I'm a 46 year-old who has a 15 year-old daughter that plays the ukelele (as 85% of teenage girls do nowadays) and I just turned her on to George. She is amazed at the "new" chords and "strange" melodies and can already play When I'm Cleaning Windows!
And weren't a few of his tunes intentionally a bit ' nod nod wink wink ' ? If so then this was indeed an English tradition which was continued 30 years after by ' sophisticated ' rock musicians albeit regarding illegal drug use rather than sexual references 😉
My Grandpa played George Formby to me on his many cassettes till he died aged 85 in 1993.. it makes me smile every time I hear those cassettes... which are still playing to this day for my own daughter from her being born.... I realise now my quiet and unassuming Grandpa was a sly old dog, although very downtrodden like poor George....with one helleva naughty sense of humour... which I treasure to this day.. George Formby was way ahead of his time... I wish he had been more appreciated during his life, as he gave a huge amount of joy to so many people, including 1000s of soldiers... his life was far from easy, but he wholeheartedly tried his best at making people smile and laugh. God rest his soul.
My grandad would be so pleased that people were still enjoying George in 2020. I have the box sets and regularly have Alexa play his songs! Reminds me of my granddad and it’s another hidden gem online when everything is just so doom and gloom! Turned out nice again!
A mate of mine introduced Formby to me. He died last year at the age of 35, his favourite song was cleaning windows but they're all good. God bless em both.
IIRC, George Formby actually attempted to enlist in one of the services at the start of the war. They found some dubious medical grounds to give him the equivalent of an American 4-F grade and keep him out. As it turned out, he did a great deal more for the war effort entertaining troops and civilians than he could possibly have done as an enlisted serviceman. So it all worked out.
Other nice lines: - "I'd rather stick me Marlin spike in Ilkla Moor baht'at" ('On Ilkley Moor without a hat' - Yorkshire folk song). - "I've got barnacles on me binncale and it ruddy well serves me right."
Uniquely British. Who else would have sung something like this. "it serves me right ,I shouldn`t have joined" The Germans would have killed you The Yanks would have suppressed it. Gulag for the Russki. Film for old George.
I was talking to an old Russian man via my ex in Moscow. He was continuously complaining about everything modern and how much better it was under the Communists. After an age I capitulated and stated "well if you had complained like this under Stalin they'd have executed you on the spot, so they had some commendable policies at least", I don't know how well it was translated but it didn't stop him.
I beg to differ: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-K46pkM3vO-w.html And I can go all day with those. And there a a million American comedies with songs that make fun of the military.
@@jamesleate Look at how many Americans think every moment of the past is better than the present, no matter how horrible it was, and the ones online get very angry to be contradicted because of their "right" to believe what they want. It is ever thus. Every age but the present time is the golden age.
The Krouts wouldn't have killed anybody for this. The Yanks wouldn't have suppressed it. And Ivan would have already killed you for following orders and showing up in the 1st place...
A Star! Back in the day when 'Stars' really did light up a Theatre ! George was years ahead of his time. Laser Wit,able to openly challenge the Censor,and 'make 'em larf' as he got away with it! Allways one of Natures Gents and committed to making sure the Working Man and Woman went home happy, It's only since starting to learn Ukulele during 'Lockdown' that I've fully realised just how brilliant a Musician he was! If I can EVER Play any of his Hits as well as he did I will be a very happy Teddy! P.S. You can't beat the Morale boost actually learning to play brings,and the Ukulele is one of the easiest Instruments to play ! If you are feeling 'Blue' you can get a 'real' one second hand for around £20 and Brand New for not much more! Try it, maybe you can sing along one day!
I'm 39 and have loved George since I was tiny. My Dad was raised in "Wiggin" and his father and all his ancestors were born and raised there, so I was brought up on our George. As I've got older, I've started to appreciate his talent even more. We have been to see his old house in St Anne's a couple of times over the past 18 months. It seems surreal to think George lived there. I would have LOVED to have met him, as I know my grandad did. It's turned out nice again!
I'm 45 and have loved George since I was about 10 when some of his films were shown on daytime British TV. I didn't know that the house he lived in was available for the public to see so thanks for sharing that, I'll be sure to visit some day. It has turned out nice again and I wish you and your family much happiness.
Best intro ever. George comes out, starts playing his Uke, and a young lady pipes up”I could never learn how to do that, it involves using two fingers at the same time “
SO MANY EXCELLENT PASSED VERY TALENTED ALL ROUND ENTERTAINERS' HERE ARE HUNDREDS = , RONNIE BARKER, VICTOR BORGE, ROY CASTLE, TOMMY COOPER,TONY HANCOCK, ARTHUR HAYNES, BENNY HILL, OLIVER HARDY AND STAN LAUREL, LIBERACE, WILL HAY GRAHAM MOFFAT AND MOORE MARRIOTT, CHARLES PENROSE, JON PERTWEE, PETER SELLERS, PHIL SILVERS, ERIC SYKES, MICHAEL FLANDERS AND DONALD SWANN, REG VARNEY, MAX WALL, KENNETH WILLIAMS, HARRY WORTH TO NAME BUT A VERY FEW OF HUNDREDS, NOW REPLACED BY TOTAL FILTHY CRAP !!!!
Absolutely love this song, makes me thing of my great grandad George. He traveled from Edinburgh to London to enlist in the 2nd World War only to be told he was too young to join. He had to contact his mother to come and pick him up (Edinburgh to London wasn't an easy journey back then). After WW2 he ended up joining the Royal Navy for many years. God bless him and George!
I think this was from a 1943 film, which is pretty darn subversive for wartime. A year later, the British “Dance Music Policy Committee” found the song to be “enemy-friendly”. Maybe I’m to soft, but I think it would be a reminder for the sailors what they are fighting for. The German Navy would have sent this guy to the Eastern Front - if he was lucky.
I'm laughing and in tears crying at same time. I miss this innocence, I miss England simply being England, & I've long loved dear George Formby. Many thanks.
The last time a woman was indefinitely placed in a mental asylum for "having a baby outside of wedlock" was in the mid 1950's. An awful lot of evil and nastiness went into keeping that vaneer of innocence.
While being an American, I do much prefer the UK. A place much better than the hellhole America dug for itself. “America is the Land of Freedom” bullshit gets me mad.
When I used to visit the Isle of Man for the motorcycle TT races each year there was a cinema in Douglas that showed "No limit!" with George as the star. It was a religious act of devotion that we all saw the movie each year. George was a very keen motorcyclist ending up with a Vincent-HRD, 1 000 cc bike. I believe that is still kept going.
This guy was an absolute joy 2 watch in his films. Always got the ladies, sang brilliantly an as 4 the ukulele was the best ever. Always on You Tube listening 2 his music an watching his films. This song was brilliant an funny. When he dances at the end was hilariously funny. A true Lancastrian, like misel. George Formby, gone but never will b 4gotten. R.I.P. George, the great performer an actor.
From Wiki: "Much of Formby's virtuosity came from his right-hand technique, the split stroke, and he developed his own fast and complicated syncopated musical style with a very fast right-hand strum. Joe Cooper, writing in New Society, considered that "Nobody has ever reproduced the casual devastating right hand syncopation, which so delicately synchronised with deft left hand chord fingering"."
I had the pleasure of looking after George Formby when he was dying at St Joseph's Convent Hospital, going way back, he was a great person! Sadly missed ✝️
Man, he died in 1961. That means you would have to be at least 80 to be able to look after him at the time. Either your profile photo is fake or you are a very old person.
As weird as it sounds u very lucky thing I'd wish it would have been better circumstances but to meet him and for him to be looked after by someone like your lovely self I'm sure was a blessing for him well done
No doubt this added a big smile to that stiff upper lip on many an Englishman's face during the war...more and more I'm convinced it's impossible to play sad music on a ukulele/banjolele...😁👍👍
What is the name of the movie? My grandfather and I watched old movies together. After, he played the banjo and ukulele. I loved Saturday nights! It was the early 70s and I was not very old. We'd sit together and laugh and laugh! Then my grandmother would join, lift up the edges of her dress and apron and dance while making funny faces. I remember laughing until I felt silly. It's a lovely memory, given after that, I was severely abused and beaten when my Mom remarried and my new stepfather moved us away. They almost destroyed me. I ran away with Police assistance at 17 and never returned or had any financial assistance from them again.
@@t.gibson2765 I'm not sure what movie this was from. I'd love to see it though. I just googled his movies and assume it was one called "Bell Bottom George" from 1943.
these songs and films are still wonderful today. To all the people that hear these songs and ban them because you see a sexual content in them you need to get a life.
A look at what we used to be like before 1950 and the mass immigration of people who are nothing like us . Just 70 years and we are just a example to eastern Europe why they need walls like America does
Imagine being in the pub and you are just about to get off and someone who is like this comes in and starts playing like this you wouldn’t want to go back home lol. Old school entertainment.
