Musical legacy
Published Friday March 20th, 2009
'The man nobody knew made everybody sing'
When Barry Norris received an old 78rpm record 30 years ago, he didn't recognize the songs but the name of the songwriter was familiar.
His grandfather, Fred Godfrey, had been a prolific songwriter in Britain.
The old record was the start of a search for more of his grandfather's musical legacy. Norris was in his early 30s before he started to realize the extent of his grandfather's contribution to British popular music in the early 20th century. For the past three decades, he's researched his grandfather's career.
"I'm still doing it now. I'm always adding stuff to my website, I'm looking for sheet music and records all the time. I'm hoping to turn this into a book at some point but I have to go back to England and do a little more research."
Fred Godfrey was a pen name for Llewellyn Williams. Norris has a vast collection of information and musical memorabilia connected to his grandfather's work. Fred Godfrey might not have been famous but some of his more that 900 songs are.
Ever heard of Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty or Bless 'Em All? These are just two of Godfrey's songs. or the past 100 years, people in the United Kingdom and North America have listened his songs. Godfrey worked in obscurity. He may have been well-known to singers of that era who bought and recorded his music but he was an unknown to almost everyone else.
What does Norris think of his grandfather's music?
"My first love is the great American songbook. The songs of Gershwin. To be honest, he didn't have that kind of talent. His songs are unsophisticated. A lot of it was hackwork, written for a quick turnaround in the music halls on whatever subject of the day was popular. He churned the stuff out."
Throughout both World Wars he wrote many morale-boosting songs. In 1916 Godfrey wrote Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty, which is considered one of his most famous songs and an iconic First World War tune.
In 1917, at age 36, Godfrey was conscripted into the Royal Naval Air Service. Once he was discovered as the author of some of the most popular songs of the day, he spent a lot of time playing piano for servicemen. Someone in authority decided he could make more of a contribution to the war effort by writing songs to raise morale and he was released from service.
In the postwar years, Godfrey found it increasingly difficult to sell songs to publishers and artists. He was viewed as a writer of novelties and war ditties.
He wrote under other pen names too and had a few hits as a result with some of those songs.
Sometime around 1930, Godfrey was persuaded to put together a variety act featuring his hit songs with an Irish tenor. The act was popular but he was incapable of sticking to schedules and routine so it soon folded.
Many of his songs appear in movies. The song Bless 'Em All, first penned in 1917, became a huge hit in 1940 when British movie star George Formby recorded it. It became one of the most famous songs of the war and Godfrey's biggest hit.
The song has been used on many soundtracks on Second World War films. Some of these include A Yank In The R.A.F., starring Tyrone Power and Betty Grable; Captains Of The Clouds, starring James Cagney and Alan Hale; and in To Be Or Not To Be, starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard.
Most of the music he wrote was sold to British music publishing houses and singers. While he earned enough to support his family in a middle class London neighbourhood, he never amassed a fortune through his songwriting talents.
"No songwriters made money in those days. The royalty system was just not developed the way it was in the United States.
"In England, they tended to be anonymous. The ones who got wealthy were the ones who started their own music publishing companies. He was never a business-minded person. In fact, he was quite useless with money."
Godfrey died in a London hospital on Feb. 22, 1953 at 72. Until his final days, he scribbled ideas for songs on bits of paper.
One of Norris' most prized pieces in his collection is a letter his grandfather wrote to him on his first birthday. In it, he tells the toddler how much he loves him.
"It's very special. My mother gave that to me a number of years ago. I didn't know it existed. I was touched. It's a very sweet letter."
Norris is considering publishing a book about his grandfather's life and work. It's important, he says, to do this so his grandfather won't fade into obscurity.
"Unless I do this, he and his music won't be remembered. Most of the other people with whom he collaborated have been forgotten. His songs will be remembered but I want it to be a matter of historical record, who wrote these songs and who this guy was."
For more information on Fred Godfrey's music, go to Norris' website, www.fredgodfreysongs.ca
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