Jim MacRae (1947 – 2001) - Obituary
by Hector McLeod
James (Jim) MacRae, who died in a tragic accident on 17th November, 2001, was one of the most popular accordionists and bandleaders in Glasgow’s ceilidh music scene and Highland Community over the last 30 years.
He was brought up and educated in Bearsden and began accordion lessons at the age of nine. However, like many a youngster, he rather lost interest during his teenage years. This was to change dramatically in 1968 when he heard about the music nights being held in The Black Bull Hotel, Milngavie.
Jim went along, entered the ‘room upstairs’ and encountered Bobby Harvey, John Carmichael, Ivor Britton, Jimmy Yeaman, Bob Lilley, Lex Keith, Charlie Kirkpatrick, Norrie Williams and Tam McWilliams – the M.A.F.I.A. – playing away – exchanging tune sand stories and helping and encouraging the younger players. Who would not be inspired by those giants of the dance music scene. Jim certainly was, because in 1969/70 he became the first winner of the ‘Most Improved Player’ Trophy. As Norrie Williams would say, “He got the message!” Jim often told me how much he appreciated the help he got from those musicians.
Two more years of hard practice brought its reward when in 1972 he was invited to join the popular ‘Kelvin Ceilidh Band’, the regular line-up being – Bob Lilley (lead accordion), Jim MacRae (second accordion), Jimmy Yeaman (fiddle), Rae Hyslop (keyboard) and Jim Thomson (drums). Jim played on their LP ‘Bob Lilley and the Kelvin Band’.
During the early seventies Jim also made many trips up north for gigs and tours, to such places as Barra, Lewis, Skye, Kintail, Plockton, Kyle, etc. This was the heyday of band tours, when the Highland and Island villages could have a different band playing five nights a week. A tour could last up to four weeks, and there would be a concert and dance at each venue. The basic band for the tour would usually be three piece but could be augmented by local musicians and singers.
Prominent among the players Jim toured with were Donnie ‘Large’ MacDonald, Clen Mackenzie, Tom Sloss, Adam Rennie (drummer) and a very young Gerry Henderson who started playing with Jim when he was just 15.
Around 1976 Jim left the Kelvin Band and forged out on his own, eventually settling on a regular line-up of himself, Martin Pottinger (guitarist/singer) and Gerry Henderson (drummer), playing gigs mainly around the Glasgow area. The highlights of those years were the trips to Lagos in Nigeria, playing for the Highland Society there. The first trip in the summer of 1977 was such a success that they were invited back for St Andrew’s Nights in 1977 and again in 1978. On all three trips the band was augmented by Jimmy Yeaman on fiddle.
The band became 4 piece in 1979 when I, Hector McLeod (Heckie), fiddler/singer joined them. I was immediately nicknames ‘Faither’, the fiddle being called ‘The Strad’. “Give The Strad a scrape Faither,” would be Jim’s instruction to me for the next 22 years as we were setting the balance. I made my debut with the band on the very last night of The Highlanders Institute in Glasgow and will be known for evermore as ‘the man who closed The Highlanders’.
Having two singers gave the band a lot of variety and seemed to add to its appeal. At any rate we were very busy and for the next 4 / 5 years at weddings, ceilidhs, dances and Annual Gatherings in the Glasgow area. Highlights perhaps were the Friday nights when Jim and Martin or Jim and I would play in the lounge of The Dorchester Hotel, then the band would go round the corner to play at the dance in The Kelvin Centre. Our good friend John Ferguson, the owner, going ‘bananas’ because we would be about 10 minutes late!
There were also many trips north to ARdnamurchan, Lochcarron, etc., and one of thje most memorable was, when coming home at three in the morning we ran out of petrol 4 miles north of Perth!
Undoubtedly some of the happiest times were the gigs on Arran where we played three times a year for a few years for the Hall Committee at Whiting Bay. We always had pairs of singers with us; Dougie Gillespie and Mairi Howieson; Iain Carmichael and Sheena Walker; the late Cona MacLean and the late Ian Thomson – Cona being tall and Ian being small helped make their Crooked Bawbee the star item at their ceilidhs every year. The band and the singers always stayed at The Kiscadale Hotel, where the hospitality of Mrs MacKenzie and her ladies was unsurpassed and where the ceilidhs only ended when breakfast was served in the morning. Unforgettable nights.
Of course playing at ceilidhs led to weddings and other gigs on Arran, and none of us will ever forget the Saturday, when going to catch the ferry at Ardrossan to play at a wedding in Arran, we got caught up in Old Firm traffic. Realising we were never going to get to the ferry on time, we stopped at a pub and asked the barman if he would phone Cal-Mac and ask them to hold the ferry until we got there. We arrived at the pier half an hour late – the ferry was still there – the crew helped us up the gangplank with the gear – because, luckily, the skipper was going to the wedding!
The camaraderie between us was very special, and these were very happy years. But all good things come to an end unfortunately, and because of the difficulties of travelling to and from Kilwinning and becoming a father for the first time, Martin left the band around 1984, but made many ‘guest appearances’ right up to the present day. Jim always liked to have a guitarist/singer in the band for the ‘modern’ numbers, and we were very lucky to have Robbie Menzies follow Martin and then the late Sandy MacFarlane follow Robbie – two very fine musicians.
Gerry and Sandy left the band around the same time in 1989, and from then on we played mostly as a three piece of accordion, fiddle and drums. Among the drummers who played regularly were Ronnie Annan and Ricky Burgoyne, and when we had no drummer we were joined by musicians such as Morag Macaskill (keyboard), Lex Keith (piano accordion), Clen Mackenzie (guitarist/singer), Colin Macdonald (accordion) and Donald McIntosh (keyboard).
The last regular member of the band was Ian Ewart, accordion, who joined the band in 1995 and left in the summer of 2000 when he went to work in Wick.
From then on it was basically “The Gruesome Two-some” – MacRae and McLeod – adding extra players from our host of friends as required. In fact things had turned full circle in a way, because there were three future gigs in Jim’s diary in which Martin was going to join us, and which Martin and myself were going to fulfill along with Davie Macdonald, accordion.
All through the years, as well as band work, Jim played as a soloist or with a singer, in the lounge of The Highlanders’ Institute and in The Park Bar in Glasgow. For the last three years, when the band gigs had become fewer, Jim played with Donald Mccrae, the well-known Gaelic singer, every Saturday night at The Islay Inn in Glasgow.
As we were a dance band it was important to Jim that the floor was busy and we did everything in our power to ensure this was the case. He would never allow large breaks between dances – he thought such breaks would kill the atmosphere – it had to be kept going.
Jim’s style of playing was West Coast. He simply loved and was particularly good at playing the 2/4 pipe marches and 6/8 marches and jigs. He had an inate sense of tempo and once he’d set the tempo it never waivered. This enabled us to play readily without a drummer on many occasions. We occasionally had rehearsals when the main purpose of the rehearsal was to practice the ‘modern stuff’ (‘modern’ to us being quicksteps, slow foxtrots and modern waltzes), but invariably Jim would have discovered ‘a cracking reel or 2/4’, and that would be the end of the ‘modern’ for the evening!
Jim, as all his friends knew, would never give up on anything as he proved only too well, by carrying on as though nothing had happened, after the appalling accident to his right eye almost nine years ago. Accordingly, a piece of tricky fingering would be attacked with the same MacRae determination. Such a passage would be practiced until it became fluent. Indeed, at our last gig together, on 26th October, he told me he’d been doing finger exercises for twenty minutes every morning before going to his work.
I am indebted to Jim for introducing me to the Scottish dance music scene. Before he invited me to join his band, the ‘fiddle’ had been under the bed for 15 years. In this ‘new world’ I met so many new friends, had so many happy times and enjoyed the music so much – 22 years of musical partnership and friendship I will always cherish.
Jim MacRae was a man greatly admired for his reliability, conscientiousness, helpfulness and loyalty. His passing leaves a huge gap in the Scottish music scene in Glasgow. It can only be filled by a player of remarkable character and ability. I can think of no better way of summing up Jim’s musical career, and indeed life, than by quoting (with one small alteration) from a song we played together so often ‘When will we see his like again’.
Footnote
Jim has recorded on the following tapes/CDs :
Ceilidh in The Park 1 – The Patchwork Polka
Ceilidh in The Park 2 – Heyken’s Serenade
Islay Inn Bonanza – The Hills of South Uist & King of the Marches; Hamilton’s Nutsack & The Kitchen Piper.
Box and Fiddle
February 2002
He was brought up and educated in Bearsden and began accordion lessons at the age of nine. However, like many a youngster, he rather lost interest during his teenage years. This was to change dramatically in 1968 when he heard about the music nights being held in The Black Bull Hotel, Milngavie.
Jim went along, entered the ‘room upstairs’ and encountered Bobby Harvey, John Carmichael, Ivor Britton, Jimmy Yeaman, Bob Lilley, Lex Keith, Charlie Kirkpatrick, Norrie Williams and Tam McWilliams – the M.A.F.I.A. – playing away – exchanging tune sand stories and helping and encouraging the younger players. Who would not be inspired by those giants of the dance music scene. Jim certainly was, because in 1969/70 he became the first winner of the ‘Most Improved Player’ Trophy. As Norrie Williams would say, “He got the message!” Jim often told me how much he appreciated the help he got from those musicians.
Two more years of hard practice brought its reward when in 1972 he was invited to join the popular ‘Kelvin Ceilidh Band’, the regular line-up being – Bob Lilley (lead accordion), Jim MacRae (second accordion), Jimmy Yeaman (fiddle), Rae Hyslop (keyboard) and Jim Thomson (drums). Jim played on their LP ‘Bob Lilley and the Kelvin Band’.
During the early seventies Jim also made many trips up north for gigs and tours, to such places as Barra, Lewis, Skye, Kintail, Plockton, Kyle, etc. This was the heyday of band tours, when the Highland and Island villages could have a different band playing five nights a week. A tour could last up to four weeks, and there would be a concert and dance at each venue. The basic band for the tour would usually be three piece but could be augmented by local musicians and singers.
Prominent among the players Jim toured with were Donnie ‘Large’ MacDonald, Clen Mackenzie, Tom Sloss, Adam Rennie (drummer) and a very young Gerry Henderson who started playing with Jim when he was just 15.
Around 1976 Jim left the Kelvin Band and forged out on his own, eventually settling on a regular line-up of himself, Martin Pottinger (guitarist/singer) and Gerry Henderson (drummer), playing gigs mainly around the Glasgow area. The highlights of those years were the trips to Lagos in Nigeria, playing for the Highland Society there. The first trip in the summer of 1977 was such a success that they were invited back for St Andrew’s Nights in 1977 and again in 1978. On all three trips the band was augmented by Jimmy Yeaman on fiddle.
The band became 4 piece in 1979 when I, Hector McLeod (Heckie), fiddler/singer joined them. I was immediately nicknames ‘Faither’, the fiddle being called ‘The Strad’. “Give The Strad a scrape Faither,” would be Jim’s instruction to me for the next 22 years as we were setting the balance. I made my debut with the band on the very last night of The Highlanders Institute in Glasgow and will be known for evermore as ‘the man who closed The Highlanders’.
Having two singers gave the band a lot of variety and seemed to add to its appeal. At any rate we were very busy and for the next 4 / 5 years at weddings, ceilidhs, dances and Annual Gatherings in the Glasgow area. Highlights perhaps were the Friday nights when Jim and Martin or Jim and I would play in the lounge of The Dorchester Hotel, then the band would go round the corner to play at the dance in The Kelvin Centre. Our good friend John Ferguson, the owner, going ‘bananas’ because we would be about 10 minutes late!
There were also many trips north to ARdnamurchan, Lochcarron, etc., and one of thje most memorable was, when coming home at three in the morning we ran out of petrol 4 miles north of Perth!
Undoubtedly some of the happiest times were the gigs on Arran where we played three times a year for a few years for the Hall Committee at Whiting Bay. We always had pairs of singers with us; Dougie Gillespie and Mairi Howieson; Iain Carmichael and Sheena Walker; the late Cona MacLean and the late Ian Thomson – Cona being tall and Ian being small helped make their Crooked Bawbee the star item at their ceilidhs every year. The band and the singers always stayed at The Kiscadale Hotel, where the hospitality of Mrs MacKenzie and her ladies was unsurpassed and where the ceilidhs only ended when breakfast was served in the morning. Unforgettable nights.
Of course playing at ceilidhs led to weddings and other gigs on Arran, and none of us will ever forget the Saturday, when going to catch the ferry at Ardrossan to play at a wedding in Arran, we got caught up in Old Firm traffic. Realising we were never going to get to the ferry on time, we stopped at a pub and asked the barman if he would phone Cal-Mac and ask them to hold the ferry until we got there. We arrived at the pier half an hour late – the ferry was still there – the crew helped us up the gangplank with the gear – because, luckily, the skipper was going to the wedding!
The camaraderie between us was very special, and these were very happy years. But all good things come to an end unfortunately, and because of the difficulties of travelling to and from Kilwinning and becoming a father for the first time, Martin left the band around 1984, but made many ‘guest appearances’ right up to the present day. Jim always liked to have a guitarist/singer in the band for the ‘modern’ numbers, and we were very lucky to have Robbie Menzies follow Martin and then the late Sandy MacFarlane follow Robbie – two very fine musicians.
Gerry and Sandy left the band around the same time in 1989, and from then on we played mostly as a three piece of accordion, fiddle and drums. Among the drummers who played regularly were Ronnie Annan and Ricky Burgoyne, and when we had no drummer we were joined by musicians such as Morag Macaskill (keyboard), Lex Keith (piano accordion), Clen Mackenzie (guitarist/singer), Colin Macdonald (accordion) and Donald McIntosh (keyboard).
The last regular member of the band was Ian Ewart, accordion, who joined the band in 1995 and left in the summer of 2000 when he went to work in Wick.
From then on it was basically “The Gruesome Two-some” – MacRae and McLeod – adding extra players from our host of friends as required. In fact things had turned full circle in a way, because there were three future gigs in Jim’s diary in which Martin was going to join us, and which Martin and myself were going to fulfill along with Davie Macdonald, accordion.
All through the years, as well as band work, Jim played as a soloist or with a singer, in the lounge of The Highlanders’ Institute and in The Park Bar in Glasgow. For the last three years, when the band gigs had become fewer, Jim played with Donald Mccrae, the well-known Gaelic singer, every Saturday night at The Islay Inn in Glasgow.
As we were a dance band it was important to Jim that the floor was busy and we did everything in our power to ensure this was the case. He would never allow large breaks between dances – he thought such breaks would kill the atmosphere – it had to be kept going.
Jim’s style of playing was West Coast. He simply loved and was particularly good at playing the 2/4 pipe marches and 6/8 marches and jigs. He had an inate sense of tempo and once he’d set the tempo it never waivered. This enabled us to play readily without a drummer on many occasions. We occasionally had rehearsals when the main purpose of the rehearsal was to practice the ‘modern stuff’ (‘modern’ to us being quicksteps, slow foxtrots and modern waltzes), but invariably Jim would have discovered ‘a cracking reel or 2/4’, and that would be the end of the ‘modern’ for the evening!
Jim, as all his friends knew, would never give up on anything as he proved only too well, by carrying on as though nothing had happened, after the appalling accident to his right eye almost nine years ago. Accordingly, a piece of tricky fingering would be attacked with the same MacRae determination. Such a passage would be practiced until it became fluent. Indeed, at our last gig together, on 26th October, he told me he’d been doing finger exercises for twenty minutes every morning before going to his work.
I am indebted to Jim for introducing me to the Scottish dance music scene. Before he invited me to join his band, the ‘fiddle’ had been under the bed for 15 years. In this ‘new world’ I met so many new friends, had so many happy times and enjoyed the music so much – 22 years of musical partnership and friendship I will always cherish.
Jim MacRae was a man greatly admired for his reliability, conscientiousness, helpfulness and loyalty. His passing leaves a huge gap in the Scottish music scene in Glasgow. It can only be filled by a player of remarkable character and ability. I can think of no better way of summing up Jim’s musical career, and indeed life, than by quoting (with one small alteration) from a song we played together so often ‘When will we see his like again’.
Footnote
Jim has recorded on the following tapes/CDs :
Ceilidh in The Park 1 – The Patchwork Polka
Ceilidh in The Park 2 – Heyken’s Serenade
Islay Inn Bonanza – The Hills of South Uist & King of the Marches; Hamilton’s Nutsack & The Kitchen Piper.
Box and Fiddle
February 2002