Ken Mackintosh

Ken Mackintosh (4 August 1919 – 22 November 2005)[1] was an English saxophonist, composer and bandleader.[2] Mackintosh was born in Liversedge, Yorkshire, England and died in Mitcham, Surrey, England.[1] Mackintosh accompanied singers such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro.[2]

For the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, see Ken Macintosh. For New Zealand rugby league coach, see Ken McIntosh.

Career

He was born in Halifax Road, near Knowler Hill, in Liversedge in 1919 and devoted his life to music, after buying his first alto saxophone, at the age of 15. After a period in the Army, he went to London and joined various big bands such as the Oscar Rabin Band. After the war, he formed his own orchestra, making appearances at the Astoria Ballroom, Nottingham. He brought his band to Wimbledon Palais in London and toured extensively at home and abroad. He also had great singing strength with such well-versed vocalists as Kenny Bardell, Gordon Langhorn and The Mackpies. His orchestra was featured on BBC Radio, almost every week, in the 1950s and early 1960s.[2] In 1955, he appeared in The BBC Light Programme "a festival of dance music" at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

A jovial character, Mackintosh enjoyed a joke and told the following story against himself. When travelling to a one-night stand in the West Country, he stopped to give a lift to an RAF serviceman hitch-hiking back to his base near Gloucester. The topic of conversation turned to the young man’s appreciation of various entertainments put on by the authorities and how much he had enjoyed the visits of Joe Loss, Johnny Dankworth and Ted Heath. There was one band which he could not stand, however, and that was Ken Mackintosh who he thought was “lousy”. Before the aircraftsman departed at the gates, Ken handed over his card - whereupon the car was vacated rather rapidly ![3]

Mackintosh also wrote his own music such as "The Creep" (written with Brian Fahey). He had three entries in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1960, with "The Creep" being his highest placed hit record, reaching No. 10 in January 1954.[4] Among his fans was the Queen Mother, for whom he played twice at Windsor Castle. Ken also dedicated a great deal of his time to helping local musicians. During the late 1980’s Ken would hold sax quintet practise evenings in his house on Streatham Common as well as holding big band practise nights at the church hall next to his favourite pub, The Pied Bull. Towards the end of his life he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. He died in November 2005.

References
  1. Willey, Brian (1 December 2005). "Ken Mackintosh, Swinging big band-leader". Obituary. The Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  2. Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 268. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
  3. This England's Second Book of British Dance Bands - The Singers and Smaller Bands. This England. 2001. ISBN 0906 324378.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 340. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.


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