Raymonde and his banjo band ; names _ help

[marc dalmasso]

I would like to put names on the face of these banjo players , please ;

pictures are from the old movie of the British Pathe where they are playing the pot pourri of marches ( Stars & stripes , W post march , colonel Boogey ) ; the chief is raymond but what is his real name ?

I think the ténor banjo is a Clifford essex  but what model & grade ?

[marc dalmasso]

2nd banjo player with a ténor Paramount ; i guess ; name ?

nota  : he looks like Frank Lawes but i think it 's not him

[marc dalmasso]

third banjo player with a Vega ténor artist maybe or de luxe

name ?

nota : on the other vidéo ( Blaze away ) , he has a 5th string CE , probably special   ; but he plays with a plectrum , so i assume he took off the 5th string to play there ; But may be he was a five string player , too ?

[thereallyniceman]

Hi Marc,

Sorry, I have searched through my old BMG magazines but can not find anything about Raymond(e) and his band.  The were performing in 1937 and playing plectrum style.

For those who have not seen them look here:

RAYMONDE AND HIS BANJO BAND

I don't mind a few plectrum players sneaking on to our Classic Style site  ;-)

[marc dalmasso]

Yes ; Ian ; i think the BMG magazines could speak ; but according that each of us cannot have the complete collection , it ' necessary to share the infos on the site .......naturally

plectrum banjo is not far from the 5th by the tuning ( TBJ proove it ) ; Ken  Harvey & his elevated bass was an exception and i have good reasons to believe that 4 or 5 strings ' Bj was a small world and everybody knew everybody ; I learned from BMG , bernard Sheaff himself was an arranger fror " Troise & his banjoliers " ; certainly one of the arrangers because Pasquale Troise was himself an arranger and on the british Pathe site , they give the name of another give like arranger .

Amazing to see that , with Troise & his banjoliers , the 2nd Bj player from the left ,sitting front is ................ Raymond ................ ( his first_name or scene name ? )

i found this site too :

http://www.turnipnet.com/mom/troise.htm

[David Wade]

Now then, perhaps I can help a little bit here: B W (Bill) Dykes was the lead tenor banjo and overall boss, second tenor banjo was Arthur Stanley, the other tb is unknown at this moment as are the plectrum players. Bertie Bassett played bass banjo and Len C Storter played contra-bass.

The names of the piano/piano-box and drummer players are lost in the mists of time.

The band recorded four sides for Regal-Zono Jan '37 another two that October and their final three sides in March '38. They did film shorts for Pathe and Gaumont-British.

Arthur Stanley worked with Troise but Cyril Gaida was leader and deputy conductor.

Eh, who remembers "Music While You Work" ....a forgotten concept in the UK, working that is!

Arthur Stanley was also in The A J Powell Banjo Octet which recorded in the early years of WW2. Alf. Powell played xylophone and drums.

[marc dalmasso]

THKS , David ; i saw in some  pre war BMG ' mags , Bill Dykes writed  a monthly & interesting article called " ABC of harmony " ; I founded a 11 years ' banjoïst called Robert Wade , too ; there is a picture with a CE concert grand bigger than himself ... Is he from your familly ?