Perhaps I can step in here. Ted is correct.
The Deacon record does represent an early manifestation of the group now
known as the Whistlebinkies and is so far away from the current group
musically and ideologically that it is understandable that it might be
assumed that there was no direct link. I've heard the record (there is a
copy in my my archive but it is minus the cover - a blessing perhaps) and it
ranks among the most unlistenable discs I've heard. I had hoped that all
copies would have found their way to landfill sites by now! More commonly
people enquire if we have any connection with the two bars called
"Whistlebinkies" in Edinburgh and Stirling - and before you ask, we don't.
In the band we refer to it as "Whistlebinkies minus 2" as a reference to its
place in relation to the range of numbered discs discs issued by Claddagh of
Dublin on vinyl: "The Whistlebinkies" (1977), "the Whistlebinkies 2" (1980),
"the Whistlbinkies 3" (1982), "the Whistlebinkies 4" (1986) and "the
Whistlebinkies 5" (1989). "Whistlebinkies minus 1" was an album recorded in
East Berlin around 1975.
The group's style developed in the early 1970s when Eddie McGuire returned
to Glasgow after his studies in London and Stockholm and joined the group as
a contemporary composer/flautist who wished to become more integrated into
Scottish traditional music. At that time the band was Jim Daly and Mick
Broderick from the Deacon record, Gordon Hotchkiss, Eddie, and for some
time, a red haired flute player that nobody seems to talk about - at least
that's how I remember them when I moved to Glasgow from Fife in 1971. Rab
Wallace brought bellows pipes in 1974 or 5 (the first to revive the
instrument in regular performance) and by thaat time Eddie was playing
clarsach as well as flute - the group were also the first to use the
Scottish harp in regular performance. The concept of building an acoustic,
guitarless group centred on Collinson's three core instruments of the
Scottish tradition, fiddle, harp and pipes was thus established. The
influence of the Chieftains' contribution to Irish music was not
coincidental although the drive was to establish a trully Scottish sound.
For the record, Rhona MacKay, who played on the first 3 Claddagh records,
was replaced by then teenager Judith Peacock who is still with the group.
While Judith was unable to perform with us during her Gaelic and musical
studies in Dublin and London we were joined by a number of other harpists
including Mary Ann Kennedy and Savourna Stevenson. Eddie McGuire is
currently writing a piece to be premiered at the Edinburgh Harp Festival in
2001 which features all the Scottish harp players who have been associated
with the band - should be interesting. Rhona still joins us occassionally -
at a recent festival gig in Belgium I was amazed at how much of the old
material she could remember and her sheer skill - I recommend her as one of
the truly great musicians working in Scotland today.
Ted's reference to the "Firemen" is correct too. This (very) loose
association of musicians was established in the early 1970s by John Gahagan,
Jamie MacMenemy and myself when we were students in the students together in
the same year at the Glasgow School of Art. John and Jamie later joined the
Battlefield Band with Brian McNeill and Alan Reid who were also students in
the city at the time. John subsequently joined Kentigern along with fiddler
Jimmy McGuire (who was also a student with us the Art School), Sandy
Stanage, Dougie Pincock (later Battlefield) and Jim and Sylvia Barnes. I got
a proper job and teamed up with fiddle Chris Miller (another unsung hero)
and singer Mick West among others as "Molendinar".
Strangely enough, I never played with the Whistlebinkies till I moved to
Edinburgh in 1979. "the Whistlebinkies 2" was in the can by then and, as Ted
said, I played on all subsequent recordings.
The 1970s was an interesting time in the instrumental side of the folk
revival which is worthy of recording and to this end I'm making my
contribution to the talks in this year's Edinburgh Fiddle Festival on the
subject of the fiddle in Scotland during that time. Perhaps members of the
list can help jog my memory. Come on Ted, Derek and Nigel! Who do you
remember as fiddle players active in the 1970s?
Nigel, we really must touch base sometime on our respective growing
collections of Scottish music ephemera.
Stuart Eydmann
http://www.whistlebinkies.net
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