My Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: Charlie Wilson
From: Kusadasi Turkey

Comments:
This is a brilliant selection of music I haven’t heard for years. I play it on a regular basis. Sent to me by my brother, Bill at Gorgie Corps Edinburgh. Keep it up.

Added: November 30, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Mervyn Tarrant
From: Crawley West Sussex

Comments:
Hi Ian. Thanks for bringing so many memories back having been brought up in the good old Army. Have played many of these pieces even conducted some when a SA bandmaster. Have just returned to the Army at Horsham and helping with their band of ten. Keep up the good work. Mervyn Tarrant

Added: November 23, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Vernon J. Ronald
From: Calgary Alberta

Comments:
Hi Ian: Just discovered your site this morning and all I can say is, ‘Oh my goodness’. All the old 78’s and L.P’s. I can remember my dad playing these on Sunday afternoon just before Jr. Soldiers class and Sunday School. Thank you so much for this wonderful site. It sure does bring back a lot of good memories.

Added: November 14, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Keith Pittock
From: Windsor Ontario Canada

Comments:
Hi Ian..Just noticed a request in your guestbook for ‘My Humble Cry’... You have probably answered Peter by now, but if I want a particular selection, I enter the name in the Home Page search box. I did this with ‘My Humble Cry’ and it immediately showed up on Google search with links to your site. Hanwell Songsters sing it and also Moonee Pond Songsters. Keep up the terrific work Ian ...With Thanks and Blessings, Keith

Added: November 10, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Peter Roed
From: Abbotsford BC Canada

Comments:
Greetings Ian: Last year you created a Devotional site for me...thanks again. Is it possible to find either a Band or Songster Brigade in your vast selections of recordings, which includes a rendition of the tune My Humble Cry? (Tune 346 in the Tune Book) I have made a request of at least two Army composers if they would create a selection using 346 - but to date, without success. Hope you can find that beautiful melody. With thanks.

Added: November 10, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Willi Erzberger
From: Zurich Central Hall Band Switzerland

Comments:
Hi Ian, It was a pleasure for me to meet you in London during the ISB 120 celebration. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making this site possible. I play it every time I am on my computer. Best regards Willi

Added: November 6, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Barrie Slater
From: Norwich

Comments:
What a find this site is. Have now spent too much time in listening to good old fashion Army music but what a treat. Thanks to your interest I can enjoy hours of Army records. Thanks once again.

Added: October 31, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Dennis Bruce Sibley
From: Moreno Valley CA USA

Comments:
Great site.

Added: October 22, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Neil Carter
From: Oxford UK

Comments:
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but every so often Ian’s amazing Website throws up a gem I’ve never previously heard. Bandmaster Ian Baxter’s arrangement of ‘Spirit of the Living God’ for his Band at Brisbane City Temple - YPRX1048 - Brisbane City Temple Band of the Salvation Army- is just such a gem, but now I’ve just discovered another one. When I played in Wood Green Band in the late 1960s, from time to time the BM would put up a composition of Dr Thomas Rive, Bandmaster at Auckland Congress Hall. At the time I neither understood nor appreciated the sheer musical genius of this composer, and felt that his music was just too ‘modern’ or advanced to be appreciated by SA listeners - or me. What did I know? In any case I was wrong, as Dr Rive’s professional expertise was in 16th Century Church music, indeed, I now read that he was a recognised world authority in his field, so again, what did I know? Now Ian has put up the Thomas Rive retrospective LP - SODE113 - A Pilgrim’s Songs- one of the latest twenty uploads, and the final track, ‘Jesus shall Reign’ is like no other SA work I’ve ever heard. To say it was spine tingling is an understatement. Isaac Watt’s well known words are set to Dr Rive’s own arrangement of the ancient hymn tune of ‘Agincourt’, apparently originally composed to commemorate the Battle of Agincourt as long ago as 1415. Normally I don’t like hearing well-loved and familiar words being set to a new tune, or even to such an old one, but to hear an Army Band and Songster Brigade performing in mediaeval style and singing and playing to such a triumphant final Alleluia was truly moving. Everything about this work is unique, and so very much better than so very much of what was written and performed for this year’s ISB 120 celebrations. As this RZ site proves over and over again, the direction of SA composing and music making has substantially changed, and not necessarily for the better. Oxford UK

Added: October 16, 2011

Submitted by
Name: David Byles
From: Southport UK

Comments:
Hello Ian. It`s absolutely brilliant to find your site - I wish I had known about it before. I`ve got many of these old 78`s but most were damaged when a shelf collapsed many years ago, so it`s great to hear them again. I especially enjoy `Jesus Speaks` by Hanwell Songsters. I was born in Hanwell in 1948 and my father was bandmaster. My mother and father were both in the songsters and on these recordings, so it`s both happy and emotional to listen to them again. Many thanks. David Byles

Added: October 16, 2011