Bowlly was born in Lourenço Marques in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. His parents were Greek and Lebanese. They met en route to Australia and moved to South Africa.
Bowlly was brought up in Johannesburg. After a series of odd jobs across South Africa in his youth, including being a barber and a jockey, he sang in a dance band led by Edgar Adeler on a tour of South Africa, Rhodesia, India and Indonesia during the mid-1920s.[citation needed] He was fired from the band in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Jimmy Liquime hired him to sing with the band in India and Singapore. In 1927 Bowlly made his first record, a cover version of "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin that was recorded with Adeler in Berlin, Germany. During the next year, he worked in London, England, with the orchestra of Fred Elizalde.
The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 resulted in Bowlly being made redundant and returning to several months of busking to survive. In the 1930s, he signed two contracts—one in May 1931 with Roy Fox, singing in his live band for the Monseigneur Restaurant in London, the other a record contract with bandleader Ray Noble in November 1930.
During the next four years, he recorded over 500 songs. By 1933 Lew Stone had ousted Fox as bandleader, and Bowlly was singing Stone's arrangements with Stone's band. After much radio exposure and a successful British tour with Stone, Bowlly was inundated with demands for appearances and gigs—including undertaking a solo British tour—but continued to make most of his recordings with Noble. There was considerable competition between Noble and Stone for Bowlly's time. For much of the year, Bowlly spent all day in the recording studio with Noble's band rehearsing and recording, then the evening with Stone's band at the Monseigneur. Many of these recordings with Noble were issued in the United States by Victor, which meant that by the time Noble and Bowlly came to America, their reputation had preceded them.
He performed in England with his band, the Radio City Rhythm Makers. But by 1937 the band broke up when vocal problems were traced to a wart in his throat, which briefly caused him to lose his voice. Separated from his wife and with his band dissolved, he borrowed money from friends and traveled to New York City for surgery.
His absence from the UK in the early 1930s damaged his popularity with British audiences, despite his association with pianist Monia Liter as his accompanist. His career began to suffer as a result of problems with his voice, which affected the frequency of his recordings. He played a few small parts in films but never professed to be an actor. The parts he did play were often cut, and scenes that were shown were brief. Noble was offered a role in Hollywood, although the offer did not include Bowlly, as a singer had already been hired. Bowlly moved back to London with his wife Marjie in January 1937.
With diminished success in Britain, he toured regional theatres and recorded as often as possible to make a living, moving from orchestra to orchestra, working with Sydney Lipton, Gerald Bright and Ken "Snakehips" Johnson. In 1940 there was a revival of interest in his career when he worked in a duo with Jimmy Messene in Radio Stars with Two Guitars on the London stage. It was his last venture before his death in April 1941. The partnership was uneasy. Messene had a drinking problem. When he showed up for work, he was occasionally unable to perform. Bowlly recorded his last song two weeks before his death. It was a duet with Messene on Irving Berlin's satirical song about Hitler, "When That Man is Dead and Gone".
In December 1931, Bowlly married Constance Freda Roberts (died 1967) in St Martin's District, London; the couple separated after a fortnight, and sought a rapid divorce. He remarried in December 1934, to Marjie Fairless; this marriage lasted until his death.
On 16 April 1941, Bowlly and Messene had just given a performance at the Rex Cinema in Oxford Street, High Wycombe, now demolished. Both were offered the opportunity of an overnight stay in the town, but Bowlly opted to take the last train home to his flat at 32 Duke Street, Duke's Court, St James, London. His decision proved to be fateful. He was killed by a Luftwaffe parachute mine that detonated outside his flat at ten past three in the morning.
His body appeared unmarked: although the massive explosion had not disfigured him, it had blown his bedroom door off its hinges and the impact against his head proved fatal. He was buried with other bombing victims in a mass grave at what is today known as Hanwell Cemetery, Uxbridge Road, Hanwell, where his name is given as Albert Alex Bowlly.
Bowlly is sometimes credited with inventing crooning or "The Modern Singing Style", releasing a book of the same name. He experimented with new methods of amplification, not least with his Melody Maker advert, showing him endorsing a portable vocal megaphone. With the advent of the microphone in 1931, he adapted his singing style, moving away from the Jazz singing style of the 20s, into the softer, more expressive crooning singing style used in popular music of the 1930s and 1940s.
A Blue Plaque commemorating Bowlly was installed, in November 2013, by English Heritage at Charing Cross Mansion, 26 Charing Cross Road, described as "his home at the pinnacle of his career".
In the late 1980's, the BBC used his song 'Sweet and Lovely' as the theme tune to 'First of the Summer Wine' - the prequel to long-running comedy 'Last of the Summer Wine'. 'First of the Summer Wine' ran for two seasons of six episodes plus a pilot and, like the main series, was written by Roy Clarke.
The song "Guilty" was used by the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2000, playing over the end credits instead of the programme's usual title music to signify the final appearance of character Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin) who had persuaded her friend Dot Cotton (June Brown) to help her die.
Isle of Capri
Al Bowlly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Beneath the shade of an old walnut tree,
Oh, I can still see the flowers blooming 'round her,
Where we met on the Isle of Capri.
She was as sweet as the rose of the dawning,
But somehow Fate hadn't meant her for me,
And tho' I sailed with the tide in the morning,
Summertime was nearly over,
Blue Italian skies above,
I said, "Lady, I'm a rover,
Can you spare a sweet word of love?"
She whispered softly, " 'Tis best not to linger,"
Then as I kissed her hand I could see
She wore a plain golden ring on her finger,
'Twas good-bye to the Isle of Capri.
The song "Isle of Capri" by Al Bowlly is a nostalgic and melancholic tune about a lost love that the singer encountered while he was on the beautiful and idyllic Isle of Capri. The lyrics describe the image of the singer's first encounter with this woman, where he found her sitting under an old walnut tree, surrounded by flowers. The imagery created by lines like "I can still see the flowers blooming 'round her" and "She was as sweet as the rose of the dawning" all contribute to this romanticized and picturesque image of the Isle of Capri. However, the singer quickly reveals his heartache as he realizes that he and the woman were not meant to be together, despite his romantic advances. The final verses provide stark images of the end of the affair, with the woman's refusal to reciprocate his love and the realization that she is already married.
The lyrics to "Isle of Capri" were written by English lyricist Jimmy Kennedy in 1934, while the music was composed by German composer Wilhelm Grosz. The song was first performed by the British singer Ambrose and His Orchestra and was later recorded by various other artists, including Al Bowlly, who popularized the song in America. The song became an instant classic and was frequently played on the radio in the 1930s and 1940s, often associated with the Great Depression and the romantic longing for simpler times.
Line by Line Meaning
'Twas on the Isle of Capri that I found her,
I found her on the Isle of Capri
Beneath the shade of an old walnut tree,
She was under an old walnut tree's shade
Oh, I can still see the flowers blooming 'round her,
I still see the flowers around her
Where we met on the Isle of Capri.
We met on the Isle of Capri
She was as sweet as the rose of the dawning,
She was as sweet as a rose at sunrise
But somehow Fate hadn't meant her for me,
But fate didn't want her to be with me
And tho' I sailed with the tide in the morning,
Even though I sailed with the morning tide
Still my heart's on the Isle of Capri.
My heart is still on the Isle of Capri
Summertime was nearly over,
Summer was almost over
Blue Italian skies above,
There were blue Italian skies above
I said, "Lady, I'm a rover,
I said, 'Lady, I am a wanderer
Can you spare a sweet word of love?"
Can you give me a sweet word of love?'
She whispered softly, " 'Tis best not to linger,"
She whispered gently, 'It's best not to stay'
Then as I kissed her hand I could see
As I kissed her hand, I could see
She wore a plain golden ring on her finger,
She had a simple gold ring on her finger
'Twas good-bye to the Isle of Capri.
It was goodbye to the Isle of Capri
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: WILLIAM HILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MattKlocke
I have this song on a 78 that I got off ebay! Al Bowlly and Ray Noble were an amazing duo and their music was outstanding!
@basilpeewit3350
Strange that Bowlly's name is not on the label, he was a household name in 1934 when this was waxed.
@MichaelLavocah
If the singer's name appeared on the label he was entitled to a share of the royalties.
@lindaeasley5606
I love Al Bowlly . Great underrated voice of the early 20th century
@lindaeasley5606
My favorite oldie from the pre rock and roll era. Something about this song
I also like other Island songs like Treasure Island and Moonlight Swim
@askovarjorinne9074
So sweet thank´s!!💕💕💫💫
@SuperMegguy
Very nice
@dannava4931
I’m dead 😵 🌵🐅
@kmg2480
That sounds rather bothersome.
@binkydrumms
It is rather bothersome