Peter Straughan (1936 – 99) – Obituary
by Ian Cruickshanks (Kirriemuir)
It is with regret that I report the passing of Peter Straughan on June 12th, 1999. Peter will probably be best remembered as pianist with Jimmy Shand and Rob Gordon. He was born in Throckley, near Newcastle, in 1936. He became involved with the piano at an early age and also with the church organ which he continued playing until just before his death.
His involvement with the Dance Band scene began in the 50’s when he joined the band of Jack Armstrong and the Barnstormers, a very popular band in the North of England at the time. He then went on to play with Peter White’s Band, again in the Newcastle area, Whitley Bay to be more precise, as Peter was a keen and competent Country Dancer at that time. In 1963 he moved north to Auchtermuchty to play full time with Jimmy Shand and his Band, and stayed with Sir Jimmy until 1972/3 when the fulltime Band disbanded. This was a hectic time for Peter and he traveled extensively throughout the U.K. and abroad including Australia. It was during a 1966 Tour of Australia that the fiddler in the Shand Band at the time, Angus Fitchet, presented Peter with a tune ‘Peter Straughan’s Jig’.
Peter had spells with various other bands including John MacGregor, Bobby Crowe and John Ellis but in recent times he had a long association with the late Rob Gordon and this is when I came to know him. Peter played with Rob’s Band for some 20 years, and Peter was one of the stalwarts who carried on with me after Rob passed away in 1994.
On a personal level I traveled thousands of miles with Peter and played countless gigs with him in Rob’s Band and when Rob took ill and I fronted his Band, Peter’s experience carried us through. He wasn’t content just to coast, he was always paying attention and putting everything into it at the same time. He was a man who would speak his mind rather than sulk about something. If he didn’t agree he would tell you! I let him hear some recordings of broadcasts that he was on in the late 60’s playing with Jimmy Shand on the Heather Mixture Radio Shows and the piano was very ‘flowery’ on a couple of tracks, ‘Lily of Laguna’ and a waltz ‘Little Sir Echo’. I asked him how he got leave to do that and he told me it was Ben Lyons, the Producer, who asked him to ‘ad lib’ with the piano on the waltzes. Peter agreed, but only on the old time, sing-along material. He refused point blank to do it on a Scottish waltz.
He worked part time in a number of pubs in ‘Muchty and he played the organ at Auchtermuchty Parish Church for some 30 years. At his funeral service that Church was packed with musicians and friends and the Reverend Anne Fraser remembered how Peter had that extra something in his music, even playing the organ at the Kirk. He was a man who had little use for ‘material possessions’ in his life, but was happy if he had enough for his cigarettes, his paper and a wee drink.
Box and Fiddle
November 1999
His involvement with the Dance Band scene began in the 50’s when he joined the band of Jack Armstrong and the Barnstormers, a very popular band in the North of England at the time. He then went on to play with Peter White’s Band, again in the Newcastle area, Whitley Bay to be more precise, as Peter was a keen and competent Country Dancer at that time. In 1963 he moved north to Auchtermuchty to play full time with Jimmy Shand and his Band, and stayed with Sir Jimmy until 1972/3 when the fulltime Band disbanded. This was a hectic time for Peter and he traveled extensively throughout the U.K. and abroad including Australia. It was during a 1966 Tour of Australia that the fiddler in the Shand Band at the time, Angus Fitchet, presented Peter with a tune ‘Peter Straughan’s Jig’.
Peter had spells with various other bands including John MacGregor, Bobby Crowe and John Ellis but in recent times he had a long association with the late Rob Gordon and this is when I came to know him. Peter played with Rob’s Band for some 20 years, and Peter was one of the stalwarts who carried on with me after Rob passed away in 1994.
On a personal level I traveled thousands of miles with Peter and played countless gigs with him in Rob’s Band and when Rob took ill and I fronted his Band, Peter’s experience carried us through. He wasn’t content just to coast, he was always paying attention and putting everything into it at the same time. He was a man who would speak his mind rather than sulk about something. If he didn’t agree he would tell you! I let him hear some recordings of broadcasts that he was on in the late 60’s playing with Jimmy Shand on the Heather Mixture Radio Shows and the piano was very ‘flowery’ on a couple of tracks, ‘Lily of Laguna’ and a waltz ‘Little Sir Echo’. I asked him how he got leave to do that and he told me it was Ben Lyons, the Producer, who asked him to ‘ad lib’ with the piano on the waltzes. Peter agreed, but only on the old time, sing-along material. He refused point blank to do it on a Scottish waltz.
He worked part time in a number of pubs in ‘Muchty and he played the organ at Auchtermuchty Parish Church for some 30 years. At his funeral service that Church was packed with musicians and friends and the Reverend Anne Fraser remembered how Peter had that extra something in his music, even playing the organ at the Kirk. He was a man who had little use for ‘material possessions’ in his life, but was happy if he had enough for his cigarettes, his paper and a wee drink.
Box and Fiddle
November 1999