Alan Clare Group – Milligatawny


Since there seems to have been something of a run on UK jazz on Waxidermy lately, here is an interesting 45 to share. Alan Clare was a UK pianist who had a pretty long career & a touch of mainstream success from the 40s through to the 80s. Most of the online discographies for Clare seem to cut off around 1960 & this 45 is hardly ever mentioned. It would seem that all the info you can google on this record can be traced back to a couple of non-definite online sources which means that there is little concrete information to go by for these songs. It is believed to date from around the mid-60s (’64 has been speculated), there is no stock release on Pye but there is a rumored stock release on Saga. It (“Milligatawny”) also is thought to have been the theme song for an early Spike Milligan BBC2 TV series (again unconfirmed). The personal has also only been speculated upon with Clare on piano being the only definite. Nevertheless, these are two top pieces of mid-60s UK modern jazz, “Milligatwany” is an upbeat piece with a great trumpet solo & the flip “Dog’s Body” is a more mellow affair. If anyone knows anymore about this 45 please share. I’d like to see a pic of the Saga press if it exists.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

5 Comments

  • Phillip Clare says:

    Hi Kris
    I am Alan Clare’s son, and I can verify he wrote Milligatawny as the sig tune for “Muses With Milligan” which was an “entertainment” of poetry and jazz hosted by spike. I went to the recordings and met all the great poets of the day who all it seemed, appeared on the show. The band which my dad led was full of fantastic musicians; I remember some as Shake Keane, Tony Coe, Lennie Bush, Tony Crombie, Dave Goldberg, Johnny McLevie and others. They used to rehearse at the flat in Holland Park where my mum still lives with carers in attendance. My dad left a huge amount of written music and recordings, on both reel to reel and cassette tapes, as well as a legacy of untouched works from a beautifully and expensively produced album of works written by him and abortively attempted as a sale to the USA (by Tony Bennett’s then recording manager) which was seen as a threat to those American artists at the time. We have no idea what to do with it and indeed how to market the compositions which are myriad and excellent. I would welcome ideas and what the hell I should do. It would be a sin to let such good music go unrecognised.

  • Kris Holmes says:

    Wow, thanks for the info Phillip. Great stuff. What would be the best way to get in touch with you re. the recordings you mention?

  • Fred DeWitt says:

    Heard a replay today of a 1990 Marian McPartland Piano Jazz program featuring Alan Clare as the guest. During the program your father played his composition “Holland Park” . It is a lovely tune and I would like to obtain a copy of the piano sheet music. I am not a professional piano player, would just like to learn and play it for my own enjoyment. A photo copy or pdf would be fine if it was not published. I started taking piano lessons when I was 8 ( I’m now 86 and have seen some improvement :-). ) Hope you can provide an oportunity for me to obtain the sheet music. Fred

  • Phillip Clare says:

    Hi Kris, sorry for the HUGE delay! I have only just come accross your reply to my last missive to you about my father Alan Clare. Things have moved on quite a bit since I last wrote. My Mother recently died and I have to clear out my mum’s flat in Holland Park and have hundreds of reel to reel tapes and random sheets of hand written music from my dad to somehow do something with. Lots of it is old recordings from those old Muses days I think. I really don’t know what to do or if I can archive it all. I obviously don’t want to chuck it all away as I think it is too much of a waste but the condition of some things may be a little wanting. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Kind regards. Pip (Phillip) Clare.

  • Phillip Clare says:

    Hi Kris, Further to the last email.
    I should give you my home email address too. It’s hilary@uwclub.net (Hilary is my wife). We would love to hear from you.

Leave a Reply