Stories Of London

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Following Jackie’s return from Canada early in 1954, he found work as an arranger, a composer and a musician and made a number of records with an assortment of Bands, Orchestras and Groups. Many records where he was involved in no only there making, but also in their production found success.

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Perhaps the most successful record that Jackie was involved with its making was the recording, O Mein Papa, made by the trumpeter, Eddie Calvert (1922-1978) in 1954. The record was made together with Norrie Paramor (1914-1979) and his Orchestra with Jackie featured at the Organ and was released on the Columbia Gramophone Label (part of EMI Records; i.e. Electric and Musical Industries) at the time.

O Mein Papa – Eddie Calvert with The Norrie Paramor & His Orchestra

It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was the first U.K. number one hit recorded there. It remained atop the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks (then a U.K. Chart record), and was the first U.K. instrumental track to be awarded a Gold Disc.

Eddie Calvert (known as The Man with the Golden Trumpet)

The record was produced by Mr. Paramor who besides being a record producer, composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader and orchestral conductor, was also the Recording Director for EMI‘s Columbia Records at that time and oversaw production of multiple successful records by numerous artists.

Top Left: Norrie Paramor; Top Right: With Helen Shapiro & Cliff Richard;
Bottom Left: With Cliff Richard & The Shadows; Bottom Right: With Frank Ifield

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In early January 1955, Jackie collected together a number of musicians, which for the sake of the Session, which he called His Rhythm, to provide the music for the making of a record by the singer Barry Leonard. The record was made along with a group of singers under the direction of composer and band leader, Peter Knight (1917-1985). Together, the ensemble recorded for general release on Parlophone (also part of EMI at that time), the song, It’s a Woman’s World. At this time, they also recorded the song, Tino Tino. 

It’s a Woman’s World sung by Barry Leonard with The Peter Knight Singers and
Jackie Brown & his Rhythm

Review of the Record by Disc Jockey, Geoffrey Everitt, that appeared in
the New Musical Express in January 1955

The singer, Barry Leonard, was in actuality the singer-actor-comedian, Benny Lee (1916-1995) who was well-known at the time for his Radio work with Bernard Braden (1916-1993) and later appeared in the BBC-Television series, Are You Being Served?

Benny Lee

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The song was featured originally featured in the 20th Century Fox Studios Production, Woman’s World (1954) and was written by Cyril J. Mockridge (1896–1979) and Sammy Cahn (1913-1993).

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Without question the most prestigious record that Jackie made was his 1954 recording of The Theme from the film, The Glenn Miller Story with music written by Henry Mancini (1924-1994). On the flip side was Ballet of the Bells, written by Ray Martin (1918-1988) (see Page 4: An Arranger’s Life for Me) and released on the Columbia Record Label.

Poster of the film, The Glenn Miller Story

The Jackie Brown Orchestra – Theme from The Glenn Miller Story

Ballet of The Bells, Sheet Music

Ballet of The Bells

It would seem that The Jackie Brown Orchestra most likely consisted of members of The Ray Martin Orchestra with Jackie conducting.

Jackie was employed as a session musician, arranger and conductor under the direction of Mr. Martin at this time. In addition, it is most likely that Jackie worked on a number of other records in addition to these.

Ray Martin was the conductor of the BBC Northern Variety Orchestra and the Artists & Repertoire Manager and Record Producer for Electric and Musical Industries’ (EMI) Columbia Record Label, as well as an executive and talent scout.

Although I doubt if the recording sold many copies, it did however receive recognition and  praise from both musicians and critics and was judged second place in the award category for the year’s Most Outstanding Instrumental Recording of 1954 awarded by The New Musical Express (NME).

The New Musical Express Record Award of the Year (1954) for Outstanding Instrument Recording
and Presented to Jackie Brown for the recording of The Glenn Miller Theme

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Another recording that Jackie made as The Jackie Brown Orchestra and released by Columbia Records was, Don’t Say Goodbye (Auf Wiedersehen), which had been featured in the film, The Colditz Story (1957).  The tune was written by Francis Chagrin (1905-1972) who was also responsible for the film’s score. The singers on the record are not credited.

Jackie Brown & His Orchestra – Don’t Say Goodbye (Auf Wiedersehen)

On the other side of the record is The Sand and The Sea, which had been written by Barry Parker and Hal Hester  Again the singer has not been credited.

Jackie Brown & His Orchestra – The Sand and The Sea

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Jackie also made a record as Jackie Brown & His Quartet, Sentimental Me, a song written by Jim Morehead and Jimmy Cassin, and was released on  Columbia Records. Unfortunately, although I have not been able to find a copy of Jackie’s recording, by listening to the most popular version of the song (recorded in 1949 by The Ames Brothers), it becomes evident why the tune appealed to Jackie. 

The Ames Brothers – Sentimental Me

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Jackie conducted the Phillip Green (1911-1982) Orchestra for the recording of two songs by Steve Conway (1920-1952) who was a very popular singer during the 1950s and who died tragically at a young age.

Left: Steve Conway; Right: Phillip Green

These songs were issued on an Extended Play Record (EP; 45 r.p.m.) and were Autumn Leaves, written by Jacques Prévert (1900-1977) and with English lyrics by Johnny Mercer (1909–1976), and Good Luck, Good Health, God Bless You, written by Charles Adams & A. LeRoyal.

Steve Conway with Orchestra conducted by Jackie Brown – Autumn Leaves

Steve Conway & The Hastings Girls Choir with Orchestra conducted by Jackie Brown –
Good Luck, Good Health, G-d Bless You

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Jackie also performed with other orchestras and small bands in the making of records. One of the most successful pieces that he worked on was a recording of a tune used in the 1954 film, West of Zanzibar, which starred Anthony Steel (1920-2001), Sheila Sim (1922-2016), and Eric Connor (1913-1968).

It was decided during the filming to include the popular local Swahili folk-cum-dance song, Jambo Sigara Baridl, in the background music. Upon release of the film, an English version of the song was recorded with Anthony Steel and the Radio Revellers providing the vocals together with Jackie Brown and his Music. When this version was released, it proved to be quite successful and reached Number 11 on the Best Selling Record Chart.

Anthony Steel, The Radio Revellers and Jackie Brown & His Music – West of Zanzibar

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Jackie was a regular Session Musician at Abbey Road Studios for a number of years and was most likely involved in the making of many successful recordings.

Abbey Road Studios

In 1964 Jackie was a Session Musician on the recording of A World Without Love. This was the first recording of the group, Peter and Gordon, which consisted of Peter Asher (1944) and Gordon Waller (1945-2009) and was written by Paul McCartney (1944) and John Lennon (1940-1980). The recording received enormous success throughout the world and was awarded a Gold Disc for sales reaching over one million copies sold.

Peter and Gordon

Peter and Gordon – A World Without Love

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The accompaniment, which included Jackie playing an Electronic Organ, was under the direction of composer and arranger, Geoff Love (1917-1991) who had gained fame earlier using the pseudonym of Manuel and The Music of The Mountains.

Manuel and The Music of The Mountains playing
Joaquin Rodrigo‘s (1901-1999) Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez (Theme From The Second Movement)

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Peter Brough (1916-1999) was a  Ventriloquist  who appeared together with his puppet, Archie Andrews, on BBC Radio His radio show, Educating Archie (1950-1960), was enormously successful with some fifteen million listeners each week. The programme also featured a number of artists who went on to fame including Julie Andrews (1935). A television version of the programme was made by the ITV company Associated-Rediffusion and was broadcast in 1958-1959.

Peter Brough & Archie Andrews

A number of records were made of Archie Andrews in a series known as Little Stories. It is believed that Jackie was part of the musical accompaniment in their making. Unfortunately, I have not been able to verify which of the recordings Jackie was a part of.

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Although not released to the public as a recording, Jackie composed and recorded a piece of music specifically for passengers to hear as they entered planes operated by British Caledonian (BCal) during its operation. The piece of music is called Welcome Aboard.

The Sheet Music of Welcome Aboard written out by Jackie Brown

Welcome Aboard playing by Andrew Gilbert

BCal was a British private independent airline, which was formed when the U.K.’s second-largest, independent charter airline, Caledonian Airways, took over British United Airways (BUA) in 1970. The airline ceased to exist when it merged with British Airways (BA) in 1988.

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In 1962, Jackie played the organ of the World Record Club/Light Music Club‘s recording of The Sound of Music. Cyril Ornadel (1924-2011) was in charge of the production, which featured Adele Leigh (1928-2004) singing the role of Maria von Trapp (1905-1987) and Ian Wallace (1919-2009) as Captain Georg von Trapp (1880-1947).

The album cover and part of the sleeve notes

Do-Re-Mi from the album

Prelude & The Sound of Music from the album

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I feel certain that Jackie took part in the making of other recordings as a Session Musician, however, sadly, I have not been able to find them.  I also feel certain that many of these recordings found success not only upon their release to the public, but also in their production.

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During his career, Jackie did release a number of recordings of his playing of both the Theatre and Electronic Organ, and mention of these will be found on Page  10: STILL A THEATRE ORGANIST AT HEART).

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