RIP Bill Ramsey

 

ORF.at

July 5, 2021

 

Bill Ramsey is dead

The American singer and actor Bill Ramsey is dead. He died on Friday in Hamburg at the age of 90, as his family announced on Monday. The German-American became famous with funny hits like “Pigalle”, “Souvenirs” and “Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett”, but his heart beat mainly for jazz, swing and blues.

As a young American recruit, Ramsey was sent to Germany in 1952. There the soldier broadcaster AFN discovered the young man with his resounding baritone voice in jazz bars. Eventually he became chief producer at AFN, a few years later he conquered the German music industry.

Ramsey was the US-German star of the economic boom and beyond. After the hit 50s and 60s, jazz and blues pieces followed in old age. His last radio show "Swingtime" ran in 2019, which he presented for over 30 years on Hessischer Rundfunk. Even in old age, the artist did not lose his American accent. He could get really outraged when he was accused of cultivating his state accent: “It annoys me immensely when people say that. I would like to speak perfect German, but I just can't, ”said the musician, who had German citizenship since the mid-1980s, once told“ Stern ”.

Due to health reasons, Ramsey had to withdraw from the public a few years ago. His last concert took place in Darmstadt in July 2018. Shortly afterwards, Ramsey, who has been living in Hamburg for a long time with his fourth wife Petra, made a Parkinson's disease public. His wife was also his manager.

"Anyone who only hears you thinks you are black"

Ramsey was born on April 17, 1931 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother was a teacher, the father did public relations work for a US company. This also led to little Bill advertising shortening at the age of eight. Ramsey came into contact with music in his hometown, which was then primarily known for blues productions, as if by himself. When the jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald heard him sing, she closed her eyes, Ramsey later liked to tell. “Anyone who only hears you thinks you are black,” she said to him.

In 1954 he met Heinz Gietz, a leading German music composer and producer, in the Frankfurt Jazzkeller. Gietz initially brought Ramsey to the film, where he starred in more than 20 strips. In 1957 Gietz asked Ramsey if he wanted to make a record. When asked "Do you want to rock 'n' roll or would you rather sing something funny?" Ramsey decided on the funny.

At the time, nobody seemed to understand that the Ramsey hits, which many perceived as silly, were deliberately designed in a cabaret-like manner. "The songs were a reflection of the economic boom," he once said in an interview. The "Pigalle" referred to the German bowling clubs that traveled to Paris. His first number one song "Souvenirs" satirized the first German vacationers who could travel to Italy and return with bags full of souvenirs. A catchy tune was as good as any of his hits: “Wumba-Tumba chocolate ice cream seller”, the “Sugar doll (from the belly dance troupe)” and countless others.

Between hits and jazz

As suddenly as the hit hit was there, it ebbed away just as quickly. Just a few years after his hits, Ramsey formulated the wish to "finally be accepted without grimaces". He produced a blues record with Paul Kuhn on piano. For Ramsey, this production became a crossroads in the mid-1960s: From then on he did not record any hits, but almost exclusively songs in his native English and produced almost only jazz and blues. But at the same time he never finally finished with the more lucrative light entertainment.

Ramsey became a regular guest on television shows with his old hits. He also moderated television shows himself, such as “These were hits” for ZDF or the ARD “talent show”, which is considered the forerunner of today's casting formats. In 1984 Ramsey took on German citizenship. Last year he received the Cross of Merit on Ribbon. The Hamburg Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda (SPD) summed up Ramsey's characteristics pointedly. He is a "cosmopolitan personality, paired with a positive attitude towards life and crowned by masterful vocal sovereignty".

His fans celebrated Ramsey because of his unmistakable, bluesy voice, which had lost little of its soul and energy over the decades. He closed his eyes with pleasure, bobbed his knee in time, felt the groove and conjured up the spirit of music from smoky jazz cellars in New Orleans or Chicago.

RAMSEY, Bill (William McCreery Ramsey)

Born: 4/17/1931, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 7/2/2021, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

 

Bill Ramsey’s western – actor:

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