John O'Neill (1926–1999) was a British musician, known as a singer, whistler, and trumpeter.

Biography

Born in

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 sett ...

, England, to Northern Irish parents from

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

, 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 "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" was a hit single in 1967 composed by British songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. It was a novelty record, performed mostly by whistling. The name Whistling Jack Smith, credited on the most commercially succes ...

" 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 ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'', 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 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 ...

/ 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 Mike Sammes and the Locals, Mike Sammes Singers and The Mike Sammes Singers) in the United Kingdom.

Mike Sammes Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

's group were a vocal group, known primarily for their work as session singers providing backing vocals, although the group also recorded seven albums of their own. Johnny O'Neill and the Michael Sammes Singers provided backing vocals on the recording of "

I Am The Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...

" by the Beatles in 1967, which required them to do "all sorts of swoops and phonetic noises" according to

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

: the score

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 ...

prepared for them included the chanting of phrases like "ho ho ho, he he he, ha ha ha", "oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper" and "everybody's got one". They also sang on the Beatles' "

Good Night Good Night or Goodnight may refer to: Film and television * ''Good Night'' (film), a 2008 short film from India * '' The Good Night'', a 2007 film * ''Good Night, and Good Luck'', a 2005 film * ''Good Night'', one of five mini-episodes from th ...

", as well as on their last album, ''

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

'', at the behest of

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. Sammes also provided the distinctive basso backing vocals on

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

's early

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

hits, including "

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 hi ...

", "

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 fi ...

" and "

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 L ...

". The Mike Sammes Singers's one entry in ''

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 t ...

'' is for " Somewhere My Love" in July 1967. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for the film ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

'' contained whistling by John O'Neill. The main theme, also titled "

", was a hit in 1968 with the soundtrack album on the charts for more than a year, reaching No. 4 on the '' Billboard'' pop album chart and No. 10 on the black album chart. O'Neill also sang the theme tune to the American TV series ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'', where he was credited as Johnny O'Neill, and the recordings of traditional Irish songs ''The Gordon Franks Singers And Music With John O'Neill'' was recorded with The Gordon Franks Singers and Music, in which he was the solo tenor. On these recordings, O'Neill sings in an Irish accent, though his actual voice was rather more Geordie/London. Living with his wife for the majority of their life in Ilford in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, they raised four daughters and later retired to

Dovercourt Dovercourt is a small seaside town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harwich, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in ...

, Essex.

References

External links

'When a Whistling Song Became a 1967 Radio Hit'. Best Classic Bands website

SecondHandSongs blog, John O'Neill

SecondHandSongs blog, The Michael Sammes Singers

Discogs website, Mike Sammes Singers, World Record Club – ST-852

The Beatles Bible, 'Recording, mixing: I Am The Walrus, Wednesday 27 September 1967'

The Beatles Bible, 'I Am the Walrus: In the Studio'

AllMusic.com page on the Mike Sammes Singers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, John 1926 births 1999 deaths Musicians from County Durham Deram Records artists Whistlers English tenors English people of Northern Ireland descent 20th-century English singers British novelty song performers 20th-century British male singers

Biography

See also

References

External links