John O'Neill

John O'Neill (1926–1999) was a British musician, known as a [tenor] singer, whistler, and trumpeter. Born in Stanley, County Durham, England, to Northern Irish parents from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, he was largely self-taught as a musician, and learned to sight-read music scores. O'Neill had a UK top five hit single with "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" credited as 'Whistling Jack Smith' (a play on "Whispering" Jack Smith). He recorded this as the solo whistler for a set fee and was never acknowledged as its performer, nor paid any royalties. O'Neill was a member of The Mike Sammes Singers in the United Kingdom., who provided backing vocals on the recording of "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles in 1967. He provided the whistling on Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for the film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". O'Neill also released a recording of traditional Irish songs The Gordon Franks Singers And Music, in which he was the solo tenor. On these recordings, O'Neill sings in an Irish accent, though his natural accent voice was rather more Geordie.