Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Concertina Man
From:
Ross Campbell
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 07:21 PM
Joe Maley's stage name was in fact "Jack Easy - the Musical Midshipman". Originally from Glasgow, he and his wife Liz retired to Fleetwood, Lancashire in the early '70s, after a long career in music hall and variety. He suffered a stroke shortly after that, and, unable to play, he and the family decided to dispose of his precious concertinas (some of them novelty items - one of them had a slider adaptation in the middle of the bellows so that it could be split apart in mid-tune - and continue playing!). Liz nursed him at home in Abbotts Walk for a long time and eventually he regained mobility and speech. In September 1977 Neil Wayne and Alistair Anderson were invited to the Fylde Folk Festival to present a "Concertina Consciousness" workshop in the Mount Hotel, across the road from Joe and Liz's cottage. Curiosity brought Joe and Liz to the meeting, in the course of which Alistair Anderson picked up that Joe knew a fair bit about concertinas and how to get the best out of the instrument. Alistair asked if he wouldn't mind demonstrating for the gathering. At first Joe was reluctant, as he didn't have his own preferred concertina any more (a fifty-six key English, extended down), while Liz was afraid he would make a fool of himself by not being able to get his fingers to work. However, somebody in the audience provided the right instrument, and Joe proceeded to dazzle everybody with a selection of tunes. Local folk club organizer Ron Baxter was in the room and made a point of introducing himself after the workshop had finished. A few days later, Ron arrived on Joe and Liz's doorstep with a concertina borrowed from Fylde Folk Festival organizer Alan Bell. Joe quickly recovered his full playing ability and started coming along to the old Fleetwood Folk Club at the Queens Hotel. In November, 1977 (the day after the flood, for anyone who remembers that) I drove Joe down to Haydock (at the invitation of Keith Higham, the instigator of this thread, and the guy who sold me my C/G Crabb concertina for £105! - sorry for delay, Keith I've only just found the request) to a Concertina Convention run by an ex-miner called Harry Hatton. Harry knew of Joe Maley under his stage name of Jack Easy. He had been trying to track Joe down for years and was thrilled to meet him at last. In Harry's estimation, Joe was the best player he had ever heard. While there were some very talented players at that meeting, including a couple of blazered gentlemen who played anglo in a style almost identical in smoothness and musicality to Joe's, it was Joe's playing that stood out.
Joe generously contributed his time and music to the local folk scene in Blackpool and Fleetwood over the next few years, and even travelled around the North West tp play in variety concerts revived by a local entrepreneur. Alan Bell introduced the Jack Easy Music Hall and Palace of Varieties as a regular event at Fylde, and Joe performed at these concerts till his death.
In the winter of 1978, I taped an evening of music, talk and stories at Joe and Liz's home, and recently managed to transfer that material to CD-R form. Stuart Eydmann of Edinburgh mentions Joe in his PhD thesis The Life and Times of the Concertina (can be found on concertina.net) and he intends to include a couple of Joe's tunes from the tapes at www.raretunes.org
(I tried blue clicky, but it keeps putting mudcat in front and the test gets result 404 not found.)
Joe was indeed a virtuoso of the English concertina. He thought, as I do, that the expression "Good enough for Folk" was an insult to both the audience and whoever came out with it, but he never let the standards he expected of himself get in the way of a warmth and generosity that were extended to any and all who were willing to learn. Joe and Liz's hospitality remains a warm memory to many who accompanied Joe home after a night at the Folk Club. Liz would immediately have a cup of tea ready, often followed later by bacon, egg and chips (she and Joe had acquired the habit of eating late from years in travelling shows, when the main meal in theatrical "digs" would be provided after the last show of the night).
Alan Bell wrote the song "The Concertina Man" about Joe's life and times, and the drive to entertain that sustained him and many like him. The words are available in the Alan Bell Songbook. I have contacted Alan and he has promised to send me a set of the lyrics to post here. At the moment I'm not sure if I can provide the music.
|
sj
