Biography
by Sharon Mawer
Winifred
Atwell was one of the stars of the early British charts when they were
introduced for the first time in the 1950s, playing an upright piano in a
boogie-woogie style of ragtime. She was born on February 27, 1914, in
Tunapuna on the island of Trinidad. Her father owned a pharmacy, and
although the young Winifred was trained in chemistry and was expected to
join the family business, she was always more interested in performing
for U.S. servicemen either at the air base or a local club, Piarco.
Having trained from a very early age on the piano, she was proficient
enough to satisfy the troops stationed in the Caribbean, when someone
asked her to play in the popular style of boogie-woogie. When she
returned to the club, she had written the song "Piarco Boogie," which
was later to be retitled "Five Finger Boogie." Atwell moved to America
in the early '40s to study the piano with Alexander Borovsky and later
to London, where she studied at the Royal Academy of Music and became
the first female pianist to be awarded the highest grade for
musicianship. Supplementing her income while studying, she played
ragtime at various London clubs and was spotted at the Casino Theatre by
entrepreneur Bernard Delfont, who signed her to a recording contract
with Decca Records.
In 1946 Atwell met the comedian Lew Levisohn,
who was to become her husband. Levinsohn suggested that an original
sound and stage presentation might be achieved if Atwell first played a
classical piece on a concert grand piano and then a ragtime on a
battered upright, which they purchased in a junk shop for £2.50. This
would become known as Atwell's "other piano," and would travel with her
around the world, even to the Sydney Opera House. Both pianos would be
very slightly detuned to give a faint off-key sound, and this
originality was one of the stepping stones to her successful career. She
also appeared cheerful with a dazzling smile and a warm personality,
and in Britain during the late '40s, dominated by rationing after World
War II, it was a welcome relief to be entertained by this very special
lady. One of her recordings that became extremely popular in the early
'50s was actually written in the 1920s by George Botsford and titled
"Black and White Rag," which received an enormous amount of radio play
and would later become famous as the signature tune for the BBC snooker
series Pot Black.
When Britain introduced pop charts in November
1952, Atwell was one of the first black artists to hit the Top Ten and
the first instrumentalist in the chart, with the song "Britannia Rag."
The hits continued throughout the 1950s, including "Coronation Rag" in
the summer of 1953 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and at
Christmas she recorded the first of her piano medleys of music hall
songs under the title "Let's Have a Party," which included "If You Knew
Susie," "The More We Are Together," "Knees Up Mother Brown," "Daisy
Bell," "Boomps a Daisy," and "She Was One of the Early Birds." Setting a
trend that would continue on all of her medleys, side one of the single
was an uptempo rag while the B-side was a slightly slower medley.
Reverting to her classical training, she hit the charts in 1954 with
Rachmaninov's 18th Variation on a Theme by Paganini, and at Christmas
she achieved her first number one hit with another medley, "Let's Have
Another Party." The mid-'50s were a period of peak popularity for her in
Britain, with Atwell playing at the Royal Variety Show and even at a
private party for the Queen, where a personal encore of "Roll Out the
Barrel" was requested.
Her breakthrough performance in the U.S.A.
was due to have been as a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, but
she was confronted with racist opposition to the idea of a black woman
appearing as a guest, and the show was never even recorded. She
encountered no such problems in Australia, where she visited in 1956 and
became equally as popular. Back in Britain in that year she enjoyed her
second number one single, a version of the French song "Poor People of
Paris." After this hit, her massive popularity diminished with the
two-pronged attack from the rise of rock & roll and a new young
British pianist, Russ Conway, who began to have hit records with the
same style of honky tonk/ragtime playing, and she found the Top Ten of
the singles chart a difficult goal to reach, apart from her subsequent
Christmas season medleys "Let's Have a Ding Dong," "Make It a Party,"
and "Piano Party." She was also exceedingly popular in Australia and was
an outspoken critic of the plight of the Aborigines, and eventually she
and her husband settled in Sydney. When Lew Levisohn died in 1977, she
considered relocating back to Trinidad but remained in Australia.
Tragedy struck in the early '80s when a fire destroyed her home in
Narrabeen and she suffered a heart attack shortly afterwards. She died
on February 28, 1983.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/winifred-atwell-mn0000573685/biography
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Biografía
En 1946, Atwell conoció al comediante Lew Levisohn, quien se convertiría en su marido. Levinsohn sugirió que se podría lograr un sonido y una presentación escénica originales si Atwell tocara primero una pieza clásica en un piano de cola de concierto y luego un ragtime en un vertical bateado, que compraron en una tienda de chatarra por £ 2,50. Este sería conocido como el "otro piano" de Atwell y viajaría con ella por todo el mundo, incluso hasta la Ópera de Sydney. Ambos pianos estaban ligeramente desafinados para dar un ligero sonido desafinado, y esta originalidad fue uno de los peldaños de su exitosa carrera. También parecía alegre, con una sonrisa deslumbrante y una personalidad cálida, y en Gran Bretaña a finales de los años 40, dominada por la racionalización después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, era un alivio bienvenido ser entretenida por esta dama tan especial. Una de sus grabaciones que se hizo extremadamente popular a principios de los años 50 fue escrita en la década de 1920 por George Botsford y titulada "Black and White Rag", que recibió una enorme cantidad de reproducción en la radio y más tarde se haría famosa como la melodía característica de la Serie de billar de la BBC Pot Black.
Cuando Gran Bretaña introdujo las listas de éxitos pop en noviembre de 1952, Atwell fue uno de los primeros artistas negros en llegar al Top Ten y el primer instrumentista en la lista, con la canción "Britannia Rag". Los éxitos continuaron a lo largo de la década de 1950, incluido "Coronation Rag" en el verano de 1953 para celebrar la coronación de la reina Isabel II, y en Navidad grabó el primero de sus popurrís para piano de canciones de music hall bajo el título "Let's Have a Party", que incluyó "If You Knew Susie", "The More We Are Together", "Knees Up Mother Brown", "Daisy Bell", "Boomps a Daisy" y "She Was One of the Early Birds". Estableciendo una tendencia que continuaría en todos sus popurrís, la cara uno del sencillo era un trapo rápido mientras que la cara B era un popurrí un poco más lento. Volviendo a su formación clásica, llegó a las listas de éxitos en 1954 con la 18.ª variación de Rachmaninov sobre un tema de Paganini, y en Navidad logró su primer éxito número uno con otro popurrí, "Let's Have Another Party". A mediados de los años 50 fue un período de máxima popularidad para ella en Gran Bretaña, con Atwell tocando en el Royal Variety Show e incluso en una fiesta privada de la Reina, donde se solicitó un bis personal de "Roll Out the Barrel".
Su gran actuación en los EE.UU. Debía haber estado como invitada en The Ed Sullivan Show en 1956, pero se enfrentó a una oposición racista a la idea de que una mujer negra apareciera como invitada, y el programa ni siquiera fue grabado. No encontró tales problemas en Australia, donde visitó en 1956 y se hizo igualmente popular. De regreso a Gran Bretaña ese año, disfrutó de su segundo sencillo número uno, una versión de la canción francesa "Poor People of Paris". Después de este éxito, su popularidad masiva disminuyó con el ataque doble del ascenso del rock & roll y un nuevo joven pianista británico, Russ Conway, que comenzó a grabar discos con el mismo estilo de tocar honky tonk/ragtime, y ella Consideró que el Top Ten de la lista de sencillos era un objetivo difícil de alcanzar, aparte de sus popurrís posteriores de la temporada navideña "Let's Have a Ding Dong", "Make It a Party" y "Piano Party". También fue muy popular en Australia y criticó abiertamente la difícil situación de los aborígenes y, finalmente, ella y su marido se establecieron en Sydney. Cuando Lew Levisohn murió en 1977, consideró regresar a Trinidad, pero permaneció en Australia. La tragedia se produjo a principios de los años 80 cuando un incendio destruyó su casa en Narrabeen y poco después sufrió un ataque cardíaco. Murió el 28 de febrero de 1983.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/winifred-atwell-mn0000573685/biography