"Don't Pass Me By" fiddler passes away!

[John Whelan]

The fiddler who performed on Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By" has passed away.
Details, first news item at the top of the Ottawa Beatles Site page...

http://beatles.ncf.ca/news.html

Regards,

John Whelan
Ottawa Beatles Site

[Mel Torment]

Here's the article, minus the spam:

Jack Fallon, the former London musician who played bass and fiddle with
a galaxy of stars and booked the Beatles and the Rolling Stones early
in their careers, has died at the age of 90.

Fallon died at his home in London, England, on Monday after a lengthy
illness, family members said yesterday. He had stayed in Britain after
playing in an RCAF band, the Streamliners, during the Second World War,
building on a career that began as a member of a family band playing
dances in the London region.

Fallon is being remembered as probably the only musician to have played
with the Beatles and Duke Ellington and Lena Horne and Noel Coward and
Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich and Django Reinhardt and jazz legends
Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron and country stars Tex Ritter and
Tennessee Ernie Ford and bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy and Josh White --
and a host of others.

Born on Oct. 13, 1915, Fallon grew up on his family's farm in the
Thorndale area and began playing fiddle at a young age. He can be heard
on that instrument playing with the Beatles on Don't Pass Me By from
the White Album.

Fallon's recollections of the session are part of his 2005 memoir, From
the Top. Paul McCartney was at the controls and Ringo Starr played
piano. "George Martin, who I had met before . . . , had jotted down the
12-bar sequence," Fallon wrote. He was paid L11 for the gig.

Years before, Fallon had been approached by the late Brian Epstein,
then the Beatles manager. "Can you use them on Nov. 26, (1962)?"
Epstein inquired. Fallon's Cana agency had booked the Beatles earlier
that year for L30. He booked The Rolling Stones for L15 in the same
year.

"They were nice guys, just Liverpool lads," Fallon said later of the
Beatles.

When he first met them, the Stones were "polite . . . and neatly
dressed," he recalled.

Fallon's "highly modern-for-its-period bass playing" and
"oh-so-attractive Canadian accent" -- to quote British critic and
cornet player Digby Fairweather -- helped him make his mark from
classical music at the Royal Albert Hall to jazz to pop. In 1948,
Fallon toured with Ellington. The great American band leader was
required to use British-based musicians for a tour.

"Why, I'm not sure, but he took a fancy to me -- in the nicest possible
way, of course. Maybe it was because he could understand my Canadian
accent, more than the others," Fallon said.

Based in Britain for more than 60 years, Fallon lived in London,
England, with his wife, Jean (now deceased), and their family. He was
granted the Freedom of the City of London, England, in 2002.

Fallon played fiddle in a family band in the early 1930s with his
sister, Irene, a pianist, and late brothers Wilf and Francis.

"He knew he brought a lot of joy to people. There isn't a week that
goes by that people don't ask about him," said Sister Rosary (Irene
Fallon before she entered a convent) of London.

---London Free Press

[uly...@mscomm.com]

Thanks for posting that! When you listen to the Anthology of Don't Pass
Me By, you realize how much the fiddle added to the song. It was pretty
dreadful without the fiddle. Some will argue it was still dreadful
*with* the fiddle!