1930s Music || Al Bowlly || Art Deco Weddings

I’ve been listening to lots (and lots, and lots) of Al Bowlly lately, so just a quick post to make sure you all know about this talented gentleman. I gather that he is better known in the UK, so perhaps this is old news to many of you, but speaking as an young(ish) American who was familiar with the names of other crooners even before I could actually identify any of their music (i.e. Bing Crosby), I feel heartbroken that Al Bowlly’s music didn’t even cross my radar until much later in my life. The first moment I heard him sing, I was in love. Listen to this track, through to his vocal, and tell me he wasn’t one of the all-time greats:

The world lost him way too soon, in an air raid during WWII, but we are lucky he recorded so much incredible music while he was here. This 25 song compilation is a great introduction:

And this collection is massive, and absolutely worthwhile if you’re a fan of the era.

Final trivia note: though I hadn’t heard of Al Bowlly until about five years ago, I was actually (like anyone who listened to top 40 radio in the late ’90s) already unknowingly pretty familiar with one of his recordings:

The band White Town sampled the trumpet line from this song (My Woman) for their 1997 song “Your Woman” and there is some speculation that the same clip inspired John Williams’ Star Wars Imperial March….

I’ve linked to a few iTunes Al Bowlly albums above, but you can also find lots of his stuff at eMusic (way, way, waaaay cheaper! Yes, there is a membership fee, but if you’re like me and you buy music more than once a month, it ends up being worth it ten times over.)

Al Bowlly at eMusic

Or go scour your local record store, check your parents’ or grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ collections… but get your hands on some Al Bowlly recordings ASAP. This is nominally a wedding-focused website, so I will point out that so many of these songs are the perfect soundtrack to a vintage themed wedding, ideal for a first dance, dreamy for the cocktail hour soundtrack, etc… but they are also the perfect soundtrack to life: so go get them!

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One Response to 1930s Music || Al Bowlly

Simon Partridge says:

November 28, 2011 at 8:28 am

It’s a crime that Al Bowlly isn’t as well known as his contemporaries. He had such a beautiful tenderness in his voice that gets me every time I hear him. “The Very Thought of You” is such a beautiful song – written by British bandleader Ray Noble with whom Bowlly collaborated on so many wonderful tracks – and he sings it so sweetly it’s heartbreaking. I sing it myself as part of my act and only wish I had one-tenth of Bowlly’s style. Thanks for helping to keep his name alive!