Wednesday 3 December 2008
A History of British Music Hall
by Alan and Vera Baker
This presentation was proceeded by the Christmas Ladies Lunch held at Bourne Hall in the centre of Ewell, this was attended by just over eighty members and guests, the day being well organised by Eric Hussey the Club's assistant secretary and organiser of these events. The catering staff as usual provided us with an excellent meal and very efficient service, the decorations and colour reflected the Christmas spirit and Ann Mills the Presidents wife provided some delightful and very decorative floral arrangements, in all with the lady prizes this was a splendid occasion. There are a few photos of the lunch occasion shown here.
Alan Baker (left) gave a deep and well researched presentation of the history of the British Music Halls supported with slides and songs and with his wife Vera on the music system presented a talented duo for our entertainment. Alan stated that, the origins of Music Hall can be traced to round about 1850. During the first half of the 19th Century the face of Britain had been changed by the Industrial Revolution. As factories had sprung up, people were required to work in them. And so, communities became much larger; and sizeable towns developed. With these larger communities, the number of public houses and taverns mushroomed; and the beginning of the Music Hall has its roots in the pubs and taverns of the time. The people who ate and drank at the taverns were largely working class. They would often sing together or as individuals. Now, Landlords soon saw the value of encouraging these sing-songs; and some were soon setting aside a small room or hall especially for this musical entertainment. And from this special room or halls for music developed the Music Hall.
One such Landlord was Charles Morton he ran several taverns in London before he took over the Canterbury Arms in Lambeth in December 1849. Here he held harmonic evenings, concerts and sing-songs. These were so popular that Morton had a hall built at the back of the tavern especially for these concerts. It was opened in 1852 and housed 700 people. Morton called it the Canterbury Hall; and this was to become the Canterbury Music Hall, often regarded as the first Music Hall. So successful was the Canterbury that within a few years Morton had opened a new and larger Canterbury Music Hall on the same site.
Originally, the audiences were essentially working class and predominately male; but this changed as Music Hall developed a much wider appeal and as larger and more luxurious Halls were built, particularly in the West End. By the late 1800's there were over three hundred music halls in London, with nearly a thousand across the UK, with names like The Empire or The Hippodrome, they became favourite for people of every class and trade.
In time, all music hall performances followed a basic format, a master of ceremonies, introducing singers, dancers etc. the halls were everything from huge ornate theatres (below) to much smaller and sometimes cramped setups, all that was required was space a stage, audience seating, and a conveniently placed bar.
While everyone went for the music and comedy, there is no question that the availability of liquor was part of the music hall's appeal. The temperance movement complained that the halls encouraged heavy drinking but the few alcohol free halls which opened soon closed due to the poor attendance. The British public went to the music halls to have a good, rowdy time, not a subdued experience.
Some of the earliest music halls looked like churches, with a fenced-in sanctuary for the performance area and pipe organs to accompany the singers, audiences were seated on benches surrounding wooden tables, where they could eat, drink and be merry. The audience joined in singing popular ditties, and cheered-on favourite performers, but mediocre acts were booed off the stage, those who were not tough enough to take such treatment soon sought other forms of employment.
With women and children in the audience, the material was never more than mildly salacious. Most music hall songs were sentimental or based on everyday life, plus digs at the rich and famous. A classic example is Marie Lloyd's popular hit,
"My Old Man" – refrain, various versions were used! This song was based on the midnight flight to escape the rent collectors etc.
My old man Said, "Follow the van, And don't dilly-dally on the way."
On went the van with my whole world in it. I run along with me old cock linnet.
Ah dilled, I dallied; lost me way and Don't know where to roam.
Who's gonna put up The old iron bedstead If I can't find my way home?Other favourites were:-
Down At The Old Bull And Bush
She's a Lassie from Lancashire
Oh! Oh! Antonio!
Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy
Goodbye-ee
Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage
Daisy Daisy
I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
Now I Have to Call him FatherMany of these songs were played over the audio system by Vera whilst Alan sang over the recordings with the membership joining in when able, certainly in the well known refrains, surviving recordings make it clear that few music hall stars had good voices or was this due to the recording quality available at this time?, their primary qualifications were good looks, energy and personality.
By the 1860’s popular ‘stars’ were beginning to emerge, such as Alfred Vance, known as The Great Vance and George Leybourne, his famous song was Champagne Charlie. Sadly, the likes of Vance and Leybourne pre-dated sound recording. One of the popular speciality acts on the Music Hall bill in its early days was the Coon Singers and were usually a white faced man blacked up (this would hardly get passed today by our PC pundits!) one of the best was Eugene Stratton (USA) whose famous song was Lily of Laguna.
For many people, the essence of the Music Hall was to be found in the cockney singer. Probably the most famous of the coster singers was Albert Chevalier (who sang My Old Dutch). But, Alan said for him, the greatest of the coster singers was Gus Elen whose voice was the authentic Victorian cockney sound.
By the 1880s very talented female artistes were increasingly to be seen, and without any doubt, the greatest female artist of the time was Marie Lloyd Marie was born in one of the poorest parts of the East End of London in 1870. Her real name was Matilda Wood. She made her professional debut in 1885 at the age of fifteen, and soon changed her name to Marie Lloyd, she was very pretty and extremely vivacious, and a fine dancer; but it was her personality and her way of putting over a song which made her so popular and so successful.
The quality of the recordings available of Marie singing is not too great recording was in its infancy and, by this time; her voice was showing the effects of thirty years singing in smoke filled music halls, without the aid of a microphone. Nevertheless, Alan stated I think it is worth listening to an example of Marie’s work, just to get a flavour of this remarkable artist. Here is a recording of a typical Marie song When I take my Morning Promenade. Marie was also very popular with her fellow professionals; and she was generous, to a fault, to those who fell on hard times. In 1907 when music hall artists went on strike in protest at the treatment received by lesser artists from unscrupulous agents and managers, Marie was one of the first big stars to join the strike and support her poorer fellow professionals on the picket line.
The best music hall performers had both in abundance, Marie Lloyd was one of the most beloved music hall stars, her stage humour ranged from the wholesome to the marginally crude. Most performers preferred songs with simple repetitive refrains that were easy for audiences to remember and sing along with.
No other comedian succeeded so well in giving expression to the life of the music hall audience, raising it to a kind of art, it was, this capacity for expressing the soul of the people that made Marie Lloyd unique.
After World War I, food service disappeared from the music halls, and traditional theatre seating replaced the old benches and tables. But there was still plenty of beer! Performers faced more concentrated scrutiny, which only strengthened the popularity of favourites like comic singers Florrie Forde, Ella Shields, George Robey and Harry Champion (some of whom are shown below).
Marie Lloyd George Robey
Ella Shields Harry Champion
Florrie Forde
Music hall performers found their comedy in the kind of characters and situations that audiences encountered as part of their everyday lives. For example the police, the rent collector, the bailiffs, mothers-in-law, the drunken husband and the shrewish wife, the spendthrift who had gambled away his pay before he got home Friday night. Patriotism and aspects of Victoriana were pandered to and at the same time subtly ridiculed; and for those with the wit to see it, the satire was there.
At this time, just before the First World War, Music Hall was at the peak of its popularity. It had become a mammoth industry; and a respectable entertainment form for all classes, including gentry and even royalty. In 1912 Music Hall gained true recognition, when a Music Hall Royal Command Performance took place in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary at The Palace theatre. Many individual artists appeared; but there was a notable absentee. The “Queen of the Halls” Marie Lloyd was not invited to appear. Whether this was because of the risqué nature of some of her songs or because her private life was not too respectable; or whether the big impresarios were simply getting their own back for the part she played in the Music Hall Strike - probably it was a combination of all three.
Anyway, Music Hall had received its Royal accolade. But, in a perverse way, this was to coincide with the start of the steady decline of the Music Hall over the next fifty years. But, before we consider the factors which brought about Music Hall’s decline, let us look at some more of the acts and stars who had brought it to its hey day.
Another of the speciality acts was the male impersonator. Ella Shields was an outstanding purveyor of this art. One of the biggest names in Music Hall was the Scotsman Harry Lauder, who first appeared in 1900, with songs like Roamin in the Gloamin, I Love a Lassie, Stop Your Tickling Jock. Lauder was one of the most prodigious performers during the First World War. He entertained troops at the front and raised over £60,000 (this is a massive sum at 1914 values) for the war effort. Lauder became the first performing knight of the Music Hall when he became Sir Harry Lauder in 1919
Another Music Hall giant was George Robey A dry, witty comedian, Robey’s career had many dimensions. As well as the Music Hall, he featured in Revue and also appeared as Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, he too was a dedicated fund-raiser during the First World War (for which he was awarded the CBE) and did much for the war effort during the Second World War. He became Sir George Robey in 1954, shortly before his death. But Robey will be remembered chiefly as one of the great Music Hall comedians.
Marie Lloyd was also a continuous performer during the First World War; and did much work raising money for wounded soldiers and visiting injured soldiers and munitions workers. But Marie’s work for the war effort received no recognition. Sadly, this was at a time when her personal life had become very difficult and her health was failing as she began to feel the effects of the punishing schedule of work which she had followed for nearly thirty years.
By 1920, Marie was a very different performer from the lively saucy star who had captivated audiences in her younger days. She remained very popular; but she was an ageing star. She was now 50 - but looked older – stumbling with rheumatism, and stumbling over her words. In 1922, while appearing at the Edmonton Empire, Marie was performing One of the Ruins that Cromwell Knocked about a Bit, when she staggered and fell on stage. The audience thought it was part of the act. But Marie collapsed back stage; and within a week she had died (at the age of 52).
Some say that with Marie Lloyd’s death, Music Hall died too. That is, of course an over-simplification. For the first time, Music Hall was facing serious competition. First, from the new moving pictures; and then, of even more significance, was the introduction of Revue to the West End. Revue required fewer performers than Music Hall; and was therefore less expensive to put on.
Many music hall performers became unemployed and halls began to close or go over to Revue or were turned into cinemas. The, during the 1930’s, competition from talking pictures and the new ‘wireless’ drove the final nails into the Music Hall coffin.
Alan concluded; well our Music Hall story is almost over. The years covered by the two World Wars had seen its steady decline. But Music Hall was to have one final fling before being consigned to the cupboard of nostalgia. In 1946, a theatrical agent, Don Ross had the idea of a show consisting of some of the old Music Hall performers who were still around. He approached G H Elliott, Nellie Wallace, Hetty King, Ella Shields, Randolph Sutton and his wife, Gertie Gittana to take part in the venture.
After much cajoling the show called Thanks For The Memory, was eventually put on for one week at the Empress Theatre Brixton on 23 February 1948. It was a sell-out! The show ran for almost three years before Don Ross decided that it had run its course: Remember, most of its stars were in their seventies!
So there it is. A brief history of the British Music Hall over one hundred years. Why was Music Hall so popular? Its success has to be the songs, many of which have become almost part of our national folk heritage. With this statement Alan and Eve concluded their presentation to lively applause.
This was an unusual meeting of our Club where the speakers tend to be very formal and singing to the membership is almost unheard of!
Phil Hall in his vote of thanks reminded us all of his visits as a youngster with his parents to the Kingston Empire and how he enjoyed the real sense of taking part in a live Music Hall, although at an early age was confounded why girl's played men's parts!
Phil thanked on our behalf both Vera and Alan and the membership responded in our normal fashion.
It was then a chance of Ann Mills to thank the membership of the Probus Club of Ewell on behalf of the Ladies and guests for their kind invitation and again thanked Eric Hussey for the days arrangements and with John the President wished all a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Thanks are also due to Alan who kindly has allowed us to have his full script, albeit this has been edited by consent
