All Of Me - take all of me before I die laughing!

A touch of madness, for the Ukulele Underground Seasons of the Ukulele, Season 236... the host asked us to do a song covered at any time by Tiny Tim, and involve a puppet... and perhaps announce it with the words Juanita Banana! Tiny Tim was famous for singing in a high falsetto voice....



Well, I'm game for a laugh - and so, fortunately is LSH.... but this just had to be done with one take - no way was he going to do it a second time if I loused up the playing! So I ploughed doggedly on..... I still can't watch this without laughing til I cry!

All Of Me - a jazz standard written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simon and first recorded in December 1931.

Do please drop in again...

Caroline Stewart at Ukulele Festival of Great Britain 2015

The theme of this year’s Ukulele Festival of Great Britain – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Clearly, there would be fairies. Look, I’m girlie, I like fairies, I’ve got a lovely pair of black fairy wings that I wore on a charity “Fairy Walk” one midsummer’s night… but this year I was accompanied by Caroline – and Caroline’s strictly a no-nonsense girl who would promptly have disowned me had I gone adorned in wings, ivy and flowers…. so I made the sacrifice and stuck to my Ukulele Freak tee-shirt – and on the Friday night get-together at the pub, the Norwood Arms, we held our breath and went wearing “Formby Style Rules” tees complete with George Formby photo that LSH (Long-Suffering Husband) had had printed for us. Sporting those teeshirts felt like going to a meeting for vegetarians with a placard saying “EAT MORE MEAT”. Seriously. George Formby, his banjolele and his music are viewed with varying degrees of disdain by a sizeable proportion of the ukulele-playing community in Britain. But not all, dear readers, not all. And as card-carrying members of the GFS (George Formby Society) (actually, Caroline is the Chairman, no less…) we felt compelled to fly the Formby flag.

The teeshirts raised some smiles. I think they were friendly… and in that great waiting-room for ladies, the Ladies loo, a great place for chatting while you wait your turn, a conversation with one lady revealed a great love of the Formby style… and my teeshirt was by that time concealed by my sweater, so it wasn’t prompted by that! Anyway, that evening in the pub beer garden, we gave the friendly types at our table renditions of a few Formby favourites… Window Cleaner, Blackpool Rock, Grandad’s Flannelette Nightshirt. And we felt better.

The festival was stupendous. I love it, love it, love it. The workshops, the bazaar, the concerts, yes and the Big Busk…. I’ll come back to post on all that.

For now, switch to Sunday afternoon. Back at the Norwood Arms. Open mic, strictly one song each. So Caroline went up. “Are there any fans of George Formby out there?” Oh yes, there were… they bellowed their approval. So Caroline gave them “Baby” – a song she sings and plays so very beautifully. Here it is. Played on a 1920’s Gibson soprano strung with Living Water Strings.



Went down well, didn't it! It turned out nice again.

(As ever, I missed that introduction, switching the camera on…. Pfffft!)

Mike Warren, Leaning on a Lamppost...Ukulele Fever 2014

Mike Warren, one of the best exponents of the George Formby style of banjo-ukulele playing, playing at the concert "Ukulele Fever 2014" last October. George Formby's songs are often played with a backing band or backing track, but Mike plays unaccompanied here; it's a lovely performance of "Leaning on a Lamppost" and shows off his Formby-style expertise beautifully.

What is "Formby-style"? in a George Formby song, the song part (sung) is sung to a pared-back, simple accompaniment on ukulele, where the singing and the lyrics are the important bit - then comes a uke solo, usually banjo-uke, full of syncopated, tricky strumming techniques such as the split-stroke, which take ages to learn to do, especially at speed and in time, unless you're under 16......! (The GFS has many talented teenagers who play the style with great aplomb!)

It warms my heart to see George's music played at a ukulele event. Too many fans of the wooden uke in the UK disparage George and his music, which saddens me enormously, especially when it's done on stage. George Formby was a much-loved artist during the 1930's and 40's with his saucy songs full of inuendo, some of which were banned by the BBC! Not this song, though, which was written by Noel Gay and was first performed in the George Formby film "Feather Your Nest". It has become perhaps the most popular of all the songs George performed and a little lamppost is emblem and badge of the George Formby Society. George and his wife Beryl worked extensively during the Second World War for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), and entertained civilians and troops, and by 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel.

If you want to learn to play Formby-style, visit Mike Warren's website...

And please - don't knock George. He's a Ukulele Hero!

Thanks for dropping in!

Little Boy I'm So Blue (Little Girl I'm so Blue Without You) - Rachel E Manke ukulele

I've seen Rachel E Manke's videos before. She is very, VERY good... a lovely uke player and obviously a natural performer, (I'm green with envy) and she likes the songs I like... so it was a no-brainer that one of her videos would end up on here at some point.

This song was recorded by the Rice Brothers Gang in the 1930's. A new name to you? A new name to me, certainly. Read all about them here.... There's some interesting information about that uke club standard "You Are My Sunshine".. and why it's now on the Creative Commons list. A very human story. I won't re-invent the wheel - check out the link.

I love Rachel's version of the song. Such joy and energy! Played on an Ohana Sopranino, the chords are on the key of C shapes if your uke is tuned in C, but the sopranino is tuned higher than that - so you can't play along, as I discovered!

Look at those chords up the neck... I've recently learned that progression up the neck in my uke lessons - (more about them coming up!) If I'm not much mistaken, it's the so-called "rhythm changes".

Rachel tells me that she has a CD coming out in the spring. One to watch out for - watch this space!

One more thing - that ease, that speed of chord changes up the neck, those easy slides up and down the fingerboard... that's how I want to play. I'm aiming for that. Thanks Rachel!

And thanks, dear readers, for dropping in - I really appreciate it! Don't go too far away, now!

Lewis Clifton - "I've Got A Girlfriend" by Billy Uke Scott

Lewis is one of the best young exponents of Formby-style playing.



Lewis Clifton performs a Billy Uke Scott classic on his Ludwig banjo-uke at the Chester Branch of the George Formby Society last week. Lewis has been a regular performer and a firm favourite at GFS meetings for about three years now. Still in his teens, he's one of the star players and has wonderful Formby technique.

Billy Uke Scott (1923-2004) from Sunderland was a real ukulele star in Britain during the 1940's and 50's. He was an honorary member of the George Formby Society, as is his great friend Alan Southworth, who writes about him here for the Society. That's a great, informative article and well worth reading!

A quickie post. But I thought you'd like this.... thanks for dropping in!

Morecambe Winter Gardens July 2014 - Baby - Caroline Stewart

Following on from my post yesterday.... Caroline does this song so well - one of the highlights of the one day convention at Morecambe Winter Gardens last weekend, 26th July. This one-day event is great fun; it's such a thrill to get into this wonderful old theatre and see it used for the sort of entertainment it was built for - and to help to raise funds for its restoration. I've posted Caroline singing this song on stage before, in March, with a wooden uke, but the banjo-uke (a Gibson UB2 de-luxe, this one) gives it a slightly different feel.

We have quite a few teenage members of the society, and they are all very good players indeed... they made use of the lovely weather to busk outside the main door when not on stage. An appreciative public threw a total of £80 into their uke cases, which was swiftly handed over to the Morecambe Winter Gardens restoration fund.

Francesca and Catalina Davies, Stuart Lowther and Cameron Aitken, busking for the restoration fund, Morecambe Winter Gardens

The audience!

The thrash! (Everyone joins in!)

Look at that stage... Laurel and Hardy, Lawrence Olivier, Sir Edward Elgar, Morecambe and Wise, the Beatles and George Formby himself have performed on that stage!

Myself... with Caroline Stewart, Kate Howard, Peter Pollard, Dale Norman and John Walley..... and Eric!

So much fun, laughter and good friendship...

So that's it for Morecambe, until next year - I do hope we do it next year... and I do think we shall!
Video and some of the photos by courtesy of Peter Pollard, GFS

In The Money with the Hot Potato Syncopators at Uke Fest GB 2014

The Saturday Night concert at the Uke Fest GB in Cheltenham was a blast from start to finish. The second act to appear was the band the Hot Potato Syncopators.



I'd never seen then before, but as soon as they came on stage in their suits with tails, I knew they'd be doing my kind of music - songs from the 20's, 30's and 40's, and doing it well.. but I wasn't prepared for the comedy... they were hilarious and fully deserved their standing ovation! Featuring two ukuleles and a teachest bass, and three of the most talented musical comedians I've ever seen, this band should be seen more!

Please watch and enjoy the Hot Potato Syncopators in their fabulous finale to their act, "We're In The Money"... video and photo courtesy of The Hot Potato Syncopators



And yes - I did catch some!

Caroline Stewart sings "Baby"

Here is my great friend and ukulele kindred spirit Caroline (Robson) Stewart at Castleford GFS performing that rare kind of George Formby song, a romantic ballad - "Baby", recorded 1933, and from the film "Boots, Boots"

Doesn't she do that beautifully? I'm so jealous! What a lovely voice! I do believe she's playing her Gibson solid mahogany soprano uke here. Thanks to Peter Pollard for the video. Lovely ....

Peter Moss plays two of my all-time favourite songs at the George Formby Convention, Nov 2013

This was so special. These two songs, played so beautifully here by Peter Moss, are among my top few all-time favourites. Til There Was You, and The Way You Look Tonight. I play them a lot, strumming versions, no melody-picking but beautiful chords - songs crafted by real song-masters.

Now, I've featured Peter on "Life's A Ukafrolic" several times before, but I didn't meet him until November, when at last he came to a convention of the George Formby Society and wowed everyone with this beautiful rendition. Isn't it gorgeous? Songs and playing that just melt your limbs. And the reason this is so special to me is because we'd been chatting during a break as he gently played through these songs, and I mentioned that they were my favourites - I didn't know he was actually going to play them on stage - well, when he did - and it's just before this video clip starts - he mentioned my name and sort-of dedicated them to me..... you can imagine how I felt! Such a lovely thing to do, and such a very nice fella... and of course, he was playing his lovely custom-built Pete Howlett tenor, which I've talked about on here before.

Now LSH, (Long-Suffering-Husband), had gone for a pint and a little walkabout round Blackpool, in spite of the cold and drear... so he missed my moment of.... I can't quite find the word! Perhaps its specialness.... that's what happens when you leave the room....

Thanks, as ever, to Peter Pollard for the video....

Next convention - less than two weeks away, 15th-16th March, Imperial Hotel, North Promenade, Blackpool.

This weekend will see Peter Moss doing a ukulele workshop for Go Ukulele Crazy near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

George Elmes plays Happy Feet

George Elmes from Ireland is such a very, very talented player; I love everything he does. Wooden uke or banjo-uke, his playing is up there among the very best. Precise, "clean" playing that is simply not easy..... here he is playing a hand-built banjo-uke by Phil Cartwright.

This song Happy Feet was written by Cab Calloway in 1930 and is perhaps best known for the dance routine by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

I think George Elmes has Happy Fingers.... I wish mine were that happy!

John Bianchi, with "I'll Follow You" ...

Here's my very favourite uke player and singer, John Bianchi of New York... I could watch his videos all day long! Lovely playing, and what a voice.... that voice is reminiscent of Al Bowlly... you'd have to be in your 80's or 90's to actually remember Al Bowlly; he was a very popular singer during the 30's and 40's - killed by a land mine during the war. But he was my Mum's favourite singer, and when I heard his voice singing those lovely old songs, he became one of mine. And John Bianchi has that rare Al Bowlly sound, without a doubt!

This is what he says about this, his latest video...

"Here's my take on 1932's song "I'll Follow You", by Fred Alhert and Roy Turk. The song was recorded by Bing Crosby that year and was also a hit for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The lyrics, outside the context of the lovely melody, read like a stalker's manifesto. Still, I have always liked the tune.

Recorded in the car this morning on an alternate side of the street parking day and played on my 1960s Martin 0. It was a hairy parking day - moments before I shot this, a guy stole a space two cars in front of me and caused utter havoc; it pays not to get upset on mornings like these..."


And that's surely a cool delivery of that lovely song. Drooltastic.....

To see the other videos of John's that I have posted on this blog, just find his name on the tag-cloud at the foot of the page! Thanks for dropping by!

All Of Me - The Hot Tone Rhythm Boys featuring Jim 'Django' Gritt

At last - a band featuring the ukulele AND the great songs of the 20's and 30's - and the 40's. In the USA they have Janet Klein and the Parlor boys - and what do we have here? I'd been thinking that there was nothing like this in the UK, until I just stumbled across this one.

Before I write more I need some up-t-date info for you. So for now, just enjoy this great old jazz standard, All Of Me, written in 1931.....



Mmmmm - lovely!

"By Special Permission of the Copyright Owners I Love You" - John Bianchi...

In my little corner of the UK, there are several degrees of frost, and there's fog... morning tea in bed, and an extra five minutes under the duvet... or ten.

Then I watch John Bianchi in New York, playing his uke first thing in the morning, in his car, at the side of the road, doing what he has to do to comply with parking restrictions... and I feel at least a little sheepish.

As a lover of 20's and 30's Tin Pan Alley music, I always enjoy John's singing and playing, and he never, but never disappoints. Please share the gem he has come up with this time.... sitting in his car in wintry New York...

He introduces the song in this wise...

"Here's one of the tens of thousands of tunes from the first part of the last century that pretty much no one living has ever heard. From the Broadway flop, "The Gang's All Here" - which starred Ted Healy (of Ted Healy and His Three Stooges - later shortened by giving Ted his walking papers), this 1931 tune is played on a rock-like Cordoba uke that has a nice THICK top, so I don't mind playing it in the 34F temperature of Monday morning."



Wonderful... if 20's and 30's music is a tiny bandwagon to be on - well I, for one, am up there on it with John B. And oh, to be able to play like that...

Lewis Clifton plays TT Races - GFS June 2012

Yesterday I introduced you to Lewis Clifton, one of the up-and-coming young stars of the George Formby style and the George Formby Society. Here again he is playing the late great Dennis Taylor's Ludwig; this time it's his own personal favourite Formby song, TT Races. It's hard to believe that Lewis was only thirteen here.



I was lucky enough to have a good chat with Lewis at the last meeting or convention of the George Formby Society. When I asked him how long he'd been playing and how he learned to play, I was astonished to learn that he is self-taught, and learned from simply watching videos of Dennis Taylor, featured here the other day. He told me that he started with guitar, and quickly discovered the ukulele - his first was a little white Mahalo - the starter uke of many! And he has still only been playing banjolele for less than four years... to be so skilled at fourteen, and self-taught at that is impressive to say the least.

Needless to say a big fan Of George Formby, his favourite players are the late great Dennis Taylor and Dickie Speake. I think we'll be hearing a lot more of Lewis...

Watch this space for guest spots where Lewis will be talking about the greats of vintage banjolele world - the Ludwig, Abbott and Gibson. You need deep pockets for those... if only.....

By the way, as I said, Lewis is just one of the highly talented youngsters coming up in the banjo-uke world... watch this space also for more of them!

Pardon Me....Introducing Lewis Clifton!

On this blog over the months, I've played videos by most of my favourite banjolele players, but this is the first by young Lewis Clifton. If you watched the video of Dennis Taylor yesterday, look at the uke Lewis is playing here - yes, it is indeed Dennis's Ludwig. He was granted the privilege of playing it at the June Convention of the George Formby Society. And when you watch his rendition here of "Pardon Me" (1939, Gifford/Cliffe/Formby) you will see why. Lewis is one of the very accomplished young players who are the future of the society. He has a lovely relaxed style so reminiscent of Dennis Taylor. I love listening to Lewis play and sing! I think you will, too...



Enjoy that? I though you would..... thanks again to Peter Pollard (camera) and... Lewis is fourteen years old!

I enjoyed chatting with Lewis at the November meeting .... more of that next time!

Thanks for dropping by, friends!

Dennis Taylor and "I Don't Like" - GFS March 1996

When I began to research banjo-ukes about a year ago, preparing to buy my first, it wasn't long before I came across Dennis Taylor's great website - so useful and informative! Invaluable tips for learners and loads of photos and interesting stuff about many different kinds of banjo-ukes... he was clearly an authority. I say "was" - because sadly, Dennis is no longer with us. I went to my first meeting of the George Formby Society last March, and quickly learnt of the very high esteem in which he was - and still is held. The sadness at his absence is still palpable. I wished I could have seen him perform.

Well, fortunately for us, Peter Pollard was at that time happiest behind a camera, and thanks to him, here is a great video of Dennis performing at the GFS in 1996. It's "I Don't Like", a 1937 Formby number.

And thanks to Peter's lovely videos, Dennis continues to inspire new players... young Lewis Clifton, for example. More on Lewis next time.....

As for Peter, you'll catch him at the GFS meetings, not only happily videoing the performances for posterity, but singing and playing beautifully himself, too.

Thanks for looking in - I'm back to practising my split-stroke and the shake....

"Georgia On My Mind" - John Bianchi on ukulele

When you're feeling low, there's nothing like music to soothe the mind... many would reach for alcohol, but for me it has to be music, and this rendition of "Georgia On My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, 1930) by John Bianchi on his vintage Martin ukulele is just perfect, like warm sunshine on the soul.

His playing here is just sublime, to my mind, and his voice is perfect for these great songs from the 20's and 30's. He is so talented, so accomplished, he really should be a big star. How many times have I said that now? My very favourite uke and banjo-uke performer, without a doubt.

Please enjoy....then pop over to his blog, The Ukaholic.

Oh - and Happy New Year! Thanks for dropping by.....

Bye Bye Blues chord melody - getting it sorted

Matthew J Richards is a superb banjolele player, the Musical Director of the George Formby Society.... and a lovely young feller.

On 21st an 22nd August this year I posted his two superb Youtube video tutorials on playing the 1930 jazz standard Bye Bye Blues chord melody style - that is, playing the chords whilst picking out the melody in between. It's a great style of playing, especially if you're not blessed with a great singing voice - you do the song as an instrumental instead.

I determined to learn it.

Well - the first two lines are pretty easy. The end is very easy, being related to the beginning - BUT - the middle two lines are a bit more challenging. It helps, to have the chords used in the song there in front to you, because in the middle every note is different.

So - I wrote the chords down and yesterday I made it my target to get those middle two lines learnt. Here are the chords - I've starred the tricky lines.

I've recommended this piece to a couple of people, who both love it and are working on it. As for me - I worked hard on it (those two lines) yesterday. Those two lines are still slowing me down, but I'm getting there.

Thanks Matthew for a first-class tutorial piece on ukulele chord melody!


F F Db7

F F D7

G7 G7 Am7 (all open strings)

(*) F F Am Dm

(*) C7 C7 C7 C

F F Db7

F F D7

G7 G7 Am7

F Db7 F


News - backing tracks to George Formby songs by Matthew J Richards are now available here from the George Formby Society shop.

DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA as performed by GEORGE HARRISON

You just don't expect to hear, on the radio, unannounced and out of the blue, a song accompanied by nothing but a single ukelele - but the other morning that's exactly what I heard... the radio was on as usual, to cheer me through my housework, and it stopped me dead in my tracks with an armful of washing. The sound is unmistakeable and quite arresting.

The song was "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea". I investigated further and found that this 1930's song was sung and played on the uke by George Harrison in the late 1980's. I came across a Youtube clip of George singing it on Jools Holland's late night show, accompanied by Jools on piano and Joe Brown on guitar, among others... watch it here! Fantastic....

Song 1932,music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Ted Koehler.

Here's ukulelemike, Mike Lynch, with his tutorial on it.



My favourite song of the moment... thanks to ukulelemike for a great arrangement. You can also find an arrangement on Al Wood's Uke Hunt.....

From the GFS September Meeting it's Peter Pollard

Still on the banjo-uke theme... "Hitting the High Spots Now" and "Our Sergeant Major"

This was... no, I'll use Peter's words..

"It's late Sunday evening, the band has gone home so its just backing tracks, but there is nothing like getting on the stage at the GFS convention and doing a couple of numbers. What an experience - you should join us and try it! www.georgeformby.co.uk"

Happy memories - I was at that meeting in September, accompanied by LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) and this video just encapsulates the great atmosphere that's always there at the GFS Conventions in Blackpool; all are made welcome, and it's just wall-to-wall song and smiles.

Songs - "Hitting the High Spots Now" from the film "Trouble Brewing", 1939 and
"Our Sergeant Major" from "It's In the Air" 1938

Next one - 17th and 18th November. We'll be there....

Thanks to Peter for letting me share his videos to this blog - and more to come!

Coming up.... the young folk who are making a name for themselves there with their banjo-uke talents! Worth waiting for, believe me!

Thanks for dropping in!