Joe Maley (Jack Easy, the Musical Midshipman)!

[Dick Glasgow]

I just had an interesting bit of mail from a friend, Ross Campbell, over on the Mudcat forum about a Glasgow-born Concertina player by the name of Joe Maley (Jack Easy, the Musical Midshipman).

He played English concertina in Music Hall, variety, travelling shows, radio and TV during a long career.
He lived in retirement a couple of doors along from my home here in Fleetwood, and it was a privilege to know him and his wife Liz, both now a long time gone.

Stuart Eydmann has a copy of a tape I made one evening in Joe's front room - he has used some fragments to illustrate his article about Joe on Concertina.net.

Here's a piece on Joe, including a photo & a couple of MP3 tracks of his playing, produced by Stuart Eydmann:

Jack Easy by Stuart Eydmann

Here's a link to the Mudcat thread, which includes some interesting background by Ross, on Jack Easy & about the song which was written about him by Alan Bell, entitled The Concertina Man:

The Concertina Man

Come I'd like to tell you of a man I knew
For he played the concertina as very few could do
His name was Joe Maley born with music in his hands
That's why they call him 'The Concertina Man'

Chorus
In the hall of fame we will write the name
of the entertainer, the concertina man
For we sang along as we played his songs
Always entertaining, the Concertina Man

As a boy he wandered through the streets at night
Close by the stage door near the old gas light
When he heard the band play for the curtain call
That's when he vowed to be the very best of all

Chorus

To Joe the theatre was, the very spice of liife,
For he loved Variety, touring with his wife.
Now sadly, that's over, the showman's days are done,
His fingers still at last, but his band plays on.

Chorus

Cheers
Dick