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| Melody Maker Readers Poll (1950)... |
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For 74 years the "Melody Maker" was the weekly 'trade paper' for the dance band and jazz musician as well as all those interested in the modern music scene. One of it's continuing features and talking points were the annual Readers Polls where readers voted under different categories for individual musicians, singers, big bands and a host of other categories. The annual jazz polls were a major event in the jazz world but were also an important historical record of the state of British jazz through the years and preserve some of the historical perspective on British Jazz. This page carries the full results of the 1950 poll published on February 3rd, 1951. |
So far as the big bands are concerned, top honours go to those who were successful in the last poll. Johnny Dankworth, of course, displaces the Ray Ellington Quartet from the premier position for small groups. In the rest of the individualists' sections, it is "as you were", with the exception of the guitar poll where Geraldo guitarist Ivor Mairants wins back leadership from last years winner Pete Chilver who, although virtually retired from the profession, holds third place. There were four new sections in this years poll - accordion, violin, vibes and organ, which have replaced the miscellaneous section. |
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 Johnny Dankworth Musician of the year 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Kenny Graham 3 Ralph Sharon 4 Humphrey Lyttelton 5 Vic Lewis 6 Jackie Armstrong 7 Kathleen Stobart 8 Ray Ellington... Trombone 1 Jackie Armstrong 2 Gordon Langhorn 3 George Chisholm 4 Lad Busby 5= Ed Harvey 5= Keith Christie 7 Don Lusher 8 Geoff Love 9 John Keating 10 Jock Bain 11 Jimmy Wilson 12 Harry Roche 13 Geoff Sowden... Bass 1 Charlie Short 2 Coleridge Goode 3 Joe Muddel 4 Jack Collier 5 Jack Fallon 6 Sammy Stokes 7 Alan Macdonald 8 Johnny Hawksworth 9 Tim Bell 10 Eric Dawson 11= Len Harrison 11= Tiny Winters 13 Jack Seymour... Guitar 1 Ivor Mairants 2 Laurie Deniz 3 Pete Chilver 4 Ike Isaacs 5 Malcolm Mitchell 6 Bert Weedon 7 Roy Plummer 8 Archie Slavin 9 Arthur Golding 10 Vic Lewis... Accordion 1 Tito Burns 2 Lorna Martin 3 Enso Toppano 4 Stan Tracey 5 Joe Saye 6 Reg Brolin... Arranger 1 Ken Thorne 2 Robert Farnon 3 Wally Stott 4 George Evans 5 Johnny Dankworth 6 Roland Shaw 7 Reg Owen 8 Stan Foster 9 Ralph Sharon 10 Alan Bristow 11 Eric Jupp 12 Kenny Graham 13 Ronnie Price... |
Clarinet 1 Sid Phillips 2 Henry Mackenzie 3 Nat Temple 4 Frank Weir 5 Wally Fawkes 6 Keith Bird 7 Dougie Robinson 8 Harry Parry 9 Carl Barriteau 10 Billy Amstell 11 Johnny Dankworth 12 Ernie Tomasso... Alto sax 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Ronnie Chamberlain 3 Les Gilbert 4 Dougie Robinson 5 Harry Klein 6= Derek Humble 6= Ken Mackintosh 8 Harry Hayes 9 Mike Senn 10 Cecil Pressling... Baritone sax 1 Dave Shand 2 Alex Leslie 3 Pat Rose 4 Bill Collins 5 Harry Klein 6 Harry Gold 7 Jimmy Staples 8 Derek Neville... Vibes 1 Victor Feldman 2 Roy Marsh 3 Tommy Pollard 4 Martin Slavin 6 Jack Parnell 7 Jack Simpson 8 Reg Wale... Drums 1 Jack Parnell 2 Peter Coleman 3 Eric Delaney 4 Tony Kinsey 5 Ronnie Verrell 6 Jock Cummings 7 Derek Price 8 Ray Ellington 9 Pete Bray 10 Max Abrams 11 Jackie Davenport 12 Basil Kirchin 13 Bobby Kevin 14= George Hopkinson 14= Dicky Devere 16 Cyril Sherman... Organ 1 Robin Richmond 2 Harold Smart 3 Charles Smitton 4 Reg Dixon 5 Jerry Allen 6 Sandy McPherson 7 Jimmy Leach 8 Robinson Cleaver 9 Reg Foort 10 Eddie Palmer 11 Sydney Torch 12 Bill Hutchinson... Vocal group 1 Keynotes 2 Stargazers 3 Tanner Sisters 4 Hedley Ward Trio 5 Kordites 6 Malcolm Mitchell Trio 7 Staplejacks... |
Small band 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Ray Ellington 3 Tito Burns 4 Kenny Graham 5 Humphrey Lyttelton 6 Harry Gold 7 Kathleen Stobart 8 Jack Parnell 9 Hedley Ward Trio 10 Sid Phillips 11 Freddy Randall 12 Malcolm Mitchell 13 Stan Foster... Tenor sax 1 Ronnie Scott 2 Tommy Whittle 3 Kenny Graham 4 Keith Bird 5 Kathleen Stobart 6 Don Rendell 7 Laurie Gold 8 Jimmy Skidmore 9 Rex Morris 10 Pete King 11 Aubrey Franks 12 Harry Gold... Swing Band 1 Ted Heath 2 Vic Lewis 3 Geraldo 4 George Evans 5 Squadronnaires 6 Cyril Stapleton 7 Sid Phillips 8 Humphrey Lyttelton 9 Ken Mackintosh 10 Billy Cotton 11= Oscar Rabin 11= Nat Temple 13 Freddy Randall... Sweet Band 1 Geraldo 2 Cyril Stapleton 3 Ted Heath 4 George Evans 5 Oscar Rabin 6 Nat Temple 7 Stanley Black 8 Billy Ternent 9 Victor Silvester 10 Peter Yorke 11 Joe Loss 12 Ambrose 13= Ken Mackintosh 13= Ray Martin 15 Bob Farnon... Soprano sax 1 Ronnie Chamberlain 2 Reg Owen 3 Jimmy Durrant 4 Les Gilbert 5= Johnny Hughes 5= Cliff Townshend... Male singer 1 Alan Dean 2 Benny Lee 3 Bob Dale 4 Dickie Valentine 5 Steve Conway 6 Dick James 7 Johnny Eager 8 Ray Ellington 9= Frank Holder 9= Franklyn Boyd 11 Dennis Hale 12 Ray Burns 13 Teddy Johnson 14 Lee Lawrence 15 Derrick Francis 16= Howard Jones 16= Jack Parnell 18 George Kelly... |
Latin-American band 1 Edmundo Ros 2 Eddie Calvert 3 Roberto Inglez 4 Kenny Graham 5 Johnny Kerrison 6 Don Carlos 7 Santiago 8 Hermanos Deniz 9 Stanley Black... Trumpet 1 Kenny Baker 2 Albert Hall 3 Humphrey Lyttelton 4 Freddy Randall 5 Bobby Pratt 6 Jimmy Deuchar 7 Leon Calvert 8 Eddie Calvert 9 Jo Hunter 10 Alan Frank 11 Bert Courtley 12 Stan Reynolds 13 Bobby Benstead 14 Johnny Shakespeare 15 Billy Riddick 16 Harold Luff 15 Ronnie Simmons... Piano 1 Ralph Sharon 2 Steve Race 3 Felix King 4 Dick Katz 5 Arthur Greenslade 6 Frank Horrox 7= Dennis Armitage 7= Ronnie Price 9= Stan Foster 9= Ronnie Selbey 11 Malcolm Lockyer 12 Norman Stenfalt 13 Ronnie Aldrich 14 George Webb 15 Eric Jupp 16 Norrie Paramor 17 Sydney Bright 18 Dennis Wilson 19= Ian Stewart 19= Pat Dodd 21 Sid Phillips 22= Bernie Fenton 22= Ronnie Ball 24 Jack Honeyborne 25 Dill Jones 26 Arthur Fall 27= Charlie Kunz 27= Jack Nathan 28 Stan Roper 29= Revell Terry 29= Pete Moore 31 Ralph Short... Violin 1 Stephane Grappelly 2 Paul Adam 3 Danny Levan 4 Les Baker 5 Mac McCoombe 6 Tom Jenkins 7 Laurence Rossi 8 Oscar Grasso... Female Singer 1 Pearl Carr 2 Terry Devon 3 Marie Benson 4 Marion Williams 5 Eve Boswell 6 Petula Clark 7 Diana Coupland 8 Lita Roza 9 Anne Shelton 10 Jacqueline Jennings 11 Dinah Kaye 12 Carole Carr 13= Marion Davies 13= Nadia Dore 15= Doreen Stephens 15= Kathran Oldfield... |