Ross Parker (songwriter)
| Ross Parker | |
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Ross Parker on the cover of his 1968 album The Happy Piano of Ross Parker
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Rostron Parker |
| Also known as | Ross Parker Clarke Ross-Parker |
| Born |
August 16, 1914 Manchester, England |
| Died | August 2, 1974 (aged 59) Kent, England |
| Genres | Pop, swing |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, lyricist, actor |
| Years active | 1930–1974 |
Ross Parker (born Albert Rostron Parker) (August 16, 1914 – August 2, 1974) was an English pianist, composer, lyricist, and actor. He is best known for co-writing the songs "We'll Meet Again" and "There'll Always Be an England".
Parker had a long and successful songwriting career which included chart hits from 1938 to 1970. In 1938 he was already considered one of England's "big five" songwriters.Horace Heidt's version of Parker's song "The Girl In The Blue Bonnet" reached #15 on the Billboard charts in 1938. "I Won't Tell A Soul (I Love You)" was a number one hit for Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy, spending 12 weeks on the Billboard chart in 1939. Although "There'll Always Be an England" was released before the start of World War Two, it became an enormous success when war was declared by Britain. Parker joined the British Army. He and Hughie Charles (his collaborator on "There'll Always Be an England" and "We'll Meet Again") continued to write patriotic songs such as "The Navy's Here" during the war.
In 1956, Shirley Bassey's manager Michael Sullivan commissioned Parker to write a song for the then 19-year-old Bassey. Parker wrote "Burn My Candle", which later became Bassey's first recording.
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