George was Big Time

The March convention saw our chance to reconnect with the beginnings of our society. 63 years ago show business was mourning the death of one of its greatest entertainers - George Formby. “George was Big Time in every respect- except in his manner. He could afford anything any artiste in the millionaire class could afford, but he never- but never- suffered from that most unpopular-of-all complaints - a Big Head. It was the warmth and naturalness of George Formby that made him one of the most popular of Britain's artistes for Forty Years. Not for one moment of his long span did his popularity with the public wane. He was forever on top…and that’s a tribute every artiste in Show Business should dearly love to have written about him” (Record and Show Mirror 1961) How remarkable then 63 years later members of the GFS are gathered in Blackpool to celebrate his life and achievements in their March Convention and still trying to master that elusive ‘Formby’ stroke. Our archives board made an immediate impact with its newspaper cuttings, photos and posters. The display cabinet brought several of George’s ties, the negatives of his personal photos as well as a programme of him appearing in Aladdin, at Bristol Hippodrome playing the part of Mr Wu and gave a short history of his career. The ‘bar’ being in a different room meant that the auction could be spread out for members to peruse and included everything about George from a couple of ukes, to songbooks, records, CDs, posters - in fact everything George. Johnny Key won the framed picture of ‘Kiss Your Mansy Pansy’ in the blind auction. Cost of living is evident as the original price was 6d and Johnny paid considerably more. So fitting that Johnny won this as he’s often sings George’s lesser-known songs, including this one.

Time to prepare

This was considerably shortened as we were unable to set up on the Friday afternoon. So, a very early, 6.45 am before breakfast start, for those heroes sorting the sound and the room, and everything else necessary for a successful meeting but everything ran like clockwork. The room opened on time. Members trouped in, laden with ukes and bags and joie de vivre, eager to meet up with old friends, chat with new ones and catch up with news and gossip. The Uttley’s admitted to counting the days until the meeting. Dale remarked, “It’s so lovely to see so many happy faces.” A fantastic attendance. As usual, there was time for everything. Time to share - News and views and opinions flowed around the room as smoothly as custard over a pastry. Topics included everything under the sun including… The increasing hotel prices, more expensive out of season than in June: time to moan about travel, no rail strikes this time, but plenty of delays as well as potholes on the roads. Such a shame that cars must be roadworthy, but roads aren’t carworthy! Tony and Frances Lister having returned from a lengthy cruise were trying to acclimatize to the delights of life on land - washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning and shopping and so far weren’t too impressed by it all! Gladys Geoghan shimmered and sparkled showing off her new hip. Good for Gladys. Angus Lamont, from Scotland, was taking a break from a hectic work schedule to pop in, whilst Jean Hubble popped up from the far South. Chris Barratt whizzed around on his scooter closely followed by daughter Hazel. He won a bid for a uke and several songbooks in the auction, so will be back and hopefully on stage! Blink and you’d have missed this honorary member, a former musical director, who appeared for a short time, although disappointingly he didn’t appear on stage. It was Dickie Speake, a member since 1968, a loyal member for 56 years. Lovely to see him and looking so well. In his honour, Charlie performed two of Dennis’s favourite songs. (At the GFS Society and Share and Share Alike)

There was time to reminisce

Ray Reynolds who was a DJ in the 1960s with fabulous memories of all the people, places and times which have disappeared forever and lamented the loss of the innocence of those times when things were just beginning such as the artistes before they were famous. He should really write a book. Eddie Uttley a quiet, modest man with magic in his hands who can make, shape, mend and rebuild all kinds of ukes, in his workshop recalled how his ‘Dreamer’ came into existence. He dreamt about it, woke up at 3 am, got up, drew up the plans and then created it. Just as simple as that!! Jack Valentine a member since 1975 remembered and knew ‘all the greats, Bill Logan, Jack Jones, Billy Hartley.’ Still plays his ukes at home. His favourite films depend on his mood. It could be No Limit or Let George Do It, but there are a lot of good ones. The rhythm of the uke attracted him to George.

A collection of

Ludwigs

There was, as usual, plenty going on. The ‘Ludwig talk’ with eight instruments on show with their proud owners, was the perfect opportunity to learn more. Collectively John Walley valued them at over £90,000. Can’t buy one for less than £7,000 today. There was no such thing as a ‘Ludwig’ in the early days of the society. It was unknown. They were mostly Dallas models. The Ludwig came from America from a ‘top of the range’ manufacturer. The ukulele boomed over there in the 1920’s. Laurel and Hardy played one. There were several models - from the Wendell Hall basic model, the Nickel Crown, a Gold and a Special all at varying prices. These ukes were produced for only a couple of years, but it remains unknown as to how many were made. George’s uke was removed from the sale by Pat Howson. George’ uke was a Nickel Ludwig and is now owned we believe by George Harrison’s son. There was time for everything - a time to entertain and to be entertained a time to laugh and have some fun was heralded by the silencing of the general hubbub and a stampede for the stage with ukes in D. The concerts were underway and a variety of performances and music began. There were the usual favourite, well-known Formby songs sung with gusto performed by individuals, duos, trios and small groups. There was some lovely melody from Jon Baddeley on his clarinet; a wonderful tribute to Glenn Miller on a tiny wooden uke by David Smith; whilst Colin Bourdiac performed the hornpipe and still had energy to sing! Ray Reynold's ventriloquism act with his pink furry friend was brilliant and reminiscent of the theatre acts that George would have known. The Sunday evening concert saw an even greater range of music; folk, country, rock, classical, some Flanagan and Allen and Billy Uke Scot. Impossible to have St Patrick’s Day without singing, ‘Whisky in the Jar’. The audience was kept busy tapping, clapping, and dancing.

convivial and relaxed atmosphere

The comperes created a convivial and relaxed atmosphere. Jim Makin had the longest and most excruciating supply of jokes, but he wasn’t the only one! They ranged from a cross-eyed burglar; to new turbo-charged stair lifts which whizz you upstairs so fast you can remember what you went up for….. Some humorous introductions: Angie Parker is apparently renowned the world over for her ‘spotted pudding’, Pollard and Fletcher sound like a firm of solicitors, the two Toms as ‘buy one get one free’ and The Jim Makin Quartet as ‘De Ja Vu’ because they’ve been here and sung the same songs before! In this comfortable atmosphere, the performers shared their problems. Bruce Cox - had a little incident on the train and is going to walk home to avoid embarrassment; another was questioned that it was ‘only three chords so what could possibly go wrong?’ The Castleford Branch know not to move a limb during the auction in case they end up buying something and with an enthusiastic auctioneer Andy Poppleton, some of our members also learnt the hard way!

a time for remembrance

There was a time for remembrance -two members who had recently died. Glyn Mitchel who joined the society in the late 1990s and designed the official GFS logo; and Kitty Barratt for whom Dale Norman read a tribute. Kitty joined in 1962 along with husband Alex and the whole family. They even spent their Golden Diamond wedding anniversary with the society. She worked tirelessly raising funds by organizing the raffle, which is still known as Kitty’s raffle. Many members will have memories of her buying prizes on Saturday morning and crawling along the rows selling raffle tickets during the afternoon and evening concerts. As in Kitty’s day, the raffle still provides funds - and has a fabulous range of prizes with members still fighting for the best prizes - which we were told was the ‘chocolate body paint’

a new band?

Time to try something new. Sunday morning concert saw new faces in the band with Stuart Lowther on the keyboard and Lewis Clifton on the drums. A new compere - young Charlie Evered took to it like a duck to water and shared some interesting facts. This weekend would have been the 13th anniversary of the death of Dennis Taylor. George and Beryl’s wedding anniversary would be a century ago this coming September 20th. And ‘Boots, Boots’ is 90 years old this year. He also encouraged members to buy their raffle tickets. Well done, Charlie. The tuition class provided a chance to learn the elusive Formby stroke.

the gfs cinema

Time to observe our hero ‘George’ in action on the uke and to engage with his happy-go-lucky-cheeky character came with the showing of the two films! Shimeon and many members learnt to play the uke - simply by watching George. The two films shown portrayed George at different stages in his career. ‘Boots Boots’ released in 1934 launched George’s film career and is more a social history having a very tenuous storyline. The Boot boy at a large hotel falls for the scullery maid who turns out to be the long- lost niece of wealthy residents at the hotel. It cost £3,000 to make, used one static camera, with Beryl starring to save on costs and was packed with songs and individual turns. ’Spare a Copper’ was released in 1940 when George was the highest-paid entertainer and top box office attraction. The plot was much more intricate involving saboteurs at a shipyard, stolen propellor blades and George as an inept policeman in wartime Liverpool, who was framed by the villains and forced to go on the run. The film made at the beginning of WW2 served as propaganda for the government's war machine.

the GFS continues to thrive

Finally, this March, in just one weekend we had time for absolutely everything and have fun and meet friends and make new ones. This is the place where friends are made. Johnny Key talked to his neighbour at one meeting and then found that they lived in the same street! So the GFS continues to thrive so make time to be there in June when we all meet again! Gill Walley - 30 March 2024