Strangled on the Shore

[Basil Henriques]

Only close..That's not the melody that I know ! Acker was an EMI artist the same time as I was, I recorded his tune, but with the correct chords and the melody that he wrote..

Boll's guessing at it ! But that's what comes from NOT doing your own backings..
AND how on earth could he miss the obvious point that he SHOULD have come back in on ???
http://picosong.com/7ALq/

[Basil Henriques]

Just to remind you of the melody..

[Danny Mitchell]

What a beautiful melody. Acker outdid himself when he came up with this little gem.
Anyone know what Acker is short/stands for? Accrington?

[Basil Henriques]

What a beautiful melody. Acker outdid himself when he came up with this little gem.
Anyone know what Acker is short/stands for? Accrington?

Bilk was born in Pensford, Somerset, in 1929. He earned the nickname "Acker" from the Somerset slang for "friend" or "mate". His parents tried to teach him the piano but, as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities, including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which he claimed affected his eventual clarinet style.

BUT....this is not about Acker, it's about that feeble attempt by Bill Nauman...Totally disrespectful to the listener. He is capable of FAR better playing, so this was just cobbled together with no care and effort. I say Shame on him for being so lazy..


BTW The story about how the song was written is also VERY interesting. It has to do with Income Tax, Prison and a tune for his daughter "Jenny" ..and a BBC TV Series..

[Ken Byng]

Mr Nauman's stab at this classic tune is more corny than bad. His playing lacks feel and good intonation, and his interpretation does stray away from the original sublime melody. I would imagine that the backing was cobbled together by Bill Nauman on a synthesiser.

I bought Acker Bilk's single of SOTS, as a schoolboy teenager back in the 60's. It stayed in the charts for over a year, and was also a hit in the USA. His beautiful vibrato and phrasing gave him a very unique style on ballads, but by golly he could swing as good as any of the best trad jazz players to come out of the UK. I played at a barn dance in Somerset one hot summer's day in the early 70's with the Rye Whiskey Road Band, and Acker and his band played at the opposite end of the barn. I don't know if he had imbibed too much of the local scrumpy or not but he vomited onto a hay bale in front of the stage halfway through one tune, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and carried on flawlessly to the applause of the young farmers who had organised the event.

[Will C]

Good grief, I've just listened to that picosong thing, and I think the version I did a couple of years ago sounds better / more faithful to the original than that. I know there's a constant tension between doing justice to the original versus "artistic interpretation" but that does seem simplistic and plain wrong in places.

[Danny Mitchell]

Bilk was born in Pensford, Somerset, in 1929. He earned the nickname "Acker" from the Somerset slang for "friend" or "mate". His parents tried to teach him the piano but, as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities, including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which he claimed affected his eventual clarinet style.

BUT....this is not about Acker, it's about that feeble attempt by Bill Nauman...Totally disrespectful to the listener. He is capable of FAR better playing, so this was just cobbled together with no care and effort. I say Shame on him for being so lazy..


BTW The story about how the song was written is also VERY interesting. It has to do with Income Tax, Prison and a tune for his daughter "Jenny" ..and a BBC TV Series..

Firstly, apologies for going off topic, Basil. That version certainly didn't do the original any favours.
And secondly, thanks for indulging me with the 'Acker' explanation, and the tidbits behind the tunes origins. Very interesting.

[Paul Brennan]

As Will mentioned above, there is a fine line between respecting the original melody and trying to bring your own interpretation to it. It takes a lot of musical ability to carry this off successfully and bring an audience with you. It starts with being able to play the melody correctly with good intonation and timing. The track in question in here failed on even these basic requisites.