I’ve been listening to lots (and lots, and lots) of Al Bowlly lately, so just a quick post to make sure you all know about this talented gentleman.
I gather that he is better known in the UK, so perhaps this is old news to many of you, but speaking as an young(ish) American who was familiar with the names of other crooners even before I could actually identify any of their music (i.e. Bing Crosby), I feel heartbroken that Al Bowlly’s music didn’t even cross my radar until much later in my life.
The first moment I heard him sing, I was in love. Listen to this track, through to his vocal, and tell me he wasn’t one of the all-time greats:
The world lost him way too soon, in an air raid during WWII, but we are lucky he recorded so much incredible music while he was here. This 25 song compilation is a great introduction:
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And this collection is massive, and absolutely worthwhile if you’re a fan of the era.
Final trivia note: though I hadn’t heard of Al Bowlly until about five years ago, I was actually (like anyone who listened to top 40 radio in the late ’90s) already unknowingly pretty familiar with one of his recordings:
The band White Town sampled the trumpet line from this song (My Woman) for their 1997 song “Your Woman” and there is some speculation that the same clip inspired John Williams’ Star Wars Imperial March….
Or go scour your local record store, check your parents’ or grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ collections… but get your hands on some Al Bowlly recordings ASAP. This is nominally a wedding-focused website, so I will point out that so many of these songs are the perfect soundtrack to a vintage themed wedding, ideal for a first dance, dreamy for the cocktail hour soundtrack, etc… but they are also the perfect soundtrack to life: so go get them!
One of the saddest thing about our move from records to tapes to CDs to digital is that so many great singers, songs and songwriters have gotten lost in the shuffle. Sure, you can find most things now with a quick Googling, an online swipe of the credit card, and voila! But as a music …
Mention Bing Crosby and plenty of people think they know it all: “Oh, sure, he’s the White Christmas guy!” Well… yes. But he’s also also this guy: Bing began his career in the 1920’s, much earlier than many people realize. He started jazzier, did some swinging, and ended up loungier, but there are so many …
Music is a vital part of any wedding, but vintage themed weddings in particular benefit from the perfect soundtrack. Luckily, the ’20s and ’30s offer an embarrassment of riches on the musical front! If you’re anything like me, the problem will be narrowing the playlist. If you don’t have a collection of 1920s/30s music already, …
In today’s installment of Art Deco Hollywood, we bring you the incredible style and grace of 1920s icon Anna May Wong. A beauty and talent by any standard, she was also the first Chinese American movie star, making her way in Hollywood (and internationally) in a world where she faced constant typecasting and discrimination, …
1930s Music | Al Bowlly
I’ve been listening to lots (and lots, and lots) of Al Bowlly lately, so just a quick post to make sure you all know about this talented gentleman.
I gather that he is better known in the UK, so perhaps this is old news to many of you, but speaking as an young(ish) American who was familiar with the names of other crooners even before I could actually identify any of their music (i.e. Bing Crosby), I feel heartbroken that Al Bowlly’s music didn’t even cross my radar until much later in my life.
The first moment I heard him sing, I was in love. Listen to this track, through to his vocal, and tell me he wasn’t one of the all-time greats:
The world lost him way too soon, in an air raid during WWII, but we are lucky he recorded so much incredible music while he was here. This 25 song compilation is a great introduction:
Or go scour your local record store, check your parents’ or grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ collections… but get your hands on some Al Bowlly recordings ASAP. This is nominally a wedding-focused website, so I will point out that so many of these songs are the perfect soundtrack to a vintage themed wedding, ideal for a first dance, dreamy for the cocktail hour soundtrack, etc… but they are also the perfect soundtrack to life: so go get them!
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