Hello John
It had exactly the same effect on me despite being besotted by the
original Tom Clough 78 (which Ron Elliott bought by chance in Harrogate
market in the late 60s).
The postman delivered Billy's album as I was leaving for the lab at
Aston. I put it on the record player and tears were forming by the end
of track 2 (A side - The Lark in the Clear Air was the culprit). By the
time B side track 3 (WHW) came on the tears were falling on the floor.
I played the whole LP 3 times through back to back and went in to the
lab in the afternoon.
Re WHW, I listened to it again tonight with Colin's notes in front of
me. Granted that my album has been played almost to death so I could be
totally wrong here but the 5 note run (B C C# D D#) between the high G
and the long E only seems to happen first time round. Unless my ears
deceive me the equivalent runs as the tune progresses miss out the D#.
Furthermore, the D# in the original run seems to me to be quite flat.
Could it be that first time around he squeezes the D up a tad to get a
D# effect? There is certainly enough gap after it where he could bring
the pressure back down to get the E in tune. This would be in keeping
with what Dick Hill (Billy's last formal pupil and player of the
stunning Jack Armstrong 7 key chanter) told me. That Billy in fact
played a 6 key chanter as the D# block had broken off.
If indeed this is the case we can only further marvel at Billy's
genius!
Cheers
Anthony
--- On Sun, 19/12/10, Gibbons, John <j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk> wrote:
From: Gibbons, John <j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk>
Subject: [NSP] Re: WHW
To: "NSP group" <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Sunday, 19 December, 2010, 15:47
I'd heard NSP before - including Billy's TV appearance.
But that record was what really got the fire burning - Jack Armstrong's
LP didn't quite do it for me.
Also, as you say, the notes - almost a book - were excellent.
Colin's transcription of The Wild Hills of Wannie really helped me to
understand what was going on.
My only regret now is not getting a set sooner.
Good luck to any intrepid souls attempting the yomp on Boxing Day!
It might be a chilly one!
John
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