Earl Okin (born 31 January 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and comedian.

Life and career

Born in Carshalton, Surrey, Okin has lived in Notting Hill since he was six years old. He holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Kent at Canterbury (1968) and worked as a schoolmaster for 11 years before being invited on a 1979 tour with

Paul McCartney & Wings Paul McCartney and Wings, often billed simply as Wings, was a British-American rock band formed in 1971 in London by former Beatle Paul McCartney; his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards; session drummer Denny Seiwell; and former Moody Blues gui ...

. By that time, he'd reached the level of deputy-headmaster. Okin recorded his first single at

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

in 1967. Some of his songs were covered during the 1960s by

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B 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 B ...

and

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British Pop music, pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as poss ...

, the latter recording now popular within the world of

Northern Soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

. During the 1970s, Okin started to perform as a support act in large venues. Beginning with

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

acts such as

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May; 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (1969), which ...

and

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

, he progressed to open for such varied performers as

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

. However, it was the tour with Wings which prompted him to pursue his musical career full-time. He also began to perform at jazz festivals. In 1981, he appeared on '' Parkinson'' and was invited by

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom '' Filthy Rich & Catflap'', as well as narrating th ...

to perform at

the Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

. This led to his second career on the "

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

" circuit where he remains a headline act. However, his act continues to be primarily musical. He has never performed stand-up. Fans' favourite comedy songs of his are "Mango", "Bessie" and "My Room". In 1983, he began to perform at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

where he performed over 500 shows. However, hating what had become of the Fringe, he ceased performing there in 2000. Okin continues to work as a songwriter and jazz singer/musician, with a particular interest in Bossa Nova. He gives concerts in Brazil from time to time, as well as touring his one-man show, a mixture of music and comedy, worldwide. He has performed in New York at Birdland,

The Apollo ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

and other jazz venues, but, not forgetting his comedy side, also at

Caroline's Carolines on Broadway was a venue for stand-up comedy situated at 750 Seventh Avenue, on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The club operated from 1981 to 2022. History Caroline H ...

. In addition he toured India, Singapore, and other nearby countries. He has also performed at most major venues in London, including Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, The Palladium and

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

."Earl Okin – Sex Symbol and Musical Genius"
, Comedy Carnival. Okin has performed on TV in several countries, including Brazil, Australia and Germany. Apart from self-published LPs, he has had CDs issued by the

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

in Germany and Austria and

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

in the UK. He has completed two CDs, one of Jazz and Bossa Nova, ''Bossa Britanica'', and more recently a CD of his songs in various genres called, after the recording studio, ''Songs From A Garden Shed'' and a similarly named follow-up album. In 2012–13, Okin completed his autobiography, ''Earl's Caught'', and a musical (in conjunction with the late Jackie Skarvellis), called ''A Harlem Story''. He has also written a six-movement symphony. In 2017 the biographical documentary ''Who is Earl Okin?'' was presented in festivals and selected theatres.

Discography

Singles

*"Yellow Petals", Parlophone (1967) *"Stop! And You Will Become Aware", CBS (1969)

Albums

*''Mr Okin Comes To Town'' (1978), Folkland Records FL 1014 *''Himself'' (1981), Whoopee Records WP 107 LP *''Earl's Caught'' (1986), Waterfront Records WFO 27 *''Dancing Shoes'' (1989), Spats Music Ltd SPATS 1 *''The Vienna Concerts'' (1996), Spray Records 74321344392 * "British But Sexy", Pate (1998) *''Bossa Britanica'' (1999),

Preiser Records Preiser Records is an independent Austrian record label. It was founded in 1952 by Otto G. Preiser (1920–1996). The label is particularly important for recordings from the Viennese cabaret scene, especially from the 1950s and 1960s (Helmut Qua ...

PR90804 *''Live in Freiburg'' (2001), Spats Music Ltd *''Musical Genius and Sex Symbol'' (2004), Columbia 5152852 *''Songs From A Garden Shed'' (2006) *''

Not in Our Name Not in Our Name (NION) was a United States organization founded on March 23, 2002 to protest the U.S. government's course in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks; it disbanded on March 31, 2008. Two key documents Early in their existence, ...

'' (2015) (One track only) *''Songs From Another Shed'' (2018) *''Songs From A Basement'' (2019) "Jazz From A Basement" (2021) "Earl Sings Duke" (2022) "Smooth Since 1947" (2023)

References

External links

* *
Earl Okin: musician, Joogleberry Acts

"Earl Okin", Comedy Corner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okin, Earl 1947 births Living people 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians Alumni of the University of Kent English jazz guitarists English male guitarists English male comedians English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Musicians from Kent Musicians from Surrey People from Carshalton Comedians from Surrey Comedians from Kent