'', all Giuseppe Tornatore's films since '' Cinema Paradiso'', ''The Battle of Algiers'', Dario Argento's ''Animal Trilogy'', ''1900'', '' Exorcist II'', ''Days of Heaven'', several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy '' La Cage aux Folles I'', '' II'', '' III'' and ''Le Professionnel'', as well as '' The Thing'', ''Once Upon a Time in America'', '' The Mission'', ''The Untouchables'', ''Mission to Mars'', '' Bugsy'', ''Disclosure'', ''In the Line of Fire'', ''Bulworth'', ''Ripley's Game'', and ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lara's Theme
"Lara's Theme" is the name given to a leitmotif written for the film ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965) by composer Maurice Jarre. Soon afterward, the leitmotif became the basis of the song "Somewhere, My Love". Numerous versions, both orchestral and vocal, have been recorded, among the most popular was the version by Ray Conniff Singers. Composition and recording Maurice Jarre was asked by director David Lean to write the score for ''Doctor Zhivago'', including a theme for the character of Lara, played by Julie Christie. Initially Lean had desired to use a well-known Russian song but could not locate the rights to it, and delegated responsibility to Jarre. Lean informed Jarre he was working under time constraint and that the score needed to be composed and recorded in around ten weeks. Jarre wrote a number of themes for the film, however, Lean was dissatisfied with the theme for Lara. Lean suggested to Jarre that, rather than thinking about ''Zhivago'' or Russia, he should go to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles
''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of the Guinness breweries, Guinness Superlatives. Later editions were published by HiT Entertainment (who had bought the Guinness World Records brand). It listed all the singles and albums featured in the Top 75 pop charts in the UK. In 2004 the book became an amalgamation of two earlier Guinness publications, originally known as ''British Hit Singles'' and ''British Hit Albums''. The publication of this amalgamation ceased in 2006, with Guinness World Records being sold to The Jim Pattison Group, owner of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!''. At this point, the Official UK Charts Company teamed up with Random House/Ebury Publishing to release a new version of the book under the Virgin Books brand. Entitled ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" is a song written by John Rostill that was a 1974 hit single for Olivia Newton-John. It was her second release to hit the top 10 in the United States, reaching number 5 on the pop chart and number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. It also reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' country chart. As with her single "Let Me Be There", Mike Sammes sings a bass harmony. It was nominated for the 1974 Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year. TV performance Newton-John performed the song along with Andy Gibb and ABBA on the 1978 ABC-TV special ''Olivia!''. Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Cover versions *Elvis Presley covered the song in concert, a recording of this appears on his 1977 live album ''Elvis in Concert'' and on his final studio album ''Moody Blue''. *Tina Turner recorded a version for her debut solo album ''Tina Turns the Country On!'' in 1974. * Brian Collins covered the song for Dot Records Dot Records ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let Me Be There
"Let Me Be There" is a popular song written by John Rostill. It was first recorded by Olivia Newton-John and released in September 1973 as the second single from her studio album of the same name. The country-influenced song was Newton-John's first Top 10 single in the US, peaking at No. 6, and also won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocalist. Mike Sammes sings a bass vocal harmony on the song. Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications and sales Cover versions * "Let Me Be There" was recorded live by Elvis Presley, and sung at many concerts until his death in 1977. Probably the most noted Elvis rendition was recorded on 20 March 1974 live at a concert in Memphis, Tennessee. Most of that concert was released on 7 July 1974 as the album '' Elvis: As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis''. The cover of "Let Me Be There" from that show was also released as track 5 on the ''Moody Blue'' album on 19 July 1977. *Ike & Tina Turner for their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banks Of The Ohio
"Banks of the Ohio", also known as "Down on the Banks of the Ohio" and "I'll Never Be Yours", is a 19th-century murder ballad, written by unknown authors. The lyrics tell of "Willie" who invites his young lover for a walk during which she rejects his marriage proposal, and once they are alone on the river bank, he murders the young woman. The song was first recorded by country musicians in 1927, and has been performed by many country and folk singers since. Olivia Newton-John released a version in 1971 and her recording reached No. 1 in Australia and No. 6 in the UK. Background The song is similar to other murder ballads in the idiom of songs such as "The Lexington Murder" and "The Knoxville Girl". These ballads may be traced back to the British broadside tradition of songs dated to at least the end of 18th century, such as "The Oxford Girl" and "The Berkshire Tragedy" (Roud 263; Laws P35), songs that may have been based on real events. In these songs, the murderer posing as the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
