The end of WW2 produced major changes in society. Soldiers returning home wanted change and they returned to a different Britain. One part of the change was the rebuilding of the entertainment industry, with musicians and artists looking for work as the rebuilding of the country got underway. We will see the secondary effect of the opening up of education when we get to the 1960s. Left: Ronald Chesney mic 1955. The 1950s saw the high point for the harmonica. The soloists (Ronald Chesney, Larry Adler, Tommy Reilly and Max Geldray) gained national and international status, and the harmonica groups (The Three Monarchs and The Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang) enjoyed lots of success in music halls, initially on BBC Radio, and then TV brought them into homes all over the country.
THE HISTORY OF HARMONICAUK Part 3 1950-1959 Roger Trobridge Chairman 2000-2012
Ronald Chesney demonstrated the potential of the chromatic harmonica when he gave a solo performance in the Royal Albert Hall in 1946. Larry Adler toured the world, starred in films, and composers began to write music for the harmonica. In 1952, Larry performed the ‘Romance in D flat for Harmonica’, composed for him by Ralph Vaughan Williams, in the BBC Proms. Tommy Reilly moved from the music hall to the concert stage with compositions by Spivakovsky, Gordon Jacobs, and his long-term accompanist, James Moody. Max Geldray continued in the jazz clubs and variety. The format of the early radio shows opened up many opportunities for entertainers. Shows like Variety Bandbox and Workers’ Playtime on the BBC Light Programme provided spots for soloists and the groups, but the popular long-running comedy programmes like The Goon Show and Educating Archie featured musical breaks in the story which were filled by Max Geldray and Ronald Chesney respectively. Ronald went on to write the scripts for Educating Archie.
Goon Show Music Hall.
Harmonicas also turned up on themes for radio programmes and films. Tommy Reilly can be heard on Dixon of Dock Green and The Navy Lark, and Larry Adler had a big success with his music for the film Genevieve. In addition to the home-grown talent, the Harmonicats’ recording of ‘Peg O’ My Heart’ was proving very popular, and Borrah Minevitch had moved ‘The Harmonica Rascals’ to France. Interest in the harmonica was at its peak.
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
