Charlie Landsborough

Charlie Landsborough
Birth name	Charles Alexander Landsborough
Born	26 October 1941 (1941-10-26) (age 70)
Origin	Birkenhead, Cheshire, UK
Genres	Folk, Country
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar
Years active	1994-Present

Charlie Landsborough, (born Charles Alexander Landsborough, 26 October 1941) is a British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter. He started singing professionally in the 1970s, and is now one of the UK's top country acts. He is also popular in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Life

Born in Wrexham, Wales, Landsborough was the youngest of 11 children. Soon after he was born, his mother (Aggie) moved the family back to Birkenhead after the World War II bombing raids. He was reared by the docklands of Birkenhead near the dumps, railway lines, coal wharf and oil factories.^[1]

He left school early and worked intermittently as an apprentice telephone engineer, on the railways, and in the flour mills before joining the army. He left after four years, in the early 1960s, and joined a group, The Chicago Sect, in Dortmund, Germany. Returning to England, he married, played in local bands, and worked in a variety of jobs before becoming a teacher at Portland Combined School on Laird street, Birkenhead.

While working as a teacher, he wrote songs and continued to perform on a semi-professional basis, with limited success. However, in 1994 his song "What Colour is the Wind", which tells the story of a young blind child’s attempts to envision the world, began to be played in Ireland, eventually reaching #1 in the Irish charts after a TV appearance on RTE's Kenny Live Show. The song was used as the title track of Landsborough's first album.

Following the album's success in Ireland, Landsborough appeared on several TV shows in the UK. Since then, he has released ten additional albums, including originals, greatest hits and double CDs of previous releases. Overall, sales of his albums have exceeded 700,000 units. He also has had two number ones singles in the Irish pop charts, and several of his albums have topped the British country charts.

One of his most successful releases, Still Can't Say Goodbye was recorded in Nashville in 1999 and resulted in Landsborough winning the BMCA Best Male Vocalist (2000) for the third year in succession, and the Southern Country Award for best album. He has performed at most major concert halls and theatres in the UK, including the London Palladium. He also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2001.^[2]

Discography

Albums

• Nothing Lasts Forever (September 2009)
• Under Blue Skies (2008) #73 (UK)
• The Storyteller
• Heart and Soul
• My Heart Would Know
• The Lighter Side (Comedy Album)
• Reflections
• Smile
• Movin' On
• Once in a While
• Songs from the Heart
• What Colour is the Wind
• Further Down The Road
• With You In Mind
• Still Can't Say Goodbye
• The Greatest Gift (Christmas Album)

Singles

Year	Song	Album
2001	"Half the Ghost of a Chance"	"Heart and Soul"
2001	"Saviours Song"	"Heart and Soul"
2001	"My Most Wonderful Time"	"Heart and Soul"
2002	"I'm A Lucky Man"	"Heart and Soul"
2002	"I Don't Know"	"Heart and Soul"
2002	"Who is this Man"	"Heart and Soul"
2002	"It's About Loving You"	"Heart and Soul"
2002	"Song for the Dragonfly"	"Heart and Soul"
2004	"Twenty-Four Hours Times Two"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"My Heart Would Know"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"I Am Red"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"I Know What it is to be Loved"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"The Closest Thing to my Heart"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"Going My Own Sweet Way"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"Moate"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"He Still Holds You"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"Like A Stone"	"My Heart Would Know"
2004	"I'll Be Missing You"	"My Heart Would Know"
2008	"Long Way Down"	"Under Blue Skies"
2008	"Some Mothers Son"	"Under Blue Skies"
2008	"Speed of the Sound of Loneliness"	"Under Blue Skies"

DVDs

• Charlie Landsborough A Special Performance
• An Evening With/Shine Your Light Double DVD Collection

The Team

• Jamie Landsborough - Tour Manager
• Ken Davies - Manager
• Pete Ware - Record Producer
• Pete Brazil : Lead Guitar, Accordion, Harmonica, Vocals
• Karl Benson - Bass Guitar, Vocals
• Tony Ariss - Keyboards, Vocals
• Jason Forrester - Keyboards
• Gerry Freeman - Drums
• Smithy - Merchandise
• Keith Jones - Hairdresser

Awards

Year	Awarding Body	Award
1990	British Country Music Awards	Single of the Year - How Do You Do Those Things
	BBC Radio 2 - Prestigious Award	Record of the Week - Heaven Knows
1992	British Country Music Awards	Top Solo Performer of the Year
1994	BBC East Midlands	North Country Music Song of the Year - What Colour is the Wind
	Country Music Round Up International Awards	Favourite Album - What Colour is the Wind
		Most Popular Male Vocalist
1995	UK Country Awards	Best Album by a British Act (Recorded Anywhere) - What Colour is the Wind
		Best Single - What Colour is the Wind
		Best Song by a British Songwriter - What Colour is the Wind
1996	The Great British Country Music Awards	Best British Male Vocalist
	The Irish Record Music Association	International Country Album of the Year - With You in Mind
	UK Country Radio Awards	Best Single - Forever Friend
		Best Song - Forever Friend
		Most Nominations
		Best Single - Further Down the Road
	Scottish Country Music Awards	Most Popular Male Artist
		Most Popular British Album - What Colour is the Wind
		Most Popular British Song - Forever Friend
1997	The Great British Country Music Awards	Best British Male Vocalist
1998	BBC Radio Merseyside Scouseology Award	Best Music - Top Personality
	The Great British Country Music Awards	Best British Male Vocalist
	UK Country Radio Awards	Best Single - Further Down the Road
		Most Nominations
2000	The Great British Country Music Awards	Best British Male Vocalist
		Best British Album - Still Can't Say Goodbye
	UK Country Music Radio Awards	Best Album - Still Can't Say Goodbye

Professional comments

• "The greatest response ever on the show".Pat Kenny - Kenny Live RTE TV
• "The biggest reaction for any artist on our last series".BBC TV Pebble Mill
• "If you like warmth, honesty and credibility in a performer you'll love Charlie Landsborough".Gerry Kelly - Kelly Ulster TV.
• "Incredible talent and unique style, deserves to be a major success".Sean Murphy - London Weekend TV
• "Charlie's like good wine, he matures quietly over a long period of time, when the cork was popped it was well worth the wait".Gerry Anderson - BBC TV
• "A brand new album of brand new songs, all written and performed by a quiet, unassuming gentle man who could very well be Britain's next country-folk superstar, internationally".George Hamilton IV

References

1. ^ Charlie Landsborough
2. ^ Charlie Landsborough chats with Johnno from his home in England. :: Saturday Night Country

External links

• Official website
• Biography

Persondata
Name	Landsborough, Charlie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 October 1941
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death