{"id":192,"date":"2012-11-01T12:53:52","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T12:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/hall-of-fame\/?page_id=192"},"modified":"2016-02-10T08:43:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T08:43:25","slug":"jim-johnstone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/hall-of-fame\/jim-johnstone\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Johnstone 1937 – 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The career of East Lothian accordionist Jim Johnstone stands as a landmark bridge between today\u2019s Scottish music and the dance-band heyday of the 1940s to the 1960s. The latter is an era whose importance is sometimes overlooked nowadays, outwith box-and-fiddle circles, but which saw Scottish musicians playing to stadium-sized crowds around the world, and reaching audiences in their tens of millions via some of the period\u2019s most popular radio and television programmes.<\/p>\n

Born in Tranent, Jim grew up surrounded by accordion music: his father and three uncles were all noted players, regularly performing on radio before and after World War II. Jim himself began taking lessons aged nine, initially with another local hero, Bobby Anderson – himself a former pupil of the revered Peter Leatham \u2013 and then with Leatham\u2019s daughter Chrissie, a guiding influence on Jim\u2019s playing throughout much of his career. A rigorous technical grounding in the light-classical repertoire of Frosini and his peers was complemented by a diet of folk music at home, with Jim\u2019s exceptional talents gaining early recognition when he appeared on Children\u2019s Hour in 1950, aged thirteen. Within a couple of years, he\u2019d formed his first band, featuring his lifelong friend and colleague Bobby Colgan on drums, initially picking up the odd gig his dad wasn\u2019t able to play, but soon beginning to make a name in their own right.<\/p>\n

After the interruption of National Service (a minimal hiatus, given the amount of time he spent playing for officers\u2019 dances), Jim worked with the family band for several years, afterwards briefly joining the illustrious outfit then led by Andrew Rankine \u2013 also featuring the likes of Billy Thom and Ron Gonella \u2013 before reconvening his own line-up in 1963.<\/p>\n

Two years later, Jim joined the hallowed company of Jimmy Shand\u2019s band, accompanying Scotland\u2019s greatest ever accordionist on his historic tours of Australia and New Zealand. This was followed by an 18-month stint playing alongside Jimmy Blue, after which Jim finally stepped up to centre-stage himself, as leader of the White Heather Club band, playing up to six nights a week in the touring version of the hugely popular BBC television series. During the 1970s, Jim frequently graced the small screen himself, as a regular guest on the long-running Songs of Scotland. In more recent years, his celebrated summer shows at Edinburgh\u2019s King James Hotel not only became a magnet for visitors to Scotland, but offered an invaluable apprenticeship to numerous up-and-coming players.<\/p>\n

While aficionados still luxuriate in the outstanding technical sophistication and intricate subtleties to be heard on Jim\u2019s recordings, his own musical credo remained simple: \u201cAbove all, always play for your audience.\u201d Together with his formidable musicianship, it\u2019s this essentially giving attitude \u2013 also reflected in his willingness to share his secrets with younger players \u2013 that will see us dancing to Jim\u2019s tune for many a year to come.<\/p>\n

Jim passed away in 2008.<\/p>\n