Böcker av Christopher Beeching

The life of British Music Hall's first Super Star, George Leybourne [1842-1884], also known as Champagne Charlie, has always been shrouded in mystery. This book puts the record straight.Delving deeper than ever before Beeching takes a 'detective-like' approach and comes up with some surprising results, unlocking family secrets, as well as other revelations.Drawing from his own theatrical career, contemporary descriptions, song covers illustrations of the 1860' to 1880's, he analyses Leybourne's performance methods, conditions, as well as the deterioration in Leybourne's health as constant touring took their toll culminating in his death at the age of 42.Written with style & humour The Heaviest of Swells shows a glimpse of life from the slums of Gateshead where Leybourne was born, to the drawing rooms of the Victorian Middle classes, giving a fascinating account of Leybourne's life as a music hall artiste, his career, and the many problems to be encountered by any music hall performer of the period.

Covering the years 1871-1876, Volume II of The Heaviest of Swells picks up Leybourne's life-story after the sudden announcement that he would be departing for America. In five years full of incident, Beeching delves deeper into Leybourne's attempted new ventures; as an actor; on a long tour of one-night stands with a classical actor and his unwise forays into management. As Leybourne continues his exhausting rounds of the Halls through bouts of illness, and his need to create new songs for the edification of his fans, Leybourne becomes the centre of attention in a scandalous court case.By unravelling forgotten slang terms and dissecting these songs and their covers in detail, Beeching in his unique and entertaining style brings their relevance of the Victorian period and today into sharp focus.