Harry Clifton | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Henry Robert Clifton |
| Born | 1832 Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 15 July 1872 (aged 40) Shepherd's Bush, London, England |
| Genres | Music hall |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1850s–1872 |
Henry Robert Clifton (baptised 20 May 1832 – 15 July 1872) was an English music hall singer, songwriter and entertainer. A prolific composer in the popular genre, his most successful song was " Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green".
Biography
The son of a carpenter, Clifton was born in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. He was orphaned as a child, and little is known of his early adulthood. By the early 1860s he had become well known as a singer and songwriter in the song and supper rooms and early music halls of London. Nicknamed "Handsome Harry Clifton" during his career, [1] his repertoire included comic songs, Irish songs, and "motto songs", with an improving moral message, such as "Paddle Your Own Canoe" (1864). [2]
Clifton's songs were described as "equally popular and acceptable in the drawing-rooms of the rich as in the cottages of the poor". [2] [3] Many taught a moral lesson; for example, "Pretty Polly Perkins", published in 1863, was about the pitfalls of pride and vanity. [4] He wrote his own lyrics. Although some of his songs relied on tunes by composers such as Charles Coote, [2] most adapted their tunes from old folk songs. [5] Other songs included "The Dark Girl Dress'd in Blue", "There's Nothing Succeeds Like Success", "It's Better to Laugh Than to Cry", and "Work, Boys, Work, and Be Contented!". [6]
A list of songs for sale held at the British Library names fifteen songs by Harry Clifton, described as "without exception, the best comic songs of the day". [7] Lithographs of several of his other songs are also held in the British Library online archive, including "The Dark Girl Dress'd in Blue" (which has a colour portrait of Clifton on the front page), [8] "Isabella, The Barber's Daughter" [9] and "The Railway Bell(e)". [10]
Clifton undertook a nationwide tour between 1865 and 1867, with his own Cosmopolitan Concert Company, and for some years lived in Glasgow. [6] He was married and had one child, Fanny Alice, who died aged six months. [1] He died aged 40 in Shepherd's Bush, London, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. [2]
One of his obituaries stated: "The popularity which his songs attained is best denoted by the fact that even now they are whistled by every street-boy, played by every barrel organ and sung in every town and hamlet in the United Kingdom." [2] The critic Peter Gammond describes Clifton as "one of the great pioneers of music-hall song." [6] Clifton's work survives (in an adapted form) into the present day, as the Tyneside music hall song " Cushie Butterfield" (still sung at Newcastle United matches) is sung to the same tune as "Pretty Polly Perkins" and is a parody of it.
References
- ^ a b Monuments Restored Archived 24 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Baker, Richard Anthony (2014). British Music Hall: An Illustrated History. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-78383-118-0.
- ^ The Kathleen Barker Collection Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, University of Bristol Theatre Collection, by Christopher Robinson, published in Scenes from Provincial Stages: Essays in Honour of Kathleen Barker, ed. Richard Foulkes (The Society for Theatre Research, 1994).
- ^ "Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1863), The Music Hall, The Victorian Web; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Let me make a nation's songs, and let who will make their laws, Roy Hudd, The Hiss and Boo Company; retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ^ a b c Gammond, Peter (1991). The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 120. ISBN 0-19-311323-6.
- ^ Hopwood & Crew's Bulletin of New Music, Victorian Popular Music, Polly Perkins Of Paddington Green, part 08, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ The Dark Girl Dress'd In Blue, part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Isabella, The Barber's Daughter, part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ The Railway Bell(e), part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
External links
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
Harry Clifton | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Henry Robert Clifton |
| Born | 1832 Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 15 July 1872 (aged 40) Shepherd's Bush, London, England |
| Genres | Music hall |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1850s–1872 |
Henry Robert Clifton (baptised 20 May 1832 – 15 July 1872) was an English music hall singer, songwriter and entertainer. A prolific composer in the popular genre, his most successful song was " Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green".
Biography
The son of a carpenter, Clifton was born in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. He was orphaned as a child, and little is known of his early adulthood. By the early 1860s he had become well known as a singer and songwriter in the song and supper rooms and early music halls of London. Nicknamed "Handsome Harry Clifton" during his career, [1] his repertoire included comic songs, Irish songs, and "motto songs", with an improving moral message, such as "Paddle Your Own Canoe" (1864). [2]
Clifton's songs were described as "equally popular and acceptable in the drawing-rooms of the rich as in the cottages of the poor". [2] [3] Many taught a moral lesson; for example, "Pretty Polly Perkins", published in 1863, was about the pitfalls of pride and vanity. [4] He wrote his own lyrics. Although some of his songs relied on tunes by composers such as Charles Coote, [2] most adapted their tunes from old folk songs. [5] Other songs included "The Dark Girl Dress'd in Blue", "There's Nothing Succeeds Like Success", "It's Better to Laugh Than to Cry", and "Work, Boys, Work, and Be Contented!". [6]
A list of songs for sale held at the British Library names fifteen songs by Harry Clifton, described as "without exception, the best comic songs of the day". [7] Lithographs of several of his other songs are also held in the British Library online archive, including "The Dark Girl Dress'd in Blue" (which has a colour portrait of Clifton on the front page), [8] "Isabella, The Barber's Daughter" [9] and "The Railway Bell(e)". [10]
Clifton undertook a nationwide tour between 1865 and 1867, with his own Cosmopolitan Concert Company, and for some years lived in Glasgow. [6] He was married and had one child, Fanny Alice, who died aged six months. [1] He died aged 40 in Shepherd's Bush, London, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. [2]
One of his obituaries stated: "The popularity which his songs attained is best denoted by the fact that even now they are whistled by every street-boy, played by every barrel organ and sung in every town and hamlet in the United Kingdom." [2] The critic Peter Gammond describes Clifton as "one of the great pioneers of music-hall song." [6] Clifton's work survives (in an adapted form) into the present day, as the Tyneside music hall song " Cushie Butterfield" (still sung at Newcastle United matches) is sung to the same tune as "Pretty Polly Perkins" and is a parody of it.
References
- ^ a b Monuments Restored Archived 24 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Baker, Richard Anthony (2014). British Music Hall: An Illustrated History. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-78383-118-0.
- ^ The Kathleen Barker Collection Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, University of Bristol Theatre Collection, by Christopher Robinson, published in Scenes from Provincial Stages: Essays in Honour of Kathleen Barker, ed. Richard Foulkes (The Society for Theatre Research, 1994).
- ^ "Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1863), The Music Hall, The Victorian Web; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Let me make a nation's songs, and let who will make their laws, Roy Hudd, The Hiss and Boo Company; retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ^ a b c Gammond, Peter (1991). The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 120. ISBN 0-19-311323-6.
- ^ Hopwood & Crew's Bulletin of New Music, Victorian Popular Music, Polly Perkins Of Paddington Green, part 08, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ The Dark Girl Dress'd In Blue, part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Isabella, The Barber's Daughter, part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ The Railway Bell(e), part 01, British Library online gallery; retrieved 22 May 2014.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |