Ian Whitcomb


Ian Timothy Whitcomb was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.
He wrote several books on popular music, beginning with , published by Penguin Books and Simon & Schuster in 1972. He accompanied his singing by playing the ukulele and, through his records, concerts, and film work, helped to stimulate the revival of interest in the instrument. His re-creation of the music played aboard the in the film of that name won a Grammy Award in 1998 for package design and a nomination for Whitcomb's liner notes.

Early life

Whitcomb was born in Woking, Surrey, England to Patrick and Eileen. He was the second child of three children. He spent his childhood years in Scarborough, Thorpeness and Putney. His father worked for his father's film company British Screen Classics in the 1920s, eventually co-starring in Mr. Nobody. His father was a trained pianist and encouraged Whitcomb to also play piano. Growing up, Whitcomb's chief musical inspirations were Phil Harris, Johnnie Ray, Guy Mitchell, Elvis Presley, and George Formby. He was sent away to boarding school in 1949 at age 8 and there he soon formed a tissue paper-and-comb band to entertain staff and boys with current hits such as "".

Music and writing career

At Bryanston, a public school in Dorset, England, Whitcomb began writing comic and other songs. He started a skiffle group in 1957 and then a rock and roll band in 1959. After leaving school, he worked at Harrods and then as an assistant at film studios. With his younger brother Robin on drums, he formed a band, The Ragtime Suwanee Six, that played at parties in the Surrey area and was managed by Denny Cordell, later to produce records by Procol Harum and Joe Cocker. Robin went on to play tambourine on Sonny & Cher's hit "I Got You Babe".
Around 1963, while studying history at Trinity College, Dublin, Ian Whitcomb became a founding member and lead vocalist of Dublin's early rhythm and blues band, Bluesville. After some unreleased early recordings, Whitcomb travelled to Seattle, where he performed and was signed to record for Jerden Records. After returning to Dublin, he recorded "This Sporting Life", written by Brownie McGhee and previously recorded as a skiffle number by Chas McDevitt. Whitcomb's recording was then licensed to the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, for release in the US. It reached number 100 for one week on the Billboard Hot 100.
Their next record release, again credited as Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, "You Turn Me On", was largely improvised at the end of a recording session in Dublin. Released as a single on the Tower label, it reached Billboard's number 8 spot in July 1965 - the first Irish-produced record to reach the US charts - but was not released in Britain. During his summer vacation in 1965, Whitcomb went to America to appear on such television programs as Shindig, Hollywood A Go-Go and American Bandstand. Whitcomb played the Hollywood Bowl with The Beach Boys in 1965 and then toured with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
"N-E-R-V-O-U-S!", Whitcomb's next release, was recorded in Hollywood and reached No. 59 in Billboard and No. 47 in Cash Box. He returned to Dublin for his history finals and received a BA degree. In 1966 he turned to early popular song: his version of a 1916 Al Jolson comedy number, "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" was a West Coast hit, reviving the ukulele before the emergence of Tiny Tim.
After making four albums for the Tower label, Whitcomb retired as a pop performer, later writing that he "wanted no part of the growing pretentiousness of rock with its mandatory drugs and wishy-washy spiritualism and its increasing loud and metallic guitar sounds." However, in 1969 he produced Mae West on her album called Great Balls of Fire for MGM Records. Whitcomb then returned to the UK and was commissioned by Penguin Books to write a history of pop music. This was , published in 1972. He appeared on several BBC TV show and was an early presenter of the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971.
Whitcomb settled in California in the late 1970s. He starred in and wrote L.A.–My Home Town and Tin Pan Alley. He wrote Tin Pan Alley, A Pictorial History and a novel, Lotusland: A Story of Southern California, published in 1979. He also provided the music for a documentary film, Bugs Bunny: Superstar, which was narrated by Orson Welles. For Play-Rite Music he cut 18 piano rolls that were included in an album, Pianomelt. His other albums reflected his research into the genres of ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville, and music hall. These, beginning with Under the Ragtime Moon , were released on several record labels including Warner Bros. Records, United Artists, and Decca Records. During that time he also wrote and produced singles for Warner Bros.' country division, most notably "Hands", a massage parlour story, and "A Friend of a Friend of Mine".
In the 1980s Whitcomb published Rock Odyssey: A Chronicle of the Sixties: Ian Whitcomb, a memoir of the 1960s and described by The New York Times as the best personal account of this period. He also published Ragtime America, followed by a memoir of life as a British expatriate living in Los Angeles, Resident Alien. He wrote extensively on music, culture, and books for a diverse range of magazines including Radio Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Telegraph, The London Magazine. He produced a British documentary on black music, Legends of Rhythm and Blues. During this time he also hosted a radio show in Los Angeles for fifteen years, taking the program from KROQ-FM to KCRW and finally to KPCC-FM.
He continued to make recordings, producing a series of CD collections: Treasures of Tin Pan Alley, Al Jolson songs, and Titanic- Music As Heard On The Fateful Voyage. Whitcomb's liner notes were nominated for a Grammy. His songs are heard in the films Bloody Movie, Cold Sassy Tree, Encino Man, Grass, Man of the Century, Stanley's Gig, After the Storm, The Cat's Meow, Last Call, Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes, Lonesome Jim, and Fido.

Later life

Whitcomb lived in Southern California with his wife, Regina, and their dog, Tobey. He performed, on accordion as well as ukulele, at music festivals throughout America, often with his ragtime band, The Bungalow Boys, as well as with a larger orchestra. He continued to write, and he made frequent guest appearances. He notably performed live and on recordings as a member of ukulele chanteuse Janet Kelin's Parlour Boys. He was a regular performer at Cantalini's Restaurant in Playa del Rey, California. He appeared as Grand Marshal in the 24th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade on November 19, 1999.
From November 2007, Whitcomb had an internet radio program on Wednesday evenings from 8:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. at Luxuria Music. He signed with Premiere Radio Networks in September 2010 to launch The Ian Whitcomb Show on XM satellite radio, Channel 24. He was named as a BEST OF L.A. in 2008 by Los Angeles magazine.
In 2009 Whitcomb wrote and, with his Bungalow Boys, performed original music for the West Coast Premiere of The Jazz Age, a play by Allan Knee, at the Blank Theater Company's 2nd Stage Theater in Los Angeles. For his work on The Jazz Age, Whitcomb was nominated for an L.A. Theater Award.

Illness and death

Whitcomb died in Pasadena, California at a care facility on 19 April 2020, from complications of a stroke he had suffered in 2012. He was 78.

Selected discography

Singles

Albums

Screen