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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=23-Aug-2019&lang=fr&s=15721
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=23-Aug-2019&lang=fr&s=15721
23-Aug-2019
by Rob Howard
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  Yorkshireman George Syrett (pictured left with his curved keyboard accordion) was a popular accordion entertainer blessed with an exuberant on-stage personality, and he was for many years well-known and very well liked in the accordion community. He was one the UK accordion scene’s great characters.George played accordion, piano and organ, and also sang and wrote songs. He played music throughout most of his life, though mainly as a hobby until he retired from his job as head of a department in Leeds Social Services. Previously George did National Service in the Army, followed by several years’ service in West Yorkshire Police. During National Service, he played the piano and accordion in an army dance band, and so frequently that he claims to have never done a guard duty! George learned his trade as a part-time entertainer in the tough environment of working men’s clubs in northern England. He also played the piano in pubs, the electronic organ in clubs, and the cinema organ in his home city of Leeds. He played ‘dep’ gigs as pianist with such great bands as Joe Loss, Ted Heath, and Harry Gold & his Pieces of Eight, and even played the famous Wurlitzer organ at Blackpool Tower. As an accordionist he performed as a guest artiste at many accordion clubs and festivals, such as Caister and Bridlington, where he also led workshops and shone as a compere. In 1997 George had an unusual gig playing to the visitors at the opening of the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. He also made several trips to Seattle, USA, where he was popular guest at the Leavenworth Accordion Festival. George had an individual style of music, song and humour, and usually played an Elkavox on stage. Often in the company of his equally madcap drummer, Rodney McNamara, a concert performance was likely to feature George’s lively version of Sinatra’s “New York, New York”, gloriously climaxing with high kicks resembling Basil Fawlty’s famous goose-stepping sequence in the Fawlty Towers episode, The Germans. In 2003 accordion club compere Ron Bennett fittingly dubbed him “The King of Stand Up Accordion” following a concert performance in West Sussex, a description that greatly amused George. George Syrett passed away on Monday August 19th, less than three weeks before his 83rd birthday on September 8th, and was widely mourned in the accordion world and by all who knew him. |