For many years i have loved Al Bowllly's singing and the superb music. This is a revelation ; the first time i have seen his person. This is proof that he was not just an audio performer but also a charming and wonderful visual presence.
Thanks to TH-cam I was able to show my mother Al Bowlly who at 95 had never seen even though she was one of his fans it brought back beautiful memories to her and tears to my eyes, she has passed on now but this song never leaves my mind..
Shortly after coming to Chicago in the Fall of 1964 I visited the great Rose Records in the Loop and stumbled across an Al Bowlly section. I'd never heard of him but the album covers intrigued me so I bought an L.P. Thus the beginning of a life long adoration and fascination with this most unique of singers, who ranks right up there with Jolson, Colombo, Crosby and Sinatra. As you can see and hear, he is brilliant and truly charismatic. And known to have been a truly kind and gentle man.
CLASSY AL BOWLLY AND HOW ABOUT THAT GREAT PIANIST!! Personality exudes from every aspect of these wonderful performers!!! Words fail to express the gratefulness to FURLIGHT,Bless You!!
Simply DIVINE! His voice is like warm syrup. Such a musician. His phrasing is beautiful and his vocal technique is stunning. He utilised his voice like no other. So sad he was taken away from us so soon. Tank you for posting this xxxx
I grew up listening to Al as my late father would play him a lot, I knew what Al looked like from album covers he had but now at 53 I have seen him perform for the first time, quite amazing, thank's confetta ras.
He looked completely different from my expectations, even though I'd heard him all my life from early childhood. But, after all when one parent is Greek and the other Lebanese you get Al. Not perfectly beautiful, but wonderfully sexy, which means good looking enough. And the voice!!
This is Al Bowlly at his best. All he needed was a piano or guitar to accompany him. He's got a great, and very underrated pianist alongside him called Monia Liter.
This is a gem... I've heard him, but I've never gotten to see him before, and he is just as appealing visually as he is aurally. A music video almost 50 years before MTV. I'd love to know if he was, and how much, the other influence on Crosby (besides Louis), and what Jolson, pretty much his contemporary, thought of him. All props to the Gershwin-esque accompanist: The combination of the two of them lifts this to the level of a Schubert Art Song.
I first heard this Al Bowlly track on the Singing Detective series on TV years ago and I thought it was outstanding. I bought the Singing Detective LP now on cd. I showed this footage to my mum she was amazed to be able to actually see him. It nearly brought her to tears and she told me he is her favorite. I cannot thank you enough for uploading this
I have many of Al Bowlly re-issues mostly with Ray Noble's terrific orch. This is the first time I've seen Al Bowlly perform on film - too bad there isn't more. Bowlly came to the US with Noble around '34 to perform in NYC Rainbow Room and on NBC. He left Noble to go back to London around 37-38. Impressive piano playing by Litter! THANKS FOR THIS GREAT CLIP.
I have heard this for the first time in my life and I have to say this man is amazing! You know where Sinatra and the rest of them got their style from. Utterly brilliant!
I was born in February 1937. I can still clearly remember sitting very close to the Murphy radio in the house where I was born in London. There was always music at home, I had older sisters and my mother had a good voice. I used to sit there entranced and I could only have been 4 or 5. Performers in the days had talent and didn't descend into vulgarity to seek popularity. I am hopelessly out of step with the modern situation. R.I.P. Al Bowlly, R.I.P. Deanna Durbin.
HenriFalang my dad was also born in 1937 exept in North Carolina not England. I think you grew up part of a great and respectable generation and the music and trends were certainly better than today's. vulgarity and shock has been trendy for to long now, I would like to see class make a comeback.
This is amazing! I have been a fan of Al Bowlly for most of my life, but this is the first time I've seen him on film. This is the ORIGINAL version of "The Very Thought of You" (which was written by Ray Noble), and it's probably my favorite song of all time. What a rare pleasure!
Excellent. Al (and his pianist Monia Lita - you can hear Al call "Monia?" at the start) recorded two songs for this Pathe session: this and Melancholy Baby (also on youtube). As far as I know these are the only two known existing filmed recordings of Al singing. Priceless.
Angloyank: I've known the music of Al Bowlly since I was a kid! My dad loved his music. You are not alone. "The Very Thought of You" is perhaps my favorite song of all time. This video is GREAT.
A very rare of you, this is first time I saw Al Bowly on film! Thank you very much for posting, what a nice experience to hear AND see how he is singing!
Gary. The confusion arose because in March 1941, the Cafe de Paris received a direct hit. Ken "Snakehips" Johnson was killed leading his band. Amongst the debris was sheet music belonging to Al. Someone mentioned to Al they had dreamt he was in the Cafe that night. Al died after playing a theatre in High Wycombe. His last, but one, song was "Nicky The Greek Has Gone". A slow and un-released version was discovered about 10 years ago. It's magical and his epitaph!
Al is the best nobody sings it as romantically as him, and that parting in the hair reminds me of when my dear old mam used to do my hair before sending me of to school. unique.
Look at how confident, brash and young they are, way back when. This was their time and they were wallowing in it. This is near the headwaters of cool, ladies and gentlemen.
Al Bowlly was at his London Soho flat in bed reading a cheap cowboy novel - he ignored the air raid siren to go to the shelter - and a parachute mine exploded outside his window killing him instantly. A sublime song, a wonderful video and, with Monia Lita at the piano, Al didn't need an orchestra.
there is the one video on TH-cam of the Ray Noble Band (actually Lew Stone band, with Ray Noble fronting) in Holland. At the start of the clip, he's on guitar, then stands up and sings "Goodnight Sweetheart".
Neat memory! born in 1980s Kansas, USA, so is interesting to hear perspectives from a different era & place. i don't think i'd ever know this music if it weren't for being used in the movie "the shining"
Bobchai, I agree, Al Bowlly's life is a mystery to us now. I read the same story about Al Bowlly's death. I also read that Al Bowlly felt more appreciated as an artist in the UK and so he left Ray Noble in the US and returned to London in the late 30's.
True. I think about things like that sometimes. Or take any art, for example. Imagine all the situations in the last 400 years or so that different people came across a Shakespeare play. All the languages, cultures, eras, locales that his work was read in. Kinda trippy to think. Maybe someone will be listening to Al Bowllly on Mars someday decades from now while they're scooping up rocks, haha.....
Yeah,back in the day. Funny thing it's way back before my day. Great peformance by Al and also his piano player who he shouted for at the start of this short movie.
Al Bowlly was perhaps the most mysterious singing star of the era. His origins are vague, but he was born in South Africa from a family of barbers. No one seems to know how he came to England or his road to fame. His death was also mysterious. My dad claimed he was performing one night in London during the war, when the club was bombed in the blitz. Others say he was in bed with a female admirer when the bombs fell. He was a very romantic figure!
thanks, I was wondering who that guy was, he's incredible! He plays stride piano like Gershwin and Fats Waller combined. Off to wiki, hope he's there...
Like TheCraig I don't belong in this era either. But had I lived then I would have owned a gramophone and a few discs. Today I own thousands of CD's and can watch my heroes on TH-cam. Think about that TheCraig!.....Oh yeah I own two gramophones and hundreds of discs. Thanks for posting Al. He really was something wasn't he?
Yes( Tony V )... Ray Noble composed & Monia... is the piano player...the singer of course... the ever amazing Al Bowlly.. the swooner / crooner extraordinaire ! Love... love.. love....
@nzluthier I didn't know about the Lebanese-Greek aspect, although I knew he hailed from South Africa. He was a wonderful man, dubbed *The Swoon Of The Thirties*, and loved by all. What a tragedy, that he would become a casualty of one of these seemingly endless wars; costly campaigns - in truth, to both sides - and from which people never seem to learn. May the dear man Rest In Peace, knowing that he made us all happy, right up to the end of his life.
@Dogwarrior Hello, dear fellow-admirer, yes it's so sad that - and particularly in this hard and materialistic age - very few people care, let alone care to, remember. I keep pushing in my showbiz persona, for someone to do a documentary on Al's career, and his final resting-place, in the hope that one day, someone will see the worth of, and good sense, in doing just that. Many thanks for your interaction. Much-appreciated.
Thanks. Too often these pianists don't receive the recognition they deserve. Search for "Charlie Kunz" on this site for a wonderful example of contemporaneous (1934) piano playing.
@Rena1934 - It's likely Portuguese (they speak Portuguese in Mozambique) but English is probably what he spoke as he moved into adulthood. What a great singer Al Bowlly was. Surely the best of all time. This isn't his best version of The Very Thought of You just the same.
@Dogwarrior Characteristically the dear man was in the company of a casual lady friend, when the bomb struck the apartment building were they were; this killing him in the kitchen, while his hostess in the adjacent room got away unscathed. Only two weeks earlier, his co-star SnakeHips Johnson was killed on the stage of the Cafe de Paris, London, when a fire-bomb fell through the enormous dome there.
@dibbledob2 Both are buried in a mass grave in Hanwell Cemetery, London - their near-anonymous names routinely appearing in a list of thousands of other unfortunate blitz-victims, engraved upon a 25-yards long concrete tombstone. I would like to raise a memorial to, if not just Al, then both he and SnakeHips, but nobody seems to show any interest now; it being so long ago. It seems that for Al Bowlly, the sentiment *The Very Thought Of You* didn't travel that far in the pages of time ?
For many years i have loved Al Bowllly's singing and the superb music. This is a revelation ; the first time i have seen his person. This is proof that he was not just an audio performer but also a charming and wonderful visual presence.
Thanks to TH-cam I was able to show my mother Al Bowlly who at 95 had never seen even though she was one of his fans it brought back beautiful memories to her
and tears to my eyes, she has passed on now but this song never leaves my mind..
A very talented singer who still sounds good after all these decades.
Shortly after coming to Chicago in the Fall of 1964 I visited the great Rose Records in the Loop and stumbled across an Al Bowlly section. I'd never heard of him but the album covers intrigued me so I bought an L.P. Thus the beginning of a life long adoration and fascination with this most unique of singers, who ranks right up there with Jolson, Colombo, Crosby and Sinatra. As you can see and hear, he is brilliant and truly charismatic. And known to have been a truly kind and gentle man.
I am so glad that it's not just me who feels like this. It's strange to be homesick for a time I never knew.
WHAT a voice and perfect phrasing ,
I am constantly in awe of this British singer .
CLASSY AL BOWLLY AND HOW ABOUT THAT GREAT PIANIST!! Personality exudes from every aspect of these wonderful performers!!! Words fail to express the gratefulness to FURLIGHT,Bless You!!
What a wonderful voice and delightful screen presence he had. How many other Richard Thompson fans are here?
He was my Mum's heart-throb. Shame he had such a short career. This song is one of many written by the mega talented Ray Noble.
Simply DIVINE! His voice is like warm syrup. Such a musician. His phrasing is beautiful and his vocal technique is stunning. He utilised his voice like no other. So sad he was taken away from us so soon. Tank you for posting this xxxx
I grew up listening to Al as my late father would play him a lot, I knew what Al looked like from album covers he had but now at 53 I have seen him perform for the first time, quite amazing, thank's confetta ras.
He looked completely different from my expectations, even though I'd heard him all my life from early childhood. But, after all when one parent is Greek and the other Lebanese you get Al. Not perfectly beautiful, but wonderfully sexy, which means good looking enough. And the voice!!
This is Al Bowlly at his best. All he needed was a piano or guitar to accompany him. He's got a great, and very underrated pianist alongside him called Monia Liter.
I'm one of those US listeners who've admired Bowlly's voice for years -- what a pleasure to see him and Liter's rather stomping piano. What a treat!
This is a gem... I've heard him, but I've never gotten to see him before, and he is just as appealing visually as he is aurally. A music video almost 50 years before MTV.
I'd love to know if he was, and how much, the other influence on Crosby (besides Louis), and what Jolson, pretty much his contemporary, thought of him.
All props to the Gershwin-esque accompanist: The combination of the two of them lifts this to the level of a Schubert Art Song.
I was born in 1966 and this reached my heart. Wonderful. Thank you for posting. Hope the songs in the Greatest Depression of 2011 are half as good.
I first heard this Al Bowlly track on the Singing Detective series on TV years ago and I thought it was outstanding. I bought the Singing Detective LP now on cd.
I showed this footage to my mum she was amazed to be able to actually see him. It nearly brought her to tears and she told me he is her favorite.
I cannot thank you enough for uploading this
Really wonderful - I could listen all night to him. How tragic that he died in the blitz!
This is what I call great taste of music.
Beautiful. The magic of words and music.
I have many of Al Bowlly re-issues mostly with Ray Noble's terrific orch. This is the first time I've seen Al Bowlly perform on film - too bad there isn't more. Bowlly came to the US with Noble around '34 to perform in NYC Rainbow Room and on NBC. He left Noble to go back to London around 37-38. Impressive piano playing by Litter! THANKS FOR THIS GREAT CLIP.
I have heard this for the first time in my life and I have to say this man is amazing!
You know where Sinatra and the rest of them got their style from. Utterly brilliant!
I was born in February 1937. I can still clearly remember sitting very close to the Murphy radio in the house where I was born in London. There was always music at home, I had older sisters and my mother had a good voice. I used to sit there entranced and I could only have been 4 or 5. Performers in the days had talent and didn't descend into vulgarity to seek popularity. I am hopelessly out of step with the modern situation. R.I.P. Al Bowlly, R.I.P. Deanna Durbin.
HenriFalang my dad was also born in 1937 exept in North Carolina not England. I think you grew up part of a great and respectable generation and the music and trends were certainly better than today's. vulgarity and shock has been trendy for to long now, I would like to see class make a comeback.
this is wonderful.Thanks for posting the late great Al Bowly.
Oh, if only they had hifi stereo those days! ! ! ! such a beautiful song
This is amazing! I have been a fan of Al Bowlly for most of my life, but this is the first time I've seen him on film. This is the ORIGINAL version of "The Very Thought of You" (which was written by Ray Noble), and it's probably my favorite song of all time. What a rare pleasure!
Love the song aswell, has helped me through a lot. Brilliant singer
No gimmicks just a fantastic singer singing wonderful songs full of meaning g accompanied by a talented piano player.Thank you.
😅R.I.P Al Bowly.
Excellent. Al (and his pianist Monia Lita - you can hear Al call "Monia?" at the start) recorded two songs for this Pathe session: this and Melancholy Baby (also on youtube). As far as I know these are the only two known existing filmed recordings of Al singing. Priceless.
con Monia Liter al piano Al Bowlly es inolvidable y sus discos editados en LP y CD en U.K una maravilla......5 STARS¡
Lovely music to sit back and enjoy, and maybe dream about the way things used to be!
Genius. Unique. The greatest singer we have ever had.
Angloyank: I've known the music of Al Bowlly since I was a kid! My dad loved his music. You are not alone. "The Very Thought of You" is perhaps my favorite song of all time. This video is GREAT.
I love it. So beautiful. I love 20's
Gosh..What a music I nearly cried...so much feels
Fantastic...what a voice!
When men were men and music was music! So good....
Amazing performance! both by Al Bowlly and his pianist!
It's quite amazing the power of music to transport one to a place in an era long gone.
SMASHING...Absolutely smashing..Such RARE footage...Amazing life performance. Love listening to this.
Loving the stride piano accompaniment!!
A very rare of you, this is first time I saw Al Bowly on film! Thank you very much for posting, what a nice experience to hear AND see how he is singing!
I love Al Bowlly. Thanks so much for posting this!
Thank you Al, so much pleasure from your lovely voice
This Bowly classic sticks for life, I constantly play this on my harmonica, it just rolls so easily.
Great talent at the piano and on top of it.
Not only on top but behind it! Oh yes. Maybe, especially on top however.
Gary. The confusion arose because in March 1941, the Cafe de Paris received a direct hit. Ken "Snakehips" Johnson was killed leading his band. Amongst the debris was sheet music belonging to Al. Someone mentioned to Al they had dreamt he was in the Cafe that night. Al died after playing a theatre in High Wycombe. His last, but one, song was "Nicky The Greek Has Gone". A slow and un-released version was discovered about 10 years ago. It's magical and his epitaph!
Only once in a life-time! I am so glad to be part of an era now that I should have been in the first place...thank you...
Al is the best nobody sings it as romantically as him, and that parting in the hair reminds me of when my dear old mam used to do my hair before sending me of to school. unique.
This really is a masterpiece of song. I just love it!
Thank you for sharing.
lovely, thank you for sharing this :)
Look at how confident, brash and young they are, way back when. This was their time and they were wallowing in it. This is near the headwaters of cool, ladies and gentlemen.
THIS is MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Al Bowlly was at his London Soho flat in bed reading a cheap cowboy novel - he ignored the air raid siren to go to the shelter - and a parachute mine exploded outside his window killing him instantly.
A sublime song, a wonderful video and, with Monia Lita at the piano, Al didn't need an orchestra.
between the two of them (Al and Bing) they completely changed the landscape. Singing has never been the same.
there is the one video on TH-cam of the Ray Noble Band (actually Lew Stone band, with Ray Noble fronting) in Holland. At the start of the clip, he's on guitar, then stands up and sings "Goodnight Sweetheart".
Neat memory! born in 1980s Kansas, USA, so is interesting to hear perspectives from a different era & place. i don't think i'd ever know this music if it weren't for being used in the movie "the shining"
We've now uploaded a higher quality full resolution version to our new BritishPathe TH-cam channel.
Can't remember if I've commented here before or not...but t deserves to be said twice anyone. ..Love It!
Excellent. Thanks too for the details on this rare footage.
Bobchai, I agree, Al Bowlly's life is a mystery to us now. I read the same story about Al Bowlly's death. I also read that Al Bowlly felt more appreciated as an artist in the UK and so he left Ray Noble in the US and returned to London in the late 30's.
Amazing, the best song ever and I love this video! I hope Al gets his blue plaque in Duke st (?) soon. He so deserves to be remembered.
True. I think about things like that sometimes. Or take any art, for example. Imagine all the situations in the last 400 years or so that different people came across a Shakespeare play. All the languages, cultures, eras, locales that his work was read in. Kinda trippy to think. Maybe someone will be listening to Al Bowllly on Mars someday decades from now while they're scooping up rocks, haha.....
Poor Monia! Bellowed at and otherwise severely ill treated. Even had his hat commandeered!! Never mind, Monia, the public were with you, then and now.
Al Bowlly is the king!
angloyank: I'm happy you posted this video. It's the only film of Al Bowlly I've ever seen
Wow, never heard of him. He's great. Nice phrasing and style. Thanks for posting!
Thanks. Lovely recording. Really interesting commentaries below also on this fine singer.
originality at its finest
Super oldie!Thanks Mike for sharing.
Yeah,back in the day. Funny thing it's way back before my day. Great peformance by Al and also his piano player who he shouted for at the start of this short movie.
Talented is the meaning of Al Bowlly.
love it Confetta...
Al Bowlly was perhaps the most mysterious singing star of the era. His origins are vague, but he was born in South Africa from a family of barbers. No one seems to know how he came to England or his road to fame. His death was also mysterious. My dad claimed he was performing one night in London during the war, when the club was bombed in the blitz. Others say he was in bed with a female admirer when the bombs fell. He was a very romantic figure!
This is a great singer. And an inspiration to Gregory Page.
You all should listen to Mr. Page who brings this beautiful music into the present time!
Great! Thanks so much for posting this :)
@CandidCountry This was filmed in 1936 when Al returned to London from the USA for a brief visit, in a small studio in Wardour Street.
I had probably heard Al many times before but just a song here or there. I just took a closer interest this week :) great stuff
This is why I Love You-Tube
What can I say? I'm in love!
I know how you feel.
thanks, I was wondering who that guy was, he's incredible! He plays stride piano like Gershwin and Fats Waller combined. Off to wiki, hope he's there...
Happy he sang the complete song not just a mid vocal refrain like Al Bowlly recorded in most song.
I love him!
Thanks for sharing,
wonderful!
Thanks!
Like TheCraig I don't belong in this era either. But had I lived then I would have owned a gramophone and a few discs. Today I own thousands of CD's and can watch my heroes on TH-cam. Think about that TheCraig!.....Oh yeah I own two gramophones and hundreds of discs.
Thanks for posting Al. He really was something wasn't he?
...no doubt..amazing talent...!
Bravo!
a nice natural voice, with just a few affects of the era.
al bowly rocks!
wonderful thankyou..
A Cole Porter special. Great songs stand the test of time. Versions by Ella F and Frank S much later, were just as good with updated orchestration.
Bertie Pinchera Not sure what you mean by a 'Cole Porter' special. Music and lyrics were written by Ray Noble.
Yes( Tony V )... Ray Noble composed & Monia... is the piano player...the singer of course... the ever amazing Al Bowlly.. the swooner / crooner extraordinaire ! Love... love.. love....
@nzluthier I didn't know about the Lebanese-Greek aspect, although I knew he hailed from South Africa. He was a wonderful man, dubbed *The Swoon Of The Thirties*, and
loved by all. What a tragedy, that he would become a casualty of one of these seemingly endless wars; costly campaigns - in truth, to both sides - and from which people never seem to learn. May the dear man Rest In Peace, knowing that he made us all happy, right up to the end of his life.
fantastico.......................
@Dogwarrior Hello, dear fellow-admirer, yes it's so sad that - and particularly in this hard and materialistic age - very few people care, let alone care to, remember. I keep pushing in my showbiz persona, for someone to do a documentary on Al's career, and his final resting-place, in the hope that one day, someone will see the worth of, and good sense, in doing just that. Many thanks for your interaction. Much-appreciated.
Thanks. Too often these pianists don't receive the recognition they deserve. Search for "Charlie Kunz" on this site for a wonderful example of contemporaneous (1934) piano playing.
@Rena1934 - It's likely Portuguese (they speak Portuguese in Mozambique) but English is probably what he spoke as he moved into adulthood.
What a great singer Al Bowlly was. Surely the best of all time. This isn't his best version of The Very Thought of You just the same.
Yes it's true, there he was at home minding his own business and *POW* off went a landmine just outside his flat.
At least his music lives on.
i know the feeling buddy
@Dogwarrior Characteristically the dear man was in the company of a casual lady friend, when the bomb struck the apartment building were they were; this killing him in the kitchen, while his hostess in the adjacent room got away unscathed. Only two weeks earlier, his co-star SnakeHips Johnson was killed on the stage of the Cafe de Paris, London, when a fire-bomb fell through the enormous dome there.
@dibbledob2 Both are buried in a mass grave in Hanwell Cemetery, London - their near-anonymous names routinely appearing in a list of thousands of other unfortunate blitz-victims, engraved upon a 25-yards long concrete tombstone. I would like to raise a memorial to, if not just Al, then both he and SnakeHips, but nobody seems to show any interest now; it being so long ago. It seems that for Al Bowlly, the sentiment *The Very Thought Of You* didn't travel that far
in the pages of time ?