Tribute concert for Brian Osborne

Ian Gartside & Pete Skinner

Although we knew Brian Osborne for over thirty-five years it was only during the last five years, when Ian moved to live within a mile of him, that we came to know him well. He would turn up at Ian's door, often on his bike, and we would chat over a coffee about music, walking, climbing and days gone by. We also spoke about the spiritual fulfillment he had gained from his religion.

It was after one of these discussions that we agreed to arrange a concert to raise some money towards the cost of repairs to the fabric of St Chads Church in Poulton-le-Fylde where Brian was a regular attendee. It took place in November 2000 and was a great success. We called it "Another Brick In The Wall" and we were planning a repeat performance when Brian sadly died in a tragic accident at Portpatrick in Scotland.

Speaking to Brian's wife some weeks after his death, we agreed to go ahead with another concert as a sort of musical farewell for his churchgoing and Folk music friends. It seemed fitting to call this concert "The Parting Glass". Also, as a token gesture, we hoped to make a few bob to be shared between the church and the Portpatrick lifeboat, which tried so hard to save Brian. As it happened, we made six hundred "tokens" on the night.

We duly met together on Saturday 12th October in St Chads Church Hall. It's a good venue for a concert, partly because, when the lights go down, the wooden roof, which is a feature of the building, can be bathed in a gentle glow of light giving a pleasant ambiance to the hall. It also has reasonably good stage lights which we complemented with a good PA system. You do have to bring your own bevvy, which is no bad thing so long as you know in advance.

The assembled singers had an audience who filled the hall to capacity and, with the house lights down, our band kicked off with the Alan Taylor song "It's Good To See You" by way of a welcome.

Andrew Green was next up with a terrific set including a bit of James Taylor and, to finish, the Les Barker song "All The Hard Cheese Of Old England". Andrew, like his dad Eddie, is an accomplished musician and fine singer with an interesting range of songs.

John Bamber and Steve Topping created a different atmosphere with their duo "Tripe At Fourpence". A set, mostly of chorus songs, including "Dublin In The Rare Ould Times", all given the honest, straightforward, treatment reminiscent of the folk song revival era.

Brian Preston said the other day that there didn't seem to be any characters left in folk music anymore but I think he was overlooking John. He's been quietly keeping the folk singing alive for thirty years or more; mostly in climbing and caving circles where it is still the tradition to sing only as long as the beer is flowing.

Rebecca Green was next and, like Andrew (and of course her Dad), she is also a fine singer and musician. She introduced herself to the audience with her version of "If I Were A Blackbird" but the highlight for me was "What's The Use Of Wings If You Can't Fly" written by Brian Bedford of Artisan. I've heard Rebecca sing it a few times and it never fails to impress.

One more to go before the interval! It was going to take someone special to round off the first half. A singer-songwriter perhaps, or a little comedy to lift the proceedings. It seemed all in a day's work for The Amazing Dick whose opening song put Bin Laden firmly in his place by telling the audience that he is not as Jee-hard as he thinks he is. Dick has penned many a wry song in his time always ably accompanied on the much-maligned, ukelele banjo. He has a rare talent for songwriting and, like us, is a frustrated rock and roller. A night round at Dicks listening to 50's rock and roll music on his jukebox is a rare pleasure indeed.

Alan Bell was compere for the night and, as a long-time friend of Brian's and fellow member of the Taverners Folk Group, gave us some rare insights into the lighter moments of Brian's life by relating some of the yarns which inevitably spring up when people come together to play music and share their lives.

Alan sang some of his own songs after the interval but provided the most poignant, and perhaps the saddest, moment when he sang the lines – "and here's to you and our time together, I'll share with you a parting glass". A tribute from an old friend, shared with us all for a moment by way of the music which Brian loved well.

The final set was in the hands of, The Ian Gartside Band, consisting of Ian Gartside, a stalwart of the folk scene and still performing without the aid of a safety net, Pete Skinner a fine banjo and guitar player, Trevor Colluny, virtuoso of the mandolin and another fine banjo player (no banjo jokes in our group) and "The Late" Bill Hunt, bass player extraordinaire. We've recently dedicated ourselves to playing and singing those good songs and choruses which we believe were the foundation stones of the folk revival and beyond. Perhaps, unwittingly, we're attempting to put back some of the character that Brian Preston believes is missing from the scene. The truth for us is that after a lifetime of musical ramblings, we have all arrived, more or less, back at the place where we started. Songs like "Tyrants of England", "Paddy Lay Back" and "Route of the Blues" were all in the set and others like Iris Dement's "Let the Mystery Be" and Tom Paxton's "Ramblin' Boy" have somehow got absorbed into our tradition. We hoped we played the sort of folk music Brian would have appreciated.

Encores over, all that remained were the thanks. Certainly to Alan Bell and all the artists who gave their considerable talent, but also to those who didn't appear on the stage like Simon Skinner who did the sound, Dave Emess who humped and shifted (along with a lot of others whose name I don't know) and to the two young boys Mathew and Mark (very fitting for a church hall) who suddenly appeared to do the lights. I might be ringing a chord with a lot of other folk singers' wives when I mention Eileen Skinner, Pete's wife, she does everything for us, including the driving, sound checking, beer getting and constructive criticising. It's also worth mentioning the guy who brought some very professional video equipment and filmed it all. There's going to be a video produced which will, hopefully, raise a few more tokens (£9-99 if anybody wants one).

There is a saying – happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again. Undoubtedly Brian Osborne was one of those guys you were always happy to meet and it is always a great sadness to be parted from a friend in such an untimely way. As for the rest – I spoke to Jean Osborne after the concert was over and we decided that we would meet again next year and, in the best tradition of Fairport Convention, hold another farewell concert - and raise a parting glass to Brian.

© Ian Gartside 2002-10-19

Brian Osborne's last CD, "A Capsule In Time", is available for £12.00 (including post package and insurance)

from
PI Recordings, Box 44, Blackpool FY3 8GP.
Pi Recordings (UK)
- www.PiRecordings.co.uk
Tel 01253 883526.
All proceeds now go to charities associated with Brian.