The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572 and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe. In terms of the entire century, John Guy (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time in a thousand years.
This "golden age" represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the Spanish Armada was repulsed. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.
Roger Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability. American audiences are most familiar with his 1970 hit "New World in the Morning" and his 1975 hit "The Last Farewell," the latter of which is his only single to hit the Billboard Hot 100 (it made the Top 20) and also hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Whittaker's parents, Edward and Viola, were originally from Staffordshire, England, where they owned and operated a grocery shop. His father had a motorcycle accident and the family moved to a farm near Thika, Kenya because of the warmer climate. His grandfather sang in various clubs and his father played the violin. Roger learned to play the guitar.
Whittaker was drafted into national service and spent two years in the Kenya Regiment. In 1956 he was demobilized and decided on a career in medicine. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist.
Gardiner performed on the tourist circuit for much of the 1960s and was a member of Carlos Malcolm & the Afro Caribs and Byron Lee's Dragonaires. In the late 1960s and 1970s he worked extensively as a session musician as a member of the Now Generation, The Upsetters, The Aggrovators, and The Crystallites.
As a solo artist, Gardiner had a hit with the song "Elizabethan Reggae" in 1970, a version of Ronald Binge's "Elizabethan Serenade". When the single was released in the United Kingdom, the first copies were printed with the label incorrectly identifying Byron Lee (not Gardiner) as the performer. Rather than performing on it, Lee produced the track. The UK Singles Chart printed this error for the first chart entry and the first four weeks of its re-entry into the charts. After 28 February 1970, all printings gave Gardiner credit.
His debut album, Reggae Happening, was also released in 1970 and (although it did not chart). Music journalist Ian McCann said that the album "sold respectably for a reggae LP" in the UK. Although Gardiner continued to be successful in Jamaica, he had no more hits in the UK during that decade.