Me and Wonder Brass

I was born into a musical family.

It was a genetic thing from my Mother's side with her talent as a pianist and that of her father, our Grandad in brass and concert bands.

Sadly I showed no aptitude for keyboards. Almost compulsory for British school children I too had a bash at the descant recorder and then thanks to a generous bequest from Grandad Dick I was able to buy a cornet, no not one of those biscuit wafer things for ice cream, but a proper instrument.

I had a modest level of accomplishment as Third Cornet (one up from the tea lady-just) travelling up and down the country with my home town brass and silver band competing in contests.

That was in the early to mid 1970's, arguably the highest point in the ascendancy of brass banding from its modest and humble beginnings in pub back rooms, miners social clubs, factory canteens and all manner of midlands and northern working class establishments.

It would take someone with vision and determination to bring such dispersed groups together and that man was Edwin Vaughan Morris.

In 1945 he had been handed responsibility for completing the deal between the entrepreneur John Henry Iles and the Odhams Press Group later to be bought up by Mirror Group Newspapers, which saw the latter assume ownership of the most important event in the calendar- The National Brass Band Championships held at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

It was Vaughan Morris who in the 1960's displayed his own entrepreneurial flair by taking on the ownership of that flagship event himself.

He had already, working for others, laid down the foundations for a more consistent and structured approach to brass banding with the introduction of rules and conditions, the registration of players and regional qualifying contests.

Only in such root and branch reforms could brass banding reach a wider and recognised national standard. There is no doubt that Vaughan Morris made brass bands and their big day something of which they could be proud and that others would recognise as a musical event of some substance.

The 1971 National Championships had seen a victory for G.U.S. (Footwear) Band, largely regarded as the only band that had really got to grips with the specially commissioned set work, ‘Energy’ by Robert Simpson. The test piece , evidently a bit of a challenge compared to more traditional favourites and anthems received a mixed reception from the bandsmen and quite a critical review from others.

In fact it was cited that "Everybody in the Royal Albert Hall in 1971 said it was rubbish".

Vaughan Morris retired in 1971 after his many years of devoted service to the cause.

This departure could have seen a lull or faltering in the rise of brass band contests but there began almost seamlessly a new initiative in Manchester in the north west of the country.

The first Granada Television Band of the Year contest was held in the King’s Hall at Belle Vue in November 1971. Ten bands featured and the winners, Cory Band from the Rhonddha Valley in Wales beat off Grimethorpe Colliery, Yorkshire Imperial Metals, Fairey, Ransome Hoffman Pollard, City of Coventry, Brighouse and Rastrick, Carlton Main Frickley and Wingates.

The significance of the event was that the Cory Band got to repeat its performance, which was recorded after the announcement of the results and later screened (along with highlights of the other competitors) by Granada Television and four other regional ITV companies.

Brass bands had made it onto the small screen and from smoke filled halls and auditoriums into peoples front rooms.

It was however, to many of the hard working bands,  just another of many contests that kept them busy rehearsing, travelling and away from loved ones and their jobs.

Cory Band , to their credit had embraced the idea of getting onto television willingly stepping in to replace Black Dyke Mills who had dropped out. One of the principal organisers expressed the frustration in reporting that “Some of the bands said they would come and came; some of them said they would come and didn’t come. We were very badly let down – without very good reason – by some very celebrated people.”

There was one other big brass band contest bash in 1971. WD and HO Wills, the tobacco manufacturers, had a keen interest in brass bands.

In the previous year they had created an event on similar lines to the National Championships with a series of regional events culminating in a Championship Section Final at the Imperial College with the Champion of Champions event over the road at the Royal Albert Hall.

This latter accolade was won by G.U.S. (Footwear) but the competition only lasted a couple more years.

Nevertheless the mass appeal aspect of brass banding was beginning to show .

In addition to the one hour, albeit late at night, broadcast on ITV of the Granada Band of the Year, the BBC were still very supportive of brass bands. The programme schedules began to be filled with such features as ‘Listen to the Band’ on Radio 2, ‘Challenging Brass’ on Radio 4, ‘Bandstand’ on Radio 3 and bands were also featured on ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ and ‘Breakfast Special’.

Elsewhere on the recording front 1971 was a period of an unprecedented amount of studio time which saw the release of  long playing records by the major names in the band world. Two of the major releases were from Black Dyke Mills – Handel’s ‘Messiah’ and World Champion Brass – and other releases featured big names like G.U.S (Footwear) (below), Grimethorpe Colliery, Fodens Motor Works and Fairey.

Although much of the pioneering had been done by those with commercial motives it was also a good period for The British Federation of Brass Bands . Much maligned in its early days it was responsible for commissioning a lot of new music.

All the big name bands of 1971 were sponsored in financial terms and in their distinctive liveries.

Best known were Black Dyke Mills, G.U.S (Footwear), Yorkshire Imperial Metals, CWS (Manchester), Fairey, Fodens Motor Works. The strong affiliation of brass bands and the mining communities was not phased by the big money outfits and Brighouse and Rastrick, Grimethorpe Colliery and  Carlton Main Frickley were no lightweights in ability and competition.

Although with a strong northern bias there was a truly national coverage with Morris Concert ,Hammonds Sauce Works, Cory and Ransome, Hoffman Pollard from the Midlands.

To round off 1971, a year of unprecedented media coverage for brass bands were raised in a House of Commons debate in the November.

Mr Dennis Skinner ,MP for Bolsover in the heartlands of a traditional mining area  asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anthony Barber  whether he  would take steps to reduce the level of taxation on brass band instruments, after all "the  bandsmen were having a pretty rough time recently, leading all these working-class demonstrations against the Government's policies and  resulting in all these expensive replacements"

The class struggle and north south divide were a popular mode of attack by the aptly named "Beast of Bolsover" and he asked if it was right for the Arts Council to hand over £30,000 to the National Youth Orchestra and yet the Government could not give a little recompense in the form of reduced taxation for music of the working class.

In context in 1964, the tax on musical instruments was 25 per cent., in July, 1966 it was increased to 27 ½ per cent., in March, 1968 to 33 ⅓ per cent, and in November, 1968 to 36 ⅔ per cent.

The Chancellor replied that he had already reduced all the rates of purchase tax by two-elevenths in recent months.

For all of the newly found position of brass bands in popular culture the government did not feel that there was a sufficient level of support amongst the electorate, or at least not in any key marginal seats to make them consider any special concessions or favours.

And so against this rich and historic background  I started out in my involvement with the great tradition of brass banding.

(Taken from Source; Tim Mutum. Article for 4 beats rest, 2011)