Smith & Co

Bernard Stanley Bilk, better known as Acker, was born in Pensford, Somerset on January 28th., 1929 and his early love of Jazz, especially that of early New Orleans, led him in the direction of learning to play the clarinet and to offer up some lusty vocals, possibly slightly influenced by Louis Armstrong. Of the four British Trad Jazz giants featured in this series, Acker Bilk was possibly the most commercially successful. With hits like “Stranger on the Shore” and “Aria” he graced the charts around the world on several occasions and in his latter day would almost be termed ‘middle of the road’, but this 2 CD collection gives you Acker at his Jazz best. These early recordings give us some of the best and purest work that he recorded, although there would still be a few years after the recordings on these CD’s before he went ‘commercial’!

CD1
1-All the girls go crazy
2-East Coast Trot
3-Franklin Street Blues
4-Gladiolus Rag
5-Lou-easy-an-i-a
6-Careless Love
7-Sing on
8-Goodnight sweet prince
9-Darkness on the Delta
10-High Society
11-Faraway Blues
12-St. Philip Street Breakdown
13-Milenberg Joys
14-Snag it
15-Lord, Lord, Lord, you sure been good to me
16-Gettysburg March
17-Bye Bye
18-Postman's Lament
Listen to CD1 - track 1 - 5

CD2
1-Red Wing
2-Travelling Blues
3-Dippermouth Blues
4-Saturday Night Function
5-Swing Low Sweet Chariot
6-Breeze
7-Moose March
8-Sing On
9-Really the Blues
10-Where the River Shannon Flows
11-Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble
12-Gravier Street Blues
13-Over in the Gloryland
14-Tartan Socks
15-Shine
16-Tuxedo Rag
17-My Old Kentucky Home
18-Postman's Lament
19-King Joe
Listen to CD1 - track 1 - 5