Welcome Addition from Iain
by ?
The name of Iain MacPhail is synonymous with great Scottish Dance Music. Recently, the first Volume of some of his best-known compositions were released, and this will undoubtedly prove a welcome and invaluable addition to the collections of his many devotees.
For anyone who has grown to know his work over the years, the 42 tunes Iain has selected will be instantly recognisable, a collection of ear-catching numbers indelibly stamped with the unmistakable MacPhail trademark.
The Volume has been produced in response to the current demand for his work, and features such well-loved titles as ‘Mrs Mary Printy’ (dedicated to his grandmother), ‘Ray Milbourne’ and ‘Miss Elizabeth Purcell’s Favourite’.
Repayment
For the Argyllshire-born musician, who has firmly established himself among the top ranks of Scottish Dance Band leaders, the Volume is the culmination of 15 years work.
“It is an important milestone for me” he admits. “I write tunes for people. I have met and made so many good friends in my career, that it is one way of repaying kindness given to me.”
The towering six-footer will admit it – he is a great sentimentalist at heart.
Born in Campbeltown, Argyllshire, the young MacPhail was raised on the traditional music of his homeland. When he first began playing tentatively on the melodeon at the age of six, he probably never imagined that one day someone, somewhere would actually want to spend money on his music. But that is what happened.
Iain’s story has been one of hard work and dedication. That iron determination, born of an independent spirit caused by the death of his father when Iain was just seven, has always ensured that MacPhail will be cutting through the red tape, and doing things his way – although, it must be said, not at the expense of others.
After spells with the Jim Nicholson Band and the Strathedin SDB, Iain formed his own outfit in 1969. Five years later, he became Musical director of the Larry Marshall Scottish Cabaret in Edinburgh’s King James Hotel, and his popularity has just continued to grow with tourist and native alike.
And the latter have often grown restless, the traditionalists among them, criticising MacPhail for being what they are not – an experimentalist with imagination.
A passionate lover of traditional music, Iain has listened to the attacks, but contends “Scottish music is a wide open field and there is plenty of room for experiment. Certainly, I use jazz influences, but Duke Ellington once said there are only two types of music with swing – jazz and Scottish Dance music. Let’s face it, the music I am making now could well be regarded as traditional in 50 years’ time anyway.”
Fondly remembered
Tradition, almost ironically, plays a great part in his life. Almost all the tunes in his new book are named after people, either dead or alive, among them his father Dugald, a great melodeon player himself, and still fondly remembered in and around his native Kilberry.
Iain still has his father’s original melodeon – a 60-year-old Hohner DELuxe – proudly kept in tip-top condition and played occasionally. It has grown to be something of a family heirloom.
‘The Rowan Tree’ was the first tune Iain ever played on it, but it was the ‘Bluebell Polka’ popular at the time, which an audience first heard from Iain MacPhail. That was when he was ten at a school concert in Kilberry, a village with a “school, Post Office and a shop.”
From there, Iain moved to secondary school at Tarbert and then, at the age of 15, to Edinburgh. He played ‘diatonic’ at the time but changed to piano when he couldn’t find a teacher for the chromatic instrument – although he later discovered that Chrissie Leatham would have done the trick.
Whilst at school in Edinburgh, Iain met a man whom he says “motivated me to be different in my music.” That man was music teacher Ronald Stevenson, now an internationally famous pianist and composer.
“He played the ‘Laird of Cockpen’ and used ‘Greensleeves’ as a counter-melody” recalls Iain. “He showed me that music was not parochial, that it is a thing to be enjoyed and experienced by all. Stevenson gave me a lot to think about and encouraged me to bring my accordion along to the classes, which was unusual, as it was generally regarded as a very ‘downmarket’ instrument in those days.”
But it was not only Stevenson who influenced the eager to listen and learn MacPhail. The mustachioed maestro of the accordion lists scores of names who have helped him along the way. Among them, Andrew Rankine – “beautiful compositions and marvellous harmonies” , Jim Johnstone – “tremendous professionalism”, Ian Holmes – “magical playing”, Bobby MacLeod – “an emotive player”, Lindsay Ross and Ian Powrie.
Own Style
“They all had something different” Iain concedes. “I took something from them all until I had developed my own style”.
And that style is familiar to us all. A modern, swinging beat which sets the heart straining and the toes tapping.
As a broadcaster, he is highly popular, as a cabaret artiste a cast-iron, gold-plated success, particularly with the tourists, who wallow in a master craftsman’s art six nights a week throughout the summer.
It is a demanding schedule for Iain and his Trio, but they have been doing it for eight years now, so the show runs like clockwork. Prior to the show proper, Iain takes to the stage for a grueling 45-minute solo spot of ‘soup-music’ – and this at the end of a normal working day.
His job in Edinburgh, near Meadowbank Stadium, where he works as a Personnel Officer for the Scottish Prison Service. Iain likes the work, he likes people, but it is his music which makes him tick.
“I love music” he admits. “I enjoy arranging and composing. I must have written about 100 tunes, but I need to be in the mood to write. This is often dependent on the way the music is interpreted by other members of the band. The adrenalin has got to be flowing. All the best tunes are basically simple and written in two minutes – the harmonies take somewhat longer!”
His wife – and secretary – Viola, has, of course, grown used to sharing a marriage with music. Iain’s two children, Catriona, aged 4, and young Iain, aged 8, are also taking an interest, but Dad says he would never push them into a musical career. “Times are changing, and so different from my childhood. In some ways it is a harder field in which to be involved, and the dance scene has been altered by, for instance, the change in the Licensing Laws, which has meant short Saturday dances in the rural areas, or none at all, unfortunately.”
So how does he view the future of the music he loves?
“Well, excuse the pun, it’s in good hands. The standard of playing technically is very high, and it will get better if the youngsters can ally emotion to that. I’ll always go for the fellow who plays with the heart rather than the wrist.”
Anyone who listens to MacPhail, will soon realise he has practiced what he preaches!
Box and Fiddle
September 1982
For anyone who has grown to know his work over the years, the 42 tunes Iain has selected will be instantly recognisable, a collection of ear-catching numbers indelibly stamped with the unmistakable MacPhail trademark.
The Volume has been produced in response to the current demand for his work, and features such well-loved titles as ‘Mrs Mary Printy’ (dedicated to his grandmother), ‘Ray Milbourne’ and ‘Miss Elizabeth Purcell’s Favourite’.
Repayment
For the Argyllshire-born musician, who has firmly established himself among the top ranks of Scottish Dance Band leaders, the Volume is the culmination of 15 years work.
“It is an important milestone for me” he admits. “I write tunes for people. I have met and made so many good friends in my career, that it is one way of repaying kindness given to me.”
The towering six-footer will admit it – he is a great sentimentalist at heart.
Born in Campbeltown, Argyllshire, the young MacPhail was raised on the traditional music of his homeland. When he first began playing tentatively on the melodeon at the age of six, he probably never imagined that one day someone, somewhere would actually want to spend money on his music. But that is what happened.
Iain’s story has been one of hard work and dedication. That iron determination, born of an independent spirit caused by the death of his father when Iain was just seven, has always ensured that MacPhail will be cutting through the red tape, and doing things his way – although, it must be said, not at the expense of others.
After spells with the Jim Nicholson Band and the Strathedin SDB, Iain formed his own outfit in 1969. Five years later, he became Musical director of the Larry Marshall Scottish Cabaret in Edinburgh’s King James Hotel, and his popularity has just continued to grow with tourist and native alike.
And the latter have often grown restless, the traditionalists among them, criticising MacPhail for being what they are not – an experimentalist with imagination.
A passionate lover of traditional music, Iain has listened to the attacks, but contends “Scottish music is a wide open field and there is plenty of room for experiment. Certainly, I use jazz influences, but Duke Ellington once said there are only two types of music with swing – jazz and Scottish Dance music. Let’s face it, the music I am making now could well be regarded as traditional in 50 years’ time anyway.”
Fondly remembered
Tradition, almost ironically, plays a great part in his life. Almost all the tunes in his new book are named after people, either dead or alive, among them his father Dugald, a great melodeon player himself, and still fondly remembered in and around his native Kilberry.
Iain still has his father’s original melodeon – a 60-year-old Hohner DELuxe – proudly kept in tip-top condition and played occasionally. It has grown to be something of a family heirloom.
‘The Rowan Tree’ was the first tune Iain ever played on it, but it was the ‘Bluebell Polka’ popular at the time, which an audience first heard from Iain MacPhail. That was when he was ten at a school concert in Kilberry, a village with a “school, Post Office and a shop.”
From there, Iain moved to secondary school at Tarbert and then, at the age of 15, to Edinburgh. He played ‘diatonic’ at the time but changed to piano when he couldn’t find a teacher for the chromatic instrument – although he later discovered that Chrissie Leatham would have done the trick.
Whilst at school in Edinburgh, Iain met a man whom he says “motivated me to be different in my music.” That man was music teacher Ronald Stevenson, now an internationally famous pianist and composer.
“He played the ‘Laird of Cockpen’ and used ‘Greensleeves’ as a counter-melody” recalls Iain. “He showed me that music was not parochial, that it is a thing to be enjoyed and experienced by all. Stevenson gave me a lot to think about and encouraged me to bring my accordion along to the classes, which was unusual, as it was generally regarded as a very ‘downmarket’ instrument in those days.”
But it was not only Stevenson who influenced the eager to listen and learn MacPhail. The mustachioed maestro of the accordion lists scores of names who have helped him along the way. Among them, Andrew Rankine – “beautiful compositions and marvellous harmonies” , Jim Johnstone – “tremendous professionalism”, Ian Holmes – “magical playing”, Bobby MacLeod – “an emotive player”, Lindsay Ross and Ian Powrie.
Own Style
“They all had something different” Iain concedes. “I took something from them all until I had developed my own style”.
And that style is familiar to us all. A modern, swinging beat which sets the heart straining and the toes tapping.
As a broadcaster, he is highly popular, as a cabaret artiste a cast-iron, gold-plated success, particularly with the tourists, who wallow in a master craftsman’s art six nights a week throughout the summer.
It is a demanding schedule for Iain and his Trio, but they have been doing it for eight years now, so the show runs like clockwork. Prior to the show proper, Iain takes to the stage for a grueling 45-minute solo spot of ‘soup-music’ – and this at the end of a normal working day.
His job in Edinburgh, near Meadowbank Stadium, where he works as a Personnel Officer for the Scottish Prison Service. Iain likes the work, he likes people, but it is his music which makes him tick.
“I love music” he admits. “I enjoy arranging and composing. I must have written about 100 tunes, but I need to be in the mood to write. This is often dependent on the way the music is interpreted by other members of the band. The adrenalin has got to be flowing. All the best tunes are basically simple and written in two minutes – the harmonies take somewhat longer!”
His wife – and secretary – Viola, has, of course, grown used to sharing a marriage with music. Iain’s two children, Catriona, aged 4, and young Iain, aged 8, are also taking an interest, but Dad says he would never push them into a musical career. “Times are changing, and so different from my childhood. In some ways it is a harder field in which to be involved, and the dance scene has been altered by, for instance, the change in the Licensing Laws, which has meant short Saturday dances in the rural areas, or none at all, unfortunately.”
So how does he view the future of the music he loves?
“Well, excuse the pun, it’s in good hands. The standard of playing technically is very high, and it will get better if the youngsters can ally emotion to that. I’ll always go for the fellow who plays with the heart rather than the wrist.”
Anyone who listens to MacPhail, will soon realise he has practiced what he preaches!
Box and Fiddle
September 1982