- John O'Neill (musician)
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For other people named John O'Neill, see John O'Neill (disambiguation).
John O'Neill (1926 — 1999) was a professional musician born in County Durham, England to Irish parents. He was famous for his whistling abilities and was also an accomplished trumpeter.
O'Neill began his musical career as a member of Val Doonican's band. In the 1960s he became a regular on the Black and White Minstrel Show. He also worked as a session singer on many television programs, such as Monty Python's Flying Circus and the Morecambe and Wise Show.
He is widely believed to have had a hit single with I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman credited as Whistling Jack Smith (a play on "Whispering" Jack Smith). However the exact nature of who Jack Smith was is unsure; certainly in TV appearances an actor lip-synced whistling to a backing track, and some sources attribute the single to British Decca/Deram producer Noel Walker, as producer and performing artist.[1][2][3]
His best known achievement however, was the whistling on the main theme to the original 1966 Ennio Morricone composition from the Spaghetti Western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; although this is also sometimes accredited to Alessandro Alessandroni.
In his later life O'Neill settled in Dovercourt, Essex.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.mp3.com/artist/whistling-jack-smith/summary/ MP3.com, Whistling Jack Smith
- ^ http://www.dustbury.com/music/smith.html dustbury.com
- ^ "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman@Everything2.com". everything2.org. http://www.everything2.org/title/I%2520Was%2520Kaiser%2520Bill%2527s%2520Batman. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
Categories:- 1926 births
- 1999 deaths
- English musicians
- People from County Durham
- English musician stubs
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