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REG OWEN   

“MANHATTAN SPIRITUAL“

(Billy Maxted)

Palette 5005

No. 10    February 9, 1959

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Eric Danianey, Joe Loss, Jack Parnell, Ken Mackintosh, Ronnie Scott, and Reg Owen (b. Feb. 1928,

London, England)–what do these English folk all have in common?  All of them are/were big­ name

bandleaders in their native nation, yet almost total unknowns in the U.S.  Unlike his associates,

however, Reg  Owen did miraculously manage to crack the stateside charts with his reworking of

composer Billy “Satin Doll” Maxted’s spirited “Manhattan Spiritual.”

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Owen’s life course was set when at the age of 15 he contracted a serious attack of peritonitis.  His father,

in a get- well-quick jesture, gave his son a saxophone.  While convalescing young Reginald took to

playing the instrument; an activity that has yet to cease.  Instead of tending to his parents textile

business in London, as his family had hope, Reg joined the Royal Kiltie Juniors Band.  The salary was a

mere one pound per week–with free room and board–and lasted only a half year, but Reg now knew he

had to make music.  He studied sax with Benny Glassman, a member of Benny Goodman’s orchestra,

and attended the Royal College of Music.

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In 1938, Owens formed his own outfit, the Local Gig Band, to make the rounds of the area’s clubs.

By 1940, Reg was fronting an eight-piece unit with a regular residence at the Montague Ballroom in

Eating.  After a stay with Harry Roy’s band, Reg joined the Royal Air Force.  For his five years in the

service, he wrote arrangements and played in the RAF Band.  On the day of his discharge, Owens was

asked to join the Ted Heath Orchestra, where he remanded as sax man, arranger and composer until

1955.

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A  car crash late in 1954–with it’s accompaning convalescence–left Reg time for a life review.  On his

return, many months later, Reg Owen was determined to do his own music, and his way.  With the aid

of Belgian producer Jack Kluger, made his first recordings fronting his own orchestra.  At the time of

his success with “Manhattan Spiritual,” Owen was also creating music for the Cyril Stapleton Show

Band and ABC-TV’s  “After Hours,” hosted by Michael Bethine.

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For the next few years, Palette Records   issued his swinging, brass-blowin’ disks, but nothing more

caught the U.S. record-buying public’s ear; “Obsession” briefly appeared in the homeland charts, the

following year.  During the ’60s, Reg did much of the arranging for the highly successful Knightbridge

Strings; known in the U.S. for their great run of easy-listening–though with a touch of  rock’n’roll–

albums; especially their reworking of Johnny Ray’s “Cry” (#57, 1959).