Billy Ternent (b.10 October 1899, Newcastle, England, d.
23 March 1977, London, England) was a band leader, arranger,
multi-instrumentalist, and composer, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s. Many
bands of the past attempted to create their own style, some more successfully
than others. Perhaps one of the most
distinctive styles of all time belonged to
Billy Ternent. Indeed, the phrase 'that unmistakable sound' will always be
synonymous with him on broadcasts and records.
Frederick William Ternent took up the violin at the age
of seven and his first job was with a trio at a North Shields cinema when he
was 12. At 16, he was conducting a cinema orchestra on a circuit run by George
Black. Jack Hylton is supposed to have
discovered Billy while playing with the Selma Four in a Newcastle restaurant.
He took him to London where Ternent played in Al Starita’s band at the Kit-Kat
Club.
It was probably his long spell with Jack Hylton and his
Orchestra (1927 to 1939) that really brought him to the public's attention,
during which time he acted as Deputy Conductor and principal arranger. Many
well-known bandleaders were better managers than they were musicians — some
bands even regarded their conductor as a liability! Not the case with Billy,
who was a fine and much respected musician who could, and sometimes did, play
every instrument in the orchestra. This was very useful to Jack Hylton, who was
able to use him whenever a player was off sick.
Ternent wrote most of the Hylton band’s familiar
top-class
arrangements, played several instruments, and served as the deputy
leader on broadcasts, recordings and several extensive foreign tours. In
September 1939, Billy Ternent was appointed conductor of the BBC Dance
Orchestra or 'The Dance Orchestra' as it was then called. He conducted the first ITMA broadcasts with Tommy Handley, worked on 'Variety Bandbox', where he helped to launch the successful career of Frankie Howerd. This included several 78s for the Harmony and Columbia labels, which have become comedy classics, some featuring Ternent as the butt of Howerd’s jokes. Billy also had a weekly slot on 'Music While You Work'. When he resigned from this post in 1944, he handed over the baton to Stanley Black, who conducted the band until its demise in the early fifties.
When Billy formed his own band in 1944, he toured throughout
the UK to enthusiastic audiences. His life-long signature tune was Vivian
Ellis’ 'She’s My Lovely', from the musical 'Hide and Seek'. This, however,
attracted some complaints due to the fact that the opening glissando, to some
people, sounded like the start of an air-raid warning! Nevertheless, it remained
the signature tune of Billy Ternent and his Orchestra for many years to come.
The original 1943 Decca recording featured the singing of actor/guitarist Ken
Beaumont, who was later to find fame on the radio with his sextet.
The secret of Billy Ternent's success was the combination
of the superb musicianship of both leader and players, coupled with having
created one of the most distinctive styles in broadcasting. It was a seemingly
old-fashioned style, using a tenor-dominated saxophone section with a strong
vibrato and a trumpet section
which was frequently required to play muted
passages with rapid triple tonguing — a sort of 'stuttering' effect — possibly
inspired by the American band of Hal Kemp. The overall effect, however, was
original and required a musical expertise far above that of the average palais
player; indeed, the top session men Billy used found the arrangements to be
very challenging.
Billy with Gracie Fields |
From the late 40s he conducted for numerous West End
shows and visiting American artists (Frank Sinatra called him ‘the little
giant’). In 1951 the band accompanied Bob Hope on his UK tour. Ternent spent
five years, from 1962-67, as musical director at the London Palladium,
participating in several Royal Command Performances.
Billy continued to broadcast tasteful programmes of
mainly dance music well into the 1970s, although his later years were troubled
by recurring bouts of illness. Alan Dell persuaded him to conduct a selection
of his arrangements, to rapturous applause, during a "Dance Band
Days" concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 12 June 1976, as part
of the BBC’s Festival of Light Music. This was to be his last major engagement,
although stoically he continued to work until a few weeks before his death.
Billy Ternent died on 23rd March 1977, but this amiable Geordie can still be remembered through his legacy of 78s and long-playing records and CD’s spanning a long and distinguished career.
(Compiled and edited from various sources mainly Masters Of Melody & robertfarnonsociety.org.uk)
1 comment:
For “Billy Ternent & His Orchestra – She’s My Lovely” go here;
https://www118.zippyshare.com/v/UXbpxugQ/file.html
1. There’s No Two Ways About Love (vocals Sid Buckman)
2. We’ll meet Again
3. I Wish That I Could Hide Inside This Letter (vocals Irene King)
4. Stormy Weather (vocals Frances Dee)
5. I Have A Vision (vocals ken Beaumont)
6. You’re The Rainbow (vocals Ken Beaumont & Ruth Howard)
7. Sunday Monday Or Always (vocals ken Beaumont)
8. Where Are You Now (vocals Ken Beaumont)
9. When They Ask About You (vocals Anita Best)
10. I Wonder Why (vocals Sid Buckman)
11. The Dear Little Isle I Love (vocals Ken Beaumont)
12. I Like Riding on a Choo Choo (vocals Leslie Sarony)
13. The Roundabout Still Goes Round (vocals Eve Beynon)
14. Walking by the River (vocals Sid Buckman)
15. I've Got a Heart Filled with Love (vocals Frances Dee)
16. Say a Prayer for the Boys over There (vocals Frances Dee)
17. She's My Lovely (vocals Ken Beaumont)
18. Mississippi Dream Boat (vocals Sid Buckman)
19. In the Spirit of the Moment (vocals Ruth Howard)
20. Boa Noite
21. You Were Meant For me
22. The Object Of My Affection
23. I Never Knew
24. Garden In The Rain
25. Swings and Roundabouts
A big thank you to Audiotut for mp3’s
1 – 19 Decca recordings from 1943-1949 Rest from 1970’s.
Post a Comment