Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame born Clive Powell 26 June 1943 is an English RB and jazz musician Fame who had a string of 1960s hits is still performing often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price Van Morrison and Bill Wyman Fame is the only British music act to have achieved three number one hits with his only top 10 chart entries Yeh Yeh in 1964 Get Away in 1966 and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 Powell was born at 1 Cotton Street Leigh Lancashire England He took piano lessons from the age of seven and on leaving Leigh Central County Secondary School at 15 he worked for a brief period in a cotton weaving mill and played piano for a band called the Dominoes in the evenings After taking part in a singing contest at the Butlins Holiday Camp in Pwllheli North Wales he was offered a job there by the band leader early British rock and roll star Rory Blackwell At sixteen years of age Powell went to London and on the recommendation of Lionel Bart entered into a management agreement with Larry Parnes who had given new stage names to artists Marty Wilde and Billy Fury Fame later recalled that Parnes had given him an ultimatum over his forced change of name It was very much against my will but he said If you dont use my name I wont use you in the show Over the following year Fame toured the UK playing beside Wilde Joe Brown Dickie Pride Gene Vincent Eddie Cochran and others Fame played piano for Billy Fury in his backing band the Blue Flames When the backing band got the sack at the end of 1961 it was rebilled as Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and went on to enjoy great success with a repertoire largely of rhythm and blues numbers Fame was influenced by jazz blues and the musicians Mose Allison and Willie Mabon He was one of the first white musicians to be influenced by ska after hearing it in cafés in Jamaica and Ladbroke Grove in England He recalled The Flamingo Club was full of American GIs who came in from their bases for the weekend who played for him the song Green Onions by Booker T the MGs I had been playing piano up to that point but I bought a Hammond organ the next day In 1963 the band recorded its debut album Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo Produced by Ian Samwell and engineered by Glyn Johns the album was released in place of a planned single by EMI Columbia It failed to reach the chart but the October 1964 followup Fame at Last reached No 15 on the UK Albums Chart Ronan ORahilly failed to get Fames first record played by the BBC After it was rejected by Radio Luxembourg ORahilly announced he would start his own radio station to promote the record The station became the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline Source Article Georgie Fame from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30