Ivor Kirchin (21 January 1905 – 22 January 1997) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

band leader, and the father of noted composer Basil Kirchin (1927–2005).

History

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Ivor Kirchin was the leader, singer, drummer, conductor and business manager for The Kirchin Band, a popular big band formed in the 1930s. The Kirchin Band performed on the Mecca ballroom circuit during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. There was always plenty of work around the dance hall circuit for the band but there were few recordings until 1954, when

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

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spotted the talent and arranged a recording date. The band billed themselves as 'The Biggest Little Band in the World' because their arrangements made them sound like a larger band than they were: four trumpets, four saxophones, piano, bass and drums. From the time he was 14 Ivor's son Basil took over the drum stool, and was often featured as a soloist. The band played fast and loud, with a varied repertoire that included standards, mambos and straight-ahead jazz. In 1946 Basil left to work with

Harry Roy Harry Roy (12 January 1900 – 1 February 1971) was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s to the 1960s. He performed several songs with suggestive lyrics, including " My Girl's Pussy" (1931), and " She Had to Go and Los ...

, Teddy Foster, Jack Nathan and Ted Heath, while Ivor's band continued to play the Mecca circuit. In 1951 Basil returned to The Kirchin Band, now renamed the Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band, which made its debut on 8 September with a year-long residency at the

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Palais, followed in November 1953 by an engagement at the

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Plaza Ballroom that extended into the spring of 1954. At the same time, the group also backed singer Ruby Murray during a 13-week series for

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. They returned to London in 1954 for a summer residency and an appearance at the 1954 Jazz Jamboree. Unfortunately at this time a serious car accident sidelined Ivor, requiring Basil to take over band leadership and business management for the band, which he soon realized he enjoyed much less than the music. With his father's return to health, the band took on a brassier, more spontaneous sound which proved immensely popular. It was at this time that the band came to the attention of a young 28-year-old engineer for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

Records named George Martin, who proceeded to launch a whole new recording career for the band. The band continued to enjoy success, with

Billy Eckstein William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

and

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

insisting that the Kirchin Band backed them when they toured Britain. Their shows would break attendance records and were featured in

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polls."A journey into the unheard", ''

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'', 3 June 2003; Bob Stanley; p. 21. By 1955 the band was now recognised as a swing/jazz type band and they were on a Swing Session broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

. The show was shared with others and the Kirchin Band played three arrangements by

Jimmy Deuchar James Deuchar (26 June 1930 – 9 September 1993) was a Scottish jazz trumpeter and big band arranger, born in Dundee, Scotland. He found fame as a performer and arranger in the 1950s and 1960s. Deuchar was taught trumpet by John Lynch, who lear ...

: "Flying Hickory," "

Lester Leaps In "Lester Leaps In" is a jazz standard originally recorded by Count Basie's Kansas City Seven in 1939. The composition, credited to the group's tenor saxophone player Lester Young, is a contrafact based on the chord progression of "I Got Rhythm", and ...

" and "Swing Session" and a vocal from Johnny Grant. In December, 1957,

Dean Webb Dean Webb (born Michael Eaton in 1940) is an English rock and roll singer, actor, and composer. Background Webb was born in Portsmouth as Michael Eaton. A short time later the family moved to Reading. He was educated at St. Annes Roman Catholic ...

joined the band as its vocalist, replacing

Rory Blackwell Rory Blackwell (22 June 1933 – 19 December 2019) was an English rock and roll musician, bandleader of The Blackjacks, singing, singer, drummer and songwriter. Biography Blackwell was born in Battersea, London. He founded the first British r ...

who was leaving to persue a solo career. Blackwell had said that Webb was a good beat singer which got him in. Webb stayed with the ensemble for a year and then later in 1959 went solo, recording for the

label. At the close of the decade music trends began to move away from big bands toward smaller jazz combos, and soon

rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

appeared. The Kirchin Band made some attempts to stay relevant with novelty cha-cha and rock and roll numbers, but the end was clearly in sight. By 1967, Ivor Kirchin retired the band, and his son Basil went on to other musical pursuits. By the early 1980s, Kirchin settled in

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, near to his son. He died there in 1997, aged 92.

Discography

Singles and EPs

* 1938 - "The Chestnut Tree" ( Rex 9434) * 1939 - "The Park Parade" (Rex 9501) * 1939 - "The Handsome Territorial" (Rex 9567) * 1939 - "Knees Up Mother Brown" (Rex 9694) * 1954 - "Meet The Kirchins" - The Kirchin Band (7"EP) (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

DFE 6237) * 1954 - "Mambo Macoco" / "

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in colour, that is considered either a variety of the mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), or a closely related species, under the name ''Citrus tangerina'', or yet as a hybrid (''Citr ...

" - The Kirchin Band (

MSP 6144) * 1954 - "Mambo Nothing" / "Minor Mambo" / " Lover Come Back To Me" / "Mother Goose Jumps" - The Kirchin Band (Decca F 10434) * 1954 - "Tango Mambo" / "Panambo" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-3968) * 1955 - "Lester Leaps The Mambo" / "Lanigiro" - The Kirchin Band (Ivor and Basil) (Parlophone R-3985 GEP 8522) * 1955 - "Bandbox" / "Tweedle Dee" / "(Oh, Baby) Beedleumbo" / "Mambo Rock" - The Kirchin Band (Ivor and Basil) (Parlophone R-4018 GEP 8531) * 1955 - "Two Hearts, Two Kisses" / "Dance With Me Henry" - Jean Campbell with The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4026) * 1955 - "Gotta Be This or That" / "The Great Lie" / "Flying Hickory" / "Comb and Paper Blues" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4039) * 1956 - "

Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie "Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" is a 1952 song composed by Bill Haley (musician), Bill Haley and first recorded by the Esquire Boys in 1952. Bill Haley and the Comets recorded the song in 1955 for Decca. The song was featured in the 1956 movie ''Rock Aro ...

" / "Stone Age Mambo" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4140) * 1956 - "Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" / "Stone Age Mambo" / "Down Under" / "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile" (Parlophone GEP8569) * 1956 - "

Sing, Sing, Sing "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" is a 1936 song, with music and lyrics by Louis Prima, who first recorded it with his New Orleans Gang. Brunswick Records released it on February 28, 1936 on the 78rpm record format, with "It's Been So Long" a ...

" / "Big City Blues" / "

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

" / "Big Deal" / "Pour Quoi" / "Taboo" - The Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4192) * 1956 - "The Roller" / "

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4222) * 1956 - "Ambush" / "Rockin' and Rollin' Through The

Darktown Strutters' Ball "Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' ...

" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4237) * 1957 - "Rock Around The World" / "Rock Around The World" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4266) * 1957 - "Jungle Fire Dance" / "Calypso!!" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4284) * 1957 - "The High Life" / "Blues and Happy Times" - The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4302) * 1957 - "Teenage World" / "So Rare" - The Kirchin Band and The Bandits (Parlophone R-4335) * 1957 - "White Silver Sands" / "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" - The Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4344) * 1958 - "Cha Cha Bells" / "Oh Dear What Can The Cha Cha Be" - Basil Kirchin's Rock-A-Cha Cha Band (Parlophone R-4511) * 1959 - "Rock-A-Conga" / "Skin Tight" - The Basil Kirchin Band (Parlophone R-4527) * 1960 - "

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" / " Night and Day" - Johnny Byrell with Basil Kirchin's Big 7 (Rex RS-020)

Albums

* 2010 - ''Gotta Be This or That: The EMI Singles Compilation 1954-56'' - The Kirchin Band

Personnel

Murray Campbell, Frank Donlan, Stan Palmer, Norman Baron, Bobby Pratt (tp), Brian Haden (as), Norman Hunt, John Xerri, (ts), George Robinson (bs), Johnny Patrick (p), Ronnie Seabrook (b), Basil Kirchin (d), Johnny Grant (vcl), Ivor Kirchin (dir). * Tracks: "Mambo Nothing" / "Minor Mambo" / "Lover Come Back To Me" (vcl Johnny Grant) / "Mother Goose Jumps" (vcl Johnny Grant). Trevor Lanigan, Frank Donlan, Norman Baron, George Bradley (tp), Brian Haden (as), Alan Rowe, Harry Perry (ts), George Robinson (bs), Johnny Patrick (p), Ashley Kozak (b), Basil Kirchin (d), Johnny Grant (vcl), Ivor Kirchin (dir). * Tracks: "Trumpet Blues And

Cantabile Cantabile is a term in music meaning to perform in a singing style. The word is taken from the Italian language and literally means "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human ...

" / "Stoneage Mambo"

Personnel change

* On December 22., 1955, the Kirchins recorded 'Rock A Beatin' Boogie', and, 'Down Under', released on (

R4140). Keith Barr replaced Alan Rowe on tenor saxophone, with Clyde Ray on vocal.

In film

* The whole band performed "Jungle Fire Dance" for a 1957, 2' 34"

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

short film. The film's identification number is 209.23.

References

External links

Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchin, Ivor 1905 births 1997 deaths British jazz bandleaders British jazz singers British jazz drummers 20th-century British conductors (music) British big band bandleaders Mambo musicians Cha-cha-cha musicians Kirchin Band members