I didn't go to Earls Cement. I first met David a few years earlier when he came to our house in Marfleet for a rehearsal with my dad who sometimes accompanied him as a pianist on the Hull clubland circuit. In those days he was paid about 30 bob for the night. He kept in contact with my mum after my dad died in 1968 and when he came on a tour to Aus in 1980 I planned to meet up with him in Sydney but he died suddenly, aged 53, before I saw him. I went to his cremation in Sydney and his ashes were taken back to Hull before being scattered near Spurn Point. He only had a small window of fame before, like many other singers of that era, being swept aside by the rock and roll phenomenon of the 60's. This Hull lad will forever be the first British male singer to sell a million records of a single track("Cara Mia")
I had a tradesman friend of mine who did some work for David at his home in Kirkella (I think) and he told me that the door bell rang to the tune of Cara Mia and the toilet flushed to Cara Mia - don't know if that last bit was true. Great era for Hull with Ronnie Hilton too. I went on a training course to Leeds and one of the girls in our attachment (called Hill) was related to Ronnie (real name Adrian Hill) and he came into the shop. He too was a terrific bloke. Great era for the UK in cracking the American charts for the first time with David Whitfield, skiffle king Lonnie Donegan (Rock Island Line) and trumpeter Eddie Calvert (Oh My Papa). I think we were barren for almost 10 years until the "British Invasion" led by The Beatles.
Was a huge fan of Lonnie Donnegan buying every record including his first LP. Another lad of the Whitfield/ Hilton era who was on the Hull clubland circuit and debuted as a professional singer in Hull was Italian born tenor Toni Dalli who came to Yorkshire as a 6 year old. When Mario Lanza died he was chosen to play him in a film covering his life but the film was never released. Dalli had a long singing career being particularly popular in the USA. When he came out to Aus on tour I went to see him.I have one of his albums. After finishing his singing career he then commenced a very successful restaurant business.
Can't remember Dalli (I'll have to Google him) but Lonnie Donegan (imo) put on the greatest floor show at the Dorset I have ever seen. Doing his usual Skiffle songs he finished up (as an encore) with The Party's Over and brought the house down. Afterwards over a drink he asked me if I was married and when I said 'Yes' he said "I was married once - but I got better"! Never forgot that - and used it myself on many occasions.
He was my neighbour when I was a kid, the house was called Cara Mia, but it didn't play the song anywhere.
Inglorious Basterds is one of his best. I was lucky enough to be a regular cinema goer in the early 90's when Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs were out, not to mention True Romance so saw all these on the big screen, great stuff.
