RARE NORTHUMBRIAN PIPES 78 TOM CLOUGH -HO'LEY H'APENNY/ELSIE MARLEY KEEL ROW E+

	£		47
	$		62

A VERY RARE TRADITIONAL NORTHUMBRIAN FOLK MUSIC 78 FEATURING PIPES FROM TOM CLOUGH "THE PRINCE OF PIPERS"

http://www3.northumberland.gov.uk/catalogue/dserve.exe?dsqServer=w2k3calm1.woodhorn.org.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=ImageView.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqImage=MU%20232-029%20%28A%29.jpg

HO'LEY HA'PENNY / ELSIE MARLEY

b/w  THE KEEL ROW

Tom Clough (1881–1964), known as 'The Prince of Pipers', was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He was also a pipemaker, and the pipes he made with Fred Picknell include several important innovations, and have a distinctive tone. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough. His three surviving recordings, among the earliest recordings made of the instrument, and his considerable body of music manuscripts, including his own compositions, give considerable insight into the traditional playing technique and style of the instrument.

This is particularly so because at least four previous generations of the family had been pipers, as was his son 'Young Tom' (1912–1987) – they thus form a continuous link between earliest players of the modern instrument, and contemporary players. In contrast to the widely accepted notion of traditional folk music as an essentially rural activity, he and his family lived in the mining community of Newsham in south-east Northumberland, and were miners themselves. At the end of his life, 'Young Tom' recalled piping sessions at the 'Willow Tree' in Newsham, with his father Tom, grandfather Henry Clough, and Richard Mowat all playing – Henry's and Richard Mowat's playing would get more furious and inaccurate as the evening progressed; Tom was teetotal.

Young Tom had the job of carrying his grandfather's pipes afterwards. There is a composite photograph of the Clough family at. Here Tom himself is on the left, his pipemaking collaborator Fred Picknell standing behind him, his father Henry Clough and son 'Young Tom' standing towards the right, while an older image of Tom's grandfather 'Old Tom', seated piping in the foreground, has been added subsequently. Old Tom died in 1887, and the main photograph was taken in 1924. The other figure, seated on the far right, is believed to be Captain Nicholson of Haydon Bridge, a traditional fiddler. In 1929, as well as making three recordings for HMV, he also travelled to The Hague and Cologne with a group of singers; the trip was organised by the International Society for Contemporary Music, the Nederland-England Society and the Folk-song Society. The group also made a radio broadcast from Cologne

This is an original issuey of the 1929, HMV recording of him playing three pieces – Elsey Marley, The Keel Row and Holey Ha'penny. The first is a simple song tune in jig time, the latter two are elaborate variation sets.

The Keel Row may be listened to online at the website of the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum.

The pieces, especially the variation sets, are played in a highly ornate style, and what is significant about the technique, apart from his great skill, is the total lack of open-fingered or slurred notes. The chanter is closed, and hence silent briefly, between any pair of notes. This forms a great contrast with the style of Billy Pigg, which was distinguished by his use of open-fingered ornamentation. Tom felt, on the other hand, that open fingering was 'a grievous error in smallpipe playing'. This 'error' persists: Young Tom once commented 'Nowadays they play with half their hand off the chanter'. Chris Ormston, who knew 'Young Tom' for a few months before his death, is a respected modern piper who consistently uses and advocates the 'Clough' style. One other recording is known to have been made, late in his life, when his deafness was severe. This was made by Colin Ross and Forster Charlton, of Tom playing his variations on Nae Guid luck; while this recording was used to transcribe the piece for the Pipers' Society Tunebook, it was apparently not kept, as it was felt that it would not be fair on Tom to retain it.

Disc details

UK HMV  B 2952  10" 78rpm SHELLAC  

CONDITION: - EX+ 

VERY RARE 1929 NORTHUMBRIAN FOLK 78 

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