Olly Oakley
{{Short description|British banjo player and composer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Olly Oakley (1877–1943) (also known as Joseph or James Sharpe){{cite book |title=Jazz and Ragtime Records, 1897 – 1942 |date=2001 |publisher=Mainspring Press |page=1262 |url=https://archive.org/details/rust_jazz-records_free-edition-6/page/n1261/mode/2up |access-date=18 August 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Heier |first1=Uli |last2=Lotz |first2=Rainer E. |title=The Banjo on Record: A Bio-Discography |date=1993 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-313-28492-2 |page=11 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Banjo_on_Record/Q5ZHAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=joseph+sharpe+olly+oakley&dq=joseph+sharpe+olly+oakley&printsec=frontcover |access-date=4 January 2025 |language=en|via=Google Books}} was a British banjo player and composer. He was considered a prominent zither-banjo player in England.{{cite news |title=Banjo and Mandoline Concert in Derby |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83573679/banjo-and-mandoline-concert-in-derby/ |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=The Derby Mercury |date=1 November 1899 |page=2}}{{cite news |title=Llandudno Pier Company's Popular Concerts |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83574853/llandudno-pier-companys-popular/ |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=North Wales Chronicle |date=14 April 1900 |page=7}} His music made up a part of early banjo recordings on the phonograph,{{cite book |last1=Gammond |first1=Peter |title=The Oxford companion to popular music |date=1991 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-311323-7 |page=39 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000gamm/page/38/mode/2up |access-date=16 August 2021}}{{cite book |title=Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music |date=1985 |publisher=Schirmer Books |isbn=978-0-02-871650-3 |pages=351–352 |url=https://archive.org/details/ragtimeitshistor0000unse/page/352/mode/2up |access-date=16 August 2021}} and during his life, he became "the most widely recorded English banjoist". Other than his performing name of Olly Oakley, he alternately recorded under the pseudonyms Fred Turner, Signor Cetra, Jack Sherwood, Mr F Curtis, Frank Forrester, and Tim Holes.
Life and career
Joseph Sharpe was born in Birmingham, England{{cite book |last1=Whitcomb |first1=Ian |title=Irving Berlin and Ragtime America |date=1988 |publisher=Limelight Editions |isbn=978-0-87910-115-2 |page=153 |url=https://archive.org/details/irvingberlinragt0000whit_r3l6/page/152/mode/2up |access-date=16 August 2021}}{{cite magazine |magazine=BMG; Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar |title="Hick's" Banjo Chat |date=October 1972 |volume=70 |page=9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/BMG_Banjo_Mandolin_Guitar/bTZLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22joseph%20sharpe%22 |publisher=D. K. Keogh |language=en |via=Google Books}} in 1877.{{cite journal |last1=Winans |first1=Robert B. |last2=Kaufman |first2=Elias J. |title=Minstrel and Classic Banjo: American and English Connections |journal=American Music |date=1994 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=18–22 |doi=10.2307/3052489 |jstor=3052489 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3052489 |issn=0734-4392}} He started to play the banjo around age 12 after hearing the Bohee Brothers' music. Sharpe's music was influenced by minstrel songs, with a style of playing that was similar to the Bohee Brothers'. He played ragtime music,{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |title=Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-100646-8 |page=511 |url=https://archive.org/details/richardcooksjazz00cook/page/510/mode/2up |access-date=18 August 2021}} sentimental songs and original pieces.{{cite news |last1=Woolfe |first1=Geoff |title=Banjo brilliance: Bohee Brothers inspired generation of Bristolians |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2120119760 |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=Western Daily Press |date=16 Oct 2018 |page=4 |id={{ProQuest|2120119760}} |via=ProQuest}}
From the late 1890s to the 1930s, Sharpe made hundreds of recordings on various labels and performed at British music halls.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiU5AQAAIAAJ&q=olly.oakley+james+sharpe|title=British Dance Bands, 1912-1939|first=Brian|last=Rust|date=August 6, 1973|publisher=Storyville Publications|via=Google Books}} During the 1910s, his compositions for banjo were played at various concert programs in England. In 1915, he toured South Africa, performing on the banjo.{{cite book |last1=Meadows |first1=Eddie S. |title=Jazz research and performance materials : a select annotated bibliography |date=1995 |publisher=Garland Pub. |isbn=978-0-8153-0373-2 |page=688 |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzresearchperf02edmead/page/688/mode/2up |access-date=18 August 2021}}
He made recordings including with Pathé and was filmed on Phonofilm.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
In 1922, Sharpe published a statement in the London Gazette stating that he had applied and intended to legally change his name to Olly Oakley.{{cite news |title=The London Gazette |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_London_Gazette/oFtQAQAAMAAJ |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |date=30 May 1922 |location=Great Britain |page=4205 |language=en}}
Discography
- "Rugby Parade March" G & T (1901){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lvj0AAAAMAAJ&q=olly.oakley+james+sharpe|title=Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States|first=Guy A.|last=Marco|date=August 6, 1993|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=9780824047825|via=Google Books}}
- "Oakley Quickstep", Edison{{Cite journal |journal=The Edison Phonograph Monthly |title=Oakley Quickstep |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUw5AQAAIAAJ&q=olly.oakley&pg=RA8-PA18 |date=September 1909 |publisher=Pennant Litho, Incorporated |page=18 |via=Google Books}}
- "Poppies and Wheat"{{Cite web|url=http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder11910|title=Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project|first=Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Collections|last=University of California|date=November 16, 2005|website=cylinders.library.ucsb.edu}}
- "Sweet Jessamine" No.2046 on The Winner label (Poppies & Wheat is on the other side)
- "Whistling Rufus"
- "The College Rag"{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_J9HAAAAMAAJ&q=olly.oakley&pg=PA1262|title=Jazz and Ragtime Records, 1897-1942: L-Z|first=Brian|last=Rust|date=August 6, 2002|publisher=Mainspring Press|isbn=9780967181929|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8gTDQAAQBAJ&q=olly.oakley+james+sharpe&pg=PT114|title=York Book of Days|first=Robert|last=Woodhouse|date=February 29, 2012|publisher=The History Press|isbn=9780752485959|via=Google Books}}
- "Queen of the Burlesque" (1912) - phonograph, music by A. Tilley{{cite journal |journal=The Edison Phonograph Monthly |title=Queen of the Burlesque |date=February 1912 |page=19 |url=https://archive.org/details/edisonphonograph10moor/page/n47/mode/2up |access-date=17 August 2021 |publisher=National Phonograph Co.}}
See also
References
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