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Tommy
Banner
(Wurzel
1967-present)
Tommy
Banner was born in Penicuik, a small Lothian mining town a few miles
south of Edinburgh. He was the younger of two brothers, his father
being an army major in the Edinburgh-based Royal Scots (The Royal
Regiment), the oldest Regiment in the British Army.
Music
and sports were the two loves of the young Banner - if music had
not been such a love, perhaps he could have been a successful sportsman.
Tommy was part of the East Of Scotland under-16's football side
that won the Scottish Cup for their age group. In saying that, it
is doubtful that a footballing career would have lasted as long
as his music career has done! John Miles' 1976 Combine Harvester
LP sleeve notes state that Tommy "plays most sports including
football, tennis, squash and golf." Certainly his physique
is more sportsman than aging rocker - something he happily shows
off at most Wurzels gigs!
Tommy's
early piano lessons paid off big-time - and the budding young musician
had soon added the piano accordion to his instrumental repertoire.
The Wurzels World book shows a picture of a teenaged Tommy
playing accordion with his friends - and we're talking a full-sized
120 bass with 41 treble model here, none of your kiddies' starter
models! And it has been the piano accordion that have been the trademark
of Tommy Banner ever since
Little
is recorded about Tommy's early bands prior to joining Adge Cutler
& The Wurzels, but one can envisage a mix of local Scottish
folk bands where Tommy honed his accordion skills, and showbands
playing the local dance halls; The Wurzels World book also
pictures a dapper young Tommy with sharp suit and bow tie playing
piano for the Tommy Tulloch Band at Glencorse Barracks in 1956.
By the 1960s, rock 'n' roll must have had it's influences too; Tommy
still manages a mean boogie-woogie on the piano!
Tommy's
reputation was such that in 1967, after Reg Chant had left the band,
Adge (or more likely John Miles) sent north for a young and talented
accordion player to fill his shoes. According to the notes in the
Wurzels Songbook, Tommy claims that 'The Wurzels could not get a
good accordionist in England so they went to Scotland and got a
bad one!' He originally took a three months booking with The Wurzels
prior to beginning a contract for a round the world trip playing
in another band. That was over forty years ago and he has been in
the West Country ever since.
On
5th November 1967, Tommy arrived in Somerset from Scotland expecting
to join a "trendy pop group", and was surprised to find
he was renamed "Jock McSpreader" by his fellow
band members and expected to wear old second hand clothes on stage
while singing songs about such arcane subjects (to him, anyhow)
as dung spreading, pigs, scrumpy, tractors and the Pill ferry. The
culture shock and problems he experienced in having to get used
to scrumpy instead of Scotch, not to mention the language difficulties,
are documented in Tommy's autobiographical song Haggis Farewell.
On
his arrival he moved into a caravan near Pill in North Somerset.
He claims to have still been living there in 1976 when The Wurzels
were #1 with Combine Harvester - so perhaps it was a rather
nice caravan! By 1977, he had moved to Easton-in-Gordano, and he
is still a Somerset resident today living down Taunton way. Tommy
had his own finance and insurance business in the West Country during
the 1980s, but only in between Wurzels gigs. And now bookings for
the band are such that he is back as a full-time Wurzel.
On
5th November 2007, Tommy celebrated 40 years as a Wurzel! So, not
only the 'only Scottish Wurzels in captivity!" as
Adge claimed, but also the 'oldest Wurzel in captivity'. And he
has no plans for retiring soon, so maybe we can look forward to
2017 and all help Tommy celebrate half a century as a Wurzel!
Wurzel
Discography
- Cutler
Of The West (accordion,
piano)
- Carry
On Cutler! (accordion,
piano)
- The
Wurzels Are Scrumptious (accordion,
piano, vocals)
-
Combine Harvester
(accordion,
piano, vocals)
-
Golden
Delicious (accordion,
piano, vocals)
-
Give Me England!
(accordion,
piano, vocals)
-
Never Get A Scrumpy
Here
(accordion,
piano, vocals)
- Freshly
Cut
(accordion, piano, vocals)
- Mendip
Magic
(accordion,
piano, vocals)
- The
Wurzels Live
(accordion,
piano, vocals)
- Never
Mind The Bullocks - 'Ere's The Wurzels (accordion,
piano, vocals)
- A
Taste of the West
(accordion,
piano, vocals)

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