DOCUMENTARY: Legends
Channel: BBC 4 TV
Date: Friday 19th October 2007
Time: 21:00 to 22:00
Duration: 1 hour.
Al Bowlly - The Very Thought Of You.
Profile of the debonair 1930s crooner Al Bowlly.

Hi, thought I'd let you all know about this TV programme on Friday. Al Bowlly was a 1930s crooner/vocalist who I've mentioned on most of the music messageboards I post on. I have a good collection of his original records and my website featured the first internet bio of Bowlly about 10 years ago.

I was contacted by the BBC producers some time ago, provided them with access/use to the website, but the only thing they were interested in was getting hold of films mentioned in the website. All the film of Al Bowlly I have is copies, not great quality, the BBC knew about the Pathe and BFI sources of films, and I provided them with contact with an old musician's (Lew Davis) family who had home movie featuring Bowlly.

Providing that contact I expect will be my only contribution noted on the show, and I probably won't actually get a mention, the family of Lew Davis should.

If you watch the documentary and there is footage of Bowlly and friends on a plane, larking about on the beach, on a golf course and eating a meal then that will have come from the home movie.

If you haven't heard the singing voice of Al Bowlly (or if you have) I'd be interested to know what impression he makes on a short TV documentary.

Regards,

John Wright

Hi Bobbyz,

I thought overall the programme was very good. There were no 'howlers' as such, the main contributors were the very knowledgeable two biographers and the Radio 2 presenter Malcolm Laycock. The docu included lots of dance floor film footage to give people a feel for the main socialising entertainment that went on in those days, and they featured recordings of mainly songs that have survived (Bowlly made over 1000 records). The older lady is the widow of bandleader Lew Stone, I met her in 1978 when she was stunning at 60ish, and the two young ladies are BBC radio/tv presenters who I thought gave a good account of why Al Bowlly's voice means so much to them. Hugh Hefner has collected Bowlly records and films longer than I have.

The Al Jolson type voice dates back to the pre-microphone recording days when they HAD to shout on records or on stage. Al Bowlly and Bing were the first two vocalists to actually use a microphone to 'croon' and record/sing with some emotion (though of course some opera singers achieved this earlier without a microphone).

I would have liked to have seen more film of Al Bowlly featured. I've seen all the footage that is known, so there were at least two other acting roles (short) that they could have featured, and the one sitting on the piano is much longer if shown in full. Pathe and BFI provided most of the film, you might have spotted the home  movie clips that I discovered; when then BBC enquired about them I put them in touch with Kate Hyman, grand-daughter of the trombone player Lew Davis seen in several of the band clips.

I hope many viewers give good feedback to the BBC for this docu, and maybe we'll see similar programmes about about bandleaders and singers from those days, like Henry Hall and Ambrose.

Regards,

John W