Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,DocJ Date: 26 Feb 07 - 04:51 PM Tony Davies did indeed start as as a jazz musician altho'I think he was a teacher during the day. He played at the Cavern in Liverpool,then a jazz club and long before that other group - what was it, the Bugs or something - appeared there. He and Mick Groves started the Lonnie Donegan skiffle club at the Cavern and encourged interest in Lead Belly etc. When this club soon faded away, they formed the Spinners and performed at Samson and Barlow's, a Liverpool restaurant. They called themselves the Spinners after the Weavers and because they were from Lancashire and that was the cotton spinning county. I particular remember Tony Davis saying that when the group first formed. DocJ |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,ib48 Date: 27 Feb 07 - 06:04 AM yes,whatever happened to the spinners.The aussies were never troubled by the ball turning,where is our Shane Warne when you need him? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Alec Date: 27 Feb 07 - 07:03 AM He played at the Cavern in Liverpool...long before that other group... Use of the word "long" is maybe a little relative here. The Cavern opened its doors for the first time on 16th January 1957 with the wonderfully named Merseysippi Jazz Band topping the bill. The Quarrymen (as were) made their debut on the 7th August. This was the first Cavern Skiffle Evening.Lennon was the only Beatle-to-be in the group at that time.McCartney would not make his debut for several weeks & Harrison wouldn't do so for several months. Also on the bill that night were Ron McKay's Skiffle Group,Dark Town Skiffle Group & The Deltones Skiffle Group. I have always loved The Beatles and The Spinners. The fact that both could emerge from such a small area more or less simultaneously says something about the importance of Skiffle to postwar British Music as well. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Mr Happy Date: 27 Feb 07 - 07:15 AM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6v2jRqjHzg |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Alec Date: 27 Feb 07 - 11:18 AM Have just been listening to "Folk at the Phil!" (on vinyl) and noticed the following in the sleevenotes: HERE'S TO CHESHIRE. By Leslie Haworth-fruit farmer, folk singer,Morris dancer and now song-writer. Also cricketer. This is a remake of a traditional tale, "Mr Froggie," with a special plug for Cheshire and fruit farming. Dedicated to his friend Jean Richie,the great Kentucky singer. Really is a small world isn't it? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Mr Happy Date: 27 Feb 07 - 11:30 AM his son Colin used to do a great version of the Chinee Bumboatman[Wing Chan Loo] - sometimes with piano accompaniment. See here:http://www.eddisbury.net/acatalog/Contact_Us.html |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Alec Date: 27 Feb 07 - 11:42 AM Mouthwatering link Mr Happy,though what I was alluding to is the fact that Jean Richie & Mudcat Member Kytrad are one and the same person. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Cliff Hall Date: 23 Apr 07 - 02:07 AM Just found the site and thought I would let you know that I am alive and well and living in Adelaide South Australia but visit U.K. as often as I can. My wife and I went over for Mick's 70th birthday last November and we will be returning in another month. It's lovely to think that we are still remembered. Thankyou all, God Bless Cliff Hall |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Bernard Date: 23 Apr 07 - 09:43 AM Lovely to hear from you, lad! |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST Date: 28 Aug 07 - 09:57 AM Saw the Spinners a couple fo times as a child in St albans with my Mum and sister. I still sing to myself, 'The Board is Black, the chalk is white, together we'll learn to read and write...' (or something like that. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Colin Randall Date: 28 Aug 07 - 11:58 AM I share the goodwill of most posters towards the Spinners. They were not especially my cup of tea but did what they did with honesty and a certain amount of style, and helped enormously in directing some people towards a deeper exploration of folk music. The point is that many of us would not have started that journey of discovery had it not been for the likes of the Spinners and Clancys. It must have been Hughie Jones, I think, who rang me just before the group disbanded to ask if the Daily Telegraph, for which I worked, would run a piece about it. I cannot at present trace the resulting cutting since I am surrounded by cartons after successive moves, but I will never forget his opening gambit: "Are you a Spinners hater?" (apologies if a similar posting to the thread has already appeared from me...I hit the Submit button and it just disappeared) |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,FAN Date: 29 Aug 07 - 02:44 PM DOES SOME ONE KNOW BILLY"O", WHO USED TO SING WITH THE SPINNERS BETWEEN 1965 AND 1967? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST Date: 29 Aug 07 - 03:33 PM IIRC I embarrassed the boy who treated me to a Spinners' concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London when I was 17, when they invited members of the audience to contribute a verse to Cosher Bailey, and I did..... it might have been the verse about Uncle Reggie, I think (sorry Phil). I last saw Hughie when he performed at Herga, some years ago (great night!), and Tony Davis at a National Festival in Sutton Bonington. Kitty |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Herga Kitty Date: 29 Aug 07 - 03:36 PM Blimey, I wasn't intending to keep such a low profile that I lost my cookie! Kitty (testing for reset) |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Becky (who's a long way from the Albert dock Date: 11 Nov 07 - 05:50 AM I remember the Spinners from when I was a child - and they were instrumental in getting me into folk music. Well...... them and the Houghton Weavers. Both great bands and so very 'north-west'! I saw Hughie at my local club, down here in the south, over a decade ago. Very polished performance, an enjoyable evening... but the spark wasn't there (more reputation than content) - the magic ingredient that, to paraphrase another song, '...lift's me up where I belong...'. That said, I have a number of Spinners albums running on shuffle play and they always cheer me up! |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: The Sandman Date: 11 Nov 07 - 10:32 AM I have seen Hughie Jones perform at least six times in the last five years. His performances were excellent,His presentation was good,his material had more depth,and on each occassion his performances were very well received.Dick Miles |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Richard Bridge Date: 11 Nov 07 - 04:52 PM One of these years I'm going to learn "Stockholm Tar". |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Chris J Brady Date: 11 Nov 07 - 05:59 PM I saw them in Concert in Auckland New Zealand in the 1970s. I have a tape of this somewhere. Wonder if they'd mind if I digitised it and uploaded it to my archive website? Chris B. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: vectis Date: 11 Nov 07 - 07:54 PM Thank you to the GUEST that started this thread. It was nice to find that they are all alive and three of them are kicking however gingerly. Hughie is at Seaford Folk Club in the new year and is still a quality performer. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Les in Chorlton Date: 12 Nov 07 - 09:48 AM Spinners deserve a Life-time achievement Award I say |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Martin in Adelaide Date: 14 Dec 07 - 01:43 AM I stumbled into this site while looking for the lyrics to a Spinners Christmas cake recipe and Ican proudly boast that two of the nicest people I have ever met are in my circle of friends. Cliff and Dorothy have lived here to the south of Adelaide for some years and have carved an indelible niche in the local South coast folk club. Cliff is no longer as healthy as we would like, but then who is?. We run a yearly folk festival here (The Fleurieu) and Cliff has stolen the show on both times he has appeared. Some years back when I traded in my ex for ayounger cheaper to run model (I thought) I found out that she was not only agood housekeeper but also a good record keeper, she kept both, so now I depend on Dorothys copying skills to replenish my Spinners collection. Mick performed at our local club a couple of months back and proved that aging is not only good for cheese but for quality performers too. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Rumncoke Date: 14 Dec 07 - 04:02 PM When I was living in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, in about 1970, I met up with someone who claimed that he had been performing with the Spinners before they were famous, along with all sorts of other things. All total nonsense but I do sometimes wonder if he is still out there somewhere.... But not very often. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Leadfingers Date: 14 Dec 07 - 08:00 PM It MAY well be true Rumncoke - I was in a band with Ian A Anderson (The Froots man) when he was an articled clerk in an acountants office and learning Blues Guitar ! But I dont think he brags about knowing ME ! |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Rumncoke Date: 15 Dec 07 - 05:24 PM Oh this guy told us was a lifeboatman and had been a member of the band in the Royal greenjackets, had played in an orchestra in London, he went out with the moutain rescue teams in the Pennines. He wasn't even a good liar. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,whiston nurses Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:54 AM What ever happened to Les ? is he from Chorlton now or Overpool.? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Phil Beer Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:41 AM Ken Hunts Obit for Cliff from the Scotsman. Folk musician and singer Born: 11 September, 1925, Oriente Province, Cuba. Died: 26 June, 2008, in Adelaide, Australia, aged 82. IT IS still relatively rare to see a non-white face on the British folk scene – whether as a performer or as a member of a folk club audience. Cliff Hall's was not the first black face to appear "on the scene" – that honour probably falls to Fitzroy Coleman, who worked with Ewan MacColl and Alan Lomax in the 1950s and early 1960s. While notable singers such as the British Honduras-born Nadia Cattouse and US-born Dorris Henderson made important inroads into Britain's colour-bar era mentality during the 1960s and afterwards, Cliff Hall of the Spinners was indisputably the first non-white face on the British folk scene to obtain any measure of national presence. Clifford Samuel Hall was born in Cuba to Jamaican parents and grew up bilingual, speaking English and Spanish. In 1939, the family returned to Jamaica, where Hall did labouring and farm work. There was no music per se in the family and his later musical career wrong-footed his family. In David Stuckley's book The Spinners – Fried Bread and Brandy-O! (1983), Hall recalls his first trip back to Jamaica in 1968: "My parents knew I was in the entertainment business, and they knew I was singing, though I don't think they really believed it – until one day the Spinners were played on the radio and there I was. … I found myself in demand for interviews on JBC, and everybody wanted to know how come I was making a living out of singing when I hadn't shown any inclination for it in my youth. And I used to tell them, 'It's as much a puzzle to me as it is to you'." In 1942, he joined the RAF and was sent to Scotland ("We landed in Glasgow on a crisp November evening, beautiful but cold") before being transferred to Filey in Yorkshire. His service involved delivering aircraft parts. On an electrical training course in Leeds, he met his first wife, Janet, a Scotswoman from a village between Glasgow and Hamilton. They married days before he was due to return to Jamaica on demob in 1947. He returned to Britain in 1948. They had three children – Lynne, Clifford and Robert. In 1953, Tony Davis, later of the Spinners, met Hall for the first time during the building of a section of the Capenhurst Atomic Energy site. Davis was labouring and Hall came in as an electrician. "I didn't know any black people until I met Cliff at Capenhurst," recalled Davis. "So I sought him out after our first meeting. I thought, 'He's black. He's bound to know about music.' It seemed inconceivable that he wouldn't at least know calypsos'." Actually, Davis's attention fazed Hall more than a little – he had forgotten his Jamaican folk songs and he was getting into US country music. Their paths crossed on Davis's trajectory from jazz and skiffle though – including Davis roping Hall in as a bongo-player for one New Year's gig in Wallasey that called contractually for a 12-piece band. Still without a name, the proto-Spinners first played together in May 1958 at a Conservative Party fête in Aigburth cricket ground in Liverpool. The line-up eventually settled on Tony Davis, Mick Groves, Hughie Jones – the only native-born Scouser in the pack – and Hall. By autumn 1958 they were hosting one of Britain's first folk clubs of any national reputation. Its nearest "rival" would be the Watersons' club in Hull. After making the EP Songs Spun in Liverpool (1962) as the Liverpool Spinners and shortening their name, they made folk music history – trivial by today's standards – in the early summer of 1963, when the Fontana label signed them for an unprecedented three-year contract, a portent of changing fortunes for folk music. Although they already had the unrepresentative LP Quayside Songs Old And New (1962) – made while Jacqui McDonald was still in their number – to their name, it ushered in a new era of British-born folk music in a popular vein. With a Caribbean overlay as Hall rediscovered his Jamaican roots. They would record extensively for Fontana and then EMI before their retirement in 1988. Indeed they became the popular face of folk music, appearing in television variety programmes alongside Harry Secombe and Deryck Guyler (who penned the introduction to Stuckley's history of the band) and on It's a Celebrity Knock-out. As a consequence they were also regularly derided for letting the side down and – folk circles can be sartorially cruel – reviled as "singing jumpers". What is unassailable is that the four-piece flew the folk flag as no act before or since. Furthermore, their multiracial line-up set them apart in ways that would only begin to be exploited in popular music marketing terms with the arrival of the Equals, the mixed-race rock group of the late 1960s that included Eddy Grant. Cliff Hall is survived by two sons and his third wife, Dorothy. KEN HUNT Mick Groves is currently in the studio recording a new album with me and a bunch of the young local musos including Jackie Oates, Jim Causley, and Becky Driscoll. Cliffs lovely old Martin guitar features heavily in the recording. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:46 AM Sorry to hear this, Cliff posted toone of the "where are they" threads here some time back. It was the Spinners who got me interested in folk and West Indian music. RtS |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Peter the Squeezer Date: 31 Jul 08 - 10:12 AM Sorry to hear about Cliff's passing. "Singing Jumpers" or not, The Spinners did a heck of a lot to raise the profile of the folk scene in the UK. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Vin2 Date: 01 Aug 08 - 08:38 AM Singing jumpers, deary me. Could never understand the attitude of some so-called traditionalists towards the Spinners. Maybe jealousy cos they got on the telly a bit? They were trying to earn a living for god's sake! You might as well say those other legends the 'Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem' were singing jumpers, or the McPeakes. They were (still are) part of the folk tradition and as you rightly say Squeezer 'reised the profile' and spread it to the masses i.e. the 'folk'. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Les in Chorlton Date: 01 Aug 08 - 09:53 AM Hello Whiston Nurses, "What ever happened to Les ? is he from Chorlton now or Overpool.?" True enough Les is in Chorlton, Manchester but it's true I am from Overpool, down by the baths! Which Whiston Nurse are you then? Cheers Les |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Dy Swindlehurst Date: 16 Mar 09 - 08:58 AM Hi there Alan and thanks for your comments! The Spinner, long ago disbanded tho' I think Hughie still plays somewhere on the Wirral. Tony is into jazz I believe but I don't know about the others. I am still singing and am now with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir. A few of the Swindlefolk are still making music. I am in touch with most of them and we have becoame very good friends. I was, of course, their music teacher but as it was my first teaching post I was not much older then they were! Dy Swindlehurst |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Swindlefolk Date: 16 Mar 09 - 09:03 AM Hi there How nice of you to say that! In fact I am Dyanna not Diane and I was a music teacher at Ruffwood School where all the singers and guitarists in my group were pupils. I did all the arrangements myself though as they got more into the music, the guitarists also contributed hugely. I am still in touch with most of the group, amany of who are still performing music in one way or another. I myself still sing and am with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir. We had a reunion of the Swindlefolk a few years ago in the year they all hit........50! Doesn't seem that long ago we were all young, in mini-skirts and singing at the Spinners Folk Club! Happy day. Dy Swindlehurst |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: pavane Date: 16 Mar 09 - 09:44 AM From an earlier post: "IMO The Spinners were not (by and large) great musicians or singers" I would disagree. The only time I saw them live was in Dubai, 1980, when they sang a few songs, unaccompanied, at a lunchtime session in "Wilkie's Wine bar" in the Dubai Marine Hotel, where they were staying while performing at the Country Club. I have rarely heard anything as good as that performance, which was far better than I ever saw them do on TV. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Will Fly Date: 16 Mar 09 - 12:43 PM I saw the Spinners on several occasions when they performed at the old Lancaster Folk Stir in the mid-60s. They were very polished and professional. I found them rather dull then, but that was just the age I was, I suppose - early '20s, full of Bob Dylan and the contemporary guitar stuff. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,alan bradley Date: 22 Mar 09 - 07:46 AM Hi Dy, How good to hear from you and that you are still singing, must make the effort to get to the phil in the near fuure. Are any of the group still singing folk songs, bet the renuion was a hoot. Alan. alanbradley@ntlworld.com |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Myrtle's cook Date: 23 Mar 09 - 07:15 AM I grew up listening to the Spinners - a great complement to rural tradition of folk songs around me in Shropshire. Yes - Hughies Jones is still writing and singing excellent songs - Hughie can be heard at the Everyman Folk Club (where he is a resident), in the Third Room at the Everyman Bar and Bistro, Hope St, Liverpool most Tuesdays. ...in addition to festivals etc. Mick is certainly still singing, based in the West Country. Both well worth a long journey to hear! |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Shine eye girl Babz Date: 16 Jul 09 - 06:27 PM I've just discovered this site and it has made my eyes prick with tears at the memory of The Spinners and their music. From seeing and hearing them in my youth I have never stopped singing their songs and still know most off by heart and have the original vinyls. I'm so sorry Cliff has gone from us - kind of funny that just a couple of years ago I 'discovered' hand drums and now sing Cliffs Jamaican songs to a native beat -I hope he is smiling down at my efforts. If any of the others read this I want to say thankyou you shaped a big part of me, Love to all Babz PS are there any recordings on youtube or can any of the recordings be found on cd |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Les in Chorlton Date: 17 Jul 09 - 01:59 PM I think it's a great shame that they were never given a Lifetime Award. And as you say Cliff has gone .................. L in c |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Charley Noble Date: 04 Oct 09 - 05:34 PM Evidently there was an even earlier "Spinners" folk music group formed on the other side of the Mersey in the 1950's. I ran across one of their founding members, Danda Humphreys, in a recent visit to Victoria, British Columbia, where she teaches history and authors pictorial histories of the Victoria area. Does anyone remember this group? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Herga Kitty Date: 04 Oct 09 - 05:41 PM Charley - you could try checking the current Spinners website . Hughie Jones performed at the Herga club last month and gave us a really good night. Kitty |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Charley Noble Date: 04 Oct 09 - 08:00 PM Kitty- Hughie back in action is very good news. I enjoyed meeting Hughie at his home in Liverpool a few years ago. I didn't find any reference on the Spinners website to a precursor group across the Mersey. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Sailor Ron Date: 05 Oct 09 - 05:19 AM Charley, Hughie was the guest on board the heritage trawler 'Jacinta' on the run up to the Fylde Festival at the end of august, just as good as ever, he did a storming set. Ron |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: RamblinStu Date: 05 Oct 09 - 08:30 AM Just a quick note to say that Hughie will be performing at The Star, St Mary in the Marsh, Kent on Saturday October 24th 2009. The Star St Mary in the Marsh Hope to see some of you there Stuart Pendrill |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Mr Happy Date: 05 Oct 09 - 08:45 AM Which 'other side of Mersey' d'ye mean? Birkenhead, Wallasey, Cheshire? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Charley Noble Date: 05 Oct 09 - 09:23 AM "Which 'other side of Mersey' d'ye mean?" Cheshire, I believe. Danda's "Spinner" group may have been an informal group but it sounded like they had a whole lot of fun. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Charley Noble Date: 10 Oct 09 - 08:58 AM Refresh |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Croydon-Dave Date: 24 Oct 09 - 06:49 AM Hughie was at the Friday Folk night at Orpington last night and gave a great performance. |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: GUEST,Jim Knowledge Date: 24 Oct 09 - 11:27 AM I `ad that GUEST in my cab the other day with a very quizzical look on `is kisser. `e said, "You been reading MudCat, Jim? What do you reckon then?" I said, "What do I reckon about what?" `e said, "Them `Spinners`. What do you reckon `appened to `em?" I said, " Spinners?. I reckon they`ve all came round to ours this summer. `er indoors was constantly at their cobwebs with `er feather duster. You should `ave `eard `er go into one!!" Whaddam I Like?? |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: Mr Happy Date: 25 Oct 10 - 08:16 AM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=073OtNCUEJo |
Subject: RE: Origins: What ever happened to the Spinners ? From: SylviaN Date: 25 Oct 10 - 09:39 AM If you couldn't manage to see Hughie at Friday Folk at Orpington because it was too far, then how about coming to the Old Oak Inn, 176 Main St, Horsley Woodhouse, Derbyshire on Wednesday, October 13th at 8pm to hear him. £10.00 in advance, £12.00 on the door - £9.00 concessions. See you there? Cheers Sylvia |
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