Al Bowlly Sings 'The Very Thought of You' (1934) | British Pathé
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 07. 2011
- Jazz singer Al Bowlly sings his popular hit 'The Very Thought of You' in 1934 at Pathé Studios, taken from Lew Stone's famous 'Monseigneur Band.'
Bowlly was South African (although born in Mozambique) yet he became a great star in both the UK and America during the 1930s.
Al Bowlly enjoyed over 15 big hits from 1935 to 1941, acquiring a mass radio following of millions. Tragically he was killed in the Blitz, when his home in St. James was bombed in 1941. He was 43 years old.
Check out Al Bowlly singing 'Melancholy Baby': goo.gl/ekwJ0
For Archive Licensing Enquiries Visit: goo.gl/W4hZBv
Explore Our Online Channel For FULL Documentaries, Fascinating Interviews & Classic Movies: goo.gl/7dVe8r
#BritishPathé #Music #Singer #Jazz
Subscribe to the British Pathé YT Channel: goo.gl/hV1nkf
Al Bowlly sings 'The Very Thought of You' (1934).
BRITISH PATHÉ'S STORY
Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. British Pathé was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect. Over the course of a century, it documented everything from major armed conflicts and seismic political crises to the curious hobbies and eccentric lives of ordinary people. If it happened, British Pathé filmed it.
Now considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Pathé is a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivalled in their historical and cultural significance.
British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. www.britishpathe.com/
The internet can really be awesome at times. It's like you can look into the past right on your cell phone whenever you want
Small Fry little pocket time machines
@@ineffablemars Exactly
Samsung galaxy time machine app
And I frequently do as it seems so much nicer !!!
Yes once you get past all the snowflakes (sensitive people) and the hypocrites
Al Bowly should be remembered.
Remembered? He has been, thanks to CZcams, right here.
That's fame for you. Today a rooster, tomorrow a feather duster. But, vocalists like this, from that era became forgotten as styles in pop music changed. Thanks to CZcams and people out there finding these treasures, they can be revived as a new lot hears them. I remember him on the radio when I was knee high, and he was just a band singer to people then. It's now and with this gen., that he's properly appreciated. Wish he knew...
@@petertaylor3600 Sinatra is remembered, if we think under your logic, he shouldn't be.
Al Bowlly is much superior to Sinatra in singing, his phrasing and breathing management is fascinating, better than Sinatra, I think it is quite obvious as mentioned above.
It is a pity that Al Bowlly is remembered by a few thousand and not by a few million. His voice will continue in our hearts, but not in history, despite having invented the crooner song and having had such talent.
@@coloringmemories8974 How you arrived at that interpretation of my comment is your business and your logic, I suppose. For the record, I prefer Bowlly by a mile over Sinatra but, not being an expert, I only go by what they tell me and they tell me, Sinatra had superb skill. They are two individuals with each unique. That, 'Isaac Whoever you are, is my logic and I'm happy with it.
I rather think he has been. Forgotten for years, as the style of music disappeared, but with CZcams he has been rediscovered.
Al Bowlly was not just a singer - he was a time and place
I fell in love with him in 2012.
WELL PUT ANTHONY 👍
Al Bowlly was not just a singer - he was hot
@@wavyslugs You gave me a laugh on a very cold and wintry day
@@anthonyfrew1571 😊
Al Bowly was the best, sad he died so tragically and so soon.
he died by an wrong decision selection
Would you mind to enlighten me of whatever happened to the man? Or should i do my research?
@@viemahadewi the flat that he lived in was bombed by a Luftwaffe, which killed him.
@@viemahadewi the nazis killed him and many others with bombs. He was buried in a mass grave.
@@MorbidFable So sorry to hear that.
I wonder if Al and the pianist ever thought that people would be watching this today and in the palm of our hands at a moments notice.
i highly doubt it
@@ninjasavage9875 I mean, I wonder sometimes if technology makes it so we can see random places in the past through a machine in the future if people will laugh at me, so it’s possible.
They would probably not, but think it as insane of an idea. 😃
Monia Liter (the pianist) born Russia 1906, died London 1988. Superb accompanist one of the best ever. Such talent. Just listen to him.
He was fantastic
He apparently recorded over 1,000 songs within his lifetime. Quite the achievement!
The word *apparently* is shaking in its boots right now
It's very unfortunate about how Al Bowlly had died about 15 days after singing an anti-hitler song because of the bombings of London that day. World War II was such tragic event that had occurred of human history. I will admit that I loved "The Very Thought of You" and his final song that he recorded of "When That Man is Dead and Gone". I'm a young lady but I love jazz and swing music as well other older music! Rest in peace Al Bowlly, he really was the greatest musician of time. Cheers mate.🥂
Just listening to this video of ours again, the first time in a year or so - such a lovely tune and what a cracking pianist too!
British Pathé thanks for this rare footage of Al! It means so much to us fans stuck in this generation far ahead of his to see him in action. Putting a live performance to the voice. Monia was amazing too. Love the chemistry between them
Can you please add this version on Spotify?
Monia was in my mind, the perfect Pianist for Al, could always play a line that fit in perfectly.
@@binkydrumms honia with an h
@@theechickengamerz I think you must be talking about Monia Liter..Monia with an M. He was Russian apparently.
Having severe depression listening to this takes my mind to a place of heavenly peace. I will forever remember and listen to these incredible musicians. Al Bowlly will always be remembered. May god bless his soul.
When I was in a dark place, this voice took me somewhere safe.. and still does. Even though he was taken in such a sad way his voice remains as a haven. X
I hope this music continues to give you comfort and best wishes
How u doing I have severe depression as well
Music therapy
I intermittently have severe depression, and I agree with you. This music transports me to a place where stuff doesn't hurt.
love this my mother was a close friend and we had many autographed photographs of Al. So sad to loose him as we did
tanya maxwell-stewart How wonderful to have the connection. What a talent!,
that's awesome do you still have those authographs of al?
how old are you?
@@doctext-jose.e-3484 they're probably 70-80. there are tons of people that old.
@@doctext-jose.e-3484 It was her mother who was the friend. So Tanya would have been a child. Is that right, Tania?
I was born in the early 2000s.
I was a century too late to live in the same era as this absolutely legendary man.
Nice to see young people appreciating great music.
@@raecattell7680 I agree.
@@caolanochearnaigh9804as do i
Me too.
The music lives on
HE MAKES ME SO HAPPY
what a lovely voice. kind of a sad life for al, unhappy ending. he's in heaven singing his heart out again. rip al! now that's piano.
His life, as lived during the 30s, before his death, was happy by the look of it. Had a couple of wives, one divorce. When he died it would have been so sudden he wouldn't have known what happened. But buried in a communal grave along with others killed in the same raid, which is sad.
But, Al, why were you out and about in an air raid when you should have been down in a shelter? I know, you were going home, but I don't understand why the Air Raid Warden didn't chase you off the street!!
That's Monia Liter playing stride, belting the bejeezus out of the piano. One of the world's best in his field. Became a composer of suites and such in the 50s. Also dead now.
It must be good up there, what with Al and Monia doing daily shows like this. It comes as no surprise to me that nobody wants to come back.
@@petertaylor3600 Al died at 3:10 AM. His bedroom door was blow off its hinges. He wasn’t out walking.
The Blitz was nearly nightly for over 8 months. Believe it or not, people got rather used to it. People would even climb up on roofs to watch, including Churchill himself. It was said by folks at the time that the chances that you yourself were going to die in a particular bombing raid were very low but the chances that someone would die were near 100%.
@@brucekuehn4031 That's right. He'd taken public transport (a bus?) home after a gig in the middle of the air raid ,thinking nothing could touch him. He'd had a few near misses and survived so he was a bit over confident. Big mistake. He'd gone to bed and the concussion from the parachute bomb outside his apartment blew the door off its hinges. He was found having died while asleep, I guess. But no, not walking because you wouldn't in an air raid surely.
Tears in my eyes, how beautifully he expressive himself
Charming voice.
I am thirteen years old and I love listening to Al Bowlly, I love this kind of music
I agree . I would like to have known him in the past. I'm 16
I'm 3 years old
The world needs more people like you
I'm also 13, I love Bowlly, I already have 203 of his songs and I'm going to get them all, all the more than 1,000 he's made. I wish I had met him. ☺
bro same
So many singers and musicians from the past were never recorded or filmed. Thank goodness we have this little snippet. Sometimes technology is a worry but in this case, it is a wonderful thing. Thank you Pathe.
thank you for that, I will track them down.
With Al Bowlly dying in ‘41, it’s even more shocking that we have this.
Pathe has seriously incredible footage
Indeed, it's a treasure trove.
this man speaks to my soul.
Back in 1971, I was reading Len Deighton's novel 'Bomber' in which Al Bowlly is mentioned. I asked my father about him and he promptly brought out a number of old 78s and began playing them. It's really nice to see the man himself. What a golden voice he had.
Does Deighton refer to what a one ton German parachute mine did ? RIP Al Bowlly. My great uncle's restaurant in Streatham ( right by the station) was destroyed by one in the Blitz, destroyed half the street.
As I recall, Deighton writes about one of Bowlly's songs 'Easy Come, Easy Go', but doesn't mention his death. However, I stand to be corrected on that. My mum told me of the night in 1941 when the Luftwaffe dropped a 'land mine' on a street in Broadheath, Manchester. It shook her house, which was a mile or so away, and caused immense damage.
Think I will re-read Bomber thank you.
Al Bowlly looks like the definition of romance
From music that is used to represent a man trapped in a mansion filled with ghosts from the 30s, to a 6 1/2 hour long album about loseing memorys and the reprenstation of parkisons, Al Bowly's music will forever be remembered. Tracks like Midnight, The Stars And You and Heartaches are the reasons why this man is remembered.
*Alzheimer
And My Woman
Al Bowly's music = mental issues
What?
Kewkew...
And what a voice!
This ladies and gentleman and anyone else is what you call real music. ❤️
Strangeways real good music . not like today's mumble music
That's exactly what your parents said about their taste in music. You're just repeating history, Kiddo.
It sure is!!!
Well Said.
@@Frankowillo True, but we have reached a stage now, where there are no real lyrics of melodies. These tunes run through your head all the time. Very little to hum or sing to in the current era. The postman doesn't whistle a tune on his rounds anymore.
He’s mesmerizing... it’s not the voice exclusively... that face, demeanor...everything ....wow!
This was recorded during the Great Depression, a really dark times for the whole world. People were strong enough to do this beautiful music in those times
They were having all this fun before I was born :(
I have this on an original Broadway pianola roll which is exceptionally hard to find. The 'recut roll' is around. Great song.
Im 27 and I find this music absolutely fascinating and incredible 🎶
You have good taste!
I'm 17 and I ansolutely agree
Happy 30th
it's so sad how young this man died. thanks to the shining and everywhere at the end of time his music lives on
He really would've been a name talked about like Sinatra if he lived through the 50s 60s and 70s
it wasn't EATEOT D1's sample used "Sunrise", It was EATEOTWV That used this sample.
I don't need your photograph to keep by my bed
Your picture is always in my head
I don't need you portrait, dear, to bring you to mind
For sleeping or waking, I find
The very thought of you
And I forget to do
The little ordinary things
That everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream
And I'm happy as a king
And foolish, though it may seem
Why, to me, that's everything
The mere idea of you
The longing here, for you
You'll never know
How slow the moments go
'Till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love
Thank you very thoughtful ❤️
'I see your face in every flower,
Your eyes in stars above'
Beautiful
Great lyrics remain timeless.
i worked in a hosptile and all the patients loved al bowley
I was born in 2010, yet I still love Al Bowlly, one of my favourites is It's All Forgotten Now, I have his full album in vinyl too
yoo were the same age?!?!? it's so cool to see other kids who also love this music it's so rare to see
Great singer, great pianist. (UK)
Al Bowlly and Ray Noble made magic together, but this is really special too! Gives you chills, doesn't it?
So good looking
i am literally in love with him 😭
@Hill-Billy Boy GOD WHAT ARE YOU GOING..
Why are you holding a gun
@@Versuffe from now on, meeting al bowly will be soon *pulls out my AK-47 at the caretaker convention*
@@lcdream4213 *slowly gets out propane flamethrower
@@Versuffe "soon none of you will remember this"
One of my mum's favourites. She had her 90th birthday last month. Hope we can (when it is safe), have that party.
me too the very thought of you
I hope your Mum has her party soon with lots of Al Bowlly records playing!
@@mabel8179 Thanks. We are looking forward to it. Soon.
@Molly McCullagh Are you a real person? Your name has "no content" attached. Don't ask me about my mum, if you wont even reveal yourself.
Al to me screams the real dream of luxury paradise and charisma
He was so cute! I want my own personal Al Bowlly! 😍
Wish to meet him in the heaven
There will be a queue!
@@phaasch A looong queue!
If there's truly a heaven I think he'd be there.
@@phaasch He'll be singing!
@@mabel8179 hahahahaha
Al Bowlly as not just a singer - he was a time and place
The pianist nails it.
What a brilliant man.. just effortless. Elegantly sitting in the edge of that piano. Not to mention the Piano man of course... perfection. 🌇
Al Bowlly is one of those discoveries of an era of quality, sensitivity and tenderness to provide art, it is a sign of authenticity from a different world, less aggressive and full of romance, finding this gem in our way is a gift for those who smell greatness beyond our nose.
You brought it perfectly to the point 🤓
@@monicabella7894 it's just a matter of feelings and good hearing
It just puts a smile on your face on the moments when you need it the most :)
Al had a wonderful voice. I really enjoy hearing him sing.
I was 4 year old when this great crooner died, but i have my first memories of his songs since i was 8.. My parents and us kids used to listen to his songs on our old Cossor radio and although i will turn 80 shortly i still love and will cherish the Al Bowlly songs from long ago.
Ha, and I was 3, but Al still lives.
how old are you ?
So much emotion into his singing that Al even looks up as though imagining her eyes in the stars. He could make his own self cry. My only wish would be to see him sing live. One of my favorite singers thats for sure!
If only we had a time machine.....
How I long to jump back in time to see him in those clubs and dance halls in the 1930s!
He would be 123 today
@@JJPlays 124 now lol
@@arthursteven5601 haha yeah
I just love Al Bowlly.
He was just lovely...that voice, that face, he was adorable...
He was and funny too!
He's much too fair, he must have stepped out of a dream.
I'd give anything to hear my dad play the piano like that again x
F (that means im paying respects)
Oh 😢
🌼🌸🌹
Me too.
Al Bowlly was my dad's favourite singer (along with Al Jolson). I just checked out this video, many, many years too late, in order to see what was so special about him and what a surprise, the pianist plays exactly the way my dad used to play! I've always loved this song and now I love it even more.
RIP Al Bowlly
this sounds like a perfect song to listen to on Valentine's Day
What a great voice and what a fantastic pianist.
Al could sing to me all day, but I also love the whole scene here down to the plant. Just makes me happy.
You said it!
Whenever I can get CZcamsup he sings to me. I'm sure people think I'm mad but I can't get enough. Jeez! I used to hear Bowlly's voice decades ago and he was just an ordinary band singer, even tho a good one. Now, after all this time I've started listening.
@@petertaylor3600 Same here.
My favorite of him
Pianists were on a whole different level back than...
Ragtime puts pianists today to shame
Monia Liter was really special. No one makes musical magic like he and Al did
How is there even a video of this? We're very lucky
Jonny Nguyen there’s another! He also sang My Melancholy Baby for the British Pathé. True talent captured on film
What a voice.
If only microphone equipment was better we would be able to hear this king better
I sometimes wish I was able to hear him sing into a microphone today. No other voice quite like his.
If there was one man that I could go back in time to meet… shame I was born sixty years or so after his death.
I love all bowlly he is the best 😊😊😊
i love many musicians (most old school ones) but bro has got me giggling and kicking my feet rn😫💗🤭
REAL HES GOT ME TWIRLING MY HAIR AND BLUSHONG I adore him so much omg
God! This just oozes talent. The piano player alone is worth the view never mind the incomparable vocalist (who was a very good guitar player too. )
Agree. He (the piano player) is done an injustice by the poster not even mentioning his name.
The piano player is Monia Liter (b. 1906 Odessa, Ukraine - d. 1988 London)
He is a superb accompanist and a very good stride piano player (for a guy from the Ukraine!).
@@michaelmcbride5012 he is listed in the titles.
I had to watch this 10 times or more. So much Class...
Yanah Montero so much class is so right. How sad he died in air raid. He played guitar too. Lebanese Greek background I think. Very much the man with matinee good looks.
Yes! So much class, and so dreamyyyy.
Fantastic piano playing too
This is my favorite music video.
You also might enjoy Ruth Etting's short film 'Favorite Melodies' (1929), with two live songs --
/watch?v=GfDOuve7CPw
great piano playing as well as Al Bowlly's magic...
Monia Liter went on and became a writer of semi classical music and Broadway/London shows, I seem to have read. Born, I think, in the Ukraine. He was considered the best 'stride'(I think that's the word) pianist in the world at the time.
Yes but who is the pianist?
I don’t this Monia Liter came anywhere Art Tatum.
@@369wk Monia Litter.
@@wordsmith52 Actually Liter--title has a typo
My favorite single
His story deserves to be told to everyone
Great music and performers are timeless!
he looks like an awesome guy.
So talented and SOOOO dreamy! Serious good looks on this guy.
Such an amazing voice. What an era of music both in contemporary and classical. Lovely stuff.
Funny that my girl friend loves Al Bowlly. Probably would have been one of the woman to be fawning over him.
I miss him
He was as good as anybody I have ever heard.
It's great seeing Al sing
I was lucky enough to perform this version, with the beautiful verse, in 'The Best Of British' show just recently!
So lovely! 👏 If it's uploaded to CZcams you could add the link!
This is by far my favorite rendition of the song, even if this version wasn’t put onto a record. Al’s voice combined with Monia’s Piano Playing is just something else, man. Beautiful.
In a way I like the original more , it was newer to him and he put more emotion into his singing .
I miss Al so much and I never met him.. He was such a sweet singer.. seemed to love life so much too.! His piano player is sweet too.. Very nice old song.
Absolutely magnificent. The end.
Thank you Al, God bless you.
This is an *empty bliss beyond this world*
Aĺ bowlly was truly a legend of his time.
Love this man's voice. A sound of a bygone era. I find his music very relaxing and chilled. Big Thumbs Up Al. 👍
He is so dreamy
This guy was fantastic, up there with Crosby, Sinatra, & Nat Cole. I wish that one day they would make a movie about his life. I have some of his music & I listen to it as I drive. I especially love "Dreaming."
Mmm... This song, melody like honey for my ears. I discovered this song thanks for Ruth Hogan's book "The keeper of lost things". And thanks to this book I have strong association with a picture of couple and their little boy who are dancing during vinyl player playing Al. It's World War 2, boy's father go to war field, however, he can return to home just for one night to dance with wife and son, to feel cozy of home and warmth of family.
Perfect song and perfect book❤️
Song always gets me on the teary eyed side of the street. Sigh I understand those feelings so much. And his voice is beautiful.
Love Al, and thank god for CZcams and Pathe keeping his glorious memort alive.
Bowlly had that unique thing when you hear his voice it cannot be mistaken for anyone else,Star quality
WHAT A GORGEOUS VOICE HIS MUSIC IS OF A DIFFERENT ERA BUT STILL SPEAKS VOLUMES TO YOU
R I P AL 🙏💙
Monia Litte the pianist is so strong and jazzy...great touch...Al is of course pure class and a voice that I've always felt had something more beguiling even than Bing Crosby. This music never had the existential pain of rock (I love John Lennon's emotional integrity) but gave people a little starlight in their hard lives. It's a shame young people don't get this sort of magic even though it floats somewhere above reality. What melodies! Wish I'd been alive then but quite glad to have missed world war 2...
"This music...gave people a little starlight in their hard lives"--what an absolutely beautiful (and accurate!) way to put it! I agree.
It’s 2022 and it trips me out that this was almost 100 years ago…
A delightful song beautifully performed by Al Bowlly with Monia Liter on piano. Monia Liter was a marvelous pianist.
Listen to this PERFECT combination of HARMONY, of singer and pianist. It doesn't get any better than this. Thank God it's on film.
I love this more jazzy arrangement so much!
Makes me emotional every time i hear this
anyone knows about music, must know how important
this man was to popular music... he was a great singer...
Arguably, the very first pop-star as he was not the front man for a band but a crooner in his own right. Al was one of the greats, you are right.
The superb Al Bowlly ...... so very smooth and such style and a great singing voice. I get tingles down my spine when I hear his voice.