Ukulele Heroes: The Golden Age

by Ian Whitcomb

Overview

(Book). Although the ukulele has always been popular even when cast to the grass-skirt ghetto of luaus and limbo contests the current craze for this instrument has put the four-string cousin of the guitar into the hands of veteran musicians and young hipsters alike. And while there are a handful of books feeding the current uke explosion, this is the first to detail the stage, screen, and recording stars who pioneered the uke those who predated and made possible its current resurgence. The book begins with how the uke came to the mainland United States from Hawai'i, and the Hawai'ian song craze of 1916-17, fueled by Tim Pan Alley. Profiled stars include Ukulele Ike, Johnny Marvin, Wendell Hall, "Wizard of the Strings" Roy Smeck, George Formby, Arthur Godfrey, Tessie O'Shea, who was a guest along with the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show , and Tiny Tim. Author Ian Whitcomb also describes how, when a British teen idol coming off a Top Ten hit, he took out his secondhand Martin uke and recorded his version of a 1916 novelty called "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" scoring another hit that led him to appearances on Shindig! , Dick Clark's Where the Action Is , and The Pat Boone Show . Ukulele Heroes: The Golden Age is essential for any uke enthusiast, and features a detailed discography and filmography, essential for any student of the art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476821498
Publisher:	Hal Leonard
Publication date:	07/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ian Whitcomb (Surrey, UK) has been entertaining the world for over forty years. He formed the rock group Bluesville and hit the American and UK Top Ten in 1965 with “You Turn Me On.” The follow-up, “Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?” spotlighted Ian on his new Martin ukulele. He is the author of the classic history of pop music After the Ball and an account of his rock life in Rock Odyssey, not to mention four ukulele songbooks. In 1998, he produced the Grammy-winning CD Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage. He wrote and sang most of the songs for the ukulele feature movie Stanley's Gig and provided music for many other films, including The Cat's Meow and Last Call.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Ukulele Sunday 3

Chapter 2 A Gift from the Islands Hawaiian Beginnings 11

Chapter 3 The Jazz Age and Beyond: Cliff Edwards-"Ukulele Ike" More Heroes and One Heroine Frank Crumit Wendell Hall Johnny Marvin May Singhi Breen-our Heroine 29

Chapter 4 Meanwhile in England…Grinning Through the Great Depression George Formby Jr. Tessie O'Shea Billy "Uke" Scott 65

Chapter 5 Arthur Godfrey: Papa with the Plastic Uke 93

Chapter 6 Ian's Story: The Golden Age Has Ended (Not Forgetting Tiny Tim) 103

Chapter 7 Our Great Revival Not Forgetting Roy Smeck, Lyle Ritz, and The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britian 123

Acknowledgements 145

Postscript 147

Selected Discography 149

Ukulele Heroes: Their Top Five Songs 151

Selected Filmography 153

Index of Songs 155

Index 159