Barnett Freedman, born 25th May 1908 in London, died 14th January 1986 in Portsmouth, age 77.
Left to right;- Roger Mahoney drums, Roy Bevereley bass, Brian Barnes piano, back row, Stan Emptage and Jimmy Newton trumpets, front row Jack Salt baritone sax, Ernie Davis tenor sax, Archie Horn alto sax, George Hunnisett tenorsax.
Taken outside the Savoy??? Or Kimbells??? from left to right:-
Stan Emptage, Archie Horne, Benny Freedman, unknown half hidden, vocalist Jeff(or Geoff) Powell, Joe 'Tiny' Nicholls, unknown in blazer, Brian Barnes and Jimmy Newton.
Other line-ups for the band;- In Dec 1950 Don Reeve alto/clarinet/piano and Geoff Tipping tenor, also Stan Emptage trumpet joined the band and Jeff Powell led a vocal quartet.
Benny Freedman and his Band, line-update 19th July 1955
Archie Horn Alto, clar. George Hunnisett, Alto, clar, violin, drum.
Ernie Davis Tenor, clar. Jack Salt, Baritone, alto, clar.
Stan Emptage Trumpet. Jimmy Newton, Trumpet, vocalist.
Brian Barnes Piano. Geoff Powell, Bass, guitar, vocalist.
Ted Harvey Drums. Benny Freedman, Alto, clar, violin.
Benny Freedman and his Orchestra, line-up date 17th July 1956
Archie Horn, Alto, Clar. Jimmy Newton, Trumpet, Alto, Guitar.
George Hunnisett, Alto, Clar, Violin. Brian Barnes, Piano.
Ernie Davis, Tenor, Clar. Geoff Powell, Bass, Guitarist, Vocalist.
Jack Salt, Baritone, Alto, Clar. Ted Harvey, Drums.
Stan Emptage, Trumpet. Benny Freedman, Alto, Clar, Violin
Also in 1965-66 he employed: R Mahoney, T Pudney, S Emptage, B Quinton, J Newton, B Browning, A Horn, E Alexander (I think he taught trombone), H Clark, K Doohan, M Bear, J Lennox, S Proctor, G Hunissett, J Nicholls, M Hamilton, J Wynn, R Hewings.
K Doohan (Kevin), R B Elkins, A Ward (Arthur), R Clark, D F Allen, R E Mahoney (Roger), A Horn (Archie), R Beverley,
G W Emptage (Stan??), J A Newton (Jimmy), E W Davis (Ernie), J R Salt (Jack), G Hunnisett (Geoff), G W Powell
One of his Radio Broadcasts
11 January
1948
19.30
VARIETY CONCERT HALL
This week from the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone with Suzette Tarri, John McHugh,
Dick Bentley, Johnny Franz,
Benny Freedman and his Orchestra,
Introduced by John Ellison,
BBC Light Programme.
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Ron Brown's memories of the
Savoy Ballroom, Southsea, in the 1950s. And apart from big name bands such as Ted Heath, Joe Loss and Johnny Dankworth, they will also have fond recollections of the resident Savoy Band.
The man behind this 10-piece band - or perhaps I should say in front of it - was a talented man of music named Benny Freedman, who was always dressed immaculately in a dinner suit with his hair slicked back smoothly. In fact, he was the epitome of a band leader from those halcyon dance band days.
Benny had progressed through a hard school when learning his trade. As a student at the Royal College of Music, he supplemented his income by playing in an orchestra which used to accompany the silent films.
He later fronted his own dance band in London and Folkestone before coming to Portsmouth in 1948, where he was destined to become an institution at the Savoy Ballroom.
On Friday nights, Benny and the boys would warm up the dancers before handing over the stage to the big-name guest outfits. And, believe me, those names really were big, the absolute tops in British popular music.
In the 1950s the Savoy was the place were hundreds of couples met, courted and got engaged to the strains of the Freedman band, a period in which Benny was afforded the title of `Mister Tempo'.
He was an especially popular
figure with the Royal Navy men, not only British sailors but those from visiting foreign navies.
On such a visit by the Russian Navy, Benny had the problem of playing their national anthem. Nobody knew it, not even the Royal Marine bandsmen at Eastney, so he sat up to 4am listening to the radio so he could copy it down as it was played. Naturally, as the drink flowed through the evening, Jack would frequently be inspired by the notion that vocally he was the next Frank Sinatra, and make attempts to
mount the stage and take over the microphone.
At such moments, Benny was forced to display a good deal of diplomacy, but at the same time be I firm.
The Freedman face was familiar to thousands, even when he was on I holiday in the United States someone came up to him and said he had recognised Benny from the Savoy.
Sadly, it had to end, and by 1965
', the big band era was over, replaced by guitar-strumming groups. The number of Savoy patrons diminished, and on the last time the Ted Heath Band appeared there, only 250 people paid to get in, where
previously there would be 2,000 inside and another 1,000 queuing outside on the off-chance of getting in.
Looking back to the 1970s, Benny Freedman recalled: `The last time Johnny Dankworth was here we both wept at the small audience. We just didn't think that such an era could die.'
Luckily, unlike many, Benny had something to fall back on when the dance band era faded. Having passed the Royal Academy of Music Diploma, when a Portsmouth head teacher - who had been a regular at the Savoy - asked if he could teach music on a temporary basis, Benny was able to accept. Three months lasted 13 years.
As well as teaching at Portsmouth Grammar School and St John's College, Benny played in orchestras at the Kings Theatre and the Guildhall.
Benny Freedman died in 1986, and Portsmouth lost a musician who had shared the bandstand with some of the greatest names in popular music.
And yet, he was always modest about his own talent.
When Johnny Dankworth arrived at the Savoy without his saxophone, he borrowed Benny's. Afterwards, Benny said: `I never heard it played so well.'
Benny Freedman retired in about 1964 when the band was laid off fronm the Savoy Ballroom.
After he left the Savoy once the dance band days ended he carried on gigging with a quartet or palm court trio for functions, and also conducted the orchestra for the South Downes Musical Society productions at the Kings and Mayflower, Southampton (Gaumont at that time).He also took his LRAM and became a teacher of violin, clarinet and guitar.
Billy Butler, age 24, was the guitarist/vocalist for the Benny Freedman Orch 1964/1965 at the Savoy. It was his first professional
job as a musician. That start turned into a lifelong successful career as a musician and recording engineer/producer, and he is still working!.
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