Obit: Johnny Collins (6 July 2009)

Subject: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:16 AM

R.I.P. JOHNNY COLLINS

Our friend, mentor, long time resident and president of Herga Folk Club is no more. True to his muse to the end, he had a fatal heart attack while on tour in Poland on Sunday 5th July. Our thoughts now are with Joyce and with Johnny's family. We will post more relevant information here as it becomes available.
The Big Fellow has gone. His voice is still.
But not in our hearts.

'...Haul away to heaven
God be at my side...'

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:17 AM

This is very sad news. My thoughts are with you all.

Peter

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Gervase
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:21 AM

Bloody hell. Johnny's voice has been a part of my musical life for as long as I can remember. I'm lost for words.
For anyone who might not know what a gentle giant among men Johnny was, see here, although his own website doesn't do him justice.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,tom bliss
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:27 AM

oh no! such a great man, and I was so proud to have his support. i'll sing God Speed for him tonight

Tom

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Mo the caller
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:28 AM

Bromyard festival won't be the same.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:32 AM

This is a terrible loss.

With deepest sympathy to Joyce and the family,

Valmai (Lewes)

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Chris Green
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:36 AM

Very sad news. A giant of a singer and a giant of a man. Rest in peace Johnny.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: SunrayFC
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:37 AM

On behalf of the Sunray Folk Club we send our condolences.

Our thoughts are with Joyce and the family.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:38 AM

Johnny has been a mate for nearly Forty years ! A sad loss to his family , friends , and to Folk Music

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GREEN WELLIES
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:41 AM

He visited our village hall some time ago. Once seen, never forgotten. Condolances to his family.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Hovering Bob
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:42 AM

Helen and I are both in shock at the news. He was one of our best friends. He was our boss in 'The Singing Chef' for more years than I can remember and best man at our wedding. We've lost a friend and the world has lost one of the finest singers who ever graced a stage.
I can still hear him singing 'Peslar' and will do for years to come.
Too many memories to write any more.

BobH

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:43 AM

NOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Totally lost for any other words... can't really take it in. So sad.

LTS

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:44 AM

I am shocked.
this is sad news.condolences to Joyce.RIP,johnny.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,Edain (sans cookie)
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:44 AM

Terrible news. The folk music world has lost a truely iconic figure.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: SylviaN
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:49 AM

I've been sat here trying to take this news in. I'll miss Johnny's laugh, his smile, his twinkling eyes and his hugs.

Please send Joyce and his family my warmest thoughts. So very, very sorry for their loss.

Sylvia

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,Derek Schofield
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:58 AM

This is very sad news. I sang alongside Johnny on many occasions in the 1970s ... shanty sessions at Sidmouth spring to mind, as well as on one of Jim Mageean's LPs. Enjoyed him and Jim singing at the Liverpool Maritime/Shanty festival last July, alongside the tall ships.
My condolences to his family.
Derek

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: old git
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:58 AM

A big man with a big voice. A big hole has been left in the folk world.
I have fond memories of the Roaring Forties acting as Johnny's "backing group" at many Lancaster Festivals.

condolences to Joyce

geoff turner (and The Roaring Forties)

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:59 AM

So sorry to learn this. From early Fylde festivals to latter Lancaster Maritime festivals, Johnny's visits to this part of the world were always a pleasurs.

Ross

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,Helen Akitt
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:07 AM

Just got the email from George and I can't believe this! So glad I saw him last weekend at the Eric Bogle concert. Voice sounded like he'd been overdoing it a bit then. Singing to the end.

To say Johnny will be sorely missed is an understatement. I don't really know what else to say at the moment, it feels like a huge personal loss never mind to the folk scene.

So sorry, Joyce.

Helen

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Derby Ram
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:07 AM

I am speechless and mortified! If I ever believed anyone might live forever - it was Johnny! Close pal, ally and mentor for more than forty years. What are we going to do now? A one man wall of sound and a voice without which the world will be a different place for all those who knew and loved him and his music. Johnny had everything, talent, warmth, kindness, generosity, great knowledge and above all - humility - I will miss it all. Our thoughts of course are with Joyce and family at this awful time.

Sail on JC, sail on...

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Dave Earl
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:09 AM

Johnny was the guest at the Lewes Arms for my bus pass birthday weekend in November.

It was a great night with Johnny in top form

It will be a lasting memory of him

The late night Shanty Sessions at Chippenham wont be the same and nobody will be able to sing Flying Fish Sailor(Blow The Man Down) in quite the same way as Johnny did.

Condolences to family and friends

Dave

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:12 AM

Very sorry to hear this awful news - condolences from all at Traditions at the Tiger where he was guest not that long ago.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Dave Illingworth
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:15 AM

Very sad news.
I was never a big shanty fan, but I really liked Johnny's singing from the time I first heard him many years ago.
Sadly never got to talk to him until just eight days ago when he was singing with Shanty Jack at the Braunston Narrowboat Festival - a very fine duo performance. He was extremely friendly to our band DPN (although we played a completely different musical style to his) and a very interesting talker. I was proud that he got up to
add his big deep harmony to our impromptu Worried Man Blues.
He kindly emailed me later to say that he would love to repeat the exercise some time.

At least I imagine he would have been singing till the end.

                      God bless.

                            Dave Illingworth

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:15 AM

Please keep the messages coming, they will be collated later with the emails that are already flooding in.

It so happens that Monday is Herga club night. Rather than cancel it, we agreed that we WILL meet at the club tonight to remember Johnny, though a more organised affair will no doubt be arranged later.

Jim Mageean was with Johnny, and is now fighting the logistics nightmare for bringing him back. News is scant, but I will update you as more news comes in.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Shantyjohn
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:17 AM

Such sad news, my prayers and thoughts are with his family. A lovely man who will be sadly missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:18 AM

Thanks George for keeping us posted. It's such sad news. I shall miss him very much.

Love to Joyce.

Sal

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Hamish
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:22 AM

That's a shock, right enough. Great voice, great man.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Gervase
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:26 AM

There was a great interview with Johnny by Mike Raven in Living Traditions back in 1998, which you can still see here.
Mike recorded Johnny for a radio programme he was planning to make, and it gives a lovely insight into the man Mike describes as "the archetypal English singer, a dignified gentleman and a jolly good chap to boot".
By heck, the 'choir invisible' up above won't know what's hit it!

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Sugwash
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:38 AM

What a tragedy, another good man crosses over the bar. I was only discussing him with a friend last week.

My condolences to his family.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: BB
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:39 AM

Writing through tears is beginning to be a bit of a habit. I find it hard to believe that he's gone, but as others have said, he was at least doing what he loved best, so if there's a good way to go, that's probably it.

Johnny has been part of our lives for so long that it will leave a huge gap - his support as a singer, through many years of Whittlebury Song & Ale, and through the current John Short project have been invaluable - and the latter project will miss him dreadfully.

Few had the huge natural voice that he was blessed with, and choruses with his bass were such a delight. His ability as a shanty singer often seemed to mask his skill with other songs, many of which he put into the popular repertoire of those who enjoy a good sing.

Although we've been in touch, we haven't seen him since Matt Armour's funeral, little thinking we would never see him again. Our thoughts and love are with Joyce and the family.

'When my day is over,
Haul away to heaven,
Haul away to heaven,
The Lord be by my side.'

May it be so, Johnny.

Barbara

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: The Barden of England
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:39 AM

What a blow this is. I luckily have managed to sing and play at some of the festivals that Johnny was also booked at and a warmer, friendlier man it would be difficult to find let alone replace.
My lasting memory is from a few years back at Rochester Sweeps when Kimbers Men and I were booked to sing on a two masted sailing barge berthed in Chatham Dockyard, and who should appear from below but Johnny. He joined Kimbers Men for a few songs, and what a special treat that was.
Such a great loss. My sympathies to Joyce.
John Barden

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,John from Elsie`s Band
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:47 AM

On behalf of "Elsie`s Band" I send our condolences to Johnny`s family. We had the pleasure of working with Johnny and I know the community will sorely miss his prescence.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST,madam gashee
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:53 AM

The world will be a less sunny place for a long time.
Miss him already,
Love to Joyce
Terri
xx

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:54 AM

So very, very sad. My thoughts and sympathies are with Joyce and the family. So many memories of wonderful shanty and song sessions at Bromyard FF.

John Taylor, Worcester

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:55 AM

Saying it all and nuf said

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Steve Hunt
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:58 AM

Johnny Collins was (and is) a significant landmark on my musical map - a constant source of inspiration for twenty five or so years of my varied experiences and activity in folk music. One of the great, spontaneous joys of wandering around English folk festivals was suddenly hearing THAT voice launching into a song like: "Randy Dandy-O," and then sprinting for the door of the pub to get in the thick of it with the great man!

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Crane Driver
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:02 AM

So sorry to hear this. We saw him recently at Les Sullivan's birthday bash and he seemed very well.

Our deepest sympathies to Joyce

And indeed our sympathies to Jim too

And to all of us

Andrew & Carole

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:04 AM

Yes this is devastating news.
Thankyou George... and DerbyRam for putting it so eloquently, I can do no better.

Johnny was such an inspiration to me personally too. By sharing that inspiration with me, he encouraged me to sing and to share songs.
He was also one of the most genuine and generous men I have ever met, a humble and ever-ready giver of anything and everything he could - far beyond the songs. And a mighty good friend.

To say he will be missed is a massive understatement.

My thoughts are with Joyce and family, naturally. May they gain strength and comfort from our prayers and condolences.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: RWJ
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:08 AM

very sorry to get the news. lovely man. My thoughts are with Joyce.

Ron

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Vic Smith
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:10 AM

This from Anni Fentiman

We are very sad to let you know that Johnny Collins has died this morning.
He was working with Jim in Gdansk and went to hospital after feeling unwell
in the night.

It is a very sad day for us all, the loss of a very great friend.

Our thoughts are with Joyce and his family.

We will make the details of funeral arrangements known in due course.

Anni

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: muppitz
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:10 AM

Words fail me.
Taken WAY too soon. We shared a stage once, I had hoped I'd get that pleasure again.

All my love to the family.

muppitz
x

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Lanfranc
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:11 AM

When the email from George Papavgeris came this morning, it took several minutes for the news to sink in. After all, we'd only seen him a few days ago at the Watford Eric Bogle concert. He looked tired and was a wee bit hoarse when he sang, but he still had the twinkle in his eye that I always associated with him.

Our paths didn't intersect often enough and I am left wishing I had known him better.

Our condolences to Joyce and the family - I doubt we will ever see his like again.

Alan (& Liz)

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: fiddler
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:12 AM

I first saw Johnny when I was about 14, soem 40 years ago, never forgot him and was glad to know him, though not well, later as I got older.

As far as his singing goes top notch and as a person exactly the same.

As sad sad day for folk music aswell as his family.

Andy

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: nutty
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:13 AM

I've known Johnny since the early 70's when he regularly brought his big voice to the north-east. I just assumed he would go on for ever, despite a few health scares along the way. Such sad news - too many special people lost this year.

Special thoughts to Joyce and Johnny's family.

Who will make the pancakes now???

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:14 AM

I didn't know Johnny Collins but judging from these posts, he sounds like a wonderful man.

On behalf of myself and other United States Mudcatters who may not have known him, my sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Dead Horse
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:19 AM

Sad news indeed. I really liked the man and his music.
Never to be forgotten.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Jess A
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:22 AM

I'm shocked and saddened by the news, same as everyone here. I was really looking forward to seeing Johnny again at Bromyard this year and it won't be the same without him.
My thoughts and best wishes to Joyce and his family, and to Jim.

Jess xxx

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Joules
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:24 AM

This is so sad and so sudden, was talking to Johnny and Joyce last Sunday at the Braunston boat festival, They were looking forward to their Whitby cod & chips at Bromyard. I just can't believe he's gone.
He will be sadly missed. Condolences to Joyce and family

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: Skipper Jack
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:27 AM

Devastating news indeed. I am deeply shocked.

My heartfelt sympathy goes out Joyce and family. He will be greatly missed in the folk world.

But Im sure he will be forever in our thoughts


Dave Robinson.

Subject: RE: Obit: JOHNNY COLLINS
From: TheSnail
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:28 AM

Johnny always seemd like a permamnent part of the landscape. It was inconceivable that he would ever not be there. So glad to have seen him at Dave's birthday bash.

Best wishes to Joyce and the family,

Bryan