[Dixielandjazz] George Melly NY TIMES OBIT

[Ivor Jones]

Sorry Pat, unless he re-titled it. It is Rum, Bum, and Concertina. I have it 
in my hot little hand.

I first came across George at a Pub at the bottom of Fleet Street, the home 
of the British press. It was 1954, more or less, I don't remember the 
pub.The band was called the Press Gang, and it was probably comprised of 
journalists. George sang 'Judge, Judge,sweet mister Judge send me to the 
'lectric chair' . He was bloody awful but very entertaining.
The question is, Who was in the Press Gang ? Not even Mr. Australia will 
know that . How about it Bill.

Regards

Ivor



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pat ladd" <pj.ladd at btinternet.com>
To: "iVOR jONES" <BANJONES at sapo.pt>
Cc: "jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 06, 2007 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] George Melly NY TIMES OBIT


> George Melly, 80, Jazz Singer With Flair for Extravagance, Is Dead>>> Hi,
> George Melly really came above the radar horizon of the jazz scene at the 
> Beaulieu Jazz Festival which was to British Jazz what  Woodstock was  to 
> another generation.   Beaulieu was a private estate and the Festival was 
> about the first large outside music spectacle in the country, predating 
> Glastonbury by several decades.   Much beer was drunk, complaints from 
> outraged locals poured in, the police were called and everyone had a great 
> time.
> The enduring picture of the festival was a very drunk Melly, in his 
> twenties, shouting the blues into an empty glass. The picture was later 
> used on one of his LP`s.
>
> George was a very physical performer. In his version of Frankie and Johnny 
> when he got to the line `root toot toot right through the bar room door` 
> he would leap into the air, arriving on the floor centre stage to a 
> resounding crash and die..boy did he die.
>
> In his first autobiography which included his Navy service he parodied the 
> old description of the British Navy as Rum, Sodomy and the Lash and he 
> entitled it ,  Rum, Bum, and gramophone records.  His stories of touring 
> with Mulligan were hilarious. He also explained that the fans, known as 
> `scrubbers`,who followed the band were usually dedicated to one 
> instrument. There were trumpeters scrubbers and drummers scrubbers etc., 
> and as the band moved from area to area during the tour the scrubbers 
> would pass their player on to the appropriate scrubber in the next area. 
> Rather like the baton in a relay race. Quite an appropriate simile really.
>
> Georges outrageous suits were legendary and I heard him tell the story of 
> standing in the lavatory of a club in New York in a particularly garish 
> suit only to be looked up and down by a couple of (whatever the allowable 
> phrase is today)  One looked George up and down and said `Dahling, they 
> are letting straights in here now`
>
> George will be missed
>
> Pat
>
>
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