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Dixon and Lee, Music Hall Duo

Posted: 28 May 2010 02:54
by Jill from Tasmania
My Grandfather, Thomas John DALY, and his partner, Ernie LEE, performed as a duo a la Black and White Minstrels in the late 1920s and 1930s. They performed in a lot of clubs across the north, even as far south as the Leicester Working Man's Club (where, coincidentally, my husband's mother had been a dancer - we often wonder if they had met?)
I have a number of programmes from their various venues including:
Park Palace Theatre, Mill Street, (West Toxteth Coronation Committee):
Next Sunday Evening at 8 o'clock
(Sadly no date given)
Harry Yould and his Banjo-Mandoline-Guitar Band
Madam Olive Lloyd, Contralto
The Fallon Sisters, talented juveniles from the Empire Theatre, Sheffield
Sam Auckland, England's Premier Concertinist
The Campers' Boys
The Radio Melody Boys, Entertainers
Fred White and Bert Jones, The Entertainers who Entertain
Sonny Durban, and a piano
Claude Magee, Comedy Cartoonist
Dixon and Lee, South End's Own
Phyllis Lloyd, an Artist
Ernest Watkinson, Accompanist
Compere - Tom Daly
In Aid of the Old Folk and Children's Coronation Celebrations.
*Given that it's a Coronation fund-raising show, I assume it would be about 18th May 1937, King George VI's coronation? :idea:
A lot of the programmes are undated, but where they performed at Gala dinners, there is usually a date on them, for example:
LCPTES & AS (any ideas on who they might be? :?: ) Complimentary Benefit Variety Concert to Bert Haymes
Monday 28 November 1938 at
Walton Concert Hall (by kind permission)
Dixon and Lee are 5th on the bill, listed as "BBC Comedians", which leads me to suspect that they had "made it big" and been taken up by the Beeb, but so far, enquiries to the Beeb have drawn a blank, mainly because pre-War records have been "archived" - from which I infer "ditched, never to be retrieved"!
Others on this programme include The Campus Boys (famous Hill-billie act), Ted Denton ("King of the Road"), Wee Willie Johnson (In Song and Dance), Lila Mack (Accordianist and Vocalist) and Jack Ray (In Clever Ventriloquism).
I'm hoping that someone out there might remember some of these clecer folk, and especially my Grandfather, who incidentally has a personally signed photo of Gene Gerrard, dated 1922. Wasn't he a famous singer of the time?
Hope someone can fill in a bit more info! :wink:

Posted: 28 May 2010 08:49
by daggers
Welcome to this forum! There is a lot of knowledge here, but if memories are too short you could try putting 'Music Hall' into Google, where there lots of sites.

'LCPT ES & AS ' - the first four initials could be for Liverpool Corporation Passenger Transport, which used to run the trams and buses and had a recreation/sports ground for its employees. Guessing: Entertainment, Social and Athletic Society???
Someone with an old directory might help here.
Sounds like a good night out.
D

Posted: 28 May 2010 08:53
by Jill from Tasmania
Thanks for the welcome Daggers!
Sounds like a good guess to me, ES & AS!
I'll have a look at Google for that!

Gene Gerrard

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:26
by dickiesam
Hello Jill,
re Gene Gerrard.. lookee here:
http://www.britishpictures.com/godfrey/card43.htm

Dickiesam

Re: Dixon and Lee, Music Hall Duo

Posted: 28 Jul 2015 14:50
by gtrman013
Hi Jill,

Was looking for information about my Great-grandfather, Harry Yould, and a search led me to your message on this forum.

Would it be possible to get some more information about the programme you have that mentions him?

Thanks in advance!
Simon

Re: Dixon and Lee, Music Hall Duo

Posted: 28 Jul 2015 19:30
by MaryA
Hi and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately the original poster placed her message back in 2010 and didn't remain a member. She may not receive notifications that anybody has added to the thread.