Pool Of Sound - Charlie Landsborough

 

Charles Alexander Landsborough was born on the 26th of October 1941. To escape the WW11 bombing the family had moved to Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales where Charlie was born, the youngest of 11 children. Soon after he was born, his mother (Aggie) moved the family back to Birkenhead where he was reared by the docklands near the dumps, railway lines, coal wharf and oil factories. Charlie was named Charles Alexander after his father and he remembers always being surrounded by music with his dad telling him that he used to sing himself to sleep when he was about three. His father was a ballad singer billed locally as the 'Silver Voiced Tenor' and one of his earliest recollections is of him sitting on his father's knee at a 'do' and duetting with him on 'You Take The Tables And I'll Take The Chairs'.

At the age of about fourteen when in Grammar School, his brother showed him a couple of guitar chords and he was hooked and spent long hours playing Hank Williams, Elvis, Jimmy Rodgers, etc. His mum died when he was eleven years old from cancer and Charlie left school early and worked intermittently as an apprentice telephone engineer, on the railways, and in the flour mills. After leaving school he found himself in his first band 'The Top Spots'. One gig offered him an early entry into musical history as 'The Top Spots' had been booked on the same bill as the 'Silver Beatles'. Somehow Charlie missed the gig and the chance to tread the boards with the biggest and most famous band in history. He admits he went off the rails at this time, took to petty crime and ended up in Walton Gaol for 2 months. This taught him a lesson and he joined the army and was stationed in West Germany where he started to play in bands with such exotic names as 'The Rockavons' and 'The Onions'. While he was in the army his old band 'The Top Spots' transformed themselves into 'The Undertakers', thus becoming one of the top legendary bands in the Merseybeat era. Sadly Charlie missed out on this. He left the army after four years, returned home but then went back to Dortmund and joined a group, 'The Chicago Sect'. Returning to England, he married Thelma who he had first seen as a teenager in Birkenhead. He played in local bands, and worked in a variety of jobs, including a grocery store manager, driver, and navvy, before he became a teacher at Portland Primary School on Laird Street, Birkenhead. During his years as a teacher he began to write as well as sing but ironically began to make his name more as a writer. However, through his singing he began to meet people like George Hamilton IV, Daniel O'Donnell and Foster and Allen. It was Tony Allen who first invited him to Ireland where he has returned ever since. He says he owes his fame and fortune to BBC Radio Ulster’s Gerry Anderson. For it was when Gerry played his tracks, including 'What Colour is the Wind?' and 'My Forever Friend' on his radio show, and had him on his TV show, that his career went stellar. He had continued writing and performing while a teacher but his break came in 1994 when his song 'What Colour is the Wind, which tells the story of a young blind child's attempts to envision the world, began to be played in Ireland after he had appeared on RTE's 'Kenny Live' show.

Charlie had signed his first record contract with Ritz Records in 1992 and the song was used as the title track of one of Landsborough's albums. Following the album's success in Ireland, Charlie appeared on several TV shows in the UK and since then has released ten additional albums, including originals, Greatest Hits and double CDs of previous releases. Overall, sales of his albums have exceeded 700,000 units. He also has had two number ones singles in the Irish pop chart, and several of his albums have topped the British country charts. He is one of the UK’s top country acts, also popular in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. 

 

In 1996, he converted to Catholicism. One of his most successful releases, 'Still Can't Say Goodbye' was recorded in Nashville in 1999 and resulted in him winning the BMCA Best Male Vocalist (2000) for the third year in succession, and the Southern Country Award for best album. As a result of his success, Charlie has appeared on many TV shows such as Granada’s TV one hour special documentary on Charlie – 'The Road to Nashville', Granada’s TV Christmas Eve Service from Liverpool Cathedral, Songs of Praise from the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Songs of Praise from Goodison Park (Everton Football Stadium), Terry Wogan, Gloria Hunniford, My Favourite Hymns, the Daniel O’Donnell Show, Phil Coulter Show, Rose of Tralee TV Show, Making a Difference TV Show, London TV Talk of the Town, London Weekend TV, and performances on GMTV and the now much missed Pebble Mill Live which both resulted in the switchboard being jammed with a record number of enquiries. He has also performed at most major concert halls and theatres in the UK, including the London Palladium and as one of the top country acts has also toured Australia and New Zealand. Charlie announced that 2019 would be his last year of touring and he would be concentrating on writing. In May 2022 a mural of the North Birkenhead legend was officially unveiled at a special ceremony in the town as Charlie topped a vote by residents who were asked to choose a local hero that they wanted to see immortalised on the side of North Birkenhead Train Station. Charlie received 46% of the vote and beat the likes of Dixie Dean and the town’s first female mayor, Lady Mary Ann Mercer. The mural, created by renowned Liverpool artist Paul Curtis, measures 2.5m tall and 5m wide, and aims to capture the heart and spirit of the country star, who grew up in North Birkenhead and taught at local primary school, Portland Road.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/03/pool-of-sound-cavalry.html