Ivor Kirchin (21 January 1905 – 22 January 1997) was a

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band leader, and the father of noted composer Basil Kirchin (1927–2005).

History

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Ivor Kirchin was the leader, singer, drummer, conductor and business manager for The Kirchin Band, a popular big band formed in the 1930s. The Kirchin Band performed on the Mecca ballroom circuit during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. There was always plenty of work around the dance hall circuit for the band but there were few recordings until 1954, when

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

spotted the talent and arranged a recording date. The band billed themselves as 'The Biggest Little Band in the World' because their arrangements made them sound like a larger band than they were: four trumpets, four saxophones, piano, bass and drums. From the time he was 14 Ivor's son Basil took over the drum stool, and was often featured as a soloist. The band played fast and loud, with a varied repertoire that included standards, mambos and straight-ahead jazz. In 1946 Basil left to work with

Harry Roy Harry Roy (12 January 1900 – 1 February 1971) was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s to the 1960s. He performed several songs with suggestive lyrics, including " My Girl's Pussy" (1931), and " She Had to Go and Lose ...

, Teddy Foster, Jack Nathan and

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, while Ivor's band continued to play the Mecca circuit. In 1951 Basil returned to The Kirchin Band, now renamed the Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band, which made its debut on 8 September with a year-long residency at the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

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Palais, followed in November 1953 by an engagement at the

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Plaza Ballroom that extended into the spring of 1954. At the same time, the group also backed singer

Ruby Murray Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...

during a 13-week series for

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. They returned to London in 1954 for a summer residency and an appearance at the 1954 Jazz Jamboree. Unfortunately at this time a serious car accident sidelined Ivor, requiring Basil to take over band leadership and business management for the band, which he soon realized he enjoyed much less than the music. With his father's return to health, the band took on a brassier, more spontaneous sound which proved immensely popular. It was at this time that the band came to the attention of a young 28-year-old engineer for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

Records named George Martin, who proceeded to launch a whole new recording career for the band. The band continued to enjoy success, with Billy Eckstein and Sarah Vaughan insisting that the Kirchin Band backed them when they toured Britain. Their shows would break attendance records and were featured in Melody Maker polls."A journey into the unheard", ''

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'', 3 June 2003; Bob Stanley; p. 21. By 1955 the band was now recognised as a swing/jazz type band and they were on a Swing Session broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

. The show was shared with others and the Kirchin Band played three arrangements by

Jimmy Deuchar James Deuchar (26 June 1930 – 9 September 1993) was a Scottish jazz trumpeter and big band arranger, born in Dundee, Scotland. He found fame as a performer and arranger in the 1950s and 1960s. Deuchar was taught trumpet by John Lynch, who lear ...

: "Flying Hickory," "

Lester Leaps In "Lester Leaps In" is a jazz standard originally recorded by Count Basie's Kansas City Seven in 1939. The composition, credited to the group's tenor saxophone player Lester Young, is a head arrangement based on the chord progression of " I Got Rhyt ...

" and "Swing Session" and a vocal from Johnny Grant. At the close of the decade music trends began to move away from big bands toward smaller jazz combos, and soon rock & roll appeared. The Kirchin Band made some attempts to stay relevant with novelty cha-cha and rock and roll numbers, but the end was clearly in sight. By 1967, Ivor Kirchin retired the band, and his son Basil went on to other musical pursuits. By the early 1980s, Kirchin settled in

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, near to his son. He died there in 1997, aged 92.

Discography

Singles and EPs

* 1938 - "The Chestnut Tree" ( Rex 9434) * 1939 - "The Park Parade" (Rex 9501) * 1939 - "The Handsome Territorial" (Rex 9567) * 1939 - "Knees Up Mother Brown" (Rex 9694) * 1954 - "Meet The Kirchins" - The Kirchin Band (7"EP) (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

DFE 6237) * 1954 - "Mambo Macoco" / "

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

" - The Kirchin Band (

MSP 6144) * 1954 - "Mambo Nothing" / "Minor Mambo" / " Lover Come Back To Me" / "Mother Goose Jumps" - The Kirchin Band (Decca F 10434) * 1954 - "Tango Mambo" / "Panambo" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-3968) * 1955 - "Lester Leaps The Mambo" / "Lanigiro" - The Kirchin Band (Ivor and Basil) (Parlophone R-3985 GEP 8522) * 1955 - "Bandbox" / "Tweedle Dee" / "(Oh, Baby) Beedleumbo" / "Mambo Rock" - The Kirchin Band (Ivor and Basil) (Parlophone R-4018 GEP 8531) * 1955 - "Two Hearts, Two Kisses" / "Dance With Me Henry" - Jean Campbell with The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4026) * 1955 - "Gotta Be This or That" / "The Great Lie" / "Flying Hickory" / "Comb and Paper Blues" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4039) * 1956 - " Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" / "Stone Age Mambo" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4140) * 1956 - "Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" / "Stone Age Mambo" / "Down Under" / "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile" (Parlophone GEP8569) * 1956 - "

Sing, Sing, Sing "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" is a 1936 song, with music and lyrics by Louis Prima, who first recorded it with the New Orleans Gang. Brunswick Records released it on February 28, 1936 on the 78rpm record format, with "It's Been So Long" as th ...

" / "Big City Blues" / " Lover Man" / "Big Deal" / "Pour Quoi" / "Taboo" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4192) * 1956 - "The Roller" / "

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4222) * 1956 - "Ambush" / "Rockin' and Rollin' Through The

Darktown Strutters' Ball "Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' ...

" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4237) * 1957 - "Rock Around The World" / "Rock Around The World" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4266) * 1957 - "Jungle Fire Dance" / "Calypso!!" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4284) * 1957 - "The High Life" / "Blues and Happy Times" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4302) * 1957 - "Teenage World" / "So Rare" - The Kirchin Band and The Bandits (Parlophone R-4335) * 1957 - "White Silver Sands" / "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" - The Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4344) * 1958 - "Cha Cha Bells" / "Oh Dear What Can The Cha Cha Be" - Basil Kirchin's Rock-A-Cha Cha Band (Parlophone R-4511) * 1959 - "Rock-A-Conga" / "Skin Tight" - The Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4527) * 1960 - " Caravan" / " Night and Day" - Johnny Byrell with Basil Kirchin's Big 7 (Rex RS-020)

Albums

* 2010 - ''Gotta Be This or That: The EMI Singles Compilation 1954-56'' - The Kirchin Band

Personnel

Murray Campbell, Frank Donlan, Stan Palmer, Norman Baron, Bobby Pratt (tp), Brian Haden (as), Norman Hunt, John Xerri, (ts), George Robinson (bs), Johnny Patrick (p), Ronnie Seabrook (b), Basil Kirchin (d), Johnny Grant (vcl), Ivor Kirchin (dir). * Tracks: "Mambo Nothing" / "Minor Mambo" / "Lover Come Back To Me" (vcl Johnny Grant) / "Mother Goose Jumps" (vcl Johnny Grant). Trevor Lanigan, Frank Donlan, Norman Baron, George Bradley (tp), Brian Haden (as), Alan Rowe, Harry Perry (ts), George Robinson (bs), Johnny Patrick (p), Ashley Kozak (b), Basil Kirchin (d), Johnny Grant (vcl), Ivor Kirchin (dir). * Tracks: "Trumpet Blues And

Cantabile In music, ''cantabile'' , an Italian word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous wit ...

" / "Stoneage Mambo"

Personnel Change

* On December 22nd., 1955, the Kirchins recorded 'Rock A Beatin' Boogie', and, 'Down Under', released on (

R4140). Keith Barr replaced Alan Rowe on tenor saxophone, with Clyde Ray on vocal.

In film

* The whole band performed "Jungle Fire Dance" for a 1957, 2' 34" British Pathé short film. The film's identification number is 209.23.

References

External links

Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchin, Ivor 1905 births 1997 deaths Big band bandleaders