Ukulele Madness

I don't know what Malc would have made off all these videos featuring his favourite instrument.

The above video features the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain with their take on Isaac Hayes's Shaft played live at Cambridge Folk Festival in 2007.



Cliff Edwards who I featured earlier this year on the blog, was a guest on Arthur Godfrey's radio show in 1943. Godfrey is credited with inventing the baritone ukulele. Edwards was in his forties at the time of this recording. More Cliff Edwards below with the Irving Berlin song Remember with some great ukulele related photos from the 1920's:



Above George Formby in the film Trouble Brewing singing Fanlight Fanny





Above we have Eddie Thomas & Carl Scott My Ohio Home and Tomorrow from November 21, 1928. I came across the above on Ukulelia which is a good jumping off point for all things ukulele.

But just to show the madness of it all let's finish on this last piece of You Tube video:

Clfford "Ukulele Ike" Edwards Story

I have been continuing my research into the ululele and jazz music in the 1920's. There are no direct references to Clifford Edwards in Lowry's work but Edwards was the the most popular ukulele player in the world during the time that Lowry was devoted to the instrument. In addition, Edwards played with Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti who were amongst Lowry's favourite jazz players. So it is safe to assume that Lowry would most likely have been aware of Edward's work.

I came across the above video while carrying out my research into Edwards. What struck me about the video was some similarities between Edwards and Lowry. Lowry and Edwards were both alchoholics and both died in sad circumstances. However, the most striking thing for me was the apparent lack of awareness in Edward's home town of Hannibal USA of Edward's achievements. I think if I went out in my home town of New Brighton and Lowry's birthplace we would have the same reaction - Malcolm who? I thought he lived in Salford!

Here is more of Ukulele Ike with Eddie Lang:

Buster Keaton & The Ukulele

I came across the above video while researching 1920's and 1930's ukulele material. This classic jazz tune is performed by Tommy Mattiniero. The clip contains footage from Buster Keaton's "The College" (1927). This got me wondering whether Malc said anything about Buster. I discovered from a letter to Carol Brown, a friend from Caldy, that he had seen Buster's Go West in Cambridge while at the Leys, but though he enjoyed Brown Eyes the cow in the film, Lowry was not that impressed. Though I had to smile a the clip of Buster below which not only has a ukulele connection but the film is set in Mexico.

Buster Keaton attempts to serenade a senorita and discovers it's more trouble than it's worth. From the Columbia short "Pest from the West", 1939. It was produced by Jules White, the man behind the Three Stooges.

Frank Crumit & Ukulele Lady

But Hugh, if he could not play quite like Django Reinhardt or Eddie Lang on the one hand or, God help him, Frank Crumit on the other, could not help remembering either that he had once enjoyed the reputation of a tremendous talent. Malcolm Lowry Under The Volcano

Hugh is one many characters in Lowry's novels that are based on personas Lowry may have wished to portray i.e. the jazz composer who had sailed the oceans composing songs on his guitar or ukulele. In fact, Lowry had portrayed his voyage to the Far East in 1927, which provides the autobiogrpahical details of Hugh's experiences at sea, to the newpapers who covered the story as "Seeing The World With A Ukulele".

Lowry first started playing music around 1925 on a banjo brought home by his brother Russell before the pair embarked on learning the then popular ukulele to compose songs probably not that far removed from Frank Crumit's Ukulele Lady. Lowry seems to have had a low opinion of Frank Crumit and would have probably preferred Vaughn De Leath's version as she sang with Eddie Lang and Red Nichols who were more to Lowry's jazz tastes.

Vaughn De Leath liked the booze as much as Lowry and died of alcoholism at the age of 48

I am currently collating all of Malc's ukulele references and will return with other posts about his love of the instrument.