George Melly

Alan George Heywood Melly ( born August 17, 1926 in Liverpool, † July 5, 2007 in London) was a British author and jazz singer.

Life and work

From 1965 to 1973 he was television and film critic for The Observer. He also lectured on art history with an emphasis on surrealism. Later he wrote a column - Melly Mobile - for the satirical magazine Punch.

As a singer he was influenced in the presentation of classic blues singers like Bessie Smith. During the time of Trad Jazz revival ( in the 1950s), he worked with Mick Mulligan's Magnolia Jazz Band ( with trombonist Frank Parr ). In the early 1970s he sang with John Chilton's Feetwarmers and later with the band of Digby Fairweather. In 1978, he took with The Stranglers the written especially for him the title 'Old Codger ' on.

Melly died at the age of 80 from lung cancer. He is survived by his wife, Diana and three children.

Bibliography

  • Revolt into Style, Pop Arts in Britain (1971 )
  • Rum, Bum and Concertina ( autobiography about his time in the Navy ) ( 1977)
  • Owning Up ( autobiography about the Trad Jazz Revival ) ( 1978)
  • A Tribe of One: Great Naive and Primitive Painters of the British Isles (1981 )
  • Great Lovers ( 1981)
  • Scouse Mouse ( Autobiography - Childhood ) ( 1984)
  • It's All Writ Out for You: Life and Work of Scottie Wilson ( 1986)
  • Paris and the Surrealists (1991 )
  • Do not Tell Sybil: Intimate Memoir of E.L.T. Mesens (1997)
  • Hooked! Fishing Memories ( 2000)
  • Slowing Down ( memoirs ) (2005 )
  • Take A Girl Like Me (biography of his wife, Diana Melly ) (2005 )

Disco printing specifications

  • Goodtime George (Spectrum, 1951-73 )
  • Nuts / ( Warner, 1972)
  • Son of Nuts ( Warner, 1973)
  • It's George (1974 )
  • The Ultimate Melly ( Candid, 2005) with Digby Fairweather

External links and sources

  • Literature by and about George Melly in the catalog that German national library
  • George Melly website
  • George Melleys plates " Nuts" and "Son of nuts" in the BBC Review
  • Hot Jazz, Warm Feet ( Autobiography of John Chilton, with chapters on Melly ) (2007 )
  • Obituary in TIME, July 5, 2007
  • Jazz Singer
  • Author
  • Briton
  • English
  • Born in 1926
  • Died in 2007
  • Man
Column (periodical) Punch (magazine) Frank Parr (musician) E. L. T. Mesens Integrated Authority File
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