The Combolins.
Gaetano Bevilacqua
Below you will find the press release for a very unique new CD to be
available within the next 2 weeks.
CALEDONIAN SUNSET
Featuring the sound of
The Combolins
Played by David Sinton
A Promise Made A Promise Kept
Following the death of Roy Williamson of The Corries on August 12th,
1990, his Will disclosed he had bequeathed to his friend, David
Sinton, the unique pair of multi-stringed instruments known as The
Combolins with the wish they would continue to be played as opposed to
ending their days in a museum. In understandable sadness, David
silently promised that one day, when appropriate, The Combolins would
again be heard.
The Combolins were designed and made by Roy over a period of time from
the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s and became an inherent
part of The Corries’ music. Roy was well aware of David’s
abilities as a superb guitar player and restorer having called upon
his services periodically to carry out repairs on the instruments.
David, in turn, had to be able to play the notoriously difficult
Combolins expertly in order to judge the effectiveness of his repairs
before returning them to Roy for stage and studio use. He was also
steeped in the music of The Corries having been sound engineer at
many of their concerts and recordings.
The gift was priceless; the wish modest - yet many years elapsed
following Roy’s death before David could bring himself to hold
The Combolins once again. With the passage of time however,
restoration of the great instruments was required and only then did
the sleeping giants of folk music resonate to his skilful fingers.
Roy, of course, had long since passed into Scottish legend, not only
as one half of the country’s most successful folk music group,
but also as composer of her national anthem Flower Of Scotland.
Testing the instruments, David recorded several tunes that required
The Combolins’ full acoustic capabilities. Those were heard by
Iain McLay of Moidart Music (now home to The Corries’ entire
own-label recordings) who suggested David might record those tunes and
others with accompaniment in order to develop an album in keeping with
The Combolins’ sound and status. Dave agreed, and with former
Corries’ concert and record producer Allan Spence, began work on
the project. A full two years passed during which many decisions were
made as each tune was carefully chosen and arranged for several
accompanying instruments. The recording sessions took place at
Skerries Music studio in Lossiemouth with Derek Laing in-house to
share the musical arrangements and play all supporting instruments.
The response all the while from The Combolins was, and is, a joy to
hear.
Caledonian Sunset is the proud result of the past two years’
work from a dedicated team of musical craftsmen. The album is a
captivating journey through a host of the best loved folk and
traditional tunes relaxed music bathed in the warm glow of a
lingering summer evening. An album that can fully justify the accolade
Made In Scotland from conception to manufacturing. Smiles of approval
came from all concerned upon listening to the final mix playback and
a feeling prevailed that Roy Williamson would have smiled with
approval too. A promise made ten years before became a promise fully
kept.
Why not advance order a copy to ensure delivery in time for Christmas
As soon as I have the artwork I will upload it to the website for
viewing. In the meantime if anyone is interested in advance ordering
a copy of the new CD I would be pleased to hear from you. This will
also help me ensure that the first delivery will meet initial orders.
The pricing will be the same as for all other CD titles in the
catalogue at £13.19 plus P+P (plus VAT where applicable). If you
advance order this title and I have your details on file from a recent
order, your copy of the new CD will be despatched on the date of
release. As usual, your credit card will not be charged until the
date of shipping.
You can place an advance order by sending an email to me at:
advanc...@corries.com
If I do not already have your details on file from a previous order,
you are of course welcome to place your order for anything in the
catalogue and mention your advance order for the new CD in the
comments section of the secure order form. I will then be able to
pick up your billing and shipping details from the order.
Track listings for this forthcoming release are as follows:
Come By The Hills The Loch Tay Boat Song Castle Of Dromore The Dark
Island Mists Of Morven An Eriskay Love Lilt The Wild Mountain Thyme
Dumbarton’s Drums Carrickfergus Dainty Davie The
Reiver’s Galley / Heidless Cross The Verdant Braes Of Skreen
The Rowan Tree Hills Of Ardmorn The Waters Of Tyne The Shoals Of
Herring Mist Covered Mountains Farewell Tae Tarwathie
You heard it here first
When I was talking to Iain McLay of Moidart Music today about the new
CD, he mentioned a very interesting discovery. When they were
producing the double CD “Live from Scotland Volumes 3 and
4” last year, an extra track (just over a minute long), was
found on the master tapes that has never been listed as recorded by
The Corries. “The Parting Glass” was found as track 13 on
Live from Scotland volume 4 although the original album artwork does
not list this track. I have yet to have it confirmed, but we suspect
that this track was not actually on the original album release for
reasons of availability of space.
If you have an original copy of the vinyl LP and a record deck
available perhaps you can check for me.
Well that’s about all for this year. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank you all for your support and for continuing to
help make corries.com a success. I would also like to wish you all a
happy Christmas when it comes and hope that the New Year brings you
all that you are hoping for.
Mailing list software:
If you get more than one copy please let me know and I will more than
happy to remove the duplicate entries. As I always say, if for any
reason you would like to be removed from the mailing list please let
me know. This newsletter is intended to be informative and
interesting for Corries fans from around the world not another piece
of annoying junk email.
Regards,
Gavin Browne
www.corries.com
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