Alan Bell has supplied a photocopy of the relevant page from the songbook, containing the dots and lyrics for "The Concertina Man" which he wrote in February 1980, just after Joe's death. I have passed the page on to Dick Greenhaus, so the notes may appear eventually. Alan also supplied the missing line which Rusty and Stu noted in their transcription (above) from the songbook. The last verse should read:-

"To Joe the theatre was, the very spice of liife,
For he loved Variety, touring with his wife.
Now sadly, that's over, the showman's days are done,
His fingers still at last, but his band plays on."

Joe's wife Liz and her cousin (Mary?) had a "sisters" dance act, so were often able to play on the same bill as Joe, who would prepare and score music for their routines. Joe and Liz worked all over the UK and Ireland, playing in theatres of all sizes, village halls and even tents – for some years in the fifties Joe organized travelling shows to tour villages and small towns in the West of Ireland. Local priests would organize a field for the tent and accommodation for the artistes. Profits would be shared between the parish and the company. In Ireland Joe made broadcasts with RTE and performed before President de Valera. Joe and Liz also worked with the late Calum Kennedy and others, touring similar shows round rural Scotland. Members of the Logan family (Scotland's "Royal Family" of the theatre) were occasional visitors to the Maley home in Fleetwood. Joe and Liz were well-respected throughout the business.

In 1980 Joe suffered another stroke and died a few days later. His funeral was attended by many members of the local folk scene as well as large numbers of friends and family from Fleetwood and beyond. Liz stayed on in Fleetwood for a while and it is through her good offices that I now live along the row from their old home in Abbotts Walk. Their son, Father Joe Maley, took her to see the Pope on his visit to the UK and Frank and his family took her with them on a trip to Disneyland. While she thoroughly enjoyed these trips and still had many visitors, she grew very lonely without Joe and eventually decided to move back to Glasgow to stay with her cousins in Duke Street. I visited her there several times, but we lost touch when she moved into her own flat nearby. By the time I traced her whereabouts, she had passed away.

Here's to you, Joe and Liz.

Ross