2004
John Carmichael
John was born and brought up in Glasgow where he started, without enthusiasm, to learn the piano at 9 years of age. He did learn to read music and the importance of fingering but it was a friend, Ian McLean’s, acquisition of an accordion that sparked his interest. Studying engineering as a late teenager took up most of his time but he did manage to attend Archie Duncan for lessons for a time. Glasgow was full of dancing in the late 50s and hearing bands like Bobby MacLeod and Andy MacColl further fired his imagination. John won Perth Festival in 1964 and went on to play with several of the country’s top bands including Andrew Rankine and Jim Johnstone. His own band’s first line-up consisted of himself on lead accordion, his late brother-in-law Bobby MacNeillie on second box, David Whitehead on piano and Johnny Cooper on drums. Later bands were prominent in TV work including Thingummyjig, Sounds Gaelic, Double Bill,Round at Calum’s and Northern Nights.
John Carmichael
John was born and brought up in Glasgow where he started, without enthusiasm, to learn the piano at 9 years of age. He did learn to read music and the importance of fingering but it was a friend, Ian McLean’s, acquisition of an accordion that sparked his interest. Studying engineering as a late teenager took up most of his time but he did manage to attend Archie Duncan for lessons for a time. Glasgow was full of dancing in the late 50s and hearing bands like Bobby MacLeod and Andy MacColl further fired his imagination. John won Perth Festival in 1964 and went on to play with several of the country’s top bands including Andrew Rankine and Jim Johnstone. His own band’s first line-up consisted of himself on lead accordion, his late brother-in-law Bobby MacNeillie on second box, David Whitehead on piano and Johnny Cooper on drums. Later bands were prominent in TV work including Thingummyjig, Sounds Gaelic, Double Bill,Round at Calum’s and Northern Nights.