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The Guardian

Acker Bilk
	1929-2014
English clarinet player Acker Bilk, who beat the Beatles and other British rockers to the top of the US music charts with the instrumental Stranger on the Shore, has died at the age of 85.
Manager Pamela Sutton said Bilk died on Sunday at a hospital in Bath, England, following a prolonged illness with his wife Jean by his side.
Born Bernard Stanley Bilk in 1929 in Somerset, Bilk adopted the name Acker from a slang term for friend.
He learned the clarinet as a bored army conscript while stationed in Egypt after the second world war, and became a star of Britain's 1950s "trad jazz" scene.
Before the British rock invasion, he was the first act from the country to top the United States Billboard music chart in the 1960s, with the iconic Stranger on the Shore.
The wistful 1961 instrumental also spent more than a year in the British charts and became his signature tune.
"He was vastly important to the jazz movement. He could play the clarinet like nobody else, he had a special tone and vibrato. Other musicians would tell you that," Sutton said.
Sutton, who worked with Bilk for 45 years, said that "his life was music and performing".
"He only gave it up because his age caught up with him and he couldn't perform any more."
Bilk attributed his distinctive vibrato sound to a pair of childhood accidents. He lost part of a finger in a sledging accident, and two teeth in a fight at school.
His smooth signature style became an instantly recognisable sound for millions of listeners, and his goatee, garish waistcoat and bowler hat helped cement his image. Bilk remained a television regular with a large and loyal following long after jazz was displaced by rock.
He made several appearances in Hong Kong and gave a show at the former Bull and Bear pub in Central in 1988. His last performance was in August last year at the Brecon Jazz festival in Wales.
Bilk, who was treated for throat cancer 14 years ago, was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the queen in 2001 for services to music. He is survived by Jean and their son and daughter.
"He was a brilliant musician and had a great sense of humour. He just loved life," Sutton said.
British poet Ian McMillan tweeted: "Goodbye Acker Bilk, creator of one of the great earworms. That shore was strange, but memorable."


English clarinet master Acker Bilk dies, aged 85

Acker Bilk plays at the Bull and Bear in 1988. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

World

English clarinet player Acker Bilk, who beat the Beatles and other British rockers to the top of the US music charts with the instrumental Stranger on the Shore, has died at the age of 85.
