{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Fred Albert | image = Fred Albert.jpg | alt = | caption = Fred Albert, drawn in 1878. | birth_name = George Richard Howell | birth_date = {{birth date|1843|11|6|df=y}} | birth_place = Hoxton, London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1886|10|12|1843|11|6|df=y}} | death_place = Islington, London, England | other_names = | occupation = Music hall entertainer and songwriter | years_active = 1860s–1886 | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''George Richard Howell''' (6 November 1843 – 12 October 1886), who performed as '''Fred Albert''', was an English music hall entertainer who became popular in the 1870s for his self-penned satirical songs, becoming "music hall's first overtly 'topical' singer."<ref name=russell>Dave Russell, ''Popular Music in England, 1840-1914: a social history'', Manchester University Press, 2nd edn., 1997, p.146</ref>
==Biography== Born in Hoxton, he worked in a merchants' office in the City of London before making his earliest appearances on stage at Hoxton Hall in the 1860s.<ref name=vanda>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1275262/perverted-proverbs-or-tupperny-philosphy-sheet-music-albert-fred/ "Perverted Proverbs or Tupperny Philosophy", ''V&A Museum'']. Retrieved 10 September 2020</ref> He was known as an "infallible mirth-maker", and had a reputation for correctly reflecting public opinion.<ref name=jones>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pzKIZTYHhiQC&dq=%22Fred+Albert%22+topical&pg=PT112 Nicolette Jones, ''The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea'', Hachette UK, 2013, p.]</ref> His manner was formal – he had a waxed moustache and wore white tie and tails, and his apparent stiffness gave rise to a false rumour that he had a wooden leg.<ref name=jones/>
All of his material was self-penned; much was improvised, and dealt with current news. He was known as a "lightning" vocalist, being able to sing three topical songs in five minutes.<ref name=mhs>{{cite journal |last1= |first1=|date=2010|title= Potted Biographies: Fred Albert|url= |journal=Music Hall Studies |volume= |issue=5 |pages=Supplement |doi= |access-date=}}</ref> One of his pieces, "The Latest Events of the Year", was regularly updated. Another of his songs, "Perverted Proverbs or Tupperny Philosophy", was a satire on the popular book ''Proverbial Philosophy'' by Martin Tupper.<ref name=vanda/> His other songs included "I Knew That I Was Dreaming", "The Mad Butcher". and "Take Care of the Pence".<ref>[https://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Fred-Albert.htm "Fred Albert", ''Monologues.co.uk'']. Retrieved 10 September 2020</ref><ref name=stuartpark>[https://archive.org/details/cu31924026120448/page/n121/mode/2up?q=Fred+Albert C. D. Stuart and A. J. Park (eds.), ''The Variety Stage; a history of the music halls from the earliest period to the present time'', 1895, p.106]</ref> By the 1870s, he included much patriotic and political material such as "The Turkey and the Bear" into his performances.<ref name=russell/>
For some years he performed with piano accompanist Lottie Cherry, sometimes billed as 'Mrs Fred Albert'; although they had a son together, they never married, and she later married a music hall proprietor, James Graydon.<ref name=kurt>[https://kurtofgerolstein.blogspot.com/2019/10/fred-albert-or-topical-victorian-tunes.html?m=0 "Fred Albert, or, Topical Victorian Tunes", ''Kurt of Gerolstein'', 7 October 2019]. Retrieved 10 September 2020</ref>
Fred Albert died in 1886, aged 42, after a short and sudden illness, and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery. His grave was restored in 2013 by the Music Hall Guild.<ref name=kurt/><ref>[http://www.themusichallguild.com/news.php "Fred Albert Memorial Restored"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518152923/http://www.themusichallguild.com/news.php |date=2019-05-18 }}, The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, accessed 10 September 2020</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Fred}} Category:1843 births Category:1886 deaths Category:19th-century English male singers Category:Burials at Abney Park Cemetery Category:British music hall performers Category:English comedy musicians Category:British satirical musicians Category:English singer-songwriters