DEAD MEN'S DRUMS

This Album came together quite accidently!

At the beginning of June 2020, I purchased a cheap Video Cam for my PC and wanting to check out the quality recorded myself playing the Saxophone. I recorded three little Heads (tunes) and was quite impressed with the playback, I sent them to my very good friend Paul “Lefty” Wright to get his opinion.

Paul liked the heads and started arranging them and suggested we record them, he got Scotty Donald to play drums on the recordings and so it began, we ended up with enough material for an album! My beloved companion for 12 years Squeaky who died on 13th August 2020 has a couple of Meows on one track making it very special for me!

I was diagnosed with terminal cancer recently and you do not always realise how many friends you have until something dire happens. I would like to thank all my friends for all the love and support they have given me over the years, there is a whole lot of love out there!

I would also like to especially thank the friends who made this album possible, Paul "Lefty" Wright, Scotty Donald, Stevie Anderson, Mike & Anth Brown, Greg McWilliams, Brian Hutton and OB records.

An especially big thank you to “Lefty” who used his magic touch on the whole thing!

Big Jim 17th Aug 2020

"Big Jim" has played sax, flute, clarinet and sang with bands around Scotland since the 1960's. Jim has only now got around to recording an album of his ideas, songs and much loved tones.

Just after the start of lockdown 2020 Jim was told he may only have months left to live.

With the help of our good friend Scotty Donald on drums, the glorious Scottish summer and the aroma of sweet mother nature we had great times recording these arrangements of Jim's melodies and songs.
Like the birdsong, much of it is recorded in the garden of Jim's cottage in the Perthshire countryside, under midsummer skies.
(See video below)

DEAD MEN'S DRUMS
When Jim and I called Scotty asking if he could play jazz drums for this record he said that as luck should have it he'd just taken delivery of a beautiful jazz drum kit. Recently deceased drummer, John Skelly whom he'd never met had it sent to him.

My cousin-in-law, Eric, was one of the early covid deaths and I had been left his bodhran drum. When we began recording Jim's Procession the bodhran was the drum at hand. Jim and I later realised that all the drums on the album had been sent from recently deceased benefactors then decided that "Dead Men's Drums" was an apt title.

Lefty




youtu.be/KzB_pq_1SlE