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Campbell Boys


arkwright

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Here's the cover of sheet music for "Nobody Loves You Any Better Than Your M-A-Double-M-Y".  It was first published in the USA in 1923; this copy was published in Australia, where it was in the repertoire of The Campbell Boys.  Could those English concertinas, apparently  by Wheatstone,  be unusual enough that we could identify them in the Wheatstone ledgers?

Campbell_Boys_0001.jpg

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According to a press item I've read, their main instruments were 76 key, which might make identification from the ledgers a little easier if they were a matching pair. They toured extensively, playing theatres throughout Australia, New Zealand and South Africa from around 1918 till 1929, so early in that period, or a little earlier, might be my best guess at build date.

 

John and Colin Campbell, originally from Scotland, New Zealand, of Scottish heritage, also played a pair of miniatures, ocarinas, and also did a song and dance routine, and were a popular act. Their musical partnership broke up in 1929 after 12 years of working together. John got involved in the NZ film industry, while Colin worked for RKO in Sydney for some years afterwards, prior to returning to New Zealand. There was a famous(?) New Zealand band leader by that name, active around Christchurch during the WW2 years, but I haven't been able to confirm whether this was the same man. (Colin Campbell is quite a common name wherever Scots are found).

 

Too late tonight, but will do a little more research tomorrow....

Edited by malcolm clapp
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Having had a quick look through the Wheatstone ledgers of the relevant period, I note that 76 keys was a pretty unusual number. Assuming that the number in the newspaper article was correct, and allowing for the fact that my troll through the ledgers was only very brief, two consecutive entries stood out for me, being #28687 and #28688 from January 1921, noted as NP Octo Bass. So a five and a half octave range going very low indeed. (My thumbs ache at the very thought of it!)

 

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6 hours ago, malcolm clapp said:

 So a five and a half octave range going very low indeed. (My thumbs ache at the very thought of it!)

 

And they are pictured standing up, which must give a greater strain on the thumbs in particular and the whole hand in general.

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