Tommy Reilly Retrospective

Growing up

Tommy’s father, Captain James Reilly, was a bandmaster at the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM), Kneller Hall in Twickenham, London. He left for Canada after WW1 to become the bandmaster of the Guelph Army Battalion and also the leader of the OAC Symphony Orchestra and a local choir. Tommy Reilly was born there in Aug 1919.

When the depression started in 1929, Captain Reilly moved to the local Elmdale Public School as custodian and in 1930 he started a harmonica band at the school. It was very successful. Tommy studied violin and also played harmonica and accordion.

In 1935, James Reilly returned to England with his family to become a Musical Director of Hohner’ new Harmonica Song Band League. Within a couple of years Tommy was performing in a circus troop as a musician and acrobat and touring in Europe. In 1939 he was studying violin in the Leipzig Conservatory when war was declared and he spent over 5 years in German POW camps. He used this time to develop his prodigious harmonica technique utilising his knowledge of the violin and the playing of Jascha Heifetz.

You can hear more details of Tommy’s early life in this video from the Elgin County Heritage Society, in Canada.

Life as a harmonica soloist

After the war, Tommy returned to the UK and began performing with John Still, a pianist he had met in the POW camps. He quickly built up links with the BBC and played regularly on radio shows like Variety Bandbox and Workers Playtime. Tommy joined the Clarkson Rose Music Hall Review, Twinkle, and met Ena, the Principle Girl. They married and had a son, David.

Tommy was a household name by 1950 and he started composing for himself and Production Music companies like Conway and recording 78rpm records for the popular music market. His producer was George Martin who had just been made head of EMI’s Parlophone label. His best known recording is probably the Jack Warner 78rpm – An Ordinary Copper (Dixon of Dock Green), heard on the TV show and released as a single in 1958. These 78 rpm singles were never re-released.

Writing for the Production Music Libraries was very profitable and several pieces became well known as themes for TV and radio programmes in several countries. In the UK the best known were Family Joke (The Grove Family) and Trade Wind Hornpipe (The Navy Lark). Tommy wrote under several pseudonyms – Max Martin and Dwight Barker – and also with James Moody and his son, David.

Tommy’s concerts included popular and classical music, usually transcribed for harmonica. His fame led to pieces being composed for him by Michael Spivakovsky, Robert Farnon, James Moody, Gordon Jacob, Fried Walter, Graham Whettam, Alan Langford and Sir George Martin. He also performed works written for the harmonica by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Arthur Benjamin, and Villa-Lobos.

Another area where Tommy was active was on film soundtracks, The Sundowners, Yokohama Holiday and most notably, Midnight Cowboy, which is the subject of another of my blogs.

Tommy Reilly International Club (TRIC)

Tommy was always interested in education and like his father, Captain James Reilly, he wrote several instruction books. Tommy went further and decided to teach harmonica at his new home, Hammonds Wood, in 1977. He started TRIC and several musical events were held with some top players from around the world. It proved unworkable and lasted only for a few years. This is covered in detail in another of my blogs.
Tommy Reilly International Club

Concerts and Workshops

Member of the Order of the British Empire – 1992

Queen Elizabeth presented Tommy Reilly with the MBE for ‘services to music’ in 1992.

Discography

Here are links to Tommy’s vast collection of audio recordings.

Singles and EPs 78/45rpm
LP Albums 33rpm
CDs and featured Artist Recordings
Music Library/Production Music

Harmonica History in Books

Harmonica History in Books.

Today’s harmonica world is the result of the pioneering activities of manufacturers, composers, performers and amateur players.
A lot has happened in the last 100 years but it is not very well documented or understood.
These books provide some of the background to the artists and the way the music developed.

         AuthorBook Title
#1Louis DelinBackstage Harmonica – Autobiography
#2Larry AdlerIt Ain’t Neccessarily So – Autobiography
#3Larry AdlerMe and my Big Mouth – more autobiography
#4Al SmithConfessions of Harmonica Addicts – A History of American Ensembles
#5Jane RodackBe of Good Cheer – Memories of Harmonica Legend, Pete Pedersen
#6Kim FieldHarmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers – Interviews and stories
#7Albert RaisnerLe Livre de l’Harmonica – History of The Harmonica to 1960
#8Ray GrieveA Band in a Waistcoat Pocket – The Story of Harmonica in Australia
#9Ray GrieveBoomerangs and Crackerjacks – The Harmonica in Australia, 1825-1960
#10Jerry AdlerLiving from Hand to Mouth – Larry Adler’s Younger Brother
#11Max GeldrayGone With The Wind – Autobiography of a Dutchman in England
#12Peter KrampertThe Encyclopedia of the Harmonica – Short Bios ofHarmonica Players
#13Kurt Roessler   Sie Spiel(t)en Mundharmonika – Harmonica Players
#14Fabrizio PoggiIl soffio dell’anima: armoniche e armonicisti blues
#15Martin HaeffnerHarmonica Makers of Germany and Austria
#16Martin HaeffnerHarmonicas – The Story of Hohner Brands
#17Christoph Wagner Die Mundharmonika – ein musikalischer globetrotter
#18Martin HaeffnerMade in Germany – Played in the USA
#19 Martin Haeffner“Hohner The Living Legend” – 150th Anniversary
#20Zong XiaohuaChinese Made Harmonica Illustrations
#21EditorsSeventy Years of Hong Kong Harmonica (2004),
#22CMA, NUS Harmonicist’s Handbook, 1991, Singapore
#23Gian PasquinelliSoffiando e Risoffiando – by Armonauti Trio (Italian)
#24Bruno KowalczykThe Harmonica and Traditional Québécois Music
#25Charlie McCoy50 Cents and a Box Top
#26Jean LabreMusique en bouche

   

You can read more information about these books and where you might be able to find them on Pat Missin’s fantastic web site about all aspects of harmonicas.

Pat Missin’s Website – the ultimate harmonica resource

Pat Missin has created the best harmonica site on the internet. Everyone ought to visit it at least once so they are aware of the vast amount of knowledge he has assembled on all aspects of harmonica.

One web page contains a selection of vintage harmonica performances recorded between 1904 and 1940. It includes recordings and historical information about Pete Hampton, Professor Dickens,  Arthur Turelly, H. J. Woodall, Henry Whitter, Borrah Minevitch, Moore and Freed, Sandlin Brothers, William Haussler, Haussler and Coutlee , W.V. Robinson, W.W. MacBeth, Gwen Foster, Willie “Red” Newman, John Sebastian and Rhythm Willie.

Here are the main sections of Pat’s website – www.patmissin.com – The main index page.

Site Contents

Fairly Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to questions about the harmonica that I am asked… um… fairly frequently.

Books by Pat Missin
Books about the harmonica and related instruments.

Uncommon Harmonica Techniques
Tips and tricks you are unlikely to find anywhere else.

A Brief History of Mouth Blown Free Reed Instruments
Ancestors and cousins of the harmonica.

Harp Gallery
Some of the more unusual harmonicas from my collection.

Harmonica 78s
Rare harmonica recordings not available anywhere else.

Harmonica Patents
Notable or curious designs found in the patent archives of several countries.

Tuning
More than any sane person would ever need to know about tuning harmonicas.

Articles
Articles that I wrote back in my pre-internet days.

Reviews
Reviews of new harmonicas and related products.

Audio
In case you were wondering whether I could actually play the harmonica.

Odds and Ends
Stuff that doesn’t really fit in anywhere else on this site.

Special thanks to…
… all those people who have helped me with the material presented on this website.