3. Georgia BrownSings A Little Of What You Fancy
I found a mint copy only recently – it’s very hard to find. I was so happy, because I love Georgia Brown. Her and Lionel Bart grew up in the East End when it was very rough and ready; they went to school together in Whitechapel, both Jewish people who made a go of it in London and excelled. She had the most brilliant voice. She’s tip top, top of the tree, like Scott Walker, with perfect pitch, a perfect communicator.
When Lionel got the go ahead for Oliver!, he was having auditions, and Georgia Brown heard and turned up and auditioned for Nancy. They hadn’t seen each other since school, he called her by her real name, and gave her the part saying, “You were made to be Nancy.” When they were doing Oliver! he said they should do an album together, so this is it. They used old songs from their childhood, so there are a lot of Cockney songs like ‘Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?’ and then ‘Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay’ was the one Georgia became known for. If you heard someone sing it in a pub you would think it was rubbish, but not her version, she brings it back to life. If you listen to the first track ‘A Little Bit Of What You Fancy’, it tells the whole story, she has a really rocking band with Ted Heath as well, it’s old-fashioned music but sounds so modern.
I loved Lionel Bart from a young age, and Georgia Brown was someone I saw on a programme called The Good Old Days, which I used to watch when I was little. She would come out and do the last song, dressed like a Victorian, and all the audience would be dressed up as well. I knew of both – Georgia was someone I got into more lately, but Lionel Bart with Oliver! has been with me since I was a little boy, we had the record at home. I was obsessed, but didn’t realise how great the songs were until I became a songwriter. It’s a masterclass. It should be up there when they have lists with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. Bart’s life was amazing, you can’t have a London music scene without him, he was there at the beginning.
