Chris Timson Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Hi all, You may or may not know about these already, but there used to be a magazine called Concertina & Squeezebox. Long defunct, it was a joy in its time and inspired a lot of loyalty in its readers, so much so that when the editor requested musical contributions from readers for fund raising tapes he was able, over time, to put together four such tapes. Ed Delaney recently did a lot of work digitised the tapes and put them on the web, but because of the size of the collection he is no longer able to keep them online. This is where the ICA comes in. We have agreed to give the collection a new home on our web site. The collection is open to everyone, not just ICA members of course. The address is:- www.concertina.org/sound_archive/sound_archive_frame.htm (Click on the C & S Readers' Tapes link on the left hand side). There is some cracking music there, some from people no longer with us like Hugh Blake and Pat Robson. Go and enjoy yourselves and have a listen. The quality is not always that good - we are talking about home-made cassettes after all - but the music can be superb. Chris PS Actually the size of the collection is such that in order to house it all we had to call on the help of another web site. Can I publicly thank the webmaster of the Concertina FAQ website for making available some 280 Mb of space on his web site to house some of the files (well OK, that webmaster is me, but I rather fancied the idea of thanking myself ...)
Greg Jowaisas Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Thank you, Ed. Thank you ICA. Thank you, Chris. Your time, effort and consideration make this a better concertina world for all of us. Greg
Leo Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Hi Chris Thanks. There is a lot of good listening there. Thanks Again Leo
jdms Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 I'm listening my way through these and finding all sorts of interesting stuff--my thanks to you and all involved in getting these online. There is, however, a bit of a mixup at the start of Son of Readers' Tape. I don't know most of these tunes, but that hasn't kept me from guessing (do feel free to correct/ignore me as appropriate) : 1. No idea, but it sounds Balkan to me--definitely not a blues tune... 2. ...unlike this, which is presumably therefore Willie Brown's Mississippi Blues. 3. Invention, Bach and Miles Davis. 4. Not at all sure--possibly Bouree a Frank? 5. Huitklaffen's Bridal March/Reinlander, since it sounds Scandinavian to my ears. 6. Charlestonne/La port en arnésé. Cajun as Cajun can be... 7. Don't know this one either, but it doesn't sound Irish. 8. This is the only Irish-sounding track that also sounds like more than one tune, so I'm guessing Crossing the Shannon/The Day I Met Tom Moylan. Continuing my guesswork, I think the remainder is as listed. jdms
Chris Timson Posted March 17, 2009 Author Posted March 17, 2009 As I understand it from Ed, the text is digitised from the sleeve notes that came with each cassette. Now I could take the lazy way out and say: these are a historical document and it would be criminal to update them, but I don't think that's a good idea ... If anyone spots any typos or errors could they report them here. In a week or so I'll take what we have and apply the lot. Thanks, jdms, and thanks in advance everyone else. Chris
Sailor Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks a lot - this is great stuff - what a truesure and a pleasure to hear again Thank you!
michael sam wild Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks that's a superb resource. The wonder of digitisation. I'm just getting to grips with putting some of my old reel to reels from the 60s and casette tapes from the 70s in that format, as well as old slides, negs and scanned prints. My 2009 project. Some are amazingly clear- I thought they were redundant and nearly threw them away, as i did with some reel to reels in the late 1960s! I've just made a copy for the Greno team of a tape from Boxing Day 1977 at Grenoside Sword Dance that is as clear as the day it was recorded on a cheap radio cassette recorder on a BASF casette. The obligatory dog is in tune from the moment Ted Frost strikes up the calling on song! I've got loads of similar tapes from sessions in Ireland and England and Scotland as well as on our Morris trips to far flung places Mike
Robin Harrison Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Indeed wonderful ! Does any one know who JOHN SCURLOCK is ( hopefully not was) Listen to him playing the Morris tune London Pride ( aka Idbury Hill) on the second tape, Son of Readers Tape. Crisp and clear, it has lift and energy............like Andy Turner ( on Anglo International ) it is truly a fantastic example of an accopanied style to aspire to. Robin
Henrik Müller Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Whoo - an amazing collection! I had a fast "click here, click there-listen" and have a small correction to "Bride of Reader's Tape": The first tune is "Telling's hopsa" - it is Danish, not Swedish ("hopsa" is a dance). Dots are here. IMHO, hopsas are horrible from a concertina point-of-view, lots of repeated notes to stumble upon. /Henrik
PeterT Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 If anyone spots any typos or errors could they report them here. In a week or so I'll take what we have and apply the lot. Hi Chris, Was it really all those years ago? Congratulations to the ICA and yourself. On the Bride of Readers tape, I have the following corrections: Side B Track 5 - credit should be: Peter Trimming / traditional Track 6 - played on Maccann Duet Regards, Peter.
Rod Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Concertina & Squeezebox Tapes. Is Joel Cowan still active in the world of Concertinas ? The demise of his splendid magazine was sad and no-one appears to have come up with a comparable alternative.
Chris Timson Posted March 18, 2009 Author Posted March 18, 2009 Is Joel Cowan still active in the world of Concertinas ? I don't know where Joel is. I believe the number of people who do is very small. C&S ended very messily. I think that's all I want to say on the subject. On the positive side we do have the heritage of those beautiful and informative magazines and, of course, this collection of music. Chris
Rod Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Is Joel Cowan still active in the world of Concertinas ? I don't know where Joel is. I believe the number of people who do is very small. C&S ended very messily. I think that's all I want to say on the subject. On the positive side we do have the heritage of those beautiful and informative magazines and, of course, this collection of music. Chris Thanks for your reply Chris...and of course thanks for your successful efforts to make the taped music available to all. Way back I addressed a couple of letters to Joel Cowan but received no reply and I let the matter rest. Rod
John Wild Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 no-one appears to have come up with a comparable alternative. The ICA's Concertina World must come close if not equal!
Bob Tedrow Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Great job in preserving a splendid bit of Concertina History. I lent my tapes out years ago and have no idea where they drifted. I miss the C&S magazine as well, even though it's arrival cost me a couple hours of benchwork. Bob
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