Speaking well of the dead

Subject: Speaking well of the dead
From: oggie
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 07:32 PM

Over the years I have been influenced by many singers and musicians who are no longer with us. So in no particular order I want to celebrate the life and music of Pat Nealy, Iain MacKintosh, Tony Capstick, Alex Atterson, Peter Arrowsmith, Peter Bellamy and Ewan MacColl. I don't care about their faults, they were all people I met, listened to and learned from, and who added to my knowledge and enjoyment of the music I love and play.

Thank you all

All the best

Steve

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 07:35 PM

Good idea Steve. Thank you. I shall think about who to post about first.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 07:54 PM

I think I will put Stuart Mossman, Jim Hale and Brooks Herndon at the top of my list. They are the ones who got me into 'fiddle/old time/etc' music instead of Violin/classical. The fiddle music has stuck much more and gotten me MUCH more enjoyment and opportunity to play than the Classical Violin ever would have.

I have always lived in small towns where just joining symphony or Community Orchestra hasn't really been possible.

Then again, there WAS Leoti Newland and Howard Halgedahl. Leoti was my first and only violin teacher; if not for her, I couldn't play at all. Halgedahl was my orchestra conductor from age 12-18. Extremely expressive conductor (if you could play under him, you might not be able to ever play under anyone else!), and he taught us to truly sight read at a performance level.

Winfield, Kansas...I love you for a lot of things!

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 08:09 PM

Just the words Iain & MacKintosh say it aall

A gem.... No! a DIAMOND, of a man and one of nature's gentlemen.

Sadly missed aroond this house hold aah can tell ye!

Aah only met him once and was in his company for aboot six hoors but after the things he said to me aah'd've followed him anywhere. Even into battle - A true Gent with a capital 'G' - Sorely missed

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 09:50 AM

AlexCampbell,Ewan Maccoll, BertLloyd, Dave Roberts[exBlowzabella,and Stratford folk club].John and Julia Clifford,Tony Rose[One of the people who inspired me to learn concertina]Cyril Tawney,FredJordan.PeterBellamy.
all the source singers and musicians whoe music I have listened to.Dick Miles

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Bru
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 11:04 AM

This may not be quite what Oggie was thinking of when he started this fine thread, but my earliest influences were Michael Flanders & Donald Swann. Funny, clever, entertaining and never equalled dispite some heroic attempts over the years.

Sadly, although I had a chance to see thenm in 1964, I missed it.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: theleveller
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 11:27 AM

Fortunately, most of the folk musicians I respect are still alive. It would be great to say something good about them all whilst they can still read it; trouble is, where do I start.........?

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 11:58 AM

Tony Capstick, Peter Bellamy, Alex Campbell, Kirsty MacColl and Fred Jordan are the ones who immediately spring to my mind when I think of people who I really enjoyed but who are no longer with us.

However there are many others as well, some already mentioned and some not.

Yorkshire lost a very promising singer/songwriter when Jon Rennard died in 1971.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: GUEST,querida
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 12:58 PM

Don't forget Harry Boardman. He was a man in a million and did shedloads for the folk music revival in the 60-70's

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Sam Hudson
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 01:08 PM

Interesting thread. When my wife & I started going to folk clubs, we immediately became aware of the material of Stan Rogers - I've often wondered what he would have achieved by now if he was still with us. Ditto Keith Marsden and Peter Bellamy. In all those cases we've since got to know people who knew them well, and it's a constant regret we never met them or heard them perform.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: GUEST,Anne Price
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 01:22 PM

How about Dave von Ronk, Heddy West, Margaret McArthur, Tom Gibney. And others whom most of you don't know, but who meant something to me: Marilyn Maltzer, Becky Berman, Abe Gershowitz, Murray Cartan. Rest in peace good people. You are remembered.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Whistlepenny
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 03:25 PM

If you think about it there are more dead folkies than living ones. And there are a few where you really can't tell ...

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Wesley S
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 03:29 PM

What - our Rick Fielding hasn't been mentioned yet?

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 08:37 PM

I really wasn't going to do this tonight, but the "love song" thread started me off, and this has pushed enough buttons.

thread.cfm?threadid=59599

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 05:37 PM

The list of those greatly missed is a long one....My contribution would be to add Brixton Bert, Dave Bryant, Chris Fyfe, Rev. Ken Lovelace and Scrump. Also to join with others in regretting the loss of Stan Rogers.

If we sing their songs...play their tunes or sing and play ones they themselves loved...then we keep their memory alive.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Michael
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 06:25 PM

WP do you mean Rev Kenneth N. J. Loveless concertina player and member of the editorial board of the Folk Song Journal and a 'real character'?

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 11:06 AM

Yes Michael..That's him! As you say a "real character!"

I'm going to take the opportunity to adding Rita Cherriman to the list as well.

I well remember the Rev. Ken at what, in those days, they called the Broadstairs Folk Show.   

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: bubblyrat
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 04:37 PM

Tony Rose I thought was very nice----if you wrote to him,he would send you song lyrics ---I did & he did !! Also Cyril Tawney, although it was Rosemary who sent the words ! And I was always fascinated by Roy Williamson---The way he looked, the way he sang, the songs he wrote, and those extraordinary guitars he built ! And Hamish Imlach, of course.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Bugsy
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 05:29 PM

Oh definitely Stan Rogers, also Derroll Adams, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy...........don't get me started, There's HUNDREDS of 'em!

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 03:54 AM

I was playing Jackson C Frank's album again yesterday and it reminded me what a fantastic singer songwriter he was, His life was almost unbelievebly tragic but that one album (produced by his then mate, Paul Simon) showed the talent that he had that was so tragically cut short. I first saw him when I'd moved down to London as a callow lad in the 60s when I stumbled into Les Cousins after busking all day in Portobello Road and Tottenham Court Tube Station and drinking all evening. This bloke with lank hair sort of hobbled onto the stage and what he sang bowled me over (Carnival, You Never Wanted Me and some others I can't remember). A few days later the guy I shared a grotty basement flat in Notting Hill with came in with the album. I learnt a couple of the songs and still sing them occasionally. BTW Bert Jansch does a fantastic version of Carnival and Sandy Denny (Jackson's then girlfriend) recorded several others. RIP Jackson, it brings a tear to my eye every time I play the album.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: GUEST,Greg Doucette
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 01:13 PM

Bob Beers,Helen Schneyer,Gamble Rogers,Johnny Cunningham

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:03 PM

....Jimmy Driftwood....John Denver....

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:14 PM

as mentioned Sandy Denny

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:22 PM

Eva Cassidy

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:51 PM

Pete Hicks,Farningham folk club.Dick Miles

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:28 PM

The thread is called "Speaking well ..." not "Names-dropping". It'd be nice to have a few anecdotes as well as the names, I think.

For instance, I remember the day I was roped in to drive Hamish Imlach around Glasgow. He had to do his shopping for the famous Tonder curry later that month (must have been one of the last he oversaw). That day I   was introduced to what he claimed to be the best Indian shop in Glasgow, and also to a huge Chinese supermarket in Dobbie's Loon where we were the only non-Chinese, it seemed to me. Of course, we ended up in the Scotia Bar where Hamish bought every friend in sight a dram - and he had many ... I asked for a Macallan, and got a double, of course. Hamish loved to be loved!

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:47 AM

Alex Campbell, Hamish Imlach, Ewan McColl, Peter Bellamy, Martin Lamble, Sandy Denny, Jackson C Frank, Harry Boardman, Tony Rose, Cyril Tawney, Ken Lovelace, to whom I owe a debt which I might in part repay by making sure their names and achievements are passed on to my children and grandchildren, who listen to recordings (legit. and otherwise - what an admission for a lawyer, eh?)I have of these greats.

Truly, we shall not see or hear their like again.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 05:38 AM

I think you could do another thread about folksingers who disappear.......the disappeared!

Really interesting entertaining people who seem to say to themselves, sod this for a game of soldiers - and that's it, you don't see them again.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: oggie
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:33 AM

Taking up the challenge of a couple of anecdotes laid down by Susanne...

Of the names on my list two are less known, Peter Arrowsmith was the musician for Lincoln Morris Men back in the early/mid seventies.   Played a big B/C/C# box with full bass end. He sold me my first concertina (an East German G/D box), lent me music, put up with me and encouraged me. Without him I would probably not have played squeezebox. I used to dance Bacca Pipes Jig and on one occassion (outside Lincoln Cathedral) he played it 50% faster than usual. Between figures I'm trying to catch his eye and motion "slow down", no avail. Afterwards he apologised and said he'd been listening To "Morris on" too much. Lovely man, had a stroke in the mid seventies and died some years later. I owe him a lot.

Pat will be known to anyone who visited Cleethorpes Festival in the seventies and early eighties where he could be found sitting ramrod straight, fiddle under his chin, in the middle of the sessions in the bar. Irish fiddle player, one of the best, one of the great players for the feis, could play the same tune for an hour and each dancer got the same tempo and rhythm. Took time to show me how to ornament, how to listen to a tune and get the feel of it. I use what he taught me everytime I play.

Steve

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: eddie1
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 09:30 AM

Iain MacKintosh for so many great songs and being a great guy. Also for being rather amazed that I had drivem 30miles to see him at The Edinburgh Folk Club and for forgetting the words of a song when I appeared at a gig in Germany.

Hamish Imlach for signing my copy of "Cod Liver Oil and Orange Juice"
"To the Real Big Man of Scottish Folk Music"!

Cyril Tawney for all the songs, for many nights of talking till it was getting light, for taking time to talk to my dad and sharing naval experiences with him, for all the meals he cooked at my flat and finally for sharing with me the secret of the recipe for Lebanese Scrambled Eggs!

Eddie

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:39 PM

Hello,

I'm not sure we were name dropping, just keeping the memory alive! However, Dave Bryant was a great character with an exceptionally fine voice. Three particular memories: his landrover, his curry and his friendship!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 01:28 PM

Surely - his two pint tankard!

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 04:39 PM

...and his laugh!

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 04:47 PM

...and now, sadly, we have to add Vera Johnson to this thread. She was an exceptional singer and I well remember the times I saw her in action. She was one of the best.

Peter

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 08:27 PM

I was lucky enough to meet Dave Bryant once. In fact, he and Linda kindly picked us up from Stansted and took us to the Hull Eurogathering. His passing was a real shock because he'd been so full of life then. I'm still hoping for a cassette or CD to preserve his inimitable style for us!

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: topical tom
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 09:18 PM

I especially remember and miss Stan Rogers and Gamble Rogers.In 1980 at the Owen Sound Folk Festival we were accompanied by our 9-year-old daughter who had become tired and bored with the festival scene. Then onstage appeared Gamble Rogers.His incomparable story-spinning soon had her roaring with laughter and cheered her up for the rest of the evening!
      That same evening Stan Rogers stirred the audience as they sang along to "Barrett's Privateers".
      At that same festival was John Allan Cameron who gave a wonderful performance.
      Others I can mention are Tommy Makem and Bill Munroe.They all moved me and I miss them.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Beer
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 09:31 PM

How I wish I could have seen those great performers. I would say that in the 80's I was all work and no play. As well my music was more country related. You were blessed to have heard these great folks tom.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: topical tom
Date: 11 Nov 07 - 06:40 PM

Your 80's sound like my 60's as I was wrapped up in the Daddy thing then.
      I guess I just sort of made up for lost time to a certain extent.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: GUEST,baz parkes
Date: 12 Nov 07 - 10:36 AM

Lal Waterson

God bless her

Baz

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Colin Randall
Date: 12 Nov 07 - 03:47 PM

Surprising how late in the thread one or two of the names appeared (Lal Waterson notably). I'd add Frankie Kennedy,the driving force behind Altan and a lovely, lovely person. Does anyone know if Barry Skinner, who cropped up in the Sixties singers thread, is still alive?

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 12 Nov 07 - 03:55 PM

Barry Skinner is alive and well....

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Janice in NJ
Date: 13 Nov 07 - 07:22 PM

Let me say a good word for the late Rev. Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick. Brother Kirk was a friend, a mentor, and an inspiration, as well as one very powerful musician. Kids in particular loved him wherever he went. He even paid a visit to Sesame Street one time. May he not be forgotten.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: andymac
Date: 14 Nov 07 - 01:12 AM

To follow on from Susanne's comments.

The first (so far only) time I met Susanne was at Glasgow Folk Festival and I, a callow youth, ended up in the company of her, Deroll Adams and Alan Taylor. Eye-opening indeed and never forgotten to this day.

I remember sitting next to Hamish Henderson in a session at Auchtermuchty one year when someone; not knowing him or his background, asked him "hey big man..dae ye know the John Maclean March?". Hamish just looked at him and went into a long intro about the tune and then said.."the words, well...when I wrote the words in 1949..."..and then clapped the man on the back and sang it for us all...

Another, all time hero of mine, still with us..John Watt (The 'Muchty Megastar").
John once silenced the entire back bar in the Forest Hills at 'Muchty by singing the Kielder Hunt. He was not long recovered from serious illness and was still a bit frail, but the power...he poured everything he had into the song and to this day the thought of it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up...

Frank Harte, for taking the time to record and forward on songs for my wife and I that we'd asked about after he'd sung them in a session.


What a great thread this is...

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Nov 07 - 05:44 AM

Barry used to do a nice version of that Martin Graebe song, Honiton Lace. I'm glad he's still alive.

Subject: RE: Speaking well of the dead
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 06:00 PM

Andy's memory reminds me of how I came to be there. I was staying with a Glasgow friend who shall remain nameless. I'd been out in the afternoon and came home knackered, only to be told that he was going out to the festival, and was I coming along? He'd been rung by Derroll with a request for something to smoke (no cigarettes!) because Derroll had been too careful to bring his own stuff flying over from Belgium and didn't know where to go shopping in Glasgow. He was already quite ill at that time and desperate for a smoke to relax.

I was also told that when Derroll died his family put his remaining reserves into the coffin with him. If only he could have known! I didn't really know Derroll except for the few times I spoke to him at Tonder, but he seemed one hell of a nice man.