Sold Date: August 3, 2022
Start Date: September 3, 2016
Final Price: £13.00 (GBP)
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AN EXCELLENT COPY OF THIS 1940 CLASSIC 78 FROM LESLIE HUTCHINSON "HUTCH"

BEGIN THE BEGUINE

b/w   I'VE GOT MY EYES ON YOU

"Hutch" was born in Grenada in 1900 to George Hutchinson and Marianne (née Turnbull) and took piano lessons as a child. He moved to New York City in his teens, originally to take a degree in medicine as he won a place due to his high aptitude, and began playing the piano and singing in bars. He then joined a black band led by Henry "Broadway" Jones, who often played for white millionaires such as the Vanderbilts, attracting the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1924 he left America for Paris, where he had a residency in Joe Zelli's club and became a friend and lover of Cole Porter. A wonderful pianist and with his rich baritone voice, Hutch was for some time the highest paid star in Britain and was one of the biggest stars during the thirties in the UK.

"Hutch" was known to be extremely well endowed and was rumoured to have been bisexual having relationships with Ivor Novello, Merle Oberon, and actress Tallulah Bankhead. The rumours include affairs with Edwina Mountbatten and members of the British Royal Family which supposedly eventually led to his social ostracism and the destruction of his professional career.

Encouraged by his lover Edwina Mountbatten, he came to England in 1927 to perform in a Rodgers and Hart musical, and soon became the darling of society and the population in general. "Hutch" was a favourite singer of the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). He was regularly heard on air with the BBC. One of his greatest hits was "These Foolish Things". He was a much-loved wartime entertainer.

As well as being a friend and lover of Cole Porter, he recorded several of his songs, including "Begin the Beguine" and Porter's list song "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)", to which he supposedly made up some 70 new verses.

He married Ella Byrd in 1923 or 1924 . Their daughter Leslie Bagley Yvonne was born on 9 April 1926. Hutch would go on to sire six further children to five different mothers. Gordon was born in August 1928, Gabrielle in Sept 1930, Gerald and Chris in 1948, and Graham (Chris' full brother) in 1953 and Emma in April 1964.

Leslie Hutchinson suffered from ill-health in his later years and died from pneumonia on 19 August, 1969.

DISC DETAILS

UK  10" HMV BD 847 BD 847 SHELLAC 78rpm 

CONDITION - E-

TWO GREAT SIDES ON THIS SPLENDID 78 FROM LESLIE HUTCHINSON

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POSTAGE STUFF

10" 78 RPM RECORDS NEED CAREFULLY PACKING, AND I CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST PACKAGING IN THE WORLD FOR DISPATCHING THEM!

 THE GREG'S GREAT'S SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A SPECIALLY DESIGNED INNER BOX MADE OUT OF 1" THICK POLYSTYRENE, WHICH THEN GOES INSIDE A DOUBLE CORRUGATED STIFF OUTER CARDBOARD CARTON. THE BOXES CAN TAKE UP TO 21 RECORDS