Charles Blackwell (music arranger)

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Charles Blackwell
Blackwell in the 1960s
Blackwell in the 1960s
Background information
Born (1940-05-20) 20 May 1940 (age 83)
London, England
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Music arranger, record producer, songwriter
Years active1960–present

Charles Blackwell (born 20 May 1940)[1] is an English arranger, 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,[2] including "Johnny Remember Me" by John Leyton;[3] "What's New Pussycat",[4] "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Tom Jones;[5] and "Release Me",[6] "A Man Without Love"[7] by Engelbert Humperdinck. In addition, he was involved in the recordings of "Hold Me" for P.J. Proby,[8] and in a number of hits by Kathy Kirby, including "Secret Love".[9] Blackwell also regularly arranged and conducted studio recordings for francophone artists, including Art Sullivan,[10][11][12] Michel Polnareff ("Love Me Please Love Me"),[13] and Françoise Hardy ("Je Veux Qu'il Revienne" / "Only You Can Do It").[14] He composed a number of hits for Hardy.[15] 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, Lena Horne, Buddy Greco, Billy Fury, Adam Faith, Marlene Dietrich, Paul Anka, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Bardot, Lulu, Vera Lynn, Slim Whitman, Bobby Goldsboro, Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, Brook Benton, Del Shannon and Jackie DeShannon.[2] 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 (1963) and Some Girls Do (1969). He also worked with Burt Bacharach on two Peter Sellers' films, What's New Pussycat? (1965) and After the Fox (1966). He wrote the music and lyrics for the 1962 UK chart-topper "Come Outside" recorded by Mike Sarne and Wendy Richards.[16] The million selling "Tchin Tchin" by Richard Anthony was also composed by him.[17] Also in 1962 he was musical director for a Jimmy Savile 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") at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton.[18]

In the 1990s, he co-wrote a number of hits in Europe for David Hasselhoff.[2]

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 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.[19]

Discography

  • Those Plucking Strings - Charles Blackwell and his Orchestra (2006, RPM Records)[20]

References

  1. ^ "Charles Blackwell Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Eugene Chadbourne. "Charles Blackwell | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  3. ^ "John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Tom Jones - What's New Pussycat? (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Tom Jones - I'll Never Fall in Love Again (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Engelbert Humperdinck - Release Me (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Engelbert Humperdinck - A Man Without Love (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  8. ^ "P.J. Proby - Hold Me (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Kathy Kirby - Secret Love (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Art Sullivan - Petite Fille Aux Yeux Bleus (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Art Sullivan - Adieu, Sois Heureuse (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Art Sullivan - Une Larme D'Amour (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Michel Polnareff - Love Me Please Love Me (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Françoise Hardy - Je Veux Qu'Il Revienne (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Françoise Hardy - Françoise Hardy (3) (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Mike Sarne - Come Outside (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Richard Anthony (2) - Rose (Parmi Les Roses) / Tchin Tchin (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  18. ^ "Conductors 1974". 4Lyrics.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  19. ^ Kubosova, Lucia (9 October 2008). "No prolonged mandate for Barroso, MEPs warn". EU Observer. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  20. ^ "Those Plucking Strings - Charles Blackwell". AllMusic. 21 February 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Blackwell_(music_arranger)&oldid=1216816538"