Don Partridge

Don Partridge
Birth name Donald Eric Partridge[1]
Born (1941-10-27)27 October 1941
Bournemouth, England
Died 21 September 2010(2010-09-21) (aged 68)
Peacehaven, East Sussex, England
Genres Pop, folk, blues
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, busker, one-man band, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica, kazoo, drums, vibes, foot-base
Years active Early 1960s–2010
Labels Columbia, Capitol, Regal Zonophone, LongMan
Associated acts Accolade; The Brotherhood; Slim Volume
Website www.donpartridge.com (pending)[2]

Donald Eric Partridge (27 October 1941 – 21 September 2010)[3][4] was an English singer and songwriter, known as the "king of the buskers".[5] He performed from the early 1960s as a busker and one-man band, and achieved unexpected commercial success in the UK in the late 1960s with the songs "Rosie", "Blue Eyes" and "Breakfast On Pluto".

Life and musical career

Don Partridge was born in Bournemouth, England. By his own account, he left home at age 15 and became a burglar, before working at some 45 different jobs.[6] He made the front pages of British newspapers in 1963 by jumping off Hammersmith Bridge with home-made wings, trying to fly.[7] By the early 1960s, inspired by American singer Jesse Fuller,[8] he travelled around Europe as a solo entertainer on street corners, initially simply singing songs with a guitar, before returning to London, where he performed traditional English and American folk songs and blues as well as his own compositions. In 1964 he and his friend, guitarist Alan Young, were described in the Evening Standard as the first young street musicians to be seen in London since World War II .[8]

Around 1966 he teamed up for a while with fellow singer and guitarist Pat Keene as a busking duo, and under the name The Brotherhood, they recorded an album mostly of American and English folk and blues classics entitled "Singin' 'n Sole-in".[9] However, he later found that he gained more attention by performing as a one-man band, playing guitar, kazoo or harmonica (both held on a harness), bass drum (on his back) and cymbal at the same time.[6][8] He was frequently arrested and fined, but gained a local following and made a TV appearance on the Eamonn Andrews Show.[8]

Record company executive Don Paul, previously of rock and roll group The Viscounts, then won him a recording contract with Columbia Records.[6] His debut recording of his own song, "Rosie", reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1968.[10] Following its success, Partridge quit busking for a more orthodox professional singing career.[6] On 5 April 1968 Partridge appeared alongside Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Status Quo and Simon Dupree and the Big Sound at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London, on the first night as part of a twice nightly UK tour.[11] His second hit quickly followed when "Blue Eyes" reached No. 3 in June 1968,[10] and he was featured on the front cover of the pop weekly Disc.[12] He also released a self-titled LP, which included folk and blues songs by Lead Belly, Bill Broonzy and Oscar Brand along with versions of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay" and Robin Williamson's "First Girl I Loved", and several of his own compositions. He spent the summer of 1968 performing nightly shows at Blackpool Pier, alongside Solomon King and Les Dawson. His third single "Top Man", however, failed to make the UK chart.

Intending a farewell to his street musician friends, he hired the Royal Albert Hall in February 1969 and put on a "Buskers Happening" show before an audience of 3,700, featuring buskers (including Dave Brock, later of Hawkwind),[13][14] who would all share the profits equally.[6] A concert album, The Buskers, was released in 1969,[13] and Partridge's single "Breakfast on Pluto" reached No. 26 on the UK chart.[10] Partridge later assembled a Busker's Tour, including Dave Brock and guitarist Gordon Giltrap, which travelled around the UK in an old London Transport double-decker bus, delivering buskers concerts at ten different venues, including sell-outs in Oxford and Newcastle - until the bus finally died on the M6.[15] He also travelled to the US to promote the Tom Courtenay movie Otley, which featured his song "Homeless Bones".[6]

Later in 1969, with fellow guitarist Gordon Giltrap, he helped form the group Accolade. This was an acoustic band, who developed a style of folk/jazz fusion. They recorded two albums (the second after Giltrap had left) and one single, before splitting up in 1971.[16][17] Partridge returned to busking, and after journeying throughout England and Wales in a gypsy caravan, later moved to Sweden where he recorded the album, Don Partridge and Friends in 1974.[18] He then formed a new group in Sweden called Slim Volume, which toured the country giving concerts based on original songs.[2] In 1976 he travelled as a busker through Canada, and played at the Montreal Olympic Games. In 1982, the album "Street Harvest" was recorded and released in Stockholm, based mainly on his own compositions with acoustic guitar arrangements.[19] Don later returned to England, settling first in Barham, Leicestershire then living on a canal barge, followed by Brixham, Devon [2] before finally settling in Seaford, Sussex, in 1990.[8]

In 2001 he recorded the album The Highwayman, with accompaniment by Herbie Flowers, Nick Pynn and Richard Durrant.[8][20] The album contained tracks inspired by Partridge's experiences of life on the road, including the autobiographical song "The Night I Met Elton John" and a treatment of Alfred Noyes' verse "The Highwayman".[21] In 2005, Partridge returned to public attention when his song "Breakfast on Pluto" was included in the soundtrack to the film Breakfast on Pluto. Partridge joined indie pop/trip hop duo Lemon Jelly on tour in the UK the same year.[5][22] He also made two appearances on the BBC Television comedy music quiz show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks.[23]

Partridge died of a heart attack on 21 September 2010 in Peacehaven, East Sussex,[24] close to Seaford where he spent much of his later life.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Solo studio

Soundtracks and compilations

Accolade

References

  1. ↑ "Don Partridge". Dbopm.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Stewart Partridge, brother
  3. ↑ GRO December quarter 1941 Bournemouth 2b 1350. Some sources give a birth year of 1944.
  4. ↑ Report of death, Music Week, 23 September 2010.
  5. 1 2 Longman Records article dated March 2005, accessed 5 January 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Rosie Side of the Street, Time magazine, 7 February 1969, accessed 5 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Daily Express "Four Flaps and the Birdman Flops" 1963
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Obituary, The Guardian, 24 September 2010, accessed 25 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Fontana Records TL5390, produced by Steve Rowland
  10. 1 2 3 Rice, Tim (1985). Guinness British Hit Singles (5th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 163. ISBN 0-85112-429-1.
  11. ↑ Whatya! information page, accessed 5 January 2010.
  12. ↑ Cover of Disc magazine, accessed 5 January 2010.
  13. 1 2 Dave Brock website, accessed 5 January 2010.
  14. ↑ The Buskers album details, accessed 5 January 2010.
  15. ↑ Stewart Partridge, brother, who was on the tour
  16. ↑ Allmusic biography on Accolade, accessed 5 January 2010.
  17. ↑ Accolade at ProgArchives.com, accessed 5 January 2010.
  18. ↑ Don Partridge and Friends album cover at Pete Atkin website.
  19. ↑ Europa Film Records ELP 5004, produced by Dave Medlock
  20. ↑ Don Partridge at Longman Records website, accessed 5 January 2010.
  21. ↑ Longman Records shop website, accessed 5 January 2010.
  22. ↑ Whisperin and Hollerin review, accessed 5 January 2010.
  23. ↑ IMDb biography on Don Partridge, accessed 5 January 2010.
  24. ↑ death certificate
  25. ↑ Richard Kerr biography at Allmusic website, accessed 5 January 2010.
  26. ↑ IMDb database, accessed 5 January 2010.
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