Robert Booth

"Soames and Irene were seated at dinner. A hot dinner on Sundays was a little distinguishing elegance common to this house and many others. Early in married life Soames had laid down the rule: 'The servants must give us a hot dinner on Sundays - they've nothing to do but play the concertina.'" John Galsworthy A Man of Property The Forsyte Saga Cheers Rob

reminds me of a piece of local folklore: Two fishermen, standing into Depoe Bay on a gloomy evening... First guy, "aren't you going to steer us around those rocks shown on the chart?" Second guy, squinting, adjusting his glasses:" well, if those rocks are what I think they are, which is flyshit, then we're good to go!" RB

".. . if you like learning by ear on the fly..." It's the only way I know! '=)) Thanks for the response, Jody. I won't be able to make this years' meet but I just retired last January and am looking forward to the upcoming stretches of free time for travel, music and all those other things that work interferes with. Hope to see you all next year. Rob

Hello, all Having read the above comments about printed music, I wonder how a total non-reader would fare during those workshops and lessons? Think or swim, or are there setups geared for the illiterati amongst us? RB

by the way, doesn't it seem that the music played on the concertina is so often characterized as "mournful", or Lugubrious?' See the descriptions in "McTeague", or the abovementioned 'O, Pioneers", etc. Maybe 'cos the players are still in the slow session phase? Or just an unfortunate lack of taste in the writer? :0

Hi, All nice to read you again. I just picked up Willa Cather's O, Pioneers; Her Swedish Immigrant settlers on the Nebraska prairies often pick up and moodily squeeze what she writes as a "dragharmonika", which the footnotes define as "a concertina". Given the often loose definitions we've seen here, this could be any number of squeezebox contraptions, but let's just assume that it is our little hexagonal friend. Great book, by the way. Cheers, Rob edited: "drag" rather than "grab"

Thanks for your comments; apologies for the tardy response, family concerns. I'll put my friend on to this thread and maybe he'll pursue it farther. Anyways, thanks and Cheers, Rob

Hi, all, I have not been here for quite a while. Here's hoping that things are well with you. I have a buddy who moved to Australia: Bairnsdale, north of Melbourne, in Victoria. He has been playing diatonic and chromatic harmonica for quite some time and was delighted when I pointed him towards Anglo concertina; now he wants one, and has asked if I could help him to find a reputable dealer or shop in the general area where he could explore the instrument before making the huge commitment. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him? Thanks, Rob

Aye, that's the one...Thanks, Bill RB

Jody Kruskal had an archive of old photos,among which was (is) a lovely shot of Evangeline C. Booth, daughter of the Salvation Army Founder. I can't remember under what title these were filed...can you? Merry Christmas, Rob

Hmmm... didn't know about the CD, thanks for the tip The only thing missing was a source for me to hear the tunes, which is the way I learn new material. I'll seek it out. Thanks, Dan

Hi, all: We are in the process of culling books out of our school library; if it hasn't been checked out during the last three years out it goes. I rescued this book, "The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook". It has all the songs mentioned in Wilders' classic of American frontier life, about one hunded in all. Wilders' father played the fiddle at home and for community dances. There are love songs, hymns, dance tunes, English Ballads, even patriotic songs, all from the nineteenth century. The notation is written for piano or guitar, lyrics are given and even some background info about the songs. I have no idea whether this book is still in print, but it is a very nice hardback, compiled by Eugenia Garson and has the delightful Garth Williams illustrations, and was copyrighted in 1968 from Harper and Row. For someone looking for old-fashioned American popular tunes, this would be a real asset. I'm keepin' mine Cheers, Rob

I caught "The Admirable Crighton" last night, starring Kenneth More as the title character. A framing scene has a foppish dandy manipulating the bellows of an unidentified concertina (not playing...God forbid-that was a PA!) for a group of fat cats aboard ship. The ship immediately sank. Draw your own conclusions Fun movie, tho. Cheers, RB

Should help to sharpen up your fingering skills. ;=)

Hi, All. ...been "hidin' an' watchin'" for a while but I want to give a tip to Haliminum about the Ericas and Pokerwork boxes: try to get one of the German made ones if possible. Their quality is more to be trusted than the Chinese made instruments, which vary widely in playability. Have fun Rob

Silliest thing: I was sitting with my wife in a wine bar in Florence, Italy, last week when to my lasting astonishment and amusement, out of the loudspeaker came John Kirkpatrick's version of "Poppa Piccolina"! Sometimes you just never know when the connexions will line up... Rob

Yah, that's the one, although as usual, the melody has done lots of duty elsewhere. I heard a Willie Nelson version of "The Days of '49" that used the same tune, with a couple of added fillips to make things fit; essentially the same, though. I have in hand the volume in question, It is titled "Folk Song USA, 111 favorite ballads and musical arrangements for piano and guitar. Collected and arranged by John A. and Alan Lomax, Musical arrangements by Charles and Ruth Seeger. Compliments of Old Gold." Published in paperback by Signet in 1966. Looks like material originally copyrighted by the Lomaxes in 1947, so I assume that the material is around elsewhere, too. Good book, though. Cheers, Rob

In "Folk Song USA" , a kinda strange presentation of Alen Lomax's work presented by Old Gold Cigarettes, Lomax goes on at great length about "Red River Valley" and its wholesale suitability for concertina, comparing the sound to smoke from a campfire wafting away on an evening wind. Pretty prosey. As for the list, have you included "Buffalo Skinners Blues"? It has a plaintive melody just right for the subject matter and instrument. Cheers, Rob

So the 'N' stands for "natty"? Neat? Nice suit?

Oh, geez. Leather Ferret is good. Some guy at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest called his button accordion the Tootenfarten. Reminds me of the story of Olaf the Bull; say, anyone know where that piece of spoken storytelling can be found? Its hilarious. I had a copy once but misplaced it. Any more epithets? Cheers, Rob

We all know the most common names for our insrtument; have you any others that might be amusing? Aside from the common ones like squeezebox, etc., I like "wee squeeky thing" and "musical worm" (so called by one of my autistic students). What're your favorites?

Kevin Toner asks, " Is this lament style really concertina territory?" Boy, to my ear, there are few instruments that can give that high lonesome sound like ours. RB

Yes, sidesqueeze, but that is the beauty of it. It's like having a photo of your friend sitting on the end table, but even deeper because it is in your muscles as you play, moving your fingers, rocking your body, breathing with the instrument, as much a part of you as your eyes are. And thanks Al, for your kind words; they are gladly accepted. Cheers, Robert

Hello, all Last Friday my dearest friend dropped dead of a massive heart attack at age forty-six. After the initial shock many of us realized that funeral costs needed to be covered, so the musicians in town put together a benefit show to add to the pot. This is mainly a rock 'n roll crowd, but I led off with "Lament for Limerick," the saddest tune I know on concertina. It is a powerful tune, and concertina seems to have the ideal voice to deliver it. The noisy crowd, hearing the unfamiliar instrument and the melancholy melody went fully quiet for the only time during the whole affair. Have you played for such occasions? What did you play, and what spurred the choice? Robert P.S. Pay attention to what you eat, excercise often and, if you are a smoker, see if you can cut back---way back. And as you love your family and friends, let them know about it while you can.

So what I wanna know is, how did you get away with 3 hours a day of BANJO practice on a submarine?