The crofter who became a country and western legend
January 6, 2019 8:48 AM   Subscribe

"It was 41 years ago today that the death occurred at the age of 50 of Thomas Fraser, undoubtedly Scotland’s most extraordinary country and western recording artist. For during his lifetime, Shetland fisherman Fraser never released a record nor made any appreciable money from his music, but in recent years he has become something of a legend in the country and western scene – not least in the USA, where his fascinating story is constantly retold."
posted by Lezzles (7 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Shetland music is very much its own thing. Though there's a very strong fiddle tradition in common with Scotland, Shetland puts more of a swing (or is it a groove?) to its timing. So C&W might not be too outlandish a sound for this one fisherman. Not all Shetlanders consider themselves Scottish, either. The Norse links are strong.

Epic gansey in that picture, though
posted by scruss at 10:26 AM on January 6, 2019


Looks like more of a Fair Isle sweater than a gansey.
posted by Lezzles at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2019


more of a swing (or is it a groove?)

The snap? I could swear that Dizzy Gillespie said Scotch and African music developed syncopation, but I can't find it, so maybe it wasn't Gillespie.
posted by clew at 1:39 PM on January 6, 2019


This guy has listened to a lot of Jimmie Rodgers.
posted by CCBC at 2:54 PM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]


scruss, while the Shetland fiddling tradition has plenty of groove of its own, influences from American radio kicked it up a gear in the 20th century - have a listen to Michael Marra's intro to "Schenectady calling Peerie Willie Johnson" for one telling of the story.
posted by offog at 3:58 PM on January 6, 2019


I could swear that Dizzy Gillespie said Scotch and African music developed syncopation...

There’s some talk about of the Scots influence on Gillespie here.
posted by LeLiLo at 6:26 PM on January 6, 2019


 more of a Fair Isle sweater than a gansey.

The person on Fair Isle who made my sweater called it a gansey
posted by scruss at 2:46 PM on January 15, 2019


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