Music Hall CDs

George Formby was one of the first widely-known Lancashire comedians, sometimes appearing in the guise of John Willie as in the song “John Willie, Come on”. He settled in Wigan in 1900, and was credited with the popularization of the name “Wigan Pier”. His son George, apprenticed as a jockey, left racing on the death of his father and started to carry on the family stage tradition. Initially he re-created his father’s material, but eventually developed his own personality and as George Formby Jnr. was highly successful in his own right. Today, it is the son who is remembered but George Formby Senior has an appeal of his own and is often regarded as the "comedians" comedian. The CD contains 23 tracks, transferred from original 78 rpm records and phonograph cylinders which were made between 1908 - 1920.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five; John Willie, Come on, I began to run, Plink Plonk, Father tried it on, Standing at the corner of the Street, Commercial Traveller, Bits Fra’ Wigan, I parted my hair in the middle, To let, ‘Orrible ‘Erbert, I sobbed and I cried like a child, Frightened to go to sleep again, Grandfather’s Clock, Did you see the Crowd in Piccadilly, Twice nightly, Heigh-ho, Kind Words never die, Since I had a Row with the Wife, Looking for mugs in the Strand, Just before the Show, We all went home in a Cab, I turned my Trousers up - more track info . . .

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