My Personal Tribute To Miss Lena Martell

by

Eddie Johnstone

[The Hi-Fi Combo]

1965-1966

Lena Martell [Helen Thomson]

Born 15th May 1940

When 21 year old Glasgow singer Lena Martell’s photograph took up the complete cover of two of the New  Musical Express editions of 1962 & 1963 - the magazine covered the most popular and up and coming stars of that era - it was hard to imagine just how quickly the pop scene was about to explode. In the late 1950’s, budding singer Lena - real name Helen Thomson - had won a talent show and had been welcomed by her eldest, musician, brother into his band. Lena’s other brother, Billy an electrician, whom I met whilst I was training as a student nurse at Ballochmyle Hospital in Mauchline in 1964, also admired her talent. Whilst he re-wired the male residential block, and as we discussed the merits of a new Glasgow soul band I was about to join, he went out to his work-van and returned with a quantity of LP’s - none of which were by Lena Martell - all by US singer Barbra Streisand. He explained that his sister was currently rehearsing many of the songs as she would be heading to the USA to understudy Streisand later that year.

Miss Martell had worked hard and honed her skills around the Glasgow dance hall scene as a teenager. By the time of her January 1963 photograph on the NME cover it was notable that amongst the relatively few female stars’ names to be found - UK pop music was still a male bastion - constantly popping up within the NME most were those of only the very best vocalists around such as Shirley Bassey, Lena Martell, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland and Doris Day [who I believe Lena sounded very similar to].

In the 1963 NME article, Lena Martell - whose most recent record release at the end of 1962 had been “The Reasons Why” - had just opened in London’s West End alongside another Scottish singer, Annie Ross who was also booked for a BBC Jazz, Opera later in the summer of that year, whilst Lena would top the bill at the famous London Palladium. At the same time Judy Garland’s latest single release was “Little Drops of Rain” whilst Barbra Streisand had just released “My Colouring Book” - which would be covered eighteen months later in 1964 by a young girl currently singing in her brother’s trio “The Springfields" - Dusty Springfield. Shirley Bassey meantime was experiencing throat problems and was resting. Veteran star Gracie Fields had also released her nostalgic "Now is the Hour" whilst a modern guitar based number, Dance On - an instrumental by The Shadows - was the current UK No 1.

However, to highlight just how fast moving the UK pop scene was, another more pop-orientated female rising star, Helen Shapiro, had a UK tour lined up ably supported by a new young, relatively unknown band. Their rather strange name was The Beatles and with their new record “Please, Please Me” having just been released the Beatles would go on to change the face of  not only UK pop history but world pop history. With this burgeoning new music scene and its hundreds of instant four-piece male, long-haired, beat groups it is understandable perhaps that polished female ballad singers / performers like Lena, and the other great vocalists of the time, would be pushed further down the pecking order as a result of the changing musical tastes with the resultant diminishing TV and Radio opportunities. However Bassey, Streisand and Martell would diversify and go on to film, theatre and cabaret performance with each hosting their own live TV spectaculars. However Judy Garland, Dorothy of The Wizard of Oz, sadly, would not quite see it out until the end of the sixties.

In the interim, whilst the British “Swinging Sixties” was in full flow, Lena Martell - as forecast by her big brother - would indeed head for the USA and understudy on Broadway for Barbra Streisand in the musical “Funny Girl” - based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedian Fanny Brice - whenever Barbra would be called away for movie duties. Lena has admitted that trying to master the Brooklyn Jewish accent for the part proved very challenging as were the required periods of silence on stage when she was not required to speak. Lena continued to polish her act with stage appearances alongside the likes of Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis, whom she toured extensively with on the recommendation of none other than Sammy’s Rat-Pack collaborator Frank Sinatra.

Whilst impressing as understudy for Streisand, Lena had been invited to take part in two of the Sinatra charity [benefit] shows in Las Vegas and Sinatra subsequently recommended Sammy invite her as the opening act on his forthcoming tour. Back home, gruelling British schedules such as performing thirteen shows a week with Morecambe & Wise and singer Matt Munro on a five month stint in the Blackpool Summer Show simply proved her true dedication to show business.

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This professional attitude eventually led to Miss Martell’s reward of a series of musical Spectaculars for the BBC which lasted throughout the 1970’s when Lena was indubitably at the very top of her game. The shows also gave Lena the opportunity to introduce as her guests some of the most popular acts of the time onto the stage. In the earlier programmes such as in the twelve shows of the 1971-1973 series “Presenting Lena Martell” she welcomed established professionals such as Georgie Fame, Alan Price, Tony Christie, The Fortunes and Tom Paxton.

Her later lively” Make the Music Speak” and “Talk of the Town” live spectaculars backed by the fantastic live sound of Brian Fahey & the Scottish Radio Orchestra with the wonderful Tony Mansell Singers quartet would see Lena present such current top stars such as Brotherhood of Man and The New Seekers. Her acting skills, wit, winning smile and natural charm also came to the fore as she held her own with ad lib in the company of the comic genius, Les Dawson.

But, despite the high quality of all her guests, the star of the show was undoubtedly always Lena Martell whose perfect natural lilt, comedy talent, charm, sincerity and the aforementioned winning smile to camera lifted the hearts of both the theatre audience and those millions of viewers at home watching the show. [*The audience has a personality of its own - they are half of my show"]

To highlight Lena Martell at the top of her game, from her many songs on the Spectaculars, I have selected my favourite “Make the World a Little Younger” which happily - with permission - I was allowed to upload to Youtube as the backing song to my favourite family film. I have now uploaded Lena's live performance also in which I have highlighted [via a little sprinkled stardust] the cute Lena raised eyebrows and gallus Glasgow wink to camera which I always loved. Here then is that wonderful song including the full transcript of what I believe was Lena’s most enchanting live performance of all time.

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Aside from the most wonderful, clearest of singing voices, Lena had the most perfect Scottish accent. Without compromising her Scottish lilt her speaking voice was universal. Back then, Lena was also typically topical. In the pre-amble to her song “Make the World a Little Younger”, Lena makes mention of Concorde*.

Lena’s big brother was so proud of his sister and wanted the world to know. Well he got his wish - the world certainly knows Lena Martell now. . . and, not only does Lena make the world a little younger . . . she truly does make it a better place.

Thank you for reading my tribute to Lena Martell . . and if you ever read this Lena, I wish you health & happiness for 2018.

Eddie Johnstone

October 2017

Lena's live BBC TV pre-amble to this song goes: “Thank you, Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. May I say, Welcome . . . and, as you know, with jet travel and *Concorde, the world is getting smaller . . . and smaller. Well I, personally, would like very much to see the world . . .  get just a little younger”. Piano Intro . . .