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

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price,

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 ...

and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only British music act to have achieved three UK No. 1 hits with his only top 10 chart entries: " Yeh, Yeh" in 1964, " Get Away" in 1966 and " The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" in 1968.

Biography

Early life

Powell was born at 1 Cotton Street,

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. He took piano lessons from the age of seven. On leaving Leigh Central County Secondary School at 15, he worked for a brief period in a cotton weaving mill, spending his evenings playing piano for a band called the Dominoes. After taking part in a singing contest at the Butlins Holiday Camp in Pwllheli,

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, 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 Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

, 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 don't use my name, I won't use you in the show'".Rudland, D. (2010), CD booklet notes to ''Georgie Fame: Mod Classics 1964–1966, Ace Records'', CDBGPD 206 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 re-billed as "Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames" and went on to enjoy great success with a repertoire largely of rhythm and blues numbers.

The Blue Flames

Fame was influenced by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...

in England. In the early 1960s Fame and his band appeared regularly at The Flamingo Club, a London " cool jazz" club, which Fame recalled as "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 M.G.'s. "I had been playing piano up to that point but I bought a Hammond organ the next day." Bill Wyman of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

described Fame at this point in his career as "an incredibly good pianist and singer" and "the idol of the large contingent of blacks" who frequented the Flamingo. 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 follow-up, ''Fame at Last'', reached No. 15 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Ronan O'Rahilly failed to get Fame's first record played by the BBC. After it was rejected by Radio Luxembourg, O'Rahilly announced he would start his own radio station to promote the record. The station became the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline. Fame enjoyed continual chart success, with three number one hits in the UK singles chart. His version of " Yeh, Yeh", released on 14 January 1965, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart. "In the Meantime" charted in both UK and US. Fame made his US television debut that same year on '' Hullabaloo''. His single " Get Away", released on 21 July 1966, spent one week at No. 1 on the UK chart and 11 weeks on the chart. The song was written as a jingle for a petrol commercial. His version of the Bobby Hebb song " Sunny" made No. 13 in the UK charts in September 1966. His greatest chart success was in 1967 when " The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" became a number one hit in the UK and number seven in the US. "Yeh, Yeh" and "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs.

Popular culture

Two of the band's recordings, "Pink Champagne" and " Yeh, Yeh", were featured in the 2020 Netflix series '' The Queen's Gambit''. Georgie Fame in Sweden 1968

Solo

Fame continued playing into the 1970s, having a hit with "Rosetta" with his friend Alan Price in 1971, and they worked together extensively. In 1974, he reunited the Blue Flames and began to sing with European orchestras and big bands. He wrote jingles for radio and TV commercials and composed for the films '' Entertaining Mr Sloane'' (1970) and '' The Alf Garnett Saga'' (1972). He also had an acting role as a pop star in the rarely-seen 1968 film '' The Mini-Affair'', with music provided by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

. The artist released two singles produced by

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...

in 1986, a cover of Richie Cole's " New York Afternoon", (credited as Mondo Kané featuring Dee Lewis, Coral Gordon and Georgie Fame) and a cover of a Gilberto Gil track, "Samba", under his own name, for which he wrote the English-language lyrics. He became a member of

's band, as well as his musical producer. He played keyboards and sang harmony vocals on "In the Days Before Rock 'n' Roll" from the album '' Enlightenment'' while recording and touring as a solo act. He played organ on Van Morrison's albums between 1989 and 1997, and starred at Terry Dillon's 60th birthday party on 10 May 2008. Morrison refers to Fame in the line "I don't run into Mr. Clive" in his song "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore" on the 2008 '' Keep It Simple'' album. Fame appeared as a guest on Morrison's television concert presented by

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

on 25 and 27 April 2008. Fame was a founding member of Bill Wyman's band Rhythm Kings. He also worked with

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, Muddy Waters, Joan Armatrading and

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

. Fame has played residences at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. He played organ on Starclub's album. He was the headline act on the Sunday night at the Jazz World stage at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival after performing at the Midsummer Music at Spencers festival in Essex. On 18 April 2010, Fame and his sons Tristan Powell (guitar) and James Powell (drums) performed at the Live Room at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

for the tenth birthday celebrations of The Eel Pie Club. Part of the proceeds from the concert benefitted the Otakar Kraus Music Trust, which provides music and voice therapy for children and young people with physical and mental difficulties. The trio performed later that year at the Towersey Festival. In July 2014, Fame played at the village hall in Goring-on-Thames and then at the Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire.

Personal life

In 1972, Fame married Nicolette (''née'' Harrison), Marchioness of Londonderry, the former wife of the 9th Marquess. Lady Londonderry had given birth to one of Fame's children during her marriage to the marquess; the child, Tristan, bore the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

Viscount Castlereagh and was believed to be heir to the marquisate. When tests determined the child was Fame's, the Londonderrys divorced. The couple had another son, James, during their marriage. Nicolette Powell died on 13 August 1993, after jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In an interview before her death, Fame said that they had stayed happily married because of her "charm, beauty, forbearance and understanding". Fame supports the

Countryside Alliance The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice". History The Countryside Allian ...

and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation.

Discography

References

External links

Georgie Fame
at absoluteelsewhere.net *
Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames - "Yeh Yeh"
- Ready, Steady, Go! on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Georgie Fame - Getaway
Go Go Scope, 1968 on

Georgie Fame - The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
on

* – Grampian Television broadcast 28 May 1979 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fame, Georgie 1943 births Living people 20th-century English pianists 21st-century English pianists 21st-century English organists Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings members English male jazz musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians English blues singers English blues musicians English jazz organists English jazz pianists English male pianists English male singers English pop keyboardists English session musicians Epic Records artists Imperial Records artists Island Records artists People from Leigh, Greater Manchester RSO Records artists Van Morrison