Bobby Crowe (17/09/14)
by Joan Blue
B&F November 2014
Bobby Crowe. A loyal friend, a wonderful musician, a master joiner – and a comic. Wherever Bobby was in a room, there was laughter. Usually because he was telling his ONE joke – you all know it? A man going to a fancy dress party as a pirate – had the kerchief, had the striped jumper – Went to a pet shop and asked for a parrot. The shop owner didn’t have one but said “ Can you come back on Tuesday? “ “No, that’s the day ah-m getting ma leg off”. But it was the way Bobby told it and how he always laughed as if it was the first time he had heard it.
Bobby , with Douglas Maxwell Jnr, and David Finlay, formed the Olympians Dance Band which had its first broadcast in 1952. After National Service, Bobby formed his own band and was soon broadcasting regularly and playing at Scottish country dances throughout the land. He was also playing with the Cameron Kerr, Angus Fitchet and Cavendish Bands. With the Cavendish he played at the Skye Balls and many Scottish Balls in London - then in the seventies he and Angus Fitchet formed a duo and were frequent guests at A & F Clubs, quite often with Malcolm Ross on drums. I also had the pleasure of being on keyboard for some of these events and playing and travelling with them was a joy. Bobby encouraged and promoted Angus Fitchet and Angus would not have been playing into his eighties if it hadn’t been for Bobby.
Bobby was a master joiner – as anyone who has seen Stella Wilkie’s conservatory or Chris’s staircase, made of pitch pine, can testify. He was very proud of this stair and frequently invited people to come and rub their hands over it – to feel the finish. David Annand, the well known sculptor from Fife asked Bobby to make plinths for some of the statues he created. With David, he attended various unveilings of these at Holyrood and having made the plinth for a bust of Alex Salmond, he was in a group photograph with him and Nicola Sturgeon. But a special photograph was that taken of David and Bobby with Sean Connery, who had attended the event.
Bobby immersed himself in Scottish music and many a young bandleader was thrilled to get an encouraging call from Bobby after a debut broadcast He also composed some wonderful tunes – My own favourite is the slow air he wrote – “Dr Stella Clark” Stella and I play it regularly.
Bobby, as Agnes will admit, could be fanatical about music. For instance, when the Hamefarers Band from Shetland was doing a week’s tour of the Accordion & Fiddle Clubs on the mainland, Bobby went to hear them in Aberdeen, in Perth, in Milngavie, in Ayr and in Gretna – coming home every night!! Not a stroke of joinering was done that week. When Ian Powrie was leaving for Australia, Bobby went into St Andrews and bought an expensive new radio – so that he could listen to Ian’s last broadcast – which he did - with tears tripping him. He thought the world had come to an end.
A Scottish musician, he was also a jazz fanatic. Many folks go to concerts to hear great musicians and sit in awe and come away full of praise, raving about the performance. Bobby got to KNOW these musicians. In his couthy way he managed to get into conversation with Martin Taylor, Tony Compton and, of course, Jack Emblow. Who else could have put on music nights in the village of Balmullo with Jack Emblow and Tony Compton as guest stars – not once but many times. They both loved Bobby and they loved coming up here.
Bobby treated everyone the same – he played at three of the Gillies’ Balls at Balmoral and was presented to the Queen when his band played for her Silver Jubilee Ball. I only hope that, if she asked him where he came from, he didn’t give the answer that I have heard him give countless times to a question: “What the hell’s it got tae dae wi’ you”.
Bobby was a founder member of the Balmullo Burns Club and to raise funds for it he organised Accordion & Fiddle Clubs in the Balmullo Inn during the summer months. Because of his musical contacts he was able to engage many top class musicians and must have raised an enormous sum of money through the years.
In his band days, Bobby of course was away from home a lot and Agnes didn’t get much help in bringing up their four bairns. But she made a damned good job of it even though Steven, the oldest was smoking a pipe at the age of three! They started off with Steven, Chris, Alison and Malcolm – now their next generation - Megan, Ross, and Lorne; Ryan and Gemma: Ashley and Callum – are all making their way successfully and now that THEY are grown up, Megan very considerately produced the first great-grandchild, Laila, who Bobby started phoning when she was only a few months old. He was an adoring Pop-Pop and was proud of them all. Although away from home a lot, Bobby could still discipline his family. Chris told me of an incident when he and brother Steve had been fighting at the youth club. This was in the seventies when it was the custom for boys (and young men) to wear their hair rather long. Bobby went up to the Club and ordered them into in the car. They did so with much trepidation. However, Bobby just drove them home and sent them to bed. They thought he had decided to let it go. Next morning , instead of school, he drove them straight to a barber and told the barber to give them both a short back and sides. This was done and two shamefaced boys had to go into to school with their flowing locks shorn , a source of great merriment to their fellow pupils.
Many of you will remember Bobby with a quite unique beard and must wonder what happened to it. One day when we were holidaying in Bunessan, possibly 1990, Agnes and I were going for a walk. Bobby asked if I had scissors as he wanted to trim his beard. I gave him a pair of nail scissors. When we returned, Agnes called me into their room and asked if I could see anything different. I couldn’t see anything at first, then looked at Bobby and asked “Have you got Agnes’ teeth in?” All I could see was teeth! The nail scissors had made such a mess of his beard that he had shaved it all off – after all these years.
That was just ONE of the Bunessan episodes of which there were many during the eleven years we holidayed there together. We played at the closing of the old village hall in Bunessan – that night would need a book to itself!!! - two years later we played at the opening of the new hall. One Saturday, Eric Goodfellow turned up at the Argyll Arms and a glorious afternoon was spent – so glorious that I struggled to get Jimmy sober enough to play at night. I managed and we started playing. No sign of Bobby. Agnes tried to waken him, I tried – then Jimmy went up to the room and said “C’mon man – I’m needing you downstairs to give me a hand”. Some time later, Bobby appeared. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and Jimmy’s white golfing hat - He came in and announced to the folk “I’m very sorry to be so late but I am suffering from a severe case of highland hospitality. “ And then - he proceeded to sing “Leaving Lismore” – IN GAELIC!!!!
One fine afternoon we were treated to the sight of Anda Campbell’s boat giving up the ghost and Jimmy Blue carrying Bobby Crowe on his back to the shore – like the Old Man of the Sea!
Then when it was reported that the Royal yacht had been seen and that the royal family would be picnicking on their favourite beach, Anda took the four of us in his boat and we sailed nonchalantly past the Royal yacht – ignoring the helicopters overhead. Bobby of course wasn’t satisfied with hoping to get near the royals (we didn’t ) – he had his accordion on and was loudly playing “The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh”, hoping they would recognise it – and him.
One time Willie Hunter and his son from Shetland came to stay with us to get in some golf. I phoned Bobby and told him they were down and were going golfing with Jimmy in the morning. Bobby said “What time are they going - I’ll be the caddy”. At 7.30am next morning, Bobby was walking round the side of our house with THREE golf bags over his shoulder!
Bobby was greatly loved by his family, friends and fellow musicians. He was always thinking up daft ideas – for instance, I wonder how many , perhaps phoning to book the band, were astonished to hear “The Crowe Residence. This is the butler speaking” or “Is this a reverse charge call?”
Jimmy and I, and our family, have had the pleasure and fun of being friends with Bobby and Agnes for well over 40 years - and there is only one way I can end this – with a phrase most of you will recognise –
See ye a while ago!
Box and Fiddle December 2014
Letters to the Editor
In appreciation
I wanted to write to share my very positive memories of both Bobby Crowe and John Laurie both of whom passed away recently.
Bobby was a big influence on my early playing days. He regularly came to play with his Band in Manchester in the 1980s, great nights in the Stockport Town Hall with a sell-out crowd of 300 dancers. The band included the likes of Angus Fitchet and Ron Kerr on fiddle, Muriel Johnstone on piano and Malcolm Ross on drums. The style, accuracy and danceable nature of Bobby’s music made it an absolute pleasure for both dancer and listener alike. He was, of course, also a regular at the Younger Hall in St Andrews during the RSCDS Summer Schools for many years.
Even though I loved to dance, I would watch keenly to absorb Bobby’s tremendous control of his instrument, particularly his lovely fluid left-hand technique. But, my abiding memory of Bobby was his interest in young folk (as I was then), and his generosity of spirit both in talking about the music and in sharing his immense collection of tunes and arrangements. Much of my early band music is based on sheets that Bobby Willingly gave away.
I first met John Laurie in the late 1980s. It was the start of a long friendship based on a common interest in Scottish dancing and music. John had an encyclopedic knowledge of Scottish dance tunes, though I like to think I occasionally gave him a run for his money. He was always interested in people, and it was most fitting that this came out so strongly at his funeral. He certainly gave me and my fledgling band every encouragement, including sponsoring and being the driving force behind the band’s early recordings. I am so very grateful for that support.
In London, he was definitely the face of Scottish Country Dancing at St Columba’s Church. He masterminded the Monday night dancing for several decades, and was very often MCing or on the door at so many other nights. John was the guy that was always networking, connecting people and generally providing the welcoming glue for the large ensemble of dancers passing through the Pont Street doors. Somehow, at Pont Street won’t seem quite the same without John there; the welcome, the keeping up with what tunes the band were playing, appreciating the different qualities that each band brings, and being introduced to yet another new and interesting person with whom there is a connection you’d never have discovered without John.
B&F February 2018
Agnes Crowe
There was a big turnout at Kirkcaldy Crematorium for the funeral of Agnes Crowe who died so suddenly on 17th December. I am sure she would have approved of the service, which he family arranged. There was no organ music. Billy Anderson played Scottish music and also played for the hymns. The Minister was excellent and gave an account of her life. I was privileged to be asked to give the eulogy which was easy because, in over 53 years of friendship, we shared so many memories and so much fun and laughter in Bunessan with our men and also when the two of us went off together each spring to Paris, Amsterdam, Jersey, London and other places. Her family did her proud today.
Bobby , with Douglas Maxwell Jnr, and David Finlay, formed the Olympians Dance Band which had its first broadcast in 1952. After National Service, Bobby formed his own band and was soon broadcasting regularly and playing at Scottish country dances throughout the land. He was also playing with the Cameron Kerr, Angus Fitchet and Cavendish Bands. With the Cavendish he played at the Skye Balls and many Scottish Balls in London - then in the seventies he and Angus Fitchet formed a duo and were frequent guests at A & F Clubs, quite often with Malcolm Ross on drums. I also had the pleasure of being on keyboard for some of these events and playing and travelling with them was a joy. Bobby encouraged and promoted Angus Fitchet and Angus would not have been playing into his eighties if it hadn’t been for Bobby.
Bobby was a master joiner – as anyone who has seen Stella Wilkie’s conservatory or Chris’s staircase, made of pitch pine, can testify. He was very proud of this stair and frequently invited people to come and rub their hands over it – to feel the finish. David Annand, the well known sculptor from Fife asked Bobby to make plinths for some of the statues he created. With David, he attended various unveilings of these at Holyrood and having made the plinth for a bust of Alex Salmond, he was in a group photograph with him and Nicola Sturgeon. But a special photograph was that taken of David and Bobby with Sean Connery, who had attended the event.
Bobby immersed himself in Scottish music and many a young bandleader was thrilled to get an encouraging call from Bobby after a debut broadcast He also composed some wonderful tunes – My own favourite is the slow air he wrote – “Dr Stella Clark” Stella and I play it regularly.
Bobby, as Agnes will admit, could be fanatical about music. For instance, when the Hamefarers Band from Shetland was doing a week’s tour of the Accordion & Fiddle Clubs on the mainland, Bobby went to hear them in Aberdeen, in Perth, in Milngavie, in Ayr and in Gretna – coming home every night!! Not a stroke of joinering was done that week. When Ian Powrie was leaving for Australia, Bobby went into St Andrews and bought an expensive new radio – so that he could listen to Ian’s last broadcast – which he did - with tears tripping him. He thought the world had come to an end.
A Scottish musician, he was also a jazz fanatic. Many folks go to concerts to hear great musicians and sit in awe and come away full of praise, raving about the performance. Bobby got to KNOW these musicians. In his couthy way he managed to get into conversation with Martin Taylor, Tony Compton and, of course, Jack Emblow. Who else could have put on music nights in the village of Balmullo with Jack Emblow and Tony Compton as guest stars – not once but many times. They both loved Bobby and they loved coming up here.
Bobby treated everyone the same – he played at three of the Gillies’ Balls at Balmoral and was presented to the Queen when his band played for her Silver Jubilee Ball. I only hope that, if she asked him where he came from, he didn’t give the answer that I have heard him give countless times to a question: “What the hell’s it got tae dae wi’ you”.
Bobby was a founder member of the Balmullo Burns Club and to raise funds for it he organised Accordion & Fiddle Clubs in the Balmullo Inn during the summer months. Because of his musical contacts he was able to engage many top class musicians and must have raised an enormous sum of money through the years.
In his band days, Bobby of course was away from home a lot and Agnes didn’t get much help in bringing up their four bairns. But she made a damned good job of it even though Steven, the oldest was smoking a pipe at the age of three! They started off with Steven, Chris, Alison and Malcolm – now their next generation - Megan, Ross, and Lorne; Ryan and Gemma: Ashley and Callum – are all making their way successfully and now that THEY are grown up, Megan very considerately produced the first great-grandchild, Laila, who Bobby started phoning when she was only a few months old. He was an adoring Pop-Pop and was proud of them all. Although away from home a lot, Bobby could still discipline his family. Chris told me of an incident when he and brother Steve had been fighting at the youth club. This was in the seventies when it was the custom for boys (and young men) to wear their hair rather long. Bobby went up to the Club and ordered them into in the car. They did so with much trepidation. However, Bobby just drove them home and sent them to bed. They thought he had decided to let it go. Next morning , instead of school, he drove them straight to a barber and told the barber to give them both a short back and sides. This was done and two shamefaced boys had to go into to school with their flowing locks shorn , a source of great merriment to their fellow pupils.
Many of you will remember Bobby with a quite unique beard and must wonder what happened to it. One day when we were holidaying in Bunessan, possibly 1990, Agnes and I were going for a walk. Bobby asked if I had scissors as he wanted to trim his beard. I gave him a pair of nail scissors. When we returned, Agnes called me into their room and asked if I could see anything different. I couldn’t see anything at first, then looked at Bobby and asked “Have you got Agnes’ teeth in?” All I could see was teeth! The nail scissors had made such a mess of his beard that he had shaved it all off – after all these years.
That was just ONE of the Bunessan episodes of which there were many during the eleven years we holidayed there together. We played at the closing of the old village hall in Bunessan – that night would need a book to itself!!! - two years later we played at the opening of the new hall. One Saturday, Eric Goodfellow turned up at the Argyll Arms and a glorious afternoon was spent – so glorious that I struggled to get Jimmy sober enough to play at night. I managed and we started playing. No sign of Bobby. Agnes tried to waken him, I tried – then Jimmy went up to the room and said “C’mon man – I’m needing you downstairs to give me a hand”. Some time later, Bobby appeared. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and Jimmy’s white golfing hat - He came in and announced to the folk “I’m very sorry to be so late but I am suffering from a severe case of highland hospitality. “ And then - he proceeded to sing “Leaving Lismore” – IN GAELIC!!!!
One fine afternoon we were treated to the sight of Anda Campbell’s boat giving up the ghost and Jimmy Blue carrying Bobby Crowe on his back to the shore – like the Old Man of the Sea!
Then when it was reported that the Royal yacht had been seen and that the royal family would be picnicking on their favourite beach, Anda took the four of us in his boat and we sailed nonchalantly past the Royal yacht – ignoring the helicopters overhead. Bobby of course wasn’t satisfied with hoping to get near the royals (we didn’t ) – he had his accordion on and was loudly playing “The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh”, hoping they would recognise it – and him.
One time Willie Hunter and his son from Shetland came to stay with us to get in some golf. I phoned Bobby and told him they were down and were going golfing with Jimmy in the morning. Bobby said “What time are they going - I’ll be the caddy”. At 7.30am next morning, Bobby was walking round the side of our house with THREE golf bags over his shoulder!
Bobby was greatly loved by his family, friends and fellow musicians. He was always thinking up daft ideas – for instance, I wonder how many , perhaps phoning to book the band, were astonished to hear “The Crowe Residence. This is the butler speaking” or “Is this a reverse charge call?”
Jimmy and I, and our family, have had the pleasure and fun of being friends with Bobby and Agnes for well over 40 years - and there is only one way I can end this – with a phrase most of you will recognise –
See ye a while ago!
Box and Fiddle December 2014
Letters to the Editor
In appreciation
I wanted to write to share my very positive memories of both Bobby Crowe and John Laurie both of whom passed away recently.
Bobby was a big influence on my early playing days. He regularly came to play with his Band in Manchester in the 1980s, great nights in the Stockport Town Hall with a sell-out crowd of 300 dancers. The band included the likes of Angus Fitchet and Ron Kerr on fiddle, Muriel Johnstone on piano and Malcolm Ross on drums. The style, accuracy and danceable nature of Bobby’s music made it an absolute pleasure for both dancer and listener alike. He was, of course, also a regular at the Younger Hall in St Andrews during the RSCDS Summer Schools for many years.
Even though I loved to dance, I would watch keenly to absorb Bobby’s tremendous control of his instrument, particularly his lovely fluid left-hand technique. But, my abiding memory of Bobby was his interest in young folk (as I was then), and his generosity of spirit both in talking about the music and in sharing his immense collection of tunes and arrangements. Much of my early band music is based on sheets that Bobby Willingly gave away.
I first met John Laurie in the late 1980s. It was the start of a long friendship based on a common interest in Scottish dancing and music. John had an encyclopedic knowledge of Scottish dance tunes, though I like to think I occasionally gave him a run for his money. He was always interested in people, and it was most fitting that this came out so strongly at his funeral. He certainly gave me and my fledgling band every encouragement, including sponsoring and being the driving force behind the band’s early recordings. I am so very grateful for that support.
In London, he was definitely the face of Scottish Country Dancing at St Columba’s Church. He masterminded the Monday night dancing for several decades, and was very often MCing or on the door at so many other nights. John was the guy that was always networking, connecting people and generally providing the welcoming glue for the large ensemble of dancers passing through the Pont Street doors. Somehow, at Pont Street won’t seem quite the same without John there; the welcome, the keeping up with what tunes the band were playing, appreciating the different qualities that each band brings, and being introduced to yet another new and interesting person with whom there is a connection you’d never have discovered without John.
B&F February 2018
Agnes Crowe
There was a big turnout at Kirkcaldy Crematorium for the funeral of Agnes Crowe who died so suddenly on 17th December. I am sure she would have approved of the service, which he family arranged. There was no organ music. Billy Anderson played Scottish music and also played for the hymns. The Minister was excellent and gave an account of her life. I was privileged to be asked to give the eulogy which was easy because, in over 53 years of friendship, we shared so many memories and so much fun and laughter in Bunessan with our men and also when the two of us went off together each spring to Paris, Amsterdam, Jersey, London and other places. Her family did her proud today.