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Memories of a Birmingham Musician (Drummer)!

Eddie,

A bit belated, but we have spoken via email. I'm sure this is Beryl chatting with your daughter..........

drummers.jpg

Best wishes,

Maurice
 

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The sad passing of 'Prince' today, and Victoria Wood yesterday.
Last week the BBC did a 'same period' comparison for 2013, with 5 'name' deaths, 2015 there were 12 'name' deaths, and this year, at the end of last week, there had been 26 'A list/big name' deaths. A really sad start to the year for those that have entertained us, in one way or another.

Had the pleasure of meeting Victoria Wood, in her early days, on Leicester London Road station, when we were both waiting for a train. Naturally the main topic of conversation was music.

Eddie
 
Today I was reminded about one of my visits to Chicago.
I had met up with Jamie Oldaker, Eric Claptons drummer, and he decided to take me around the Chicago Museum of Transport, or whatever the official title was.

During the visit we were shown an original German U Boat. It was incredible. This U Boat was a centre piece in the museum, and a visit could walk through it, and it was still just as it was when the U.S Navy captured it during WW2.
The tour guide made a big thing about the capture of the submarine, and I decided to tell him that, as an Englishman, we also caught, and destroyed many German U Boats. An American man looked at me, and said "You had these things in your part of the world?".
"Oh, yes" I said, "We regularly had them washed up on our beaches".

It all went quiet, but Jamie, who is American, and I had a good laugh.

Eddie.
 
Today I was reminded about one of my visits to Chicago.
I had met up with Jamie Oldaker, Eric Claptons drummer, and he decided to take me around the Chicago Museum of Transport, or whatever the official title was.

During the visit we were shown an original German U Boat. It was incredible. This U Boat was a centre piece in the museum, and a visitor could walk through it, and it was still just as it was when the U.S Navy captured it during WW2. Everything still in the German language.

The tour guide made a big thing about the capture of the submarine, and I decided to tell him that, as an Englishman, we also caught, and destroyed many German U Boats. An American man looked at me, and said "You had these things in your part of the world?".
"Oh, yes" I said, "We regularly had them washed up on our beaches".

It all went quiet, but Jamie, who is American, and I had a good laugh.

Eddie.
 
Eddie,
As someone objected to my posting musicians' deaths on the Birmingham Jazz thread, I'm sure you would accept it here.

On 5th May the death occurred of the Japanese synth pioneer, Tomita Isao, of a heart attack. Whilst most of his work involves arrangements of the classics - and superb ones at that - he was also a renowned composer and will be sorely missed. Anyone not familiar with his work should start with his arrangement of Holst's "The Planets", which is available here:-


Sorry I haven't been around much. Jan, my other half, has been ill, unusual for her, and that has upset our arrangements generally. However, she is now recovering and will hopefully be more or less back to normal within the week. Unfamiliarity with the new Forum software also somewhat slows me down, but I'll get there in the end!

Maurice
 
Eddie,
As someone objected to my posting musicians' deaths on the Birmingham Jazz thread, I'm sure you would accept it here.

On 5th May the death occurred of the Japanese synth pioneer, Tomita Isao, of a heart attack. Whilst most of his work involves arrangements of the classics - and superb ones at that - he was also a renowned composer and will be sorely missed. Anyone not familiar with his work should start with his arrangement of Holst's "The Planets", which is available here:-


Sorry I haven't been around much. Jan, my other half, has been ill, unusual for her, and that has upset our arrangements generally. However, she is now recovering and will hopefully be more or less back to normal within the week. Unfamiliarity with the new Forum software also somewhat slows me down, but I'll get there in the end!

Maurice
 
I am also attempting to get my head around this new website system, although I have been off the old computer for a number of days.

The name Tomita Isao, I have heard off, but not familiar with his work. Will check it out. I have many other stories of my life in the music business that have not been yet told on this thread, simply because I felt a rest away from it would be good.

Eddie
 
My old drum teacher, Phil Seaman, was arguably, in his prime, the top drummer in the UK. The only other pupil that I am aware that he taught, was the great Ginger Baker.

Phil spent hours teaching me wonderful African rhythms. These rhythms were the source on which all modern jazz and rock rhythms are based.

Phil was also a great character, famous for his very colourful language, and his eccentric behaviour.

When Leonard Bernstein brought his West Side Story show to London, to be performed live, Phil was the drummer that was chosen to play the very difficult drum parts.

During one part of the performance, Phil had a very long rest, until he had to strike a large gong.

During this rest, the performance being a very subdued, and moving part of the show, Phil dozed off.

One of the musicians near to Phil, whispered "Phil". Phil leaped up and struck the gong. Wrong moment.

Phil turned to the audience, bowed, and announced "Dinner is served".

A wonderful drummer, teacher and a very special man. I miss him very much.

Eddie
 
Eddie,
A lovely story and one of the many about Phil Seamen that I have heard through the auspices of Ronnie Scott's book or books about Ronnie Scott, all of which I have, and which I read regularly. He was undoubtedly Britain's top jazz drummer and I don't think that anyone would dispute that. Sadly he was also one of the few names that never made it as a guest to the Parkstone Jazz Club as it wasn't set up until just over a year after he died. On the good side there is much evidence on record of his greatness - just type Phil Seamen into YouTube.com and it will keep you going for hours, both audio and video. Thanks for the reminder, Eddie.
Maurice
 
Watching the political show last evening, This Week, BBC 1 11.45pm.

Very surprised to see Ann Nightingale, DJ, on the show.
In the early 1960's we worked together on a music show, in London, for a week.

In those days she was a vivacious, very funny young lady.

Both of us looking much older, but both still here!

Eddie
 
Annie Nightingale introduced the band in which I was the drummer, on The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2) in 1981. Yet we didn't meet her; our slot was recorded at the 101 Club in Clapham, and Annie did the links in the studio. The band was a short-lived power-pop outfit called Nautyculture. Two singles for Charisma Records, and two tracks on compilation albums.
 
Just heard the announcement of the passing of Peggy Spencer, aged 95.

A most gracious lady. Peggy, and her husband Frank, led the Frank & Peggy Spencer Dance Formation Team. They were the greatest, winning every dance championship, and often appeared on the BBC "Come Dancing" programme. I think it would be fair to say that, without Peggy Spencer, Come Dancing would not have had the success that it enjoyed in the 50,s & 60's. They were always announced as "From Penge, the Frank & Peggy Spencer Dance Formation Team".

I played for Peggy on several occasions, including World Championships, and unlike many on the professional dance circuit, she would always thank the band after a show, even if she lost.

R.I.P. Peggy Spencer
 
The sad passing of 'Prince' today, and Victoria Wood yesterday.
Last week the BBC did a 'same period' comparison for 2013, with 5 'name' deaths, 2015 there were 12 'name' deaths, and this year, at the end of last week, there had been 26 'A list/big name' deaths. A really sad start to the year for those that have entertained us, in one way or another.

Had the pleasure of meeting Victoria Wood, in her early days, on Leicester London Road station, when we were both waiting for a train. Naturally the main topic of conversation was music.

Eddie
'Met' her too, she was a doing a shop window in Cov before she was well known, with Chris Tarrant. I say met, they came down to the lounge and I said hello, that's all. Terribly sad and a great loss to the world when we lose anybody with such talents as these people. Who make people happy.

I was hoping you could help me out Eddie? It may be of interest to other readers too. I was given my great uncle's harmonica yesterday. A Hohner. He brought it back from Germany in WW2. It is still in the original box with blue flock lining and had not been played for over 50 years, so I teased Maree's Wedding and Daisy Belle out of it. Then my partner said, " you have got purple lips!" so I hope I wasn't poisoned. Blue flock I suppose. There are a couple of notes that won't play do you know how it can be cleaned? It has the button on the end that makes it vibrate. Best Wishes, Nico.
 
Hello Nico,
Nice to read the story of your great uncles Hohner Harmonica. The button at the end means that it is a chromatic harmonica. In other words, it plays the sharp and flat notes as well as the ordinary notes, like the black and white keys on a piano. It really needs a specialist to clean it properly, and the reason that a couple of notes do not play is probably because the metal reeds have become stuck. It happens with old harmonicas. You could carefully remove the plating, and check the reeds on the notes that are not working, but be very careful...do not mess with them any more than you have to.

What I find interesting in your comments, is that your great uncle brought it home after WW2, so I assume that it was made either before the war, or during the war. If so, it would now be a very rare model. Check it out. With best wishes.
 
Thanks Eddie.
He brought it home from Germany but I don't know how he got it. I think he was a character. His middle name was Kitchener and I know he played guitar too. I will take a photo and put it on here of it. I have another one my step daughter gave me which plays the sharps and flats (I think,) without the button, as in blow and suck but not all of them. I could be mistaken of course, I can compare it to the piano and see. I never had lessons I just tried, last year. The more I played it the easier it became although it still stuck and it tasted vile. I got a You Tube video how to clean with surgical spirit and a soft toothbrush it does say take care but you have to take it apart. I suppose I could could just clean the outside with spirit to protect my lips and see if I can blow out whatever is in. Probably dust.
One tale is that great uncle took it from a German soldier I don't know how true that is, he did have a German soldier's belt.
I feel honoured to have been given it though.
Best wishes
 
This may not be the right place for this post, but I'll try it anyway. Over the last few weeks I have seen reports of where someone is taking some else to court for copying their music. Now, I am not a musician but are'nt there only 12 notes in a scale, and if so, then surely there must be a limit to what can be done with them. After all the millions of songs that have been recorded and published surely we must be close to the limit, and by the law of averages there must be songs out there that sound very similar, unintentionally may I add. Like I said I am not a musician and I don't understand music, but it is something that has always puzzled me, but I have never asked before.
Terry
 
Terry,

This sounds as good a place as any and I'm sure that Eddie will come along and comment too, as well as others.

Correct that there are only 12 different notes in the chromatic scale, but the number of possible sequences of those notes is a huge number. But, of course, that number is lessened somewhat when you realise that many of the possible sequences sound rather unmusical. You certainly wouldn't have a shower whilst trying to hum some of the atonal sequences written by the likes of Arnold Schoenberg and others!

So whilst the number is reduced, it is still very large. And the majority of tunes comprise 32 bars (or thereabouts) and each bar comprises quite a few notes, that still leaves a very large number of sequences/tunes. The odds are that if one sounds near enough the same as another that one was copied from the other. Personally I think that that is a fairly reasonable assumption, though like DNA, there is always a very minute chance (one in umpteen millions) that the defendant did not commit the crime. But there is generally a bit of other evidence to back up the accusation, e.g. the two composers worked in the same band or something like that.

The odds are a bit better if the tune is a 12 bar blues - less bars, commoner phrases, etc. - but I haven't heard of a copyright case being brought over a 12 bar blues. Jazzmen frequently use the chord sequences of other tunes as a basis for another theme on which to improvise. Then the "new" them is known as a contrafact. For instance, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker wrote the theme Ornithology (named after his nickname "Bird") which uses the chords of the song "How high the moon". There are many many other contrafacts, but now we're getting into a slightly different subject, so I'll leave it at that.

Maurice
 
I also listened with intent at this case and will it set a president for others? My step daughter and her partner are musicians. They told me that if a part of a song is similar or even ripped off, as long as you changed the rest of it, note wise, or the copied part slightly you can get away with it. They also explained that (news to me) you can buy/download backing tracks and record your music on top of them so I thought at the time, your music is bound to sound the same as another's if you use the same backing track.
We always listen to the radio and my partner says that just sounds like something else so I usually sing the something else along side whatever is playing.
My partner is French and sometimes I hear an outburst from her saying, another copy! As many of our UK pop hits were copied note for note and or translated, or had different words/meanings put to them and recorded by a French artist to become big hits in France. e.g. How do you do what you do to me, recorded there by Claud François. I don't know how this works copyright wise. Maybe someone can enlighten us? Eddie?
 
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