Getting down wit da yoot bros

[losthobos]

 

[dunlustin]

There are things that just make you pleased you got out of bed today!

 

[maugein96]

Terry,

Dont know what Jimmy would have made of that at all. I see in the comments that somebody professing to be his granddaughter was delighted to have his signature tune featured on You Tube. I struggled badly with the lyrics, apart from the word birthday (must have been listening in the wrong key!). Might need a course on rapper patois! His version of English and mine seem to be as bad as each other. 

Jimmy was rare, in as much that if he was accompanying a singer he dictated the key of the tune, not the singer. Many would ask him if he could play a tune in another key, or maybe go up tempo a tad. His reply would invariably be Yell get it the wey Ah play it!  

Most of my generation werent big fans of Scottish accordion, as the music (although not necessarily the accordion) was stigmatised as being for old people (in the 50s), but wed all heard of Jimmy Shand. 

Thanks for the post. Ill need to have a listen again, as I seem to have missed the point. Id never heard of 50 cent, and had to Google him. I suppose he and Jimmy are as far apart in the music spectrum as is possible, but Im working on it!

 

[Dingo40]

I was totally confused as I thought the 50 cent referred to the degree of tremulo  :blush:

 

[maugein96]

I was totally confused as I thought the 50 cent referred to the degree of tremulo  :blush:

Dingo,

Apparently an ex crack dealer turned musician. 

Going to the pub for some "craic" in New York appears to have a different connotation than it has in Ireland. 

I'm wondering when my education will be comprehensive enough to understand what's all going on in the world. 

I signed up for some guitar lessons on You Tube some years ago, and the US based teacher would introduce every lesson with "What's up?" In the west of Scotland that means "What's wrong?" I suppose neither term is "pwopah" English, so who am I to complain? It did throw me a bit, so I just answered him with "Nothing's up, I just want you to show me how to play the guitar." It wasn't a Skype lesson, but I felt obliged to speak to my laptop screen. For a time I thought he wanted me to give him lessons on west of Scotland speech. My playing improved a bit, but his English was still terrible after a few months, as he never paid attention to anything I told him. 

If I only got 50 cents for my birthday I suppose nobody would understand my utterings either. In Birmingham, if you have a southern Irish accent you usually get along OK. Dat's da one wit'out da "th" in it. "Nordies" like my family pronounce "th" as in standard English. However, my particular dialect of Jockanese often makes communication here difficult. The neighbours' teenage kids have started to mimic the way I speak, and they get a good laugh out of it. They say I sound like Billy Connolly, but he's always had a rather "posh" stage accent. I'd have no chance of being able to speak like the locals here, so I don't even bother trying.  


Just watched 50 cent again, and I'm about to "crack" up, as I still don't get it. Is it something to do with making crack out of bluebells, Terry?

 

[losthobos]

If it is sent me the recipe....

 

[Dingo40]

Very good John!

I couldn't really follow 50 cent either: it seemed to be something about love, kissing and hugging, but who can tell? :huh:

In Great Britain, the cinema, TV and radio were said to have softened regional accents. In the US, the opposite seems to have happened  

I watch a lot of old movies and,in my opinion, the American accent (on screen) was closer to the British than that of today. (Excluding the "stage" crooks from New Jersey, of course).
Maybe because of all the British actors working there?

---

We also use "What's up?", meaning. "What's wrong?", but due to US influence it has equally come to mean, "What's happening?" Context decides which.

 

[knobby]

That was just horrible, truly horrible! I couldnt even watch it all the way to the end. Who ever thought of mashing those two together needs a good slapping. They ruined a belting song - heres the proper version (with a very young-looking Eminem):

 

[losthobos]

Knobby knows true..... Ive never managed more than 4 bars of Jimmy Shand in any format...

 

[maugein96]

Knobby knows true..... Ive never managed more than 4 bars of Jimmy Shand in any format...

Terry,

I've made several forthright comments about the Scottish accordion scene before on here, and appreciate that other forum members are passionate about it. 

Scottish accordion perhaps took its most damaging blow when a Scottish TV show named "The White Heather Club" ran on and off for about ten years between 1958 to 1968. It featured accordions, dancing, and the singing of "Scottish" music hall type songs. They couldn't have picked a worse era to put the show on, as the world had just wakened up to rock'n roll, and The Beatles etc.  

Here is a quote from Wikipedia, concerning the programme: "The Penguin TV companion in 2006 voted The White Heather Club one of the 20 worst TV shows ever".

Jimmy Shand was indelibly linked with that show, and composed the title tune.

Jimmy will continue to be a legend in Scotland, and with ex-pats the world over for years to come, but most Scottish people of my generation at the time just couldn't relate to the sort of entertainment featured in the show. 

I do fully appreciate that the accordion in Scotland is still alive and kicking, as my shins are still sore from the last time I raised the matter. Long may it continue to be popular with those who appreciate it.

 

[Dingo40]

Well said, John,
Hear, hear!

 

[maugein96]

Well said, John,
Hear, hear!

Dingo,

Jimmy Shand had many fans, and even more critics, as during his career the accordion in Scotland took a nosedive in popularity, the same as it did elsewhere. 

I never really followed the man or his music, which was unkindly referred to as "Teuchter music" (yokel music) in the part of Scotland where I grew up. 

However, he was the Emile Vacher of Scottish accordion and will be remembered as such. 

I often wished he had another gear or two in his British Chromatic B/C/C# chromatic accordion, as did some of the artistes he worked with. However, he refused to pander to anybody, and maintained the strict Scottish dance tempos, where a polka is often slower than an up tempo valse musette. 

Each to their own, as they say.

 

[Dingo40]

John,
I've always enjoyed Jimmy Shand's playing whenever I've heard it.
I have some 78s by him and some albums of sheet music ( which I haven't mastered )
To me, he's OK!
I believe "music " is entirely an acquired taste.
How could it be otherwise, given the range from Tibetan throat singing to Mozart to Mr "50 cent ".

I don't care for much of it myself but who cares?

Each to his own!

 

[losthobos]

Best get apologies in quick to avoid confusion
Posted video fir amusement value rather than insult... 
True Jimmy Shand is not for me, but it's not his playing ability that sways my judgement but the screechy tone..... For the scottish element I'll listen to Gary Blair any day... I found some old JS 78s in charity shop and donated to Garys Shand tribute orchestra
And 50cent doesn't appeal to me either, too tough and macho, gimmee RZA or Wutang Clan any day.. 
Sorry if I've caused offence beyond petty amusement..

 

[Dingo40]

All's well LH
Though it was a somewhat mind-bending experience !

 

[dunlustin]

For what it's worth, I thought it was hilarious.
Did the tempo for each part really fit or did it need doctoring?
That said - whoever is responsible does need a slapping.
At least it moved Knobby to post his thoughts.

 

[maugein96]

Alls well LH
Though it was a somewhat mind-bending experience !

The screechy tone is something I grew up with, hearing it almost daily on both Scottish and Irish tuned instruments. One Italian maker (cant remember which) did Scottish at 25 cents and Irish at 27, as standard. 

You do get used to it, but the old recordings did it no favours at all. 

Scottish tuning benchmark :- Jimmy Shand

Early French musette benchmark:- Emile Vacher (diatonic), Emile Prudhomme (CBA)

Later French musette benchmark:- Jo Privat (8 cents americain on two MM reeds) 

Balkan musette benchmark: What the hell is three voice musette?

Classical musette benchmark:- Same as Balkan. 

Opinions will always differ from place to place as to what fits the bill. 

No issues at all with the clip Terry. I just didnt know who 50 cent was, so I never saw through the comparison. 

Maybe somebody in NY will post Who the hell was Jimmy Shand? 

FWIW I have a cousin in the US who is from Rahway in New Jersey, and she was married to a Tamla Motown session drummer, mainly playing with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I never got into Frankie Valli either, as my hearing wasnt up to the pitch the Four Seasons sang at. Four voice falsetto, and not an accordion in sight!

---

John,
Ive always enjoyed Jimmy Shands playing whenever Ive heard it.
I have some 78s by him and some albums of sheet music ( which I havent mastered )
To me, hes OK!
I believe music is entirely an acquired taste.
How could it be otherwise, given the range from Tibetan throat singing to Mozart to Mr 50 cent .

I dont care for much of it myself but who cares?

Each to his own!

Dingo,

Like all regional and national music, it is harder than it sounds, and I just dont have the discipline to play at the sort of tempos that are involved. 

Maybe I was born in the wrong country. 



Thats entertainment, screechy accordion et al!

 

[Dingo40]

John,
Good clip, thanks! 

Jiving to....the tarantella? :s

We did it to " Rock around the clock " and  "Don't you step on my blue suede shoes "
( Many of us wore a pair of these!
Those were the days!)

 

[maugein96]

John,
Good clip, thanks! 

Jiving to....the tarantella? :s

We did it to " Rock around the clock " and  "Don't you step on my blue suede shoes "
( Many of us wore a pair of these!
Those were the days!)

Dingo,


It is indeed a tarantella. There are faster versions, but I couldn't remember the names of them. Italian players in general take some beating when it comes to technique. Some tarantellas start off slow and end up finishing at an incredible rate, and a lot of Italian folk music doesn't feature the accordion at all.  

Never wore the blue suede shoes as I was just a shade young, although I had two cousins who were in a Rockabilly band and one was younger than I was. They taught me to play the guitar, but blue suede shoes were for grown ups like your good self. 

I think there's a bout 10 years between us. That's a hell of a lot of tarantellas, or maybe 5 Scottish waltzes!