Thomas Fraser film - Shetland Lone Star

[DePooperit]

I tocht hit wis braaly guid. Dae wir mair aboot da real Thomas, an less myth-makkin, as whit I lippened. Da fock at spack, includin May, seemed ta be naitural-laek - I parteecularly laekit Eta's Robert's comment aboot da teeth, an whin Bobby Blue sed 'Dat's aa dae ir ta say' or somethin laek dat. Aneoch haemaboot Shaetlan humour ta keep hit fae turnin intae a hagiography. Dunna kaen whit wye dey filmed some o it in whit seemed ta be a aald wash-hoose, though...

 

An I hae a claim ta fame noo - I can say at I come fae da Nashville o da Nort!

 

Bit I doot I better still no write oot da hael story o da time at he cam ta wirhoose an nearly sat apo wir fiddle...

[Baron Farkoff]

Yes, very sore head. Very ashamed of what was written in a moment of complete lunacy. Sorry once again, I really should learn to behave better.

[Fifi]

Unfortunately we had a power cut last night. Anyone know if it's being repeated?

[groilick]

Unfortunately we had a power cut last night. Anyone know if it's being repeated?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00g782t/Shetland_Lone_Star/

[Fifi]

Thanks!

[JAStewart]

Why does Mareel need to exist???

Can't the musical talent of today do the same???

 

Again, Mareel is not just about musicians, its about spectators too.

[roadslave]

Yes, very sore head. Very ashamed of what was written in a moment of complete lunacy. Sorry once again, I really should learn to behave better.

 

His surviving family will be grateful for that Baron.

 

I know them well and and thus know quite a bit about the man himself.

 

The most important thing to remember when dealing with Thomas Fraser is that he did not regard himself as a musician; he didnt even think he could sing!! There is one story about a crewmate of his who he worked with for years in close proximity. This crewmate was a good fiddler. Despite this, thise crewmate only found out in 2002 that Thomas could play the instrument.

 

Fraser sung and played because he really idolised the musicians he strove to imitate. He really enjoyed the technology of being able to do something similar. The thought of writing songs was never in the ballpark because in his own head, he was not a musician. His work was the sea and his music was his hobby.

 

Also, remember that Shetlanders can be quite funny. Writing your songs can be perceived by your peers as 'having ideas above your station' - Thomas would have been deeply uncomfortable at this thought.

 

He was asked once to make a record but declined by stating increduously "why would anyone want to hear me?"

 

The live thing put Thomas off even more; apparantly he played quite a few times in his late teens, early 20s; why he didnt continue will never be fully understood but it is true that his performances would often reduce the local audience to a stunned silence - they had probably limited experience of someone with a unique sound. Again, he was uncomfortable with the reaction that "coming out" of his shell provoked.

 

If there is any criticism to be directed at anyone, it should be directed towards Karl Simpson, his grandson who put the recordings out. But be careful, i know that he agonised for ages before plumping to press more CDs than the initial short-run he made for family members.

 

Re your other points i feel inclined to put a few things right.

 

The "family support" to buy the tape recorder is incorrect. He worked 18-20 hours days alone at sea to afford these things (and risked his life in the process). he even knitted jumpers and of course worked with sheep to make ends meet.

 

Re the cover versions he does, most folk agree that Fraser takes the songs he loved and, by accident or by design (who knows?) 'makes them his own'. Not only does he have a unique voice, but he really seems to 'live' the song. He also produced many quite different re-workings or interpretations of songs like the hymn on the last CD, songs like 'Winchester cathedral', Over the Rainbow, etc, etc. Some 'experts' argue in reviews that he betters some of the originals...

 

all the above is quite something for a shy fisherman from Burra in the 1940s -- i guess thats why the programme was made....

 

as for the current crop of Shetland talent, and the future, well they have lots more opportunities, technology, money, grants, time off than people did 50 years ago -- it is up to them to make the best of what they have got and do something; (good seperate discussion topic here!)

 

anyway, i do not think that the Thomas Fraser programme will hamper them or Shetland music, at least i hope not...

 

thanks again for the apology

[Baron Farkoff]

Thankyou very much indeed for helping me to be less ignorant, roadslave. I really meant no disrespect at all, and am humbled that you took the time to put me right. I didn't get around to saying this before as I was extremely drunk last night , and couldn't and shouldn't have been participating in an online forum, especially with such kind and knowlegeable folk. Sorry once more, and thanks again.

 

BF

[peeriebryan]

Can I request that the Mareel debate is kept to the Mareel thread

Can't the musical talent of today do the same??? No, they darned well can't. bunch of puzzies

Whilst you seem to have been offended by the Baron's (now retracted) opinion, I'd like to point out that statements such as yours could be construed in a similar way. Let's try to avoid the insults.

 

His work was the sea and his music was his hobby.

 

Also, remember that Shetlanders can be quite funny. Writing your songs can be perceived by your peers as 'having ideas above your station' - Thomas would have been deeply uncomfortable at this thought.

 

He was asked once to make a record but declined by stating increduously "why would anyone want to hear me?"

That's a good point roadslave. There's a huge amount of Shetlanders, particularly of the older generation, who are musically gifted but aren't comfortable with the idea of performing in public or drawing attention to themselves. I wonder what Thomas Fraser would have made of the acclaim, releasing four CDs, being the focus of a BBC documentary and having a festival in his honour! Quite a compliment!

[Guest Anonymous]

Can I request that the Mareel debate is kept to the Mareel thread

Can't the musical talent of today do the same??? No, they darned well can't. bunch of puzzies

Whilst you seem to have been offended by the Baron's (now retracted) opinion, I'd like to point out that statements such as yours could be construed in a similar way. Let's try to avoid the insults.

Quite correct. The sinking of the Mareel white elephant should remain on that thread. Sorry for spewing that thing up here.

 

The Baron didn't actually offend me directly, but there are certain things which I cannot, and will not accept. Amongst these things are, people speaking ill of those departed from this life, and so called musical experts who try to belittle a person who has been accepted internationally as a genius of his time.

The Baron very graciously retracted his statement, and I respect him greatly for that.

But having posted what he did, for whatever reason, he managed to single handedly destroy any optimism I may have had for the future of music in Shetland.

[EM]

... there are certain things which I cannot, and will not accept. Amongst these things are, people speaking ill of those departed from this life,

Wow! Significantly more liberal than I can muster there. Someone being dead makes no difference to whether or not I have contempt for them.

 

The Baron very graciously retracted his statement,

Though not agreeing with his original post, I did read the retraction with a queezy feeling. It could almost have come out of Orwell's Animal Farm where the sheep confess to their "crimes" and basically ask to be executed.

[Guest Anonymous]

... there are certain things which I cannot, and will not accept. Amongst these things are, people speaking ill of those departed from this life,

Wow! Significantly more liberal than I can muster there. Someone being dead makes no difference to whether or not I have contempt for them.

 

I ken da wye du tinks. An I ken du'll swear jöst as muckle aboot me whan a'm 6ft under, as du does noo.

Bit, cöd du laeve oot da Liberal bit... A'm neever voted fur dem, an a'm no gain ta start.

[peeriebryan]

however much of the restorative technology used was most likely to overcome degradation of the recording media through time, and not any attempt to make it sound better than it actually was when recorded

Preserving archive analogue recordings is different from remastering for commercial release. The aim of archiving is to preserve recordings, warts and all, to prevent further deterioration. (Re)mastering is the creative decisions taken to subjectively improve the sound of recordings.

 

I can't comment on the sound quality that Karl and mastering engineer Andrew Rose first encountered on the tapes, but I suspect there would have been a number of creative decisions made to improve clarity and sound quality and ensure consistency between tracks on the albums.

 

There's quite a bit of information regarding Fraser's recording techniques and the transfer process on the Thomas Fraser website - http://www.thomasfraser.com/technical.htm

[Guest Anonymous]

^^I hadn't read that technical page before. But got a chuckle at one thing.. Somewhere, lurking in a box, I have a Shure 588SA Mic which I bought from the Music Box, on Da Street, must have been late 70's. Great Mic

Oddly, due to a quirk of my education, many moons ago, audio processing is something which I studied. Particularly Voice Clarity Processing as it was pertinent to what I was supposed to be learning. It's a topic which I've done my best to keep up with, although I struggle a tad to get the old brain cell around some of the latest technology, but I do understand the difference between preservation and re-mastering.

Although, in this instance with a fairly basic recording, what could be achieved is vastly different to what could be done with, a 24 track recording.

 

I have to admit though that I find the technology behind re mastering far more exciting than and enhancement of the music,,

[Fatal Paper Cut]

Although, in this instance with a fairly basic recording, what could be achieved is vastly different to what could be done with, a 24 track recording.

 

Absolutely. Imagine what the Thomas Fraser's of tomorrow could do with a proper recording facility right on their doorstep. Or what could be done with a decent purpose built music performance venue, with proper acoustics and lighting, with the facility to capture those performances on tape or pipe it down to a national broadcaster via high speed broadband?

 

That aside - I liked Shetland Lone Star very much, and was happy to help out in a small way by lending the production my set of Dedo lights. There was a couple of things I didn't like - some of the reconstruction sequences had slightly shaky camera moves at the beginning of the shot. That's a very minor point, but it looks a bit messy. I wasn't keen on the yodeling out to sea and the tape player with notes drifting out across the waves. Looked a but twee IMO and not a choice I would have made. A cutaway shot of the reels turning on the tape deck would have sufficed.

 

However, the content of the programme was very good and very enjoyable.