Ross McManus

Pretty self-explanatory
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by And No Coffee Table »

johnfoyle wrote:This is Ross MacManus under another name , says someone on Twitter - so it must be true.
It's not just someone on Twitter, it's EC in the New York Times:
Elvis Costello wrote:My father, Ross MacManus, was a dance-band singer and sang on the radio. But he also made money on the side doing — I call them ‘‘ghost records’’ — cover records that were sold in the supermarket and at the petrol station. An Australian producer used to have him come in and record carbon copies of hits of the day, four titles in an hour. And they would put those four titles out on an EP. Sometimes my dad was all four voices on an EP but different identities. He’s Hal Prince on one thing. Then he’s Frank Bacon and the Baconeers doing ‘‘She Loves You.’’ Then he’s a member of the Foresters, on Peter, Paul and Mary’s arrangement of ‘‘Blowing in the Wind.’’
http://www.45cat.com/artist/frank-bacon ... -baconeers
http://www.45cat.com/artist/frank-bacon
http://www.45cat.com/artist/the-baconeers
http://www.45cat.com/artist/hal-prince
http://www.45cat.com/artist/hal-prince- ... -layabouts
http://www.45cat.com/artist/the-foresters
johnfoyle
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

Missed that , thanks.
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

johnfoyle
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

The 1965 short film that featured the Ross MacManus clip that Elvis has been using in his shows now seems to be accessible to all via the copyright holder's site. Ross is c.8 minutes in.

https://vimeo.com/67602033
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

The full clip of If I Had A Hammer is back up - catch it while you can!

http://www.videoup.org/v/3cp7ws1lu
johnfoyle
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

Image

Ross McManus sings The Long And Winding Road

in English


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnnZ2kQQ5vM

DAY COSTELLO - THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (REMASTERED BY TOM MIX)



....and in Italian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuaxHSqjNWg

DAY COSTELLO-LA LUNGA STRADA CHE Clan Celentano

From the youtube link -

(Elvis quote from unspecified source )

"My dad, Ross McManus, released a cover version of "The Long and Winding Road" in 1970 under the name of Day Costello". "You know those "Top Hits" budget albums which were prevalent in the 1960s done by no-name artists, well, Ross sang on budget records for an Australian, Allan Crawford, and he wanted him to cover "The Long and Winding Road". Allan had Danny Street sing it for another budget record for Crossbow but Allan didn't like Dan's vocals, and when Allan realised that the Beatles weren't going to put it out as a single, he said that Ross should put it out in its own right. He got hold of the Danny Street backing track, but it had been recorded at a very slow pace, even slower than the McCartney version, and when Ross's version was reviewed that was one of the things held against it. It wasn't a big hit...except in Australia and Italy"...

The release of "The Long and Winding Road" in Australia was on Fable Records and because of the big 1970 radio ban it got saturation airplay. Using a name that nobody recognised was a smart move as many people at the time thought Day Costello was the name of an Aussie pop group...the Italian release of this song can be found for download around the world if you search on Google for "La Lunga Strada Che". The Italian version has been on C.D.

Here is the Australian No.1 "The Long and Winding Road" which has not been on C.D.
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thepopeofpop
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Re:

Post by thepopeofpop »

And No Coffee Table wrote:I didn't realize he used the McManus (as opposed to MacManus) spelling professionally.

Or maybe that's just a misspelling...
I don't think anyone has ever addressed this in this thread, but Ross was actually named "McManus" at birth ("Ronald Patrick McManus" is on his birth certificate, and his father's name was Patrick McManus). It has been suggested that that shift to "MacManus" was made to address anti-Irish prejudice - as "Mac" surnames are supposedly more "Scottish", but if that was the reason then it was mistaken, as there are plenty of Scottish surnames beginning with "Mc" as well as "Mac". It also doesn't explain why Ross used "McManus" for much of his professional career, only later adopting the "MacManus" surname. Although Elvis has always been known as Declan MacManus, I'm not sure if he was actually born "MacManus". Is it "MacManus" or "McManus" on Elvis' birth certificate? Does anyone know?

Both "Mc" and "Mac" mean the same thing = "son of".
--Paul--
Now put on your ironic dancing shoes
And dig my brand new rhythm and hues:
https://www.paulinglis.org
erey
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by erey »

I wouldn't put any stock in the spelling of the quote from the "unspecified source". The record itself is credited to Day Costello.

Going through the scrapbook at the end of UM&DI indicates EC's dad used "Ross McManus" professionally in Liverpool (e.g., the Ross McManus Quintet), but switched the "Ross MacManus" when he moved to London in 1951. There's a lot of variation in his press clippings, owing mostly to sloppy copyediting I suspect. Not only are they pretty free with the spelling of his last name, they occasionally render his first name as "Russ" or even (once) "Bross". But in items where he presumably has more control -- letters to the editor or a letter introducing himself to the Joe Loss Fan Club -- he spells his last name "MacManus" at least after 1952 or so.

In UM&DI, EC says Ross added the "a" because it "looked posher and better in print", but also seems to say, more obliquely, that it also had to do with avoiding anti-Irish prejudice. In the context of the time and place, "posher" and "less Irish" might have largely amounted to the same thing. It makes sense that Ross would encounter, or fear that he would, more prejudice in London than in Liverpool. Liverpool being England's most Irish city, especially in those days.

And since no post by me would be complete without some borderline-creepy internet spelunking, I can also report that, by early 1952, Ross was using "MacManus" in important legal documents, such as his marriage certificate. A website called FreeBMD.com provides an archive of these kinds of records for England and Wales. We can see that a "Ronald P R MacManus" married someone whose surname was Ablett, in Bromley, in the first three months of 1952: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 030&scan=1. Likewise, a "Lillan A Ablett" married someone whose surname was MacManus around the same place and time: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 1494280030.

Interesting that Ross's name is given as "Ronald P R MacManus". His name at birth was Ronald Patrick McManus. The presence of the second middle initial "R" indicated he was probably now incorporating "Ross" -- which was just a nickname he picked up as a young man -- into his legal name.

I can also confirm that EC was indeed "Declan P MacManus" at birth, as I found the closest thing were going to get to the actual (long-from :wink: ) birth certificate here: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 1494280030

(You can view a scan of the portfolio page entry for each of the links above with just a few more clicks. I was going to attach them, but the images are too big for this forum and would probably be illegible if compressed.)
Last edited by erey on Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
emotional_fascism076
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by emotional_fascism076 »

Elvis looks so much like his dad. Very fun clip. Thanks for the link.
Who on earth is tapping at the window?
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thepopeofpop
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by thepopeofpop »

erey wrote:I wouldn't put any stock in the spelling of the quote from the "unspecified source". The record itself is credited to Day Costello.

Going through the scrapbook at the end of UM&DI indicates EC's dad used "Ross McManus" professionally in Liverpool (e.g., the Ross McManus Quintet), but switched the "Ross MacManus" when he moved to London in 1951. There's a lot of variation in his press clippings, owing mostly to sloppy copyediting I suspect. Not only are they pretty free with the spelling of his last name, they occasionally render his first name as "Russ" or even (once) "Bross". But in items where he presumably has more control -- letters to the editor or a letter introducing himself to the Joe Loss Fan Club -- he spells his last name "MacManus" at least after 1952 or so.

In UM&DI, EC says Ross added the "a" because it "looked posher and better in print", but also seems to say, more obliquely, that it also had to do with avoiding anti-Irish prejudice. In the context of the time and place, "posher" and "less Irish" might have largely amounted to the same thing. It makes sense that Ross would encounter, or fear that he would, more prejudice in London than in Liverpool. Liverpool being England's most Irish city, especially in those days.

And since no post by me would be complete without some borderline-creepy internet spelunking, I can also report that, by early 1952, Ross was using "MacManus" in important legal documents, such as his marriage certificate. A website called FreeBMD.com provides an archive of these kinds of records for England and Wales. We can see that a "Ronald P R MacManus" married someone whose surname was Ablett, in Bromley, in the first three months of 1952: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 030&scan=1. Likewise, a "Lillan A Ablett" married someone whose surname was MacManus around the same place and time: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 1494280030.

Interesting that Ross's name is given as "Ronald P R MacManus". His name at birth was Ronald Patrick McManus. The presence of the second middle initial "R" indicated he was probably now incorporating "Ross" -- which was just a nickname he picked up as a young man -- into his legal name.

I can also confirm that EC was indeed "Declan P MacManus" at birth, as I found the closest thing were going to get to the actual (long-from :wink: ) birth certificate here: https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/informat ... 1494280030

(You can view a scan of the portfolio page entry for each of the links above with just a few more clicks. I was going to attach them, but the images are too big for this forum and would probably be illegible if compressed.)
Excellent info! I knew I could count on you to track down the facts and birth certificates...
--Paul--
Now put on your ironic dancing shoes
And dig my brand new rhythm and hues:
https://www.paulinglis.org
erey
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by erey »

thepopeofpop wrote: Excellent info! I knew I could count on you to track down the facts and birth certificates...
Thanks, popey.

To your point that, strictly speaking, it doesn't make a lot of sense to change the spelling of one's name from "Mc" to "Mac" in order to downplay Irish ethnicity... Googling turned up a number of articles debunking the idea that Mc was Irish and Mac was Scottish, which would seem to indicate that this mistaken idea has or had a certain amount of currency. I also turned up a couple of things that said that, for many surnames, Mc really is the more common Irish spelling and Mac the more common Scottish, for reasons of historical happenstances rather than any linguistic logic.

I suspect that what Ross had in mind, rather than passing for Scottish (would this be much of an improvement over being assumed to be Irish?), was simply a less typical spelling or even something that (to his mind, at least) had a more American ring to it, considering his original ambition was to play bebop.

In any interesting parallel, when EC moved to London from Liverpool -- after realizing, just as Ross had two decades earlier, that it would not be possible to make a living in music if he stayed in Liverpool -- he started using the surname "Costello" professionally almost immediately.
johnfoyle
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

More of Ross McManus's covers for budget labels in the 1960s have appeared on compilations only available via ebay -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPS-IN-POPS-Vo ... SwhlZYuBo4

It's All In The Game - Ross McManus
For You - Ross McManus
I Love You Because - Ross McManus

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPS-IN-POPS-VO ... 0005.m1851

The Girl Belongs To Yesterday - Ross McManus
Next Door To An Angel - Ross McManus & Tony Stevens
Hey Baby I'm Dancing- Ross McManus & Tony Stevens

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPS-IN-POPS-Vo ... 0005.m1851

Borne On The Wind - Ross McManus
If I Loved You - Ross McManus
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

I Love You Because - Ross McManus

Presumably the song written by Leon Payne , who also wrote Psycho.
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

A earlier volume features Ross's version of It's Over -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPS-OF-POPS-Vo ... 0012.m1985
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Re: Ross McManus

Post by johnfoyle »

The new 78Man Podcast looks at Woolworth's '50s label Embassy, featuring Ross MacManus , from about 4 minutes into this.

https://seventyeightman.podbean.com/e/43-embassy/
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