Mrs. Mills - Everybody's Welcome at Mrs. Mills' Party

Mrs. Mills' web presence is pitiful. It's a disgrace that a British recording artist who achieved so much commercial success both at home and internationally should have been so woefully neglected and seemingly thoroughly forgotten. I have never in my life seen her name in print or heard it uttered on TV or radio. I've heard more songs by The Jesus Lizard broadcast on radio than I have by Mrs. Mills! Everything I know of her has been gleaned from her record sleeves that I have purchased in charity shops and at boot sales. And this is a woman who was managed by the man who went on to manage The Rolling Stones; spent her entire recording career on Parlophone and EMI; shared recording space at Abbey Road with The Beatles and sold records by the bucket load. The sheer amount of Mrs. Mills records clogging up the charity shops racks is testament enough to that. So what's going on? It's as if she's been blackballed from the entertainment annals by some peevish God of taste. What terrible offense could she have committed? A jellied eel 'lost' maliciously behind a radiator?

Well, the answer of course is that this stuff hasn't any longevity. Her material was mostly covers of standards from the 20s - 40s designed for a good old knees-up and aimed at an ageing demographic. It was already old hat in the '60s when she was discovered and peaked, and it seems that after her death in 1978 her music didn't hang around long in the public consciousness. Which is a terrible shame, I feel. From the very few videos I have seen on YouTube (who is putting this stuff out there!?) she seems like quite a character and could certainly give the likes of Susan Boyle et al a run for their money in the 'rough diamond' charm stakes. Her record covers certainly give an impression of boisterous and fun-loving entertainer. Who wouldn't want to be invited to Mrs. Mills Party?

This is good-time music that brought pleasure to a great many people and that was reflected in Mrs. Mills' popularity and record sales. So, what started for me an an exercise in buying her records for their kitschy covers has developed into a deep-rooted respect for the lady.

As I said, her record covers are mostly fantastic, this being a particular favourite of mine. Another fave is Glad with Love, and not only because of the delicious pun (Mrs. Mills' christian name being Gladys). What better advert for multicultural diversity and tolerance than the cover of this album? Screw you, Benetton, Mrs. Mills has got it all wrapped up.



Everybody's Welcome at Mrs. Mills' Party is a fairly early release from 1963 (her recorded debut came in 1961) and was issued in both EP and LP format and I'm not sure which came first. I own both (nothing wrong with that. In fact, I own more Mrs. Mills records than I do of Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective and Bon Iver put together, so put that in yer pipe and smoke it!) and there are some large discrepancies in the track-listings. I like to think that this EP contains the very cream of the LP!

Both sides have two medleys featuring Mrs. Mills on piano with some accompaniment, which the LP sleeve attributes to being directed by one Geoff Love. But it really is all about Mills. Well, and the songs. As much as this is a showcase for Mills' potent piano skills, it's the song selection for the medleys and the creative, new and exciting ways in which they segue into each other that really counts. Clearly Mrs. Mills is the forerunner of 2 Many DJs and other mix artists of their ilk. Except, of course, that Mrs. Mills brings a level of flair and panache to the table (and the ability to play an instrument) that quite frankly leaves the knob-twiddlers choking in the dust!



I won't go into detail about the songs in the medleys as I quite frankly don't have a clue what any of them are, but here are a few choice titles to give you an impression and whet the appetite: 'In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town', 'Alexander's Ragtime Band', 'Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet', and so on. Mrs. Mills tinkers along in rude fashion and everybody has a thoroughly good time. I expect the same could be said about all of her records, but there's a mighty lot of them to get through before I can put my name to it!

Here's a poem by me about my love for Mrs. Mills records:

Mrs. Mills
Gives me thrills
When I spin
Her disc of vin
yl

Yeah. It still needs a bit of work, but it's getting there.