Charles Alexander Landsborough (born 26 October 1941) is a British

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 ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

musician and singer-songwriter. He started singing professionally in the 1970s, although his major success did not come until 1994 with his song "What Colour is the Wind". He is one of the UK's top country acts and is also popular in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Life

Born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Wales, Landsborough was the youngest of 11 children. Soon after he was born, his mother (Aggie) moved the family back to

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

after the

World War II 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 opposing ...

bombing raids. He was reared by the docklands of

near the dumps, railway lines, coal

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

and oil factories. He left school early and worked intermittently as an apprentice telephone engineer, on the railways, and in the flour mills before joining the army. He left after four years, in the early 1960s, and joined a group, The Chicago Sect, in Dortmund, Germany. Returning to England, he married, played in local bands, and worked in a variety of jobs before becoming a teacher at Portland Primary School on Laird street, Birkenhead. While working as a teacher, he wrote songs and continued to perform on a semi-professional basis, with limited success. However, in 1994 his song "What Colour is the Wind", which tells the story of a young blind child's attempts to envision the world, began to be played in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

after a TV appearance on RTÉ's ''

Kenny Live ''Kenny Live'' is a televised talk show presented by Pat Kenny on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).''Kenny Live''
IMDB. ...

'' show. The song was used as the title track of one of Landsborough's albums. Following the album's success in Ireland, Landsborough appeared on several TV shows in the UK. Since then, he has released ten additional albums, including originals, greatest hits and double CDs of previous releases. Overall, sales of his albums have exceeded 700,000 units. He also has had two number ones singles in the Irish pop chart, and several of his albums have topped the British country charts. In 1996, he converted to Catholicism. One of his most successful releases, ''Still Can't Say Goodbye'' was recorded in Nashville in 1999 and resulted in Landsborough winning the BMCA Best Male Vocalist (2000) for the third year in succession, and the Southern Country Award for best album. He has performed at most major concert halls and theatres in the UK, including the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

. He also toured Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2001. His songs have been recorded by

Foster and Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

("I Will Love You All My Life"), Roly Daniels ("Part of Me"), and

George Hamilton IV George Hege Hamilton IV (July 19, 1937 – September 17, 2014) was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, switching to country music in the early 1960s. Biography Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, ...

("Heaven Knows"). He believes that growing hair long or growing a

Beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal at ...

Mustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ( ...

is done to be better remembered.

Discography

Albums

*''Songs from the Heart'' (1992) *''What Colour Is the Wind'' (1994) *''With You in Mind'' (1996) *''Further Down the Road'' (1997) *''Still Can't Say Goodbye'' (1998) *''Once in a While'' (2001) *''Movin' On'' (2002) *''Smile'' (2003) *''Reflections'' *''The Lighter Side'' (Comedy Album) *''The Greatest Gift: An Album of Christmas Classics'' (2004) *''My Heart Would Know'' (2005) *''Heart and Soul'' (2006) *''Under Blue Skies'' (2008) – No. 73 ( UK) *''Storyteller'' *''Nothing Lasts Forever'' (September 2009) *''Love, in a Song'' (2011) *''Destination'' *''Silhouette'' (2013) *''Here, There and Everywhere''

Compilations

*''The Very Best of Charlie Landsborough'' (1998) *''The Collection'' (2000) *''Classic Doubles'' (2002) *''A Portrait of Charlie Landsborough: The Ultimate Collection'' (2005) (2 CDs) *''The Very Best of Charlie Landsborough'' (2011) (2 CDs) *''Ultimate Storyteller'' (2014) (Box Set) *''Charlie Live: From Liverpool Philharmonic''

Singles

DVDs

*Charlie Landsborough – A Special Performance *An Evening with Charlie Landsborough / Shine Your Light – Double DVD Collection

Team

*Jamie Landsborough -

Tour Manager A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour deta ...

*Ken Davies -

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

*Tony Ariss - Keyboards, Vocals *Shane O'Borne Guitar, Vocals *Phil Mcdonough - Guitar, Vocals *Smithy - Merchandise

Awards

Professional comments

*"''The greatest response ever on the show''".

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

- Kenny Live

RTÉ TV (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

*"''The biggest reaction for any artist on our last series''".

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

Pebble Mill *"''If you like warmth, honesty and credibility in a performer you'll love Charlie Landsborough''". Gerry Kelly - Kelly Ulster TV. *"''Incredible talent and unique style, deserves to be a major success''".Sean Murphy - London Weekend TV *"''Charlie's like good wine, he matures quietly over a long period of time, when the cork was popped it was well worth the wait''".

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

*"''A brand new album of brand new songs, all written and performed by a quiet, unassuming gentle man who could very well be Britain's next country-folk superstar, internationally!''".

References

External links

Official websiteBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landsborough, Charlie Living people 1941 births British folk guitarists British male guitarists British country singers People from Birkenhead