George Formby, Sr.

Today, I'd like to talk to you about a performing artist most of you have never heard of: George Formby.

The name might seem familiar to some, but that's only through the films of the ukelele-playing George Formby, Jr.; one of his most famous songs is presented below:


This is, however, not the George Formby we're going to talk about today; instead, you'll be learning about his father, one George Formby, Sr... and, in my opinion, he was even better than his son!

"How?", you might ask? I'll let Wikipedia tell you:

Formby was one of the first people to be invited to make recordings, the first in 1906. He went on to make around 180 records, which was relatively prolific for that period. The Times commented, "There cannot be many people who have not heard at some time in their lives either the words or the refrain of 'John Willie – Come On', 'One of the Boys', 'I was Standing on the Corner of the Street', or 'Playing the Game in the West'." Formby was one of the few performers who had no problems in the business of recording, performing in a relaxed fashion for an invisible audience. He would sing his song, and then go on to talk to the listener, saying things like "Y'know, that fella be'ind that's, err, recordin' this now, y'know they call 'im Syncopation George. I think it's ragtime, I don't know what to call 'im, I think I'll call 'im a parasite! Oh, no... come on, say that's an insect, I don't know but I'll enquire it about it". The only film in which Formby is known to have appeared in was No Fool Like An Old Fool (1914), in which he played John Willie. No copies of the film are known to survive.

Now, without further ado, I give you the lively musical stylings of George Formby, Sr., circa 1915, with "All of a Sudden It Struck Me":



Enjoy!