Hi Lance. It is very
true what you said about Johnny Barnes, Roy Williams and, to a lesser extent
for me, Digby Fairweather. I had talked to John several times and one day,
on a Saturday afternoon outside Twickenham Stadium where there was an
England v Scotland rugby match, I saw John standing by himself outside the
ground.
I was with friends who had heard him play and I said that I was going across to have a chat with him. The others questioned the action but I said that I knew him from previous conversations. I was welcomed and we all had a ten minute chat on both rugby and jazz.
Sometime later, I was at a Humphrey
Lyttelton concert at Gateshead Library and Helen Shapiro was singing with
the band. At the interval, John saw me and came through the crowd to where
I was standing with my friends and he asked me how the band sounded from the
floor. He also said that the band loved playing behind Helen.
My friends were very impressed by his friendly
approach. We were then joined by Helen Shapiro who had a five minute
conversation with our wives on clothes and fashion.
He appeared several times at Blaydon’s Black Bull
Jazz Club and always had time for a word as did Roy Williams who was
equally amiable.
Digby Fairweather too always had time for a quick
chat and, at a gig in Guernsey, he was very approachable and, somehow, I
brought up Adelaide Hall. It was an amazing coincidence for him as he had
been to see Adelaide socially just the week before. I still have a 78rpm
of Blues I Love to Sing which Adelaide recorded with
Duke in 1927 and which was in my dad`s collection. The Midnight Follies also,
in my view, made a good recording of it.
Thanks to You and Russell for the work that you do
on your excellent website. I have a few more forgotten venues if you want
them. Bill Gallon.
(Editor: We want them!)
No comments :
Post a Comment