The Music of
The Benny Hill Show

Page 8
The Musicians of The Benny Hill Show
by William Brown

One of the major factors in the success of The Benny Hill Show, as noted on other pages of this site, has been the music. Often cited have been the arrangements, especially in the early and middle years, emanating from the show's musical director, Ronnie Aldrich. While TBHS is by no means his only TV-related credit - indeed, he was one of the main musical directors for Thames Television, also leading the baton for the shows of other performers such as Tommy Cooper, Janet Brown, Tom O'Connor, Frankie Howerd, Bob Monkhouse, Jim Davidson, David Nixon, Mike & Bernie Winters and Eric Sykes, and other programs such as Chance of a Million and the annual TV Times Top Ten Awards - it is for Benny Hill that his most famous work on TV has been produced - more so, in the opinion of many, than his string of easy-listening albums (some of which were piano-based) from the 1960's to the '80's, or even his earlier fame with The Squadronaires.

But the other equation lay with the musicians who played in Aldrich's orchestra (and also for Albert Elms, in the three TBHS episodes Elms scored in 1973-74). Many of these instrumentalists represented the cream of the crop of London-based session musicians who played on countless British pop hits, dating back to the 1940's and '50's and going well in to the '80's and '90's (with some such hits familiar to Americans). A few of them had even worked with Aldrich going back to his days of leading The Squadronaires from the mid-1940's to the mid-'60's. Some others are quite well-known in their own right. This is a partial list, gleamed from various databases and discographies, of the individuals who played on the show over the years (not necessarily in chronological order).

Trumpet: Bernie Sharp, Freddie Clayton, Derek Watkins, Eddie Blair, Kenny Baker (plus flugelhorn), Tony Fisher (plus flugelhorn), Dave Cooper (plus flugelhorn), Bert Ezard
Trombone: Maurice Pratt, Chris Dean, William Brown (no relation, or connection, to the contributing editor of this site), Don Lusher, Alfie Reece (plus tuba)
Saxophones: Peter Hughes (who played lead sax on many a rendition of "Yakety Sax" over the years), Cliff Townshend (a former member of The Squadronaires, and father of The Who's Pete Townshend), Burnell Whibley, Dave Willis (plus flute and clarinet), Roy Willox (plus clarinet, reeds, woodwinds and piccolo), Dennis Walton (plus clarinet, reeds and woodwinds), Bill Skeat (plus clarinet and flute), Dougie Robinson (plus reeds and clarinet)
Bassoon: Joseph Castaldini
Tuba / Sousaphone: Martin Fry
String Arranger: Rick Wentworth
Violin: Jack Rothstein
Cello: Terence Weill
Piano: Ted Taylor (music associate, 1969-1970 and 1973-1989), Syd Lucas (music associate, 1970-1973), Jack Honeyborne (shared music associate's credit with Lucas on 03/24/71), Frank Horrox (plus organ), Ronnie Price (plus keyboards)
Organ: Harry Stoneham, Roger Coulann, Derek Healey
Keyboards: Francis Monkman, John Coleman, David Wilde
Accordion: Jack Emblow
Guitars: Paul Keogh, Mitch Dalton, Lee Fothergill, Les Thatcher (plus banjo), Judd Procter (plus banjo), Dick Abel (plus ukulele), Ernie Shear
Bass: Alan Weighell, Arthur Watts, Andy Pask, Eddie Tripp, Kenny Baldock, Dave Richmond
Drums: Tony Kinsey (plus percussion), Clem Cattini, Jock Cummings (another Squadronaires alumnus), Alf Bigden, Barry Morgan (plus percussion), Graham Ward (plus percussion), Harold Fisher (plus percussion)
Percussion: Roy Webster, Stephen Henderson, Jim Lawless (plus vibes, marimba), Derek Price
Other Background Singers: Joan Baxter, Tracy Miller, Ann Simmons (later Ladybirds member; had previously sung with leader Maggie Stredder in The Vernons Girls in the late 1950's and early '60's), Laura Lee (later Ladybirds member), Vicki Brown (later Ladybirds member)

And thus was another element that contributed to the overall success of TBHS.