THE SOUNDS OF MUSIC:


.......Other bands of the day were Jack Hilton, Geraldo, Edmundo Ros, Harry Roy, Carroll Gibbons (who was born in the U.S.) Joe Loss, Billy Cotton and Ivy Benson and her All Girl Band.

And what a night it was when I was able to see Ivy Benson and her Band. It was in Hamburg, soon after the end of the war. The theatre was packed with servicemen and women and Ivy gave a wonderful performance, again with music and high jinks. I remember that one of her saxophone players was a tall and imposing woman and her solos were crowd pleasers. Ivy played and played, and the audience roared its approval after each piece.

Finally Ivy faced the audience, after numerous encores, and said “If we play In the mood one more time”, she had already played it twice, “will you all go home?” It is difficult to describe the roar that went up, but the band played it again, they took their bows, and the curtain came down. It was almost 11 o’clock and soldiers must be back in camp by 23:59. I will never forget that evening. Although she was a Yorkshire lass, she died in Clacton in 1993.

By G William Burgess
from Canada via email
 St Osyth Newsletter
(Near Clacton on Sea)
September 2002.