Tom Hall (Obituary)
by
B&F November 2011
Tom loved his music, in particular the Scottish dance music. He was involved in Scottish dancing at University in Leeds in the 50s and, enthused by meeting Jack Delaney (on of the best second box players of his generation), the Scottish Country Dance Band bug had been caught.
In Manchester he originally teamed up with his brother Ian in 1960. They formed ‘The Hall Brothers’ with Tom on box, Ian on piano (or sometimes the other way round). Sister-in-law Heulwen soon joined on piano. They were to play together often over the following 50 years.
Tom was perhaps best known for leading The Rattray Band. Lifelong friends Hugh Ferguson on second box and Laurence Beard on bass played with him in this format for over 30 years. Roy Bentley on drums and Peter Lawson on piano also made long-term contributions.
The Rattray Band was one of the most popular bands of the 1960s and 70s south of the border, especially in the Midlands and North West England. They appeared regularly each summer in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens and provided the music for well over half of the memorable annual Scots’ Night concerts in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall.
I had the pleasure of playing quite regularly with Tom in latter years in the SE of England, often joined by Ray Milbourne or Ali Forbes on piano. He had put together a very comprehensive set of Scottish dance tunes and enjoyed listening to and talking about tunes and bands. He was generous in sharing his music folio; almost all of my early band material was based on Tom’s extensive collection.
“Lively”, “good to dance to” and with a real appreciation of the Scottish idiom is how I would describe The Rattray Band sound. Tom made a very valuable and much appreciated contribution to the Scottish Country Dance music scene and will be sadly missed by this community.
In Manchester he originally teamed up with his brother Ian in 1960. They formed ‘The Hall Brothers’ with Tom on box, Ian on piano (or sometimes the other way round). Sister-in-law Heulwen soon joined on piano. They were to play together often over the following 50 years.
Tom was perhaps best known for leading The Rattray Band. Lifelong friends Hugh Ferguson on second box and Laurence Beard on bass played with him in this format for over 30 years. Roy Bentley on drums and Peter Lawson on piano also made long-term contributions.
The Rattray Band was one of the most popular bands of the 1960s and 70s south of the border, especially in the Midlands and North West England. They appeared regularly each summer in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens and provided the music for well over half of the memorable annual Scots’ Night concerts in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall.
I had the pleasure of playing quite regularly with Tom in latter years in the SE of England, often joined by Ray Milbourne or Ali Forbes on piano. He had put together a very comprehensive set of Scottish dance tunes and enjoyed listening to and talking about tunes and bands. He was generous in sharing his music folio; almost all of my early band material was based on Tom’s extensive collection.
“Lively”, “good to dance to” and with a real appreciation of the Scottish idiom is how I would describe The Rattray Band sound. Tom made a very valuable and much appreciated contribution to the Scottish Country Dance music scene and will be sadly missed by this community.