Coordinates: 52°33′58″N 2°04′22″W / 52.56605°N 2.07281°W / 52.56605; -2.07281

Bilston
The Greyhound and Punchbowl
Bilston  Bilston shown within the West Midlands
OS grid reference	SO951964
Metropolitan borough	Wolverhampton
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WOLVERHAMPTON
Postcode district	WV14
Dialling code	01902
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Wolverhampton South East
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Historically within Staffordshire, three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and Ettingshall which comprise a part of Bilston and parts of Wolverhampton.

History[link]

Bilston was first referred to in AD 985 as Bilsatena when Wolverhampton was granted to Wulfrun^[1] then in 996 as Bilsetnatun in the grant charter of St. Mary's Church (now St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton).^[2][3] It is later mentioned in the Domesday Book as a village called Billestune, being a largely rural area until the 19th century. Bilsetnatun can be interpreted as meaning the settlement (ton) of the folk (saetan) of the ridge (bill).

Situated just two miles southeast of Wolverhampton, it was extensively developed for factories and coal mining. Many houses were constructed in the Bilston area. Between 1920 and 1966, the council replaced most of the 19th century terraced houses with rented modern houses and flats on developments like Stowlawn, The Lunt and Bunker's Hill. Bilston has had a market in the town centre for many years.

Bilston Urban District Council was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 covering the ancient parish of Bilston. The urban district was granted a Royal Charter in 1933, becoming a municipal borough and the First Charter Mayor was Alderman Herbert Beach.

In 1966 the Borough of Bilston was abolished, with most of its territory incorporated into the County Borough of Wolverhampton (see History of West Midlands), although parts of Bradley in the east of the town were merged into Walsall borough.

Bilston Town Hall (pictured below in about 1900) has now been refurbished and re-opened. It had been derelict for more than a decade after Wolverhampton Council discontinued its use as housing offices. It is hoped that the town hall will be brought back into public use following the completion of its refurbishment. It dates back to the 19th century.

Council housing was first developed in the town around 1920 and by 1964 there were more than 6,000 council houses there.^[4]

Since 1966, Bilston has been the centre of the WV14 postal district, which also incorporated most of Coseley and parts of Darlaston - although all of Darlaston is situated in the Walsall borough and approximately half of the former Coseley urban district council is situated in Dudley.

St Leonard's Church[link]

Christian worship in Bilston can be traced back to the original chapel dating from 1090. In 1458 the chapel was replaced by St Leonard's Chantry. And a third renovated church was consecrated in 1733. The modern church dates from a rebuilding of 1826 and is thus the fourth church on the same site.^[5] The church has a stunningly modern appearance being whitewashed inside and out, giving it a very neat and clean appearance compared to most English churches. In this respect it resembles many American and German churches and some of the Russian Orthodox Churches. It is also unusual in having a chamfered square tower, giving it an octagonal appearance, in being surmounted with a cupola, a golden globe with weather vane and a fenced viewing platform. These are all extremely unusual features rarely found in English churches.^{[citation needed]}

Industry[link]

Few towns were more dramatically transformed during the Industrial Revolution as Bilston was. In 1800, it was still a largely rural area dependent on farming. By 1900, it was a busy town with numerous factories and coalmines, as well as a large number of houses that had been built to house the workers and their families.

With the opening of the Birmingham Canal to the west of the town in 1770, industrial activity in the local area increased, with the first blast furnaces near the canal at Spring Vale being erected by 1780. Six new blast furnaces were erected there between 1866 and 1883. Five of these were producing a total of nearly 25,000 tons of steel per year at what was now known as Bilston Steel Works. The first electric powered blast furnaces opened there in 1907, and finally in 1954 the "Elisabeth" blast furnace was erected, creating 275,000 tons of steel per year. However, by the 1970s the steel works had become uneconomic and the Labour government of James Callaghan decided to close it, with closure taking place on 12 April 1979. The iconic "Elisabeth" was demolished on 5 October 1980. Local unemployment, which had been steadily rising for some years, was pushed even higher by the plant's closure.^[6]

The industry remained prolific during the interwar years, but much of the housing was now sub-standard, and during the 1920s and 1930s many of the older houses were cleared and replaced by new council houses that featured so many modern conveniences that were previously unknown to their occupants. Many of these houses were built on new housing estates previously occupied by coalfields or farmland, though some were built on the sites of older houses.

The council housing revolution in Bilston continued after the Second World War and for some time after the area became part of Wolverhampton in 1966.

By the end of the 1970s, almost all of the sub-standard housing in Bilston had been cleared, but the area was in the early stages of an industrial decline which put hundreds of local people out of work and saw unemployment reach its highest levels in living memory. Things have improved over the last 20 years with more businesses in the service sector setting up around Bilston, but unemployment is still higher than the local average.

Other exciting modern day projects in Bilston include the Black Country Route (opened in phases between 1986 and 1995), that gave Bilston quick road links to important towns such as Dudley and Walsall, and the opening of the Midland Metro tram line in 1999, which gives a speedy public transport link to Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

People[link]

Bilston was the birthplace of the poet Sir Henry Newbolt and Nelson, New Zealand Mayor George Page.

John Wilkinson, "king of the ironmasters", built a blast furnace in Bilston in 1748. He lived and died in Bradley, West Midlands. His body was returned to his hometown of Clifton in Cumberland.

Hugh Walters lived all his life in Bilston.^[7]

James Fleet (born 1954) is a British actor. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the dim-witted Hugo Horton in the BBC situation comedy television series The Vicar of Dibley.

David Daker, born in Bilston in 1937, is a British actor. His best-known roles are in television. He played PC Owen Culshaw in Z-Cars, Jarvis in Porridge, Captain Nathan Spiker in Dick Turpin and Harry Crawford in Boon.

Don Powell, drummer in the band Slade, was born in Bilston.

Clive Pomeroy. One time hair stylist and inventor of the "1000 yard stare"

Richard Salter began making the first spring scales in Britain in Bilston in the late 1760s.^[8][9]

Transport[link]

From 1850 to 1972 there was a railway station in Bilston town centre, but passenger services were then withdrawn and the line via Bilston (from Wolverhampton Low Level to Birmingham Snow Hill) had been almost completely abandoned within a decade. The final stub of the railway, connecting a town centre scrapyard with the South Staffordshire Line at Wednesbury, closed in 1992, only to be re-opened seven years later as the first phase of the Midland Metro tram line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

There was also a further railway station within the town: Bilston West on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line.

Another significant development in the Bilston area was the A463 Black Country Route. With more and more cars on the road, the roads around Bilston town centre became increasingly congested as the twentieth century progressed. It became so severe that, by the late 1960s, the government had drawn up plans for a new motorway bypassing Bilston (and running from the A4123 near Coseley to Junction 10 of the M6 motorway at Walsall), which was scheduled to be completed by 1976. However, the plans collapsed and Bilston was condemned to increased congestion, for another decade at least.

The plans for a new dual carriageway were revived in the early 1980s. This time the planners had decided on a slightly different route, which would run much closer to Bilston town centre. The first phase of the road (to be known as Black County Route) was completed in 1986, though initially running around half a mile east of the A4123. It was extended in 1990 to Oxford Street in Bilston town centre. This expansion resulted in a number of buildings being demolished and some roads having to be re-routed while one road (Market Street) was completely obliterated. This new road changed the face of Bilston town centre forever.

During 1995, the final phase of the Black Country Route between Bilston town centre and Junction 10 of the M6 was completed. This new road has seen a major improvement in the traffic flow around Bilston town centre.

Bilston is served by several bus routes at Bilston bus station. It is also served by National Express West Midlands service 79 (Birmingham - West Bromwich - Wednesbury - Darlaston - Bilston - Wolverhampton).

Arts and culture[link]

Steel columns at Bilston by Robert Koenig. viewed from the side, August 2008

At the Bilston end of the Black Country Route can be seen the group of wooden statues designed by Robert Koenig and called "Steel Columns." "This sculpture was made from 15 lengths of sweet chestnut which stretch up to 6 metres in height. The male and female figures depicted are based on those found in old Victorian photographs of Bilston. The title Steel Columns is a reference to Bilston's steel making background and the connection the figures had with this history."^[10]

Art and craft works of local significance from the eighteenth century are displayed at Bilston Craft Gallery, which also has a temporary exhibition space where local art and crafts are often displayed.

The artist William Harold Dudley as born in Bilston; several of his works are in the collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Education[link]

Bilston has many primary schools, and two secondary schools - South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy, which is presently split between two sites - only one of which being in Bilston - and Moseley Park School, which was originally Bilston Boys' Grammar. Manor Primary School, which used to be a secondary school, is sometimes incorrectly believed to be in Bilston, but is actually in Woodcross which is within the Wolverhampton-governed part of Coseley.

Crime[link]

In recent years, Bilston has been the scene of several high profile crimes, some of which highlight the town's growing problem with knife and gun crime and gang culture.

On 30 September 2007, the body of 16-year-old Shane Owoo was recovered from a flooded clay pit near the Lunt estate. Two Wolverhampton men, Christopher Lewis and Marvin Walker, were found guilty of manslaughter on 25 April 2008 and sentenced to five and a half years in prison. The jury at Birmingham Crown Court heard that the pair had frogmarched Shane Owoo to the pool amid allegations that he had stolen a bicycle from one of the defendants. A third man, Tobias Davies, received a 12-month prison sentence for assaulting Shane Awoo, but had not been present when the other two men attacked him and chased him into the pool where he drowned.^[11]

On 28 July 2009, 47-year-old Moxley pub landlord Swinder Singh Batth was shot dead in the town centre outside Gavin's Sports Bar. Jasbir Singh Takhar, of Coseley, and Sukwinder Singh Sanghera, of West Bromwich, were jailed for life a year later for the murder; it was established that they had been attempting to shoot someone else. The trial judge recommended minimum terms of 29 and 28 years respectively. Five other people received prison sentences of between 21 months and three years for conspiracy to commit violent disorder in connection with the crime, while a sixth person received a three-and-half year prison sentence for witness intimidation.^[12]

On 21 November 2009, 50-year-old Dudley man Daniel McCalla was shot dead at the town's Tropical Harmony nightclub.^[13]

On 10 July 2010, 34-year-old local man Thomas Berry was stabbed in Church Street during a fight between two gangs. He died in hospital the next day. Local man Ricky Shaw, a 23-year-old bodybuilder with convictions for drug dealing and violence, was found guilty of Mr Berry's murder on 25 February 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 27 years. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder another man in the fight as well as wounding another and also assaulting his own brother.^[14]

On 11 November 2010, 31-year-old Lee Douglas was found shot dead at a house in Arthur Street.^[15]

Bilston's districts[link]

• Bradley
• Woodcross
• The Lunt
• Stowlawn

Parliament[link]

The town had its own parliament constituency from 1918 until 1974, which also included nearby Sedgley and Coseley. However, it was then incorporated into Wolverhampton South East, and under further boundary reorganisation it could be divided into up to four parliamentary seats from 2015, with the bulk of the town being divided between two reorganised Wolverhampton seats but smaller parts of the town being absorbed into Dudley and Walsall constituencies.^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stories, Crime, and Old Photographs.
• Pictures from Bilston and its history
• Community Forum for Bilston
• Pictures of the exterior of St Leonard's church, Feb 2008
• Pictures of interior and exterior of St Leonard's church, 2002

Wilko Johnson (born John Wilkinson, 12 July 1947, Canvey Island, Essex)^[1] is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.

Career[link]

Johnson went to Westcliff High School for Boys and played in several local groups, before going to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne to study English.^[2] After graduating, he travelled overland to India, before returning to Essex to play with the Pigboy Charlie Band, which evolved into Dr. Feelgood – a mainstay of the 1970s pub rock movement.^[2]

Johnson developed his own style, coupling a choppy guitar style with a novel dress sense (he favoured a black suit and a highly unfashionable, unpopular and unique pudding bowl haircut) and jerky movements.^[3]

Johnson plays a vintage Fender Telecaster without using a pick, something that enables him to play rhythm guitar and riffs or solos at the same time, resulting in a highly percussive guitar style. Another reason for his unique style is that he is naturally left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed. His style - which allowed him to move around abruptly on stage with the jerky movements of an automaton without the fear of losing his pick - evolved from a failed attempt to copy Mick Green of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, a guitarist he admired. During mid-song guitar breaks he would frequently wander across the stage and cut in front of the singer (usually playing a harmonica) with the aid of an unusually long guitar lead from his amplifier. He maintained this style even after leaving Dr. Feelgood.

His style formed the essential force behind Dr. Feelgood during their initial years, including the band's first four albums, Down by the Jetty, Malpractice, Stupidity and Sneakin' Suspicion, all released between 1975 and 1977.^[4] Johnson had a cult following amongst fans of the four-piece band, helped by some electrifying stage performance during their extensive UK and north European touring of that period.^{[citation needed]} The live album, Stupidity, reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, but although Johnson played on Dr. Feelgood's first 5 single releases, including "Roxette" and "Back in the Night", the only single to chart during his membership of the band was "Sneakin' Suspicion". He left the band in April 1977, following disagreements over the tracks to be included in the Sneakin' Suspicion album.^[5]

In 1977, he was a founding member of the Solid Senders;^[3] with keyboardist John Potter, bassist Steve Lewins, and drummer Alan Platt. They signed to Virgin in 1978 and released the album, Solid Senders that year.^[6] The Wilko Johnson Band played at the 'Front Row Festival', a three-week event at the Hope and Anchor, Islington in late November and early December 1977, featuring many early punk rock acts.^[7] This resulted in the inclusion of two tracks by The Wilko Johnson Band ("Dr. Feelgood" & "Twenty Yards Behind"), on a hit double album of recordings from the festival. The Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival compilation album (March 1978) which reached number 28 in the UK Albums Chart^[8]

In 1980 Wilko joined Ian Dury's band, The Blockheads.^[3] He then formed the Wilko Johnson Band, joined by Blockhead bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Salvatore Ramundo.^[3] Ramundo was later replaced by Steve Monti (future Curve and The Jesus and Mary Chain drummer).^[3] In early 1981, Johnson released his second album, Ice on the Motorway, and two years later issued the EP "Bottle Up and Go!" with Lew Lewis; several small-scale LPs, mostly for European record labels, followed over the 1980s: 1984's Pull the Cover, 1985's Watch Out! (Live In London), 1987's Call It What You Want, and 1988's Barbed Wire Blues.^[6]

In 1992 Johnson appeared at the Eurockéennes music festival, and the following year at GuilFest.

In 1998, Johnson finally had the opportunity to release another album, Going Back Home for Mystic. Johnson began to cut back on his concert appearances in 1999, but still found the wherewithal to cut Don't Let Your Daddy Know (Live in Japan 2000) the following year.^[6]

The studio album Red Hot Rocking Blues was released in 2005. This contained covers of classics by the likes of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Sonny Boy Williamson and Leadbelly.

Throughout 2005 and 2006 the band teamed up with The Hamsters and John Otway to take part in the The Mad, the Bad & the Dangerous tour. He played Club Bang Bang at the 100 Club on 6 October 2006.^[3] Johnson continues to play live throughout the UK, Europe and Japan. In London he performs twice a year at the 100 Club.

In 2007 a DVD (produced by Monti) was released of one of the concerts.^{[by whom?]}

Johnson appeared in the film Oil City Confidential (2009), where he related his memories of Canvey Island and Dr. Feelgood.

Johnson was cast in the role of mute executioner Ilyn Payne, in both the first and second season of HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones.^[9]

On 2 October 2010, it was announced that Johnson was to support The Stranglers on their 'Black & Blue' UK tour commencing in March 2011.

In April 2011, Johnson played several sold out shows as part of the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival in Ireland.^[10]

See also[link]

• Pub rock (UK)
• The Stranglers & Friends Live in Concert
• List of NME covers

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Rhythm @ 100 Club official site
• Wilko Johnson photographs
• 2006 interview
• The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous Tour official website
• Video interview with Wilko Johnson - 2011
• 2011 Radio Interview with Wilko Johnson

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

This is about the Broadway performer Bert Williams. For the English footballer, see Bert Williams (footballer)

Bert Williams
Born	Egbert Austin Williams (1874-11-12)November 12, 1874 Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
Died	March 4, 1922(1922-03-04) (aged 47) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Entertainer

Egbert Austin "Bert" Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was one of the preeminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920. In 1918, the New York Dramatic Mirror called Williams "one of the great comedians of the world."^[1]

Williams was a key figure in the development of African-American entertainment. In an age when racial inequality and stereotyping were commonplace, he became the first black American to take a lead role on the Broadway stage, and did much to push back racial barriers during his career. Fellow vaudevillian W.C. Fields, who appeared in productions with Williams, described him as "the funniest man I ever saw – and the saddest man I ever knew."^[2]

Early life[link]

Williams was born in Antigua, West Indies,^[3] and at the age of 10 he was brought to New York City by his parents. From New York City the family moved to Riverside, California, where Williams graduated from Riverside High School.^[4] He later went to San Francisco, intending to study to be a civil engineer, but instead joined a minstrel company known as "The Mastoden Minstrels", which played the lumber and mining camps of California.^[5] In 1893, in San Francisco he formed the team of Williams and Walker, his partner being equally celebrated straight man George Walker.

Williams became one of Vaudeville's top solo artists, but he first gained notice as half of the successful double-act "Williams & Walker." He and George Walker performed song-and-dance numbers, comic dialogues and skits, and humorous songs. They fell into stereotypical vaudevillian roles: originally Williams portrayed a slick conniver, while Walker played the "dumb coon" victim of Williams' schemes.^[6] However, they soon discovered that they got a better reaction by switching roles. The sharp-featured and slender Walker eventually developed a persona as a strutting dandy, while the stocky Williams played the languorous oaf. Despite his thickset physique, Williams was a master of body language and physical "stage business."

In late 1896, the pair were added to The Gold Bug, a struggling musical. The show did not survive, but Williams & Walker got good reviews, and were able to secure higher profile bookings. They headlined the Koster and Bial's vaudeville house for 36 weeks in 1896-97, where their spirited version of the cakewalk helped popularize the dance. The pair performed in burnt-cork blackface, as was customary at the time, billing themselves as "Two Real Coons" to distinguish their act from the many white minstrels also performing in blackface. Williams also made his first recordings in 1896, but none are known to survive.

In 1899 Bert surprised his partner George Walker and his family when he announced he had recently married Charlotte ("Lottie") Thompson, a singer with whom he had worked professionally, in a very private ceremony. Lottie was a widow 8 years Bert's senior and a homebody, thus the match seemed odd to some who knew the gregarious and constantly traveling Williams, but all who knew them considered them a uniquely happy couple and the union lasted until his death. The Williamses never had children biologically but they adopted three of Lottie's nieces and frequently sheltered orphans and foster children in their homes.

Williams & Walker appeared in a succession of shows, including A Senegambian Carnival, A Lucky Coon, and The Policy Players. Their stars were on the ascent, but they still faced vivid reminders of the limits placed on them by white society. In August 1900, in New York City, hysterical rumors of a white detective having been shot by a black man erupted into an uncontained riot. Unaware of the street violence, Williams & Walker left their theater after a performance and parted ways. Williams headed off in a fortunate direction, but Walker was yanked from a streetcar by a white mob and was beaten.

[edit] Sons of Ham and In Dahomey

Williams (left) & Walker, on the 1903 cover to the sheet music for "I'm a Jonah Man" (from the musical In Dahomey)

The following month, Williams & Walker had their greatest success to date with Sons of Ham, a broad farce that was perhaps most notable for its lack of the extreme "darkie" stereotypes which were then common. The pair had already begun to transition away from racial minstrel conventions to a more human style of comedy. In 1901, they recorded thirteen discs for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Some of these, like "The Phrenologist Coon," were standard blackface material, but the financial lament "When It's All Going Out and Nothing Coming In" was race-blind, and became one of Williams' best-known songs. Another Williams composition, "Good Morning Carrie", was covered by many artists, becoming one of the biggest hits of 1901. These discs existed only in pressings of fewer than 1,000, and were not heard by very many listeners. Sons of Ham ran for two years.^[7]

In September 1902, Williams & Walker debuted their next vehicle, In Dahomey, which was an even bigger hit. In 1903 the production, with music by Will Marion Cook and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar moved to New York City, where it became the first black musical to open on Broadway.^[8] This was a landmark event, but seating inside the theater was segregated. One of the musical's songs, "I'm a Jonah Man," helped codify Williams' hard-luck persona and tales of woe. In Dahomey then traveled to London, where it was enthusiastically received. A command performance was given at Buckingham Palace in June 1903.^[9]

In February 1906, Abyssinia, with a score co-written by Williams, premiered at the Majestic Theater. The show, which included live camels, was another smash. Williams committed many of its songs to disc and cylinder. One of them, "Nobody", became his signature theme, and the song he is best remembered for today. It is a doleful and ironic composition, replete with his dry observational wit, and is perfectly complemented by Williams' intimate, half-spoken singing style.

When life seems full of clouds and rain,

And I am filled with naught but pain,

Who soothes my thumping, bumping brain?

[pause] Nobody.

When winter comes with snow and sleet,

And me with hunger and cold feet,

Who says, "Here's two bits, go and eat"?

[pause] Nobody.

I ain't never done nothin' to Nobody.

I ain't never got nothin' from Nobody, no time.

And, until I get somethin' from somebody sometime,

I don't intend to do nothin' for Nobody, no time.

Williams became so identified with the song that he was obliged to sing it in almost every appearance for the rest of his life. He considered its success both blessing and curse: "Before I got through with 'Nobody,' I could have wished that both the author of the words and the assembler of the tune had been strangled or drowned... 'Nobody' was a particularly hard song to replace." "Nobody" remained active in Columbia's sales catalogue into the 1930s, and the musicologist Tim Brooks estimates that it sold between 100,000 and 150,000 copies, a phenomenally high amount for the era.

Williams' langorous, drawling delivery was the primary selling point of several similarly-structured Williams recordings, such as "Constantly" and "I'm Neutral." Williams even recorded two compositions titled "Somebody" and "Everybody." His style was inimitable. In an era when the most popular songs were simultaneously promoted by several artists (for example, "Over There" was a top ten hit for six different acts in 1917-18), Williams' repertoire was left comparatively untouched by competing singers.^[10]

Williams & Walker were prominent success stories for the black community, and they received both extensive press coverage and frequent admonitions to properly "represent the race." Leading black newspapers mounted campaigns against demeaning stereotypes such as the word "coon." Williams & Walker were sympathetic, but also had their careers to consider, where they performed before many white audiences. The balancing act between their audience's expectations and their artistic impulses was tricky.

In his only known essay, Williams wrote:

"People sometimes ask me if I would not give anything to be white. I answer . . . most emphatically, "No." How do I know what I might be if I were a white man? I might be a sandhog, burrowing away and losing my health for $8 a day. I might be a streetcar conductor at $12 or $15 a week. There is many a white man less fortunate and less well-equipped than I am. In fact, I have never been able to discover that there was anything disgraceful in being a colored man. But I have often found it inconvenient . . . in America." ^[11]

[edit] Bandanna Land

In 1908, while starring in the successful Broadway production Bandanna Land, Williams & Walker were asked to appear at a charity benefit by George M. Cohan. Walter C. Kelly, a prominent monologist, protested and encouraged the other acts to withdraw from the show rather than appear alongside black performers. But only two of the acts joined Kelly's boycott.

Bandanna Land continued the duo's series of hits, and introduced a sketch that Williams made famous: his pantomime poker game. In total silence, Williams acted out a hand of poker, with only his facial expressions and body language conveying the dealer's up-and-down emotions. It became a standard routine in his stage act, and was recorded on film by Biograph Studios in 1916.^[12]

Solo career[link]

Walker was in ill health by this point, apparently due to syphilis, and was forced to drop out of Bandanna Land in early 1909. The famous pair never performed in public again, and Walker died less than two years later. Walker had been the businessman and public spokesman for the duo. His absence left Williams professionally adrift. His next moves in show business were cautious and tentative. He did a short solo act for the high-class vaudeville circuit, consisting of four songs and a dance. Williams next starred as Mr. Lode of Koal, a farce about a kidnapped king that was well-received by critics, but which played a secondary string of theaters and was a box office flop.

After Mr. Lode skidded to a halt, Williams accepted an unprecedented offer to join Flo Ziegfeld's Follies. The idea of a black-featured performer amid an otherwise all-white show was a shock in 1910. Williams' initial reception was cool, and several cast members delivered an ultimatum to Ziegfeld that Williams be fired. Ziegfeld held firm, saying: "I can replace every one of you, except [Williams]." The show's writers were slow to devise material for him to perform. But by the time the show finally debuted in June, Williams was a sensation. Reviews were uniformly positive for Williams, and also for Fanny Brice, who was making her Broadway debut.

Following his success, Williams signed an exclusive contract with Columbia Records, and recorded four of the show's songs. His elevated status was signaled not just by the generous terms of the contract, but by the tenor of Columbia's promotion, which dropped much of the previous "coon harmony"-type sales patter and began touting Williams' "inimitable art" and "direct appeal to the intelligence." Tim Brooks wrote, "Williams had become a star who transcended race, to the extent that was possible in 1910." All four songs sold well, and one of them, "Play That Barbershop Chord," became a substantial hit.

Few stage performers were recording regularly in 1910, in some cases because their onstage styles did not translate to the limited technical media. But Williams' low-key natural delivery was ideal for discs of the time, and his personality was warm and funny.

Bert Williams in blackface

Williams returned for the 1911 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies, teaming up in some sketches with the comedian Leon Errol to ecstatic effect. Williams also reprised his poker routine, and popularized a song called "Woodman, Spare That Tree." In January 1913, he recorded several more sides for Columbia, including a new version of "Nobody," the 1906 copies having long since become scarce. All of the releases remained in Columbia's catalog for years. Williams continued as a featured star of the Follies, and made several more recording dates for Columbia, though he stopped writing his own songs by 1915. He also began making film appearances, though most have been lost. One of them, A Natural Born Gambler, shows his pantomime poker sketch, and is the best-known footage of Williams available.^[13]

The 1917 installment of Ziegfeld's Follies featured a rich array of talent, including W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, and Eddie Cantor, as well as Brice and Williams. Williams and Cantor did scenes together, and struck up a close friendship. In 1918-19, Williams went on a hiatus from the Follies. Over the next four years, he recorded several records in the guise of "Elder Eatmore," an unscrupulous preacher, as well as songs dealing with Prohibition, such as "Everybody Wants a Key to My Cellar," "Save a Little Dram for Me," "Ten Little Bottles," and the smash hit, "The Moon Shines on the Moonshine." By this point, Williams' records were taking up a full page in Columbia's catalog, and they were among the strongest-selling songs of the age. At a time when 10,000 sales was considered a very successful major label release, Williams had four songs that shipped between 180,000 and 250,000 copies in 1920 alone. Williams, along with Al Jolson and Nora Bayes, was one of the three most highly paid recording artists in the world.^[14]

Williams continued to face racism, but due to his success and popularity, he was in a better position to deal with it. On one occasion, when he attempted to buy a drink at the bar of New York's elegant Hotel Astor, the white bartender tried to chase Williams away by telling him that he would be charged $50. Williams' response was to produce a thick roll of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket; placing the wad on the bar, he ordered a round for everyone in the room.^[15]

Late career and death[link]

Williams' stage career lagged after his final Follies appearance in 1919. His name was enough to open a show, but they had shorter, less profitable runs. In December 1921, Under the Bamboo Tree opened, to middling results. Williams still got good reviews, but the show did not. Williams developed pneumonia, but did not want to miss performances, knowing that he was the only thing keeping an otherwise moribund musical alive at the box office.

On February 27, 1922 Williams collapsed during a performance in Detroit, Michigan, which the audience initially thought was a comic bit. Helped to his dressing room, Williams quipped, "That's a nice way to die. They was laughing when I made my last exit."^[16] He returned to New York, but his health worsened. He died on March 4, at the age of forty-seven. Few had suspected that he was sick, and news of his death came as a public shock. More than 5,000 fans filed past his casket, and thousands more were turned away. Williams was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Legacy[link]

In 1910, Booker T. Washington wrote of Williams: "He has done more for our race than I have. He has smiled his way into people's hearts; I have been obliged to fight my way." Gene Buck, who had discovered W. C. Fields in vaudeville and hired him for the Follies, wrote to a friend on the occasion of Fields' death: "Next to Bert Williams, Bill [Fields] was the greatest comic that ever lived."^[17]

In 1940, Duke Ellington composed and recorded "A Portrait of Bert Williams," a subtly crafted tribute. In 1978, in a memorable turn on a Boston Pops TV special, Ben Vereen performed a tribute to Williams, complete with appropriate makeup and attire, and reprising Williams' high-kick dance steps, to such classic vaudeville standards as "Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee".

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Bert Williams was named in his honor.

The 1980 Broadway musical Tintypes featured "I'm a Jonah Man", a song first popularized by Williams in 1903.

In 1996, Bert Williams was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.

The Archeophone label has collected and released all of Williams' extant recordings on three CDs.

See also[link]

Biography portal

• The Frogs (club)
• African American musical theater

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Charters, Ann, Nobody: The Story of Bert Williams. Macmillan, 1970.
• Chude-Sokei, Louis, The Last 'Darky': Bert Williams, Black-on-Black Minstrelsy, and the African Diaspora. Duke UP, 2005.
• Forbes, Camille F. Introducing Bert Williams: Burnt Cork, Broadway, and the Story of America's First Black Star. Basic Civitas, 2008.
• Phillips, Caryl, Dancing in the Dark, a novel about Bert Williams. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4396-4.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bert Williams

• Bert Williams at the Internet Movie Database
• "Natural Born Gambler," one of the few surviving film records of Williams' act
• Songwriters Hall of Fame, biography of Bert Williams
• DuBois Learning Center, biography
• Bert Williams and George Walker
• Williams and Walker
• Bert Williams cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Philip Sterling research materials on Bert Williams, 1899-1981 (bulk 1959-1962)
• Bert Williams at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
• Bert Williams at Find a Grave

Connie Talbot
Talbot at Sutton Park, March 2012.
Background information
Born	(2000-11-20) 20 November 2000 (age 11)[1]
Origin	Streetly, Aldridge, England
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2007–present
Website	connietalbot.com

Connie Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English child singer from Streetly, Aldridge. She rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the first series of Britain's Got Talent, where she was runner-up to Paul Potts. Talbot was supposed to sign with Sony BMG but the label pulled out of the deal due to her age.

Talbot signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album Over the Rainbow in the UK on 26 November 2007. The album was re-released 18 June 2008 with a new track listing, and the first single from the album, a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", was released on 10 June.

Despite its negative critical reception, Over the Rainbow has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries. Since the initial album release, Talbot has performed publicly and on television in Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, where her music had gained recognition through YouTube. Her second album, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, was released on 24 November 2008; her third, Holiday Magic, was released in late 2009. While pursuing her musical career, Talbot attends school, and lives in Streetly with her family.

History[link]

[edit] Britain's Got Talent and Sony BMG

Talbot initially auditioned for the first series of television reality show Britain's Got Talent for fun, but her confidence increased when Simon Cowell, whom she is said to have idolised,^[2] described her as "pure magic" and said that he would make her earn "£1 million-plus this year".^[2] The judges expected a "joke" performance and she had never taken singing lessons, but Talbot's initial performance received international press coverage.^[3] She reached the final round after winning her semi-final with a live performance of "Ben" by Michael Jackson.^[4] On the night of the final, she sang The Wizard of Oz's "Over the Rainbow", but lost to Paul Potts as a result of the call-in vote.^[5][6] Talbot and Potts had been joint favourites to win the series.^[7][8]

Talbot during the recording of "Smile" for Sony BMG

According to journalist and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan, Talbot's performances resulted in many children, including Faryl Smith, auditioning for the second series of the show.^[9] After his victory, series 2 winner George Sampson spoke of his participation in the first series, where he was knocked out before the live shows, saying "I don't think I had any shot of winning last year ... When you look at the standard of Paul Potts and Connie Talbot. Paul Potts is out of this league, and Connie is out of this league – I wasn't good enough."^[10] Talbot voted for Sampson, saying "I liked his dancing – he was good on the lamppost".^[11]

Cowell had preliminarily agreed to sign Talbot with his own record label, Sony BMG. After recording two songs in London with Talbot ("Over the Rainbow" and "Smile"^[2]), the label pulled out of the deal.^[12] Talbot's mother, Sharon, said she was told that her daughter "...was too young to be their sort of artist", adding "We have been told to look for a company which looks after children."^[13][14] In a statement, the label said "there was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie ... However, the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time."^[13] Cowell himself said that "when the time is right, [he would] be delighted to see if [they could] make it work".^[13] The Talbot family decided to search for another label, saying "while [Talbot] loves what she's doing it would be cruel to stop her. Fame and money will never matter."^[2]

[edit] Over the Rainbow

In October 2007 Talbot signed with the Rainbow Recording Company for a six-figure deal.^[14] Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of record label Rhythm Riders made specifically for Talbot,^[2] was due to release Talbot's first album on 26 November 2007.^[14] It was later reported that the album was named Over the Rainbow, and the first single, "Over the Rainbow"/"White Christmas", would be released on 3 December 2007.^[2] Experts predicted that she had a good chance of getting the Christmas number one,^[2][14] but the single was cancelled in favour of an album-first release.^[15] Before the album was released, there was much speculation about Talbot and the album, with music experts describing her as potentially being "the next Charlotte Church".^[16]

Talbot at the Olympic Studios during the recording of Over the Rainbow

The team behind the album consisted of John Arnison, who also managed Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records.^[2] It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May.^[17] Arnison revealed that he and his team "are not going to give [Talbot] singing lessons – we don't need to", and said that when he met Talbot, he was "blown away".^[18] A schedule was worked out allowing Talbot to continue with her normal school activities while recording the album in her aunt Vicky's spare bedroom, which her mother described as "a better solution [than Sony BMG offered] which has not robbed her of her childhood".^[2] Although Arnison claimed he did not "want to put her through the promotional grind which most artists go through because she is too young", plans were made for an appearance on daytime television programme This Morning, as well as an appearance on Children in Need on 16 November 2007.^[2] The album was released on 26 November 2007 and Talbot's mother said that "All the family is really excited, but Connie is quite blase about it."^[19] The album was certified gold in early December,^[20] with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on This Morning.^[21] Initially, 50,000 copies of the album were pressed, but an additional 120,000 had to be made after the album sold out in days.^[21]

In late 2007, public appearances by Talbot included headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control.^[20] At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot said "I love it here, it’s brilliant, really fun", but had to be ushered off-stage by the police.^[20] Talbot performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square.^[22] TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on 26 November 2007.^[22] According to her mother, Talbot has received offers for film roles. Sharon said "[Talbot]'s been sent a script, I haven't had a good look at it yet but it's really exciting ... Connie's a singer, not an actress, so we'll see what happens. It's completely up to her whether or not she wants to do it. I can't believe it, though."^[20]

Sharon Mawer of Allmusic praised Over the Rainbow by saying "She can sing, for a seven year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too".^[23] However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realisation of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5.^[23] Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance".^[24] However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5.^[24]

The album was rereleased on 16 June 2008,^[25] but was available for pre-order in May, with three new tracks to replace its Christmas-themed songs.^[26][27][28] The first single from the album, "Three Little Birds", was released in June 2008, and a video for the song was shot in Jamaica.^[25] In April and May 2008, Talbot toured Asia to promote Over the Rainbow.^[29] Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the Sun.Star mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times,^[28] and The Straits Times saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 30 million times.^[29] The tour made stops in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Talbot and her family returned to England in late May.^[30] Following the tour, it was reported that the album had reached number one on the charts in Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong,^[25][30] as well as reaching number three in Singapore.^[30] After the tour, Talbot travelled to Poland, where she performed on television.^[11]

It was also revealed that Over the Rainbow was due for release in America in September,^[31] resulting in attention from American press sources including Fox Business Network and MarketWatch.^[32][33] The U.S. version was eventually released on 14 October,^[34] with Talbot appearing on American television shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show to publicise the release.^[35]

In August 2008, it was announced that Talbot had signed a contract with Data Design Interactive for production of a video game on the Wii console. The game was to feature 15 songs from Over the Rainbow, allowing players to sing along with a computer-generated image of Talbot or against other players in a karaoke mode.^[31][36] Talbot rerecorded the album for the game.^[37] The game was scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009,^[35] and is called Connie Talbot: Over the Rainbow.^[38] The game hasn't been released yet as of 2011, citing copyright issues on the songs used for it.

[edit] Christmas Album and Holiday Magic

In November 2008, it was announced that Talbot had produced a series of new songs for an album.^[39] Recorded in her bedroom studio, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album was released on 24 November.^[40] It is a Christmas themed album,^[40] featuring, according to Talbot's official website, "a mix of classics and modern Christmas tunes".^[39] News was also released of a one-off Christmas special to be shown on ITV1 in the days leading up to Christmas, featuring footage of Talbot's journey to America and a "secret concert" at her primary school.^[41] The documentary, Christmas with Connie, was shown on ITV Central on 18 December.^[38] Talbot appeared at Walsall's HMV branch shortly after the release of her Christmas Album to sign copies and meet fans.^[42] She then embarked on a promotional tour making stops around the world, which included a performance at Ewha Womans University in Korea,^[43] and a performance on the A Heart for Children television charity gala in Berlin, Germany.^[44] She returned home in mid December, to have "a quiet family Christmas".^[45]

Connie Talbot's Christmas Album was difficult to obtain in Britain after the distributor, Pinnacle Entertainment, went into administration. Talbot's mother, Sharon, was quoted as saying "We don't really know what's going to happen at the moment ... We think they'll probably wait and promote the album later this year. It's a shame, but they can still get the album in Asia and the US."^[46] Reviewing the album for FemaleFirst magazine, Ruth Harrison gave it 4/5, saying that Talbot has "a great voice when it comes to swing, but lets us down in parts".^[47]

In April 2009, Talbot again travelled to the U.S. in order to publicise her new single, a cover of "I Will Always Love You". The single was released in the U.S. on 7 April, along with a newly recorded "You Raise Me Up".^[48] Talbot then travelled to the U.S. on 30 April, and returned on 2 May.^[49] Appearances included a performance on Good Day New York on Fox Broadcasting Company's WNYW.^[50]

Talbot's third album, Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic, was released on 20 October 2009 in the United States and on 30 November 2009 in the United Kingdom. The United States album is dedicated to the Toys for Tots campaign, of which Talbot has been named the child ambassador. In a statement, Bill Grein, Vice President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, said-

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is extremely proud and excited to have Connie as our youngest ambassador ever ... She is the perfect person to inform the public of the millions of less fortunate children who may be overlooked this Christmas holiday season, unless people step up to donate a toy or make a cash contribution. Her angelic looks and voice will remind everyone of the innocence of children. And they all deserve to experience the magic of the holiday season! I hope she sells lots of CDs and raises a lot of money and awareness for our children.^[51]

2010–present[link]

This section requires expansion with: Details about her appearance at the 2010 G-20 Seoul_summit.

Talbot performed for her largest ever audience when she performed on Chinese state television during the Chinese new-year in 2011.^[52] Reporting the event, the Daily Mail's Kathryn Knight observed that Talbot has "had more than 300  million hits on YouTube and in the Far East, in particular, she's something of an icon. Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. — you name it, Connie’s a star there. In fact Connie is in huge demand across the globe — everywhere, that is, apart from her native Britain."^[53] Viewing figures for the event were estimated to be around 400 million.^[53][54][55]

Talbot backstage at "Young Voices"

During this time, Talbot continued to upload videos of her performances onto YouTube. Maggie Coughlan, of PopEater.com, praised her covers of Katy Perry's "Firework" and Bruno Mars's "Grenade", but was most impressed by her cover of Adele's "Someone Like You", which she said was performed "with such grace that she makes the entire performance look effortless".^[56] The video was also picked up by PerezHilton.com.^[57] After the death of Whitney Houston, Talbot posted a cover version of "Run to You" as a tribute to Houston. The video received attention from around the world, and became the most "liked" video in the UK.^[58]

On 28 November 2011, Talbot released "Beautiful World" as a single on iTunes. The song was written by Talbot when she was seven. A demo of the track was placed on YouTube, and became the 39th most watched video in the world on the day it was uploaded.^[59]

In March 2012, Talbot performed with and led Young Voices, a choir made up of around 7000 primary school children, at the O2 Arena for four nights. The choir broke the world-record for being the largest backing choir for a lead vocalist.^[60] This Guinness world record followes her accolades as the youngest artist to make the UK album charts ^[61] and the youngest to release a gold-selling record.^[62] Others involved in the event included Randolph Matthews and The High Kings,^[63] and performances took place elsewhere in the United Kingdom, including Manchester and Birmingham.^[64] The performances were in aid of CLIC Sargent, a children's cancer charity.^[65]

Personal life[link]

Talbot lives in Streetly, in the West Midlands, and currently attends a state primary school.^[66] She lives with her mother, Sharon, her father Gavin, a self-employed property maintenance engineer, her older brother Josh, and her sister, Mollie.^[2][67] Talbot sang "Over the Rainbow", her signature song, at her grandmother's funeral, because she and her grandmother had enjoyed watching The Wizard of Oz together.^[67] Talbot drew confidence in Britain's Got Talent from the belief that her grandmother was watching, and vowed to win the show in her memory.^[2] Despite Talbot speaking positively of the effects of her fame, her parents spoke of a darker side, including having to change their phone number and hire a bodyguard for their daughter.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]