Legendary Southport pianist Frank Garner has died aged 88

Frank Garner, who won a host of fans and admirers as resident pianist at Southport Scarisbrick Hotel’s cocktail bar for three decades, has died at the age of 88.

Tributes have been paid to the Merseyside musical maestro, with friend and famous football author John Keith saying he “weaved a tapestry of music almost his entire life.”

John said: “The sight of him in his white tuxedo and the sounds of his mellifluous piano playing will be embedded in the memory of the many hundreds of people who loved his repertoire.

He was happy in varied musical genres, whether it be a selection from the great American songbook, a jazz number or a classical piece, and his love of playing always shone through.

During his long career at the keyboard he backed many artistes such as Ken Dodd, Alma Cogan and the actor Bill Dean, who played Harry Cross in Brookside.

And there was a memorable impromptu session in the Scarisbrick cocktail bar when one hotel guest picked up the microphone and proceeded to sing superbly. It was Grace Lee Whitney one of the famous faces from the iconic American TV series “Star Trek”.

The fact that Frank provided perfect accompaniment for Grace, without any sheet music, underlined his ability to play with our without the dots although he had the cocktail bar in stitches one evening when a guest asked him if he played by ear and he replied: “ No, I get a crick in my neck !”

My own personal favourite from Frank’s musical treasure trove was his haunting rendition of “Misty”, which he played both on piano and organ, and his treatment of it would surely have been applauded by the song’s composer Erroll Garner.

Frank was raised in a musical family in Aintree and began playing the piano at an early age, progressing to gigs in and around Merseyside and was a regular figure in clubs and other venues during the 1960s while holding down a day job in shipping.

He married Audrey and moved to Southport where, for a period, they ran a hotel in Bank Square. I first met him in the late 1980s when he was already well established as a popular attraction at the Scarisbrick.                                                                                                            

Frank was heavily involved with Southport Melodic Jazz and those wonderful events “Jazz On A Winter’s Weekend” at the Royal Clifton Hotel – where Frank became resident pianist – and the Southport International Jazz Festival.

During the 1980s Frank, Bill Dean, Southport taxi firm owner Alan McKenzie, former airline executive Frank Bowskill – who sang under the name Tony Blake – carpet firm owner Dave Shields, engineering company owner Brian Collett and myself formed the Thursday Club, the night we met for drinks and sometimes food.

Our venues alternated mainly between The Hesketh at Churchtown and Frank’s cocktail bar where many a joke has been aired and many a song sung, often until the early hours.

Each of us had our stories to tell, Bill Dean often regaling us with his showbiz and film anecdotes including the story of how Elizabeth Taylor halted shooting of the movie “Nightwatch” and sent him in her own chauffeur driven limousine to her personal London dentist have a sore tooth attended to.

“Sadly, with Frank’s passing only Dave Shields, myself and our newest member, photographer Ollie Cowan, remain to carry the Thursday Club flag.

But I’m sure that somewhere in the celestial firmament a piano is tinkling.

“Rest in  Peace, Frank.”

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