Ross Parker (songwriter)

Ross Parker

Ross Parker on the cover of his 1968 album "The Happy Piano of Ross Parker"
Background information
Birth name Albert Rostron Parker[1]
Also known as Ross Parker
Clarke Ross-Parker
Born (1914-08-16)August 16, 1914
Manchester, England
Died August 2, 1974(1974-08-02) (aged 59)
Kent, England
Genres Pop, Swing
Occupation(s) Songwriter, lyricist, actor
Years active 1930–1974

Ross Parker (born Albert Rostron Parker) (August 16, 1914 – August 2, 1974) was an English pianist, composer, lyricist, and actor. He is best known for co-writing the songs "We'll Meet Again"[2] and "There'll Always Be an England".

Songwriting career

Parker had a long and successful songwriting career which included chart hits from 1938 to 1970. In 1938 he was already considered one of England's "big five" songwriters.[3] Horace Heidt's version of Parker's song "The Girl In The Blue Bonnet" reached #15 on the Billboard charts in 1938.[4] "I Won't Tell A Soul (I Love You)" was a number one hit for Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy, spending 12 weeks on the Billboard chart in 1939.[5] Although "There'll Always Be an England" was released before the start of World War Two, it became an enormous success when war was declared by Britain. Parker joined the British Army. He and Hughie Charles (his collaborator on "There'll Always Be an England" and "We'll Meet Again") continued to write patriotic songs such as "The Navy's Here" during the war.[6]

In 1956, Shirley Bassey's manager Michael Sullivan commissioned Parker to write a song for the then 19-year-old Bassey.[7]

[8] Parker wrote "Burn My Candle", which later became Bassey's first recording.

Musicals

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Notice of name change in The London Gazette, 14 August 1951
  2. ↑ Mark Steyn (2000). Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now. Taylor & Francis. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-415-92287-6.
  3. ↑ "Composer Dies At 59". Glasgow Herald. 3 Aug 1974.
  4. ↑ http://tsort.info/music/y31hb3.htm
  5. ↑ http://tsort.info/music/h1e2ag.htm
  6. ↑ "There'll Always Be An England". Coaticook Observer. 27 September 1940.
  7. ↑ Williams, John L. (2010). Miss Shirley Bassey. London: Quercus. pp. 121–122. ISBN 978-1-84724-974-6.
  8. ↑ Burgess, Muriel (31 August 2013). Shirley. Random House.
  9. ↑ "Clown Jewels". The Guide To Musical Theatre. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Anon. "Happy as a King". Theatre World. 48 -49. p. 6.
  11. ↑ "Knights of Madness". Guide To Musical Theatre. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Colin MacKenzie (2005). Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music. Melrose Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-905226-19-1.
  13. ↑ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2715 La Plume de Ma Tante
  14. ↑ "The rotund and jovial Ross Parker is a tremendous cabaret favourite in London's West End". Country Fair. 35. 1968. p. 35.


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