Our September Concert
Our September night started with myself playing Oslo Waltz and Whispering Hope. Our second player was Arthur Frankland playing Moonlight and Roses and Midnight in Moscow. Ann Parker then took to the stage and played Spanish Romance and Under Paris Skies. It was now time for our guest artists The Lancashire Fettlers who were making a welcome return to the club. They started by playing and singing Manchester Rambler before continuing with the instrumental accordion piece Alpine Slopes which was written by Dermot O’Brien. The entertainment continued with the L S Lowry inspired Matchstalk Men followed by Seth Davy. The entertainment continued with Bye Bye Blackbird, School Days Over and The Blackpool Belle. After all that singing we were treated to three Reels which were expertly played by Michael on the accordion. We returned to the singing with Do You Want Your Old Lobby Washed Down and Ee by Gum. To take us up to the break we were treated to a se of Hornpipes. There was plenty of chat during the break but I had to start the second half. We started the second half with Colin Ensor playing The Maigret Theme, Conquest Of Paradise and My Sweet Liverpool. It was now time for The Fettlers to return to the stage. They started by playing The Banks Of The Roses which was followed by a seto of Reels. It was back to the singing with The Ashton Mashers before we were treated to the accordion classic Reine De Musette. We had been entertained by jokes throughout the evening and after another great one which left the audience in stitches it was back to the singing with Dirty Old Town, Keep Your Hand On Your Ha’Penny. We then heard the Blue Bell Polka before we had another singing session with Molly Love Me Now, The Leaving Of Liverpool and Uncle Joes Mint Balls. The instrumental piece Tico Tico was then effortlessly played before the pair sang The Black Pud Stud. We all joined in with The Wild Rover and Black Velvet Band before we finally finished the night with Marino Waltz, Snow In Summer and Whiskey In The Jar. We finished at 11.32pm and had enjoyed a fantastic night of music and entertainment from The Lancashire Fettlers. This is one duo that can really get a room going and I hope its not too long before we see them at the club in the future.
David Batty
This Wednesday
This Wednesday is our local players concert. featuring ten minute spots by our local players who have brought their accordions. Please tell anyone who you think might be interested in coming along and if you are a player then please remember to bring your accordion. See you on Wednesday.
Travel’s With My Grandmother’s Guitar
Rose Rebecka is performing at Whalley Methodist Church, King St, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 9SN, on the 8th November. This one woman show tells the story of its central performer, a 110 year old guitar, through story and song, mapping out a family saga spanning the generations interspersed with Swedish folk music and family favourites. Grandmother Katrina was born on a tiny island in the Swedish archipelago. When she was a girl she was given a guitar, one of the very first to be made by the famous Levin company in Gothenburg. Katrina died tragically young, but she passed on her family’s love of music, and this very special instrument, which has been handed down from mother to daughter ever since. Katrina’s guitar is joined by a host of other instruments, from her son-in-law’s mandolin to a Tibetan singing bowl, each with its own tale to tell. Suitable for ages 6+ www.rosarebecka.com The show starts at 7.30pm Tickets cost £7, For more information Telephone: 01254 822555.
Foster and Allen CD
“Gold & Silver Days” is Foster & Allen’s first all new album for a decade, featuring 20 new recordings. Also featured on the album are two duets with THE LONDON PENSIONERS CHOIR; ‘Gold & Silver Days’ and the Rita MacNeil classic, ‘Working Man’.
Tracks on the CD are: Gold And Silver Days , Try A Little Kindness, Working Man, A Hug, The Green Hills Of Sligo, North To Alaska , No One Will Ever Know, The Boys Of Killybegs, I Wish I had Someone To Love Me, Daydream Believer, Rambles Of Spring (2014 new recording), Leaving Nancy, South Australia, The Land That I Love, The Old Rockin’ Chair, Hot Diggity, The Clouds In The Sky, The Travellin’ Man, Wasn’t That A Party , The Banks of New Foundland Jigs. The CD can be bought via Foster and Allen’s Website www.fosterandallen.ie
How It’s Made
How It’s Made – Tuesday 14th October on Quest from 6:00pm to 6:30pm. More everyday items are put under the microscope as we discover how they are produced, including accordions, pineapples and artificial joints.
Peter Shutler
Accordion player for The Yetties, Pete Shutler died aged 68 on 21st September. He is survived by his wife Marian and their two children Jamie and Sarah. Pete was born in Mudford, near Yeovil, Somerset on October 6, 1945. He later moved with his family to the Dorset village of Ryme Intrinseca. He went to school in the neighbouring village of Yetminster, and it was there, in St Andrew’s scout troop, that he met the other three members of the folk group The Yetties. The foursome soon took up folk dancing with the local Women’s Institute before forming their own Yetminster and Ryme Intrinseca junior folk dance display team which was swiftly abbreviated to the more familiar name, the Yetties. The Yetties have performed across the globe including in Thailand, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Sudan, India, Bangladesh, The Maldives, The Philippines, Ethiopia and Canada. The group also performed the theme tune to the Sunday omnibus edition of The Archers and has introduced the show for more than 40 years.
Lady Longley’s Accordion Band
(From Crawley Observer) Norman Longley and his wife Dorothy may be long gone but their legacy can be seen all over Crawley and beyond. Knighted in 1966 for his services to the construction industry, Sir Norman’s construction firm – Longley’s – built Christ’s Hospital at Horsham, restored choir stalls at Westminster Abbey, and built Crawley College. At the same time, Lady Longley was responsible for founding many of the town’s societies including Crawley Friends of Heatherley Cheshire Home, Red Cross Medical Loan and Crawley Live Club. She even took the town’s rainfall measurements for the Meteorological Office. One of the most unusual activities associated with Lady Longley was her accordion band, which played 1,000 concerts for soldiers during the Second World War. In 2000, Martin Hayes, of West Sussex County Library Services, interviewed Lady Longley and she spoke about her accordion band, explaining how the whole thing started during a works outing when an accordion player entertained everyone on their bus. Enchanted by the instrument, Lady Longley said: “So I came back and I bought a little accordion. You could buy them in different sizes and I thought ‘oh this is fine’ because I could play the piano. So I got a bigger one and I started a club and it became the biggest accordion club in England and then the war broke out and they used to have dances every week at the Railway Hotel with Jack Charman’s band. “Well, Jack got called up and we had a lot of Canadian soldiers visiting at Pease Pottage and they were, well they weren’t the highest grade soldiers, they were the ones that volunteered quickly because they were probably out of work or something. “And when this Jack Charman got called up, the man who ran these dances came to me and said ‘oh can you help me, can you play for dancing – I don’t know what to do about these soldiers, they just get drunk and they’ve nothing to do’. “So I said ‘oh no, mine isn’t a dance band, we just play accordions. We only know about three dance tunes’. ‘Oh well’, he said, ‘come and play them’ and he said we’ll have short dances and long intervals, anything to keep the soldiers amused. “So we started off like that and so we thought we’d better learn a few more tunes, which we did and we ended up playing for a thousand dances during the war and troop concerts at the camp at Outwood in Surrey.” During one of the concerts, the band was approached by a soldier who asked to play the drums. The drummer – George ‘Scats’ Johnson – had performed with the likes of clarinet player Harry Roy and big band leader Billy Cotton and took the band’s reputation to a whole new level. Lady Longley recalled: “We started off by pushing instruments, the drum kit and my accordion, down in a garden truck and then eventually they allowed me two gallons of petrol a month so that I could go and play at one or two camps. “There was one at Pound Hill and one at Outwood where I used to go quite a lot”. Sir Norman died in 1994; Lady Longley died in 2003, just short of her 100th birthday. The couple were married for 68 years. Martin Hayes’ full interview with lady Longley is available to read at Crawley Library but is not available for loan.
Lancaster Firework Spectacular
On 8th November the skies above Lancaster will be ablaze with colour once again this year when Lancaster City Council launches its 2014 Firework Spectacular. “Light Up The Skies” is part of Light Up Lancaster, a festival of illuminations, art, music and fireworks. The castle and priory precinct will be closed to the public, but spectators will still be able to watch the action from our main viewing areas: The Quay Meadow (requires wristbands for entry), Giant Axe (requires wristbands for entry) , The cycle path alongside the River Lune (opposite St George’s Quay) and near the Millennium Bridge and Williamson Park. To warm you up for the evening’s event on the Saturday, there will be themed activities to enjoy during the day including guided walks and tours, arts and crafts and lantern making workshops. A full programme of the daytime events will be available nearer the date from the Visitor Information Centres in Lancaster and Morecambe and online at www.lancaster.gov.uk/lightuplancaster Wristbands can be obtained via the website or the visitor information centre.