Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Blue Lyres


One of the old 78's in my collection that I will upload from time to time now I know how to change the speed with Audacity.
This one is by The Blue Lyres who I know nothing about. Its on the Zonophone label and recorded at the Dorchester Hotel in London sometime in the 30's I would guess.

"Arguably the best hotel band in Britain at the time, the Ambrose Orchestra at the Mayfair could count royalty among their audience and aquired the top Saturday night spot for radio broadcasts.
Over two hundred HMV recordings were made during 1930-1932, and several recordings on Decca and Zonophone by the Blue Lyres are now regarded as being by members of the Ambrose Orchestra. During this time it was Sam Browne who delivered most of the vocals. "

"Sam's voice is easily recognisable and it has been quite an easy task for discographers to identify many of the anonymous 'vocal refrains' on records by the less famous bands. It's obvious now that Sam made over 1000 recordings. Bands that featured Sam on many records include Alfredo (on Edison), Bertini (on Eclipse), Harry Bidgood (on Broadcast), Harry Hudson (on Edison), and of course Lew Stone and about a dozen more.

Not regarded as a 'jazz' singer, Sam Browne nevertheless performs very adequately on a number of hot dance records, and as well as some of the early Ambrose recordings Sam also sang on a few other hot recordings by the bands of Jay Wilbur, Six Swingers etc. Sam is featured in several British films, including Calling All Stars, Variety Parade and Hi Gang, as well as numerous film shorts."


The Blue Lyres - He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down Pt. 1

The Blue Lyres - He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down Pt.2


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

SWAPATORIUM: The Blue Lyres

2 comments:

Paul and Carol said...

My grandfather was a member of the blue lyres. He played piano. Is it possible you have a list of members. His last name was Martin. He could be listed as Earnest, percy or anything else. I don't know much about him. Just got told this by my aunt. Any chance you could contact me? cimbromartin@yahoo.com. I blog under the title "Dispatches from the hippie trail" if you're interested, but my main reason fopr getting hold of you is The Blue Lyres. Thanks for whatever you can give me. Paul Martin

Wastedpapiers said...

Sorry Paul- all I have is what you see here. I tried to Google The Blue Lyres but didnt find much sadly. Interesting that you are related to one of the group members. I wish I could be of more help but all I have is this old scratchy record I found at a boot sale.