Search - George Formby :: War & Postwar Years 2

George Formby - The War and Postwar Years

William D. Gaston | 02/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Absolutely one of the best compilations I have purchased. All the best songs by George Formby. An absolute must have for any WWII reenactor or historian wanting some insight into the British sense of humor at the time."

Volume 2 completes George's music to 1951

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Overall, this volume doesn't quite match the brilliance of the first volume, partly because most of George's really famous songs were recorded before the outbreak of war, but also because this set contains many more re-recordings than the first volume did; most of the final CD contains alternate versions of songs found elsewhere here or on the first volume. Nevertheless, there's still a lot of great material here, perhaps the most famous song featured (if one doesn't count re-recordings) being Auntie Maggie's remedy, a song revived in the sixties by the Fourmost.



Very much continuing where the first volume England's clown prince of song left off, this collection includes more songs telling the story of George's favorite Chinese character. Mr Wu's a window cleaner now, Mr Wu's an air raid warden now and Mr Wu's in the air force. On a more contemporary note, it is somewhat ironic that the opening track on the second CD here, It might have been a great deal worse, refers to two characters called Brown and Blair.



Like the first volume, this boxed set doesn't have a comprehensive booklet, but a little booklet with each CD. Between them, they tell us about George (from 1939), the war and its aftermath. It's particularly interesting to note that George and Beryl Formby toured South Africa and gave a free concert to black people despite being forbidden to do so. They were kicked out of the country after Beryl swore at the prime minister, but were allowed back a few years later to do another tour.



Although the first volume is stronger overall, there is still plenty of great music here - and unlike some of their rival labels, JSP don't keep their boxed sets in print indefinitely, so buy both boxes while you can. For myself, I always expected to by some of George's music eventually, but I never thought I'd buy these volumes until I bought a 4-CD boxed set compilation of ukulele music, one CD of which was devoted entirely to George's music. I realized that, for me, a single CD was not enough, so I eventually bought the two boxed sets - and I certainly don't regret it. Whatever George's vocal limitations, the fact remains that he was a great entertainer and there has never been anybody else like him and never will be. He was - and remains - one of a kind."