My parents and grandparents use to love Russ Conway, so many happy memories from my childhood. It feels like there's no real 'entertainment' on TV these days, just endless reality TV and talent shows.
WAKEY WAKEY!!! He appeared on many occasions on the Billy Cotton Band Show ,alonside the likes of Kathy Kirby, Alma Cogan, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, Matt Munro,to name but a few, sad they are no longer with us, but their memories live on!!
Yes Russ lost a top of one finger in a bread slicer when he was young. He was best mates with my father who us also a pianist and entertainer (although 84 yrs old now). My father was with Russ at his bedside when he passed away. They were also in the navy together. I have pictures of him with my brother and I circa 1956/7, when we used to call him 'Uncle Russ'
Russ Conway is my great-great uncle on my mum's side of the family. He is the one who inspired Elton John to play the piano, as well as me. His real name was Trevor Stanford.
My dad was a fantastic pianist. He died of covid on 30th March. A song popped into my head, a song that I couldn’t remember the name of. The next day it revealed itself-. I used to ask him to play it for me. I have a vision, a memory of him playing it for me. Damn, I miss him, he died alone
Mother would speak of Russ Conway as though he was family, can remember going to the pictures on the way in you could hear his music being played, a real joy
We had a super music teacher back in the fifties and if we were good in her class she would finish up with popular music, the one we asked for most was Russ Conway's Sidesaddle, she did play it very well and often
I come from the more Jazz world BUT side saddle the way he does is NOT EASY you gotta spot on great guy lotta talent lovely left hand reverse tenths that was HIS SOUND lovely stuff
Russ was a great entertainer and by all accounts a very kind man. Incidentally, he served in the Royal Navy during WW2 in the Mediterranean and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and was also Mentioned in Dispatches.
For some reason it stuck in my head that he lived on a diet of bananas and peanut butter! A memory from over sixty years ago, I always think of this when I bump into his name.
This sosng and four others by Russ were in the AFRTS library and I did DJ work there in Japan. Played this song every show for months, the guys loved it!
Russ Conway had a stroke and fought his way back to play again after being told he would never perform any more. He wrote this piece himself at it became his signature tune
@@karlmartin685 "Russ Conway" was a stage name (never seen anything about how he came to choose it). Trevor Stanford was his real one, and went on all his compositions.
Russ Conway was a superstar at the time of is heyday. He was on the telly a lot on variety shows. I like one called Snowcoach and have the record somewhere in my collection. Side Saddle was one of his biggest hits.
I just lucked into these tunes by Russ Conway. Wow, this guy was good! I am a big fan of Joe "Fingers" Carr, and this tune reminds me of him. Being an English artist, we didn't have the benfit of seeing him on TV here in the states. thanks for posting.
My mate Tommy Waters said he sometime finished by running his finger from one end of the piano to the other but missing the correct end note, and having a few goes at it until he got it right. He was laughing all the time. A happy man.
feel good music. He was such a personable man. I didn't think he was a great pianist when I was young but enjoyed his music just the same. But he really could play I know that now. I.m really enjoying going back and listening to all the stuff i thought i would never hear again. THANK YOU YOU TUBE AND YOUR BRILLIANT CREATORS. What real happiness you have brought to me and many others i know. I'm always trying to find a way to contact you tube but I can't fathom it out. Can anyone help.
When i can play a piano as good as russ conway i will have the right to be picky at the sounds i produce or for that matter anyone else, until then i can say nothing and others in the same place should do the same
This video is taken from the series The Wheelpappers and Shunters Social Club which aired on British TV in the 70's. Featuring Colin Crompton and Bernard Manning. You can see the back of Colin Crompton's head - wearing flat cap and smoking a cigar his trademark - at 1:40 with an old fashioned microphone in front of him. BTW Russ was pretty good - not brilliant but good looking guy with shiny set of molars and brylcreemed hair and was adored by the women.
Is this the wheeltappers and social club? 0:22-0:26 Bullseye brought us here. It was the answer to "who is this playing?" 🕺💖🎶🎙️🎹🎵 💛💙💛💙💛💙 🥰🇯🇲🏴🕊️🔥✝️
Incredible! Watching this I can’t help wondering what the record is for the maximum amount of notes played in a bar; and that’s a musical bar not a pub! 😜
In 1959 Russ was at his peak as a performer, and his playing was fresh and full of vitality, so a comparison with the later c1973 clip will show up some slight differences in his style (his playing was never quite so free and easy following his stroke in the mid 60s) and in any case, Side Saddle will never sound that great on a grand piano. However, Russ was the master on this kind of music and we just need to see more clips posted on RU-vid.
Pure magic - listened to this and others of his in the sixties on the radio. I don't think he actually wrote his music down and the scores had to be derived?
i think you are now getting all abit picky about bum notes and technicalities its Russ on RU-vid not live at The Palladium he continued to entertain at the ripe old age of 75 until his passing in 2000 so come on raise a glass for agreat showman x
@minxeyboy : Fascinating post. I would like to encourage you to get all your memories down on paper - or into a dictation machine- before they fade. You were an eyewitness to musical historyand your recollections would be of enormous interest to the "Russ Conway Community" - if i can call it that.
