FOLK singer Robin Hall was found dead in his Glasgow home last night. He was
61.
He and former singing partner Jimmie Macgregor were watched regularly by more
than nine million viewers in the 1960s when they appeared on the BBC Tonight
programme, presented by Cliff Michelmore.
They then took over from Andy Stewart, on BBC Scotland's White Heather Club for
five years.
The duo travelled the world over a period of nearly 21 years, before Hall
decided he had enough.
Since their last professional engagement in the late seventies at the Adam
Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, they were reunited on three occasions - for a Bosnia
charity event, for a get-together of Polaris missile protresters, and at
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1994.
The duo made 21 albums, culminating in Songs for Scotland in 1978, and were
responsible for bringing many popular folk numbers to the fore including the
Mingulay Boat Song, Coulters Candy, and Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff the Bus.
Strathclyde Police last night confirmed that the body of a man had been found
in a house in Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow, at 7pm.
A spokesman said a post mortem examination would be carried out. A report will
be sent to the procurator-fiscal. The death is not thought to be suspicious.
Born in Edinburgh on June 27, 1937, Hall studied at the Royal Scottish Academy
of Music and Dramatic Art.
After a brief spell as an actor, he met and teamed up with Macgregor at the
World Youth Festival in Vienna.
Macgregor, who was shocked to learn of his former partner's death when
contacted by The Herald last night, fondly recalled the time the duo was born.
"I think the organisers just threw us together because we were Scots." he said.
Macgregor said his partner, whose first influences were not Scottish but Burl
Ives and black American blues man Josh White, had a "fabulous voice, the best
on the folk scene, which could be powerful or lyrical."
The duo's popularity led to tours of all major UK theatres from the Isle of
Wight to Shetland. Foreign dates included the US, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Israel and Holland.
It was the daunting schedule, Macgregor believes, which led to the break-up of
the duo after 21 years.
"Robin decided he had enough. I don't think he stood up to the touring. It took
more out of him physically and emotionally. He had polio when he was a kid but
concealed it brilliantly.
"He decided to go his own way. We kind of lost touch. I thought the break-up
could have been done with a bit more grace."
Macgregor, speaking from his home in London, said two coincidences relating to
his former partner had occurred within the past few days.
On Tuesday night, he played a tape to a live concert involving the pair at
Edinburgh's Grassmarket for the first time in 15 years. A few days earlier, he
received a cheque for royalties for some of the duo's songs.
He added:"You don't survive for 21 years without problems. You also don't
survive if you can't rub along. It is sad for me, although Robin and I had been
disconnected for a time. It puts a full stop to a big chunk of my life."
Mr Archie Fisher, who has been involved in the Scottish folk scene for more
than 30 years and presents BBC Radio Scotland's Travelling Folk, said of the
singer's death last night:"It is tragic, more so because he hasn't been
performing for a while. He was definitely one of the most gifted folk singers
Scotland has ever produced.
"Hall and Macgregor were the first real folk stars in Scotland, even before the
Corries."
Mr Hall, who married twice, lived alone. He had two sons from his first
marriage, Andrew and Zachary.
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