Charles Blackwell (born 20 May 1940) is an English

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, record producer and songwriter.

Career

Born in London, Blackwell taught himself to play the piano and to write arrangements. He started working as an arranger with record producer Joe Meek at the age of eighteen, and became one of the most prolific studio arrangers and record producers of the 1960s and 1970s, with a string of hit records to his credit, including " Johnny Remember Me" by John Leyton; " What's New Pussycat", " I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

; and " Release Me", "

A Man Without Love "A Man Without Love" was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed in English by Kenneth McKellar (singer), Kenneth McKellar. The song is a ballad, with McKellar comparing a man without love and a man with love. He explains that ...

" by Engelbert Humperdinck. In addition, he was involved in the recordings of "Hold Me" for P.J. Proby, and in a number of hits by Kathy Kirby, including " Secret Love". Blackwell also regularly arranged and conducted studio recordings for francophone artists, including Art Sullivan, Michel Polnareff ("Love Me Please Love Me"), and Françoise Hardy ("Je Veux Qu'il Revienne" / "Only You Can Do It"). He composed a number of hits for Hardy. He had many hits with TV producer Jack Good producing for Decca Records these included The Vernon Girls, Jess Conrad, Jet Harris and Karl Denver. He has a huge roster of artistes that he has recorded with, including

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

, Buddy Greco, Billy Fury, Adam Faith,

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

, Paul Anka, Françoise Hardy,

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

, Lulu, Vera Lynn, Slim Whitman, Bobby Goldsboro,

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

, Brook Benton, Del Shannon and Jackie DeShannon. While in Australia in 1963 he produced "Proud of You", the biggest hit of Sydney vocalist Jay Justin's career. Charles arranged the title song for the 1960s TV series '' Fireball XL5'', and wrote several film scores including ''

A Place to Go ''A Place to Go'' is a 1963 British crime drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Bernard Lee, Rita Tushingham and Michael Sarne. Set in contemporary Bethnal Green in the East End of London, it charted the dramatic changes that were th ...

'' (1963) and ''

Some Girls Do ''Some Girls Do'' is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films (following 1967's ''Deadlier Than the Male'') starring Richard Johnson as Drummond, made following the success ...

'' (1969). He also worked with

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

on two Peter Sellers' films, ''

What's New Pussycat? ''What's New Pussycat?'' is a 1965 screwball comedy film directed by Clive Donner, written by Woody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capuci ...

'' (1965) and ''

After the Fox ''After the Fox'' ( it, Caccia alla volpe) is a 1966 heist comedy film directed by Vittorio De Sica and starring Peter Sellers, Victor Mature and Britt Ekland. The English-language screenplay was written by Neil Simon and De Sica's longtime c ...

'' (1966). He wrote the music and lyrics for the 1962 UK chart-topper "

Come Outside ''Come Outside'' is a British educational children's television series that ran from 23 September 1993 to 18 March 1997, presented by and starring Lynda Baron as Auntie Mabel and her dog 'Pippin'. It remains one of the BBC's most successful an ...

" recorded by Mike Sarne and Wendy Richards. The million selling "Tchin Tchin" by Richard Anthony was also composed by him. Also in 1962 he was musical director for a

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

song "Ahab the Arab" which, today (2022), would be regarded as too offensive to broadcast. It was released on the Decca record label. In 1974, he arranged and conducted the Luxembourgian entry ("

Bye Bye I Love You Bye may refer to: * BYE, UNDP county code for Belarus *Bye (cricket), a special type of run scored in the game of cricket * Bye (sports), when a player or team is allowed to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing *Bye (s ...

") at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. In the 1990s, he co-wrote a number of hits in Europe for

David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on ''The You ...

. In 2005, he was the arranger and musical director of the African dance stage show ''Sun Dance''. More recently he was commissioned by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

to orchestrate and conduct the Anthem of Europe (" Ode to Joy" by Beethoven) with a 70-man orchestra, for a new recording that is played at every parliamentary sitting.

Discography

*''Those Plucking Strings'' - Charles Blackwell and his Orchestra (2006, RPM Records)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Charles 1940 births Living people Musicians from London English record producers English songwriters British music arrangers Eurovision Song Contest conductors 21st-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters