Robin Hall Tribute at theBalladeers

November 18, 2004 marked the sixth anniversary of the passing of Robin Hall, arguably Scotland's greatest folk singer. With the exception of a 15-minute tribute on the BBC, after his death, little else has been done in his memory. I was inspired to do this tribute by a recent post on Mudcat by my friend, Jane Palmer.

I would like express my respect and admiration for Robin who had one of the finest voices ... The Bleacher Lassie of Kelvinhaugh .... has never been sung better. I produced an LP with him and Jimmie but I much preferred his solo voice. He also recorded a single with me in 1972 'Mary Jane' and The Valley' , arranged and conducted by Iain Sutherland. He was just a nice bloke with a great sense of humour and a beautiful voice and is still sadly missed.

Jim McLean

The first time I heard Robin Hall sing was at an informal ceilidh in the home of folklorist and traditional song mentor, the late Norman Buchan, back in the early 60s. I nearly gave up warbling then and there to concentrate on guitar because the purity and emotional control in his voice was as lilting and free as a mountain burn and has still to be matched after all these years. His work with the 'engine room' musician, arranger and harmoniser Jimmy MacGregor brought both of them to the wider black and white television audience without compromises in their material and set musical and performance targets for the evolving young folk performers of the 60s, myself and my sister Ray included. I was eventually to work alongside him on the BBC Radio Scotland programme Travelling Folk which he christened and it is a tribute to the format he originated that I still have the privilege of presenting the show to this day. His "Last Leaves" LP is a Scottish music recording icon and there was another sad Autumn when we lost this bonnie voice of Scotland.

Archie Fisher

Robin was a fine and generous man as well as being one of the best folk singers ever. If it is a fault not to suffer fools gladly, that was his only fault. I do not consider it to be one. After many years at the top, on TV like the "Tonight" and university folk clubs (which paid handsomely) he fell foul of a head of entertainment in the television world. That nonentity spread damaging word around his organization which fatally damaged Robin's career.
I was head of music in a large Glasgow school and tried to arrange a lecturing position for Robin - which would have kept the wolf from his door, but I fear the singer thought it small beer, after his international acclaim.

I stayed with him at Hampstead's Vale of health when I was trying to make a go of it in London and he refused to accept any financial input from me for the "digs". He married a beautiful model, Roddie, who appeared in the top magazines like "Vogue" and I was pleased to be a guest on that occasion.

The folk-scene degenerated a bit and Robin's career was on a downward slide as a result of the influential television boss. Robin lived on a big cabin cruiser on the Clyde at Bowling before settling in a tenement appartment in Glasgow's Hillhead district. It was there he was found dead after neighbours became worried, not having seen him for a week.

A sad ending to the life of a richly talented minstrel.

Peter Mallan

Shortly before his death, Robin walked in one night on the crowd at the Oak pub in Edinburgh. I had known him at an earlier time and shared the stage with him and Jimmie in the sixties on more than one occasion. I was in the middle of some song or other singing to a crowded bar when he popped his head around the door. Seeing him I immediately, without losing a beat, sang the first line of "Tramps & Hawkers" to which he responded by leaping into the frame and singing the verses with gusto. We sang a few that night. Sadly it was the last time I saw him.

Bill Smith

Robin and I went to the same school in Glasgow, but Robin was a few years before me.

When Jimmy McLean and I first arrived in London, Robin was about the first person we looked up. Robin and Jimmie McGregor were well established by then, and performing regularly on the BBC Tonight programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore. We were both pretty broke, and I remember Robin taking us out for a meal.

We often met up after that before Jimmy and I left for the continent, more often than not in a pub called The Cruel Sea in Hampstead. I remember we once went to Jimmy McLeans brothers flat (apartment) in Kentish Town, and we were all pretty drunk. Jimmys brother Bob lay across the door and wouldnt let Robin leave until he sang. I think that was the last time I saw Robin socially.

Robin and I did a couple of demos together in London. He was on the London Committee of a Hundred (CND).

I remember Robin singing The Baron o Brackley and thinking that Id sing it for Hootenany in London, a composite LP with Martin Carthy and others I thought I could do it better, but I did it differently (a different approach). I would agree with you that he was a good ballad singer.

Slante, Nigel Denver

Jimmy Ferguson and I started the Irish Rovers in the mid-sixties, soon after immigrating to Toronto. Our repertoire consisted of songs learned around Belfast and of course some plundered pieces from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. I suppose coming from the North of Ireland and being called the "Ulster Scots" is reason enough to like Scottish music, but a better reason for us was first hearing Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor. We immediately liked the blend of their voices and the lilt of the songs. We still perform many of them today. Along with Luke Kelly of the Dubliners, Robin Hall had one of the best voices in Celtic music. His partner Jimmy McGregor sang some superb harmonies with him. We did a couple of television shows with them in the 70's, and I remember being amazed at the strengh of his voice in the rehearsals. Most of us tend to "hold back" until showtime, but not Robin. So, on the 18th of November, I'll put on my favourite Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor album and I'll have a wee sip or two of Bushmills (because it's better than Scotch) and I'll have a drink in his honour. Incidentally, if I was asked for my favourite song of theirs which I never have been, it would be Inverey-the Baron of Brackley.

Slainte, George Millar