Tom Jukes Playing A Lachenal Accordiophone

[Alan Day]

I have been informed that Tom Jukes tracks 2 and 3 on English International may well be him playing a rare Lachenal Accordiophone and not an English Concertina at all.The recordings were taken from old ICA tape recordings and many of these recordings were a bit distorted and unless you knew that Tom Jukes had an Accordiophone and I didn't ,it would have been impossible to have known the difference. Goran Rahm attended some of these very early meetings and remembered the instrument.If he is correct then this is a very rare and unique recording.

Has anyone seen or heard of this instrument ?

Is this another reason to buy English International if you haven't already got it.

Al

[inventor]

Tom Jukes was the Musical Director of the West Country Concertina Players from it's very beginning over 30 years ago, until his death. I remember him bringing his Accordiophone along to a meeting on one occasion and playing it.

So far as I know the instrument went to another member of the WCCP who used to bring Tom from Basingstoke to the meetings. (I do know his name but will not put it on the website for security reasons)

Inventor.

[Mark Davies]

I knew Tom well.He was a member of the Kensington Concertina Group and a great friend of my great pal Harry Hatton of Haydock,Lancashire who both taught me a lot on the English concertina and who I played with for many years.On many occasions when he visited Harry I would spend an afternoon receiving guidance from Tom who was a lovely man and a fine musician.I also,somewhere, have a tape or tapes of him playing both with the Kensington Group and solo.I think he lived near Wrexham,North Wales at that time.

Having sold my soul to the devil I now mostly play the Anglo.

[Rod]

Is anyone going to tell us exactly what an Accordiophone is ?

[Chris Timson]

Here is a picture of our Accordiaphone:-

 

 

I have put a fuller description plus a photo of the amazing interior of this beast here. There are only 4 in the world at present, so far as I know: ours, Colin Dipper's, Neil Wayne's (though I understand this is unplayable and unrepairable) and the one mentioned by Inventor - I respect the reason given for not revealing the owner's name, so suffice it to say that he shares a first name with Inventor

 

Ours has been with Colin for renovation for a while.

 

Chris

[Alan Day]

From the information I have received there were only ten of these made by Lachenal from details given by Neil Wayne.One of these is in the Horniman Museum.Lachenal also made other peculiar boxes including one with a piano keyboard.

Thanks for the photo Chris your name was mentioned to me as having one.

Al

[Chris Timson]

My understanding was that 20 were made, but only 8 were sold by the time Wheatstone moved in. The others were all scrapped - they must have represented a treasure trove of reeds. So Neil's is in the Horniman now, that makes sense. I wonder what happened to the other 4.

 

Chris

[sidesqueeze]

^{That's amazing!}

 

^{Can anyone help me find a picture of the Lachenal with piano keyboard?}

 

^{There's a local ophthalmologist who plays piano accordian and swears that in his world travels, he has seen a concertina with a piano keyboard.}

 

^{Thanks for any help -}

 

^Ken

[Guest mglamb]

.

Edited August 10, 2013 by mglamb

[Anglo-Irishman]

Maybe a JEDcertina? http://www.concertinamuseum.com/CM00308.htm

Probably! Here's a couple of clearer pics

 

Cheers,

John E. Dallas (no relation!)

[Geoffrey Crabb]

I have been informed that Tom Jukes tracks 2 and 3 on English International may well be him playing a rare Lachenal Accordiophone and not an English Concertina at all.The recordings were taken from old ICA tape recordings and many of these recordings were a bit distorted and unless you knew that Tom Jukes had an Accordiophone and I didn't ,it would have been impossible to have known the difference. Goran Rahm attended some of these very early meetings and remembered the instrument.If he is correct then this is a very rare and unique recording.

Has anyone seen or heard of this instrument ?

Is this another reason to buy English International if you haven't already got it.

Al

 

Alan,

The Lachenal Accordeaphone, (note spelling), was a triple reeded version of the English concertina so it's inclusion on English International is quite legitimate.

 

Geoffrey

[Alan Day]

Thanks Geoff,it makes it all the more interesting

Al

[Geoffrey Crabb]

^{That's amazing!}

 

^{Can anyone help me find a picture of the Lachenal with piano keyboard?}

 

^{There's a local ophthalmologist who plays piano accordian and swears that in his world travels, he has seen a concertina with a piano keyboard.}

 

^{Thanks for any help -}

 

^Ken

 

Not a Lachenal, but a 54 button, Crabb 'Piano' (extended Rust) system built 1908.

 

Pictures 2003

 

 

 

 

Geoffrey

[Alan Day]

I understand that in addition to these peculiar instruments Lachenal also made an Organoloe and a Lintophone.

No further details sadly.

Al

[Rod]

It looks as though the only justification for the term 'piano keyboard' in this connection is that the buttons were originally sub-divided into black and white, presumably in order to make apprehensive pianists feel more at home ? The simple answer for them could have been to buy a piano Accordion instead !

[Chris Timson]

A small snippet about Syd Ive that I've just found. This is from the ICA newsletter no. 150, dated January 1968, from the section entitled News of the Members: "Very pleasant to have good wishes from Syd Ive, whose baritone concertina is in regular use by the Holloway Monday class."

 

Chris

[Dowright]

Regarding Chris Timson's post of 3 July 2013--see the article in his link (www.concertinainfo/tina.faq/images/accphone.htm):

1. It state that ". . . 20 of these [accordeaphones) were made by Lachenal, of which only 8 were sold." I would much appreciate the documentation (source or sources) for "20 of these were made" and "only 8 were sold."

 

2. It states that "In 1935 - 36 Lachenal, like other concertina makers, was feeling the effect of major competition from the accordion makers." However, the Lachenal firm closed in 1933. In Neil Wayne's interview with Tommy Williams, Tommy stated that they closed in 1936. The recollections of Tommy' Williiams--former Lachenal worker--are much appreciated, but some of his recollections including this one are inaccurate. By the time of his death, Thomas William Saunders (1832-1907) was the sole owner of Lachenal & Co. He left the company to his widow and his two surviving sons--Frederick Robert Saunders (born 1871) and Charles Saunders (born 1873). Soon after, George Richard Ballinger (born 1864) bought a share of the firm (probably the share left to Thomas William Saunders' widow.) This was a "buy-back-in" for the Ballinger family. (George Richard Ballinger was the son of Richard Ballinger, who had been an owner--one of the six woirkers who bought the firm from Elizabeth Lachenal in 1873.) George Richard Ballinger was the 'Ballinger" who Tommy Wiliams knew. Tommy was right about Frederick Saunders and George Ballinger being involved with liquidation of the firm, but the sell-off occurred well before 1936: Both were in ill-health during the close-out in 1932/1933. Their deaths more or less coincided with the demise of Lachenal & Co. Frederick Robert Saunders died on 1 October 1933, and George Richard Ballinger died on 4 January 1934. (Charles Saunders, who died in July 1938, could not carry on the business without his brother and George Richard Ballinger.)

 

Also note:

A. 1933 was the last year that Lachenal & Co. was listed in the London Phone Book.

B. I have serial numbers, descriptions, and a few sales receipts for nearly 5,000 Lachenal concertinas. Nothing directly or indirectly points to production of Lachenal concertinas beyond the early 1930s. (In fact, it appears that Lachenal production in the 1930-1933 period was extremely small-scale.)

 

3. I think that the serial number of Chris Timson's accordeaphone is No. 100100. This number is beyond the ranges of serial numbers for Lachenal duet concertinas and the series for Lachenal English concertinas. And if the serial number were from the Anglo series, it would indicate that it was produced in the late 1880s--implausibly early for an instrument built exclusively for Sid Ive. So, if No. 100100 is correct, it appears to have had a serial number that stood apart from the serial number series for Lachenal duets, Anglos, and Englishes, respectively.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Dowright

[Dowright]

Regarding Alan Day's post of 4 July 2013:

Alan notes that Lachenal built an "Organoloe" and a Lintophone [actually 2 Lintophones were made for Charles Gay--stage name Charles Linton], but Alan states "No further details sadly." However, the Organoloe and one Lintophone are in the Horniman MUseum collection and have the following descriptions (serial numbers from the duet number series):

No. 2182 Organoloe: 81 key, 12 sided, "Arthur Watson. Leeds" inscribed inside.

No. 4108 Lintophone: 48 key, raised metal ends, metal buttons, stretched hexagonal ends