Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Pianist and Royal Navy veteran awarded the DSM, who taught himself to play by ear.
On the island
Eight records
mentioned as follow-up to Side Saddle, no reason given
The keepsakes
No book or luxury recorded for this episode.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:10Is there music in the family?
My mother was a was a very talented pianist. Professional? No, only an amateur. And uh a lovely contralto voice she had.
Presenter asks
0:56What was your first job when you left?
I worked in an office of my father's solicitor for a very short while, left at their request after messing up nearly everything from the ledges to the lift. After that I went to a clothing supply company, which I also left at the request of the management after about another two months.
Presenter asks
1:38While you were serving in the Royal Navy, you were awarded the DSM. Where was that?
In the Aegean, around Greece, mm-hmm, all that area.
Presenter asks
2:07In those days, while you were at sea, did you have any chance to play the piano?
Oh, many times. And especially in the merchant navy, on the large liners, there were nearly always a piano in the crew mess. Mm-hmm. Used to entertain the boys and myself.
Presenter asks
2:19How long were you to remain at sea?
Until August fifty five.
Presenter asks
5:43What's for the future? Any particular ambition not fulfilled yet?
two, I think, or three. One to write a a musical, a successful British musical. Two, to uh enlarge a theme which I've written and at the moment called My Concerto For You, I would like to enlarge it into a full scale concerto with technical help and perform it in Bristol and call it the Bristol Concerto.
“I never had any ambitions to be a musician at all.”
“I found I could always play the piano quite naturally, yes.”
“Quite by accident … I bumped into a friend of mine who knew I could play the piano, and he asked me if I'd deputise for a pianist in a club that weekend … came in Norman Newell, my present recording manager … he listened to me playing it. He said he thought I had an individual style of playing.”
“One of the luckiest breaks I've ever had in or out of the business was getting on Bill's television show. You know, he's a great guy.”
“Sometimes I find I can complete the whole thing in about ten minutes, which I'm ashamed to say I did with Size [Saddle] a little bit. And other times it might take a couple of months. Royal Event took a couple of months to finish.”