Charlie Norman
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Charlie Norman | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Karl-Erik Albert Norman |
Born | Ludvika, Dalarna County, Sweden | 4 October 1920
Died | 12 August 2005 Danderyd, Stockholm County, Sweden | (aged 84)
Genres | Jazz, boogie-woogie |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Website | charlienorman |
Charles Norman, also known as Charlie Norman (née Karl-Erik Albert Norman; 4 October 1920 – 12 August 2005), was a Swedish musician and entertainer. Norman is regarded as Sweden's leading boogie-woogie piano player in the 1940s,[1] but an accomplished all-round pianist.[2]
He collaborated with other artists such as Alice Babs and Sickan Carlsson. He wrote scores for a number of films and also starred as an actor in several. His boogie-woogie version of Edvard Grieg's Anitra's Dance earned him some notoriety in Norway.
Early life
Born in
Norman got his first professional job as a musician in the summer of 1937, with the Sven Fors Orchestra at the Societetsrestaurangen ("High Society Restaurant") in Varberg.[2] He made his radio debut in 1938.[3] After that, he worked with orchestra leaders such as Håkan von Eichwald[4] and Seymour Österwall. In 1942, Norman contracted tuberculosis and had to be hospitalized for an extended period of time.[2] While in hospital, Norman began to write arrangements for recording sessions and also prepared a correspondence course in arrangement for dance orchestras.
In 1949, he married Dagny Knutsson.[3] They had a son Lennie and a daughter Lena.[2]
Career
At the beginning of 1940, Norman was already a skilled boogie-woogie pianist and this musical genre became the most popular of his compositions and it also became his signature.[5] The boogie-woogie style he played in was a success when his first record, Charlies Boogie, was released in 1941.[1]
When Norman re-arranged Edvard Grieg's classical "Anitras Dance" and renamed it "Anitras Dance Boogie" in 1949, it resulted in a major controversy. The Grieg Foundation in Norway were outraged and said that the performance "violated Grieg's artistic copyright"[6] and his record company, Metronome, was forced to withdraw the remaining copies. By then the record had already sold in excess of 10,000 copies[2] and the "Anitras Dance Boogie" became one of the most requested pieces in Norman's repertoire.[5]
During the 1940s, Norman made several appearances abroad, including his television debut in Paris in 1947,[3] on a program that also featured the legendary Édith Piaf.[5] In 1949, Norman put together an orchestra to entertain US military personnel at the officer's club in Frankfurt. Starting in 1950, Norman reached a larger audience through his radio shows. He hosted the radio series the Nattugglan (The Night Owl)[5] followed by The Charlie Norman Show and Charlie In School. In 1951, Norman formed a trio with Rolf Berg and Hasse Burman that toured and performed at a number of venues.
Norman made many recordings with Swedish singer Alice Babs and one of these resulted in Sweden's first
In addition to being a skilled pianist, Norman also had an excellent sense of humour and he has often been compared to
Death
Norman died on 12 August 2005, in Danderyd, Sweden from skeletal cancer.[9][6]
Awards
- SKAP stipend, 1966[10]
- Fred Winter stipend, 1993[11]
- Lisebergsapplåden, 1997[12]
- Grammis Honorary Award, 1997[13]
- H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size with blue ribbon,[14] 28 January 1998[9]
Discography
- 1941 – Charlies Boogie[1]
- 1959 - Trudy (EP, Norway) (as "Charlie Norman Quartet")
- 1965 – Charlie Norman Show
- 1968 – Charlie Norman Show på Berns – Banne mej!
- 1970 – Charlie...[4]
- 1973 – Garner och hemvävt[4]
- 1975 – Charlie live[4]
- 1976 – En glad X-Mas[4]
- 1979 – The Boogie Woogie Touch[4]
- 1980 – Charlie Norman går på party
- 1980 - Charlie Norman hyllar Fats Waller
- 1981 - Sophisticated Lady
- 1988 - Charlie Norman Trio
- 1991 - Charlie Norman Vs Robert Wells
- 1993 - Papa Piano
- 1998 - Swingtime Again
- 2001 – 1 timme, 12 minuter & 24 sekunder
- 2003 – En salig röra
Filmography
Films Norman participated in:[7]
Composer
- 1948 – Kvinnan gör mig galen
- 1950 – The Saucepan Journey
- 1951 – A Ghost on Holiday
- 1952 – Han glömde henne aldrig
- 1952 – The Green Lift
- 1952 – Farlig kurva
- 1952 – Sabotage
- 1953 – Arbetets melodi
- 1954 – The Vicious Breed
- 1955 – The Dance Hall
- 1956 – Foreign Intrigue
- 1957 – Som man bäddar...
Actor
- 1941 – Söderpojkar
- 1941 – Gatans serenad
- 1941 – Bara en kvinna
- 1949 – Kvinnan som försvann
- 1950 – Toner från Texas
- 1952 – Skivscheiken Nr 1
- 1952 – Drömsemester
- 1953 – Skivscheiken Nr 2
- 1953 – Kungen av Dalarna
- 1953 – Arbetets melodi
- 1954 – 1900 - till idag
- 1955 – Släck av!
- 1956 – Johan på Snippen
- 1964 – Tre dar på luffen
Bibliography
- Musikant med brutet gehör ("Musician with broken pitch") (memoirs),ISBN 91-582-0230-7
References
- ^ a b c d Hansell, Bengt (12 August 2005). "Charlie Norman har avlidit" [Charlie Norman has died]. www.sverigesradio.se. Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Malm, Sven (12 August 2005). "Charlie Norman avliden" [Charlie Norman deceased]. www.svd.se. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ ISBN 91-1-914072-X.
- ^ a b c d e f "Charlie Norman". www.discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Peterson, Jens (13 August 2005). "Charlie ville bjuda på skratt" [Charlie wanted to entertain with laughter]. www.aftonbladet.se. Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Norman, Charlie - pianist, sångare, arrangör, kompositör" [Norman, Charlie - pianist, singer, arranger, composer]. www.orkesterjournalen.com. Orkester Journalen. 8 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Svensk Filmdatabas - Charlie Norman" [Swedish Film Database - Charlie Norman]. www.sfi.se. Swedish Film Institute. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ "Robert Wells sörjer sin mentor" [Robert Wells mourns his mentor]. www.svd.se. Svenska Dagbladet. 12 August 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Charlie Normans liv i bilder" [Charlie Norman's life in pictures]. www.expressen.se. Expressen. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "SKAP-stipendium". www.skap.se. SKAP. Retrieved 4 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Fred Winters minnesfond". www.skap.se. SKAP. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ "Lisebergsapplåden". www.liseberg.se. Liseberg. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ "Vinnare hederspriset" [Winners honorary award]. www.grammis.se. Grammis. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- Swedish Royal Family. Retrieved 3 February 2016.