Lionel Bart

Born Lionel Begleiter on the 1st August 1930 the youngest of seven surviving children in Stepney, East London. His family originated from Galicia, a province of present day Poland. During the latter part of the 19th century this part of eastern Europe witnessed some of the most violent anti-Jewish pogroms. It was to escape this rising tide of anti-semetism that the Begleiter family, like many other Jewish families, settled in east London to start a new life.

When he was six years old his teacher told his parents that he was a musical genius. To encourage his musical talent in the hope he would aspire to becoming something other than a tailor like his father they bought him a violin. The violin was the instrument of choice for most Jews for it was small and easy to carry when the order came to leave, as they often did in their history, to pack up their belongings and move on to goodness knows where.

It seems however the violin failed to hold his interest and soon the lessons stopped. When he was sixteen Lionel was granted a scholarship at St Martin's School of Art, but as with the violin his ambition to be a painter was abandoned when he was expelled for ''mischievousness''. After leaving college he found work as a silk screen printer and a commercial artist.

While doing his National Service in the R.A.F he met and became friends with fellow eastender John Gorman, and after they were demobbed and with a borrowed £50 they rented a workshop at 53 Elderfield Road, Hackney and began a silk screen printing business. They named their business G and B Arts after the initial letters of their surnames. According to John Gorman this is where Lionel got his new surname of 'Bart', it happened when then business grew large enough to employ a local youngster who when arriving on his first day referred to Lionel as 'Mr Bart, it is also claimed that he changed his surname from Bagleiter to Bart one day when passing by St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, know affectionately as St Bart's. Whatever the truth he became known to the world as Lionel Bart.

Like John Gorman he became a member of the Communist party and wrote a revue for the International Youth Centre which was a leftist organisation, the revue was based on the story of Robin Hood, it was during this time he recognise his gift for songwriting, and slightly strange that a musical based on the same subject should effectively end it, but that was still in the future.

Soon the business ran into money problems and had no option but to close, by then Lionel's interest lay in music, and about the same time he met up with Mike Pratt, who went on to appear in many films and TV programmes but perhaps will be best remembered as Randall in the series 'Randall and Hopkirk Deceased', but at that time like Lionel he was into music so with three other friends they formed a group and in a taxi, which cost £12 they toured Europe.

On returning to London in 1956 Lionel introduced Mike Pratt to a young ex merchant seaman by the name of Tommy Hicks, and together they formed a music group by the name of 'The Cavemen', named after a coffee house they used to play in. Gradually they began to play in more venues around Soho including the famous coffee bar the 'Two I's', it was here that they were spotted by a talent scout which led to a meeting with impressario Larry Parnes.

Larry Parnes was to become the first major British manager of young singers responsible for the careers such as Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Georgie Fame and Joe Brown among many others.The Cavemen were to be among the first of his signings but as he didn't consider the name 'Tommy Hicks' suitable for a pop singer he decided he would be known as Tommy Steele.

Their first recording in 1956 was a joint effort of writing 'Rock With a Cavemen' but as with his other artistes their manager had changed their name to 'Tommy Steele and the Steelemen' the saxophonist on the recording was Ronnie Scott. The record achieved number thirteen in the charts.

The following year in 1957 they collaborated again with 'Tommy Steele Story' where they achieved the remarkable feat of writing the twelve song score in one week, even more remarkable was that one of those songs 'A Handful of Songs' received the Ivor Novello Award for 'Most outstanding song of the year both lyrically and musically'.
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsKZ-NL_1Vg

They wrote the songs for two more Tommy Steele Films 'The Duke Wore Jeans' and ''Tommy the Toreador' before pursuing their individual careers. Tommy Steele continued in films and stage shows, Mike Pratt went off to Spain to write a couple of plays, though he is probably best remembered for the TV series 'Randall and Hopkirk'.

In 1959 Lionel Bart wrote the lyrics to the stage musical 'Lock up your Daughters'. This wasfollowed by 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' with the Joan Littlewood Theatre Group at Stratford East. It was thought to be the first time genuine cockney voices were heard on stage, so when it transferred to the Garrick, where it ran for two years, translations of some of the speech was printed in the programmes.

The title song became a hit for Max Bygraves, not that this was the song heard in the original play for that was deemed to risque for national consumption. So it was rewritten and it is the one we remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5WKERDMRPI

The following year came the show he is most remembered for and that is 'Oliver', although most of the Dickens story has been edited out it still remains one of the most popular musical shows/films. Alma Cogan was a popular singer at the time and a friend of Lionel Bart's and it was her that he had in mind for the role of Nancy, due to her other commitments she was unable to take up the role and it went to Georgia Brown.

Georgia Brown was born in Whitechapel so there was no question of needing to adopt a fake cockney accent. When she originally auditioned for the part and gave her name a voice from the auditorium said ''no it's not it's Lily Klot'' seeing the voice came from Lionel Bart she replied ''and yours is Lionel Begleiter'' She got the part and as the first Nancy laid down the template for the role that has never been equalled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG0FqwOGfNk

Unfortunately Georgia Brown seems to have been almost forgotten today and there is very little information about her. Before she played Nancy, and her debut stage appearance was four years earlier at The Royal Court in the Threepenny Opera. She played the role of Lucy for four years not only at The Royal Court but also at the Aldwych and off Broadway in New York. She also opened with 'Oliver' on Broadway proper in 1962.

Despite the critical acclaim she received her career never reached those heights again. She carried on working mainly on American TV and in a few stage shows that closed early. She died in 1992 following an operation to remove a stomach obstruction. she was 57 years old.

In 1963 he wrote 'From Russia With Love' for the second James Bond film. This was the only film of the series where the title song wasn't sung at the beginning. Instead it was played during the film where it was sung by Matt Monro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yijo4y_alRk

In 1967 'Oliver' was made into a musical film which went on to win six Oscars the following year. The same year he also became the first British composer to win a Tony award. Shirley Bassey was the first choice of director Sir Carol Reed to play, but those running the studio refused to consider her for the part preferring Shani Wallis instead. Incidentally Sir Carol Reed was the uncle to Oliver Reed who played Bill Sykes in the film.

The reason for wanting Shirley Bassey for the role may have been when she recorded 'As Long as He Needs Me'  in 1960 it reached No2 in the charts and stayed in the Top 50 for thirty consecutive weeks, one of the longest unbroken runs in chart history. The video below was aired in 1990 as an audience with Shirley Bassey, Lionel Bart was in the audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyhhY1MIUxw

With the success of 'Oliver' money came rolling in and rolling out just as quickly as Lionel indulged in the celebrity life mixing with the biggest and brightest stars of the time, His parties were legendary where it's said money and cocaine would be supplied in two large urns.

His next show in 1962 was to be 'Blitz' a story of the love affair between a cockney boy and a Jewish girl set gainst the backdrop of the London blitz. Once again the sets were created by Sean Kenny who had just won an Oscar for set design in Oliver. The sets for 'Blitz' with their representations of were the most expensive ever seen in the West end at that time. With Petticoat Lane, Victoria station and the Bank underground, also a view of London on fire. Four houses on revolving sets were the main focus and as well as the cast recordings on Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn singing 'The Day After Tomorrow', a song written by Lionel Bart, were played through the wireless in the houses. On the video it's sung by Jean Campbell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9FRiDahMaE

Although it was a fairly successful musical it never gathered the acclaim of Oliver. It didn't help that Noel Coward commented 'it's twice as long and twice as noisy as the real thing', or perhaps the time wasn't right for the sixties were embracing 'peace and love' and didn't want to think of the time when England was fighting for it's life.

During this time he wrote the title song for Joan Littlewoods film 'Sparrows Can't Sing' starring Barbara Windsor. The film was set in the east end during the 1960's when the area was changing forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR-7rNlJRCE

His next musical in 1964 was 'Maggie May' set in Liverpool and based on an old ballad concerning a prostitute, the lead was played by Rachel Roberts. Judy Garland who was a close friend recorded four songs from the show including 'Land of Promises' but the musical wasn't a success closing after 501 performances, however it was 'Twang' that finally sent Lionel Bart into a decline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yckBdKamV1E

The show was the story of Robin Hood and brought together many of those from the JoanLittlewood's workshop, including James Booth, Barbara Windsor and Ronnie Corbett. The scriptwas confused and ever changing, some said this was due to Lionels use of LSD. The show not surprisingly due to the chaos which brought it into being was panned by the critics and the public stopped going.

For some reason Lionel believed in it and as well as backing it with his own money he sold everything he possessed, including his houses and the rights to 'Oliver' all went in an attempt to keep it going but it seemed nothing could save the show. 

In 1969 he composed the words and music for 'La Strada' a musical based on the Fellini film, however this was to suffer the same fate as 'Twang' lasting for just one day after it opened on Broadway. In 1972 he was declared bankrupt. 

The next two decades he sank into oblivion fueled by drink and drugs, and gradually the abuses brought illness and depression. During this time he continued rewriting 'Twang' as well as a musical based on ' The Hunchback of Notre Damme' which had been a project since the early days.

It wasn't until Cameron Makintosh bought part of the rights to 'Oliver' that Lionel Bart's life began to change for the better, and after years of almost being forgotten he was once again recognised as one of Britains most popular songwriters. He died on the 3rd of April 1999 and his funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium.

In 1990 he was seen on our TV screens in the advert for Abbey National.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qJtmw2c5U&playnext=1&list=PL4C2C01F2BFB77BFB&feature=results_video  

One of many obituaries in The Independent echoes many others.

If he had written only Oliver!, the composer Lionel Bart would have earned an honoured place in the history of British musicals, but he was far from a one-show wonder. His other work included shows such as Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be and Maggie May, plus many pop songs including "Living Doll" (Cliff Richard's first No 1 hit), Tommy Steele's "A Handful of Songs", Anthony Newley's "Do You Mind?" and Matt Monro's "From Russia With Love".

He epitomised the start of the Sixties in Britain, which he uniquely captured in song and spirit, and he was one of the few composers to deal uncondescendingly with the working classes, transposing their life styles and vernacular to the musical stage. "Nobody tries to be la-de-da or uppity, there's a cuppa tea for all," sings the Artful Dodger to Oliver, while Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be remains a time capsule of a world in which folk talked of their "birds" amd their "manor" and dreamed of being able to afford furniture that was "contempery". It was like a musical EastEnders, but far more joyous and celebratory, without the unremitting angst suffered by the inhabitants of Albert Square.

Bart also epitomised the Sixties in a less happy way - like many who flourished in that era he was seduced by sudden success into a world of drink, drugs and hedonism, squandering his money and his youth.

With the revival of 'Oliver' it would seem that Lionel Bart will be remembered for the talent he possessed and not the years of oblivion.