Tito Burns

Tito Burns (b. Nehemiah Bernstein, 1921) is a British musician and impresario, who was active in both jazz and rock and roll.

Born in London, Burns was an accomplished accordionist, whose group, the Tito Burns Septet, featured on the BBC's "Accordion Club" radio series. In 1947, they broke new ground by being the first band to perform bebop on British radio. When the show ended, the band went on tour and recorded a number of albums with various line-ups, including some major local jazz musicians, including pianist and trumpeter Dennis Rose and saxophonist Johnny Dankworth. In 1949, they were recording as a septet, but went back to being a sextet shortly after. [ [http://vzone.virgin.net/davidh.taylor/tburns.htm Tito Burns …] ]

By 1955, the orchestra had disbanded, and Burns's career took a turn to the emerging phenomenon of rock and roll. In 1959, he replaced Franklyn Boyd as manager for Cliff Richard, [" [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/franklyn-boyd-449931.html Franklyn Boyd] ," "The Independent", 23 May 2007.] and he soon gathered an impressive list of clients, including The Searchers, whom he gave over to Brian Epstein. [http://www.the-searchers.co.uk/John_Mcnally.htm The Searchers Official Website] .] Among the new talents he discovered was singer Dusty Springfield.Douglas Martin, " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E3D7133CF93BA35753C1A9679C8B63 Dougie Millings, the Tailor for the Beatles] ," "New York Times", October 8, 2001.] As an impresario, he first brought Cliff Richard to tailor Dougie Millings for a stage costume. The resulting outfit, with its unique style, was later emulated by other key performers of the time, and Millings went on to make costumes for The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and especially The Beatles. Burns also appeared in D A Pennebaker's 1965 film "Dont Look Back."

Toward the end of his career, Burns left managing bands for an executive position at London Weekend Television.

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