The Duffey Brothers at Rainford Xmas Party

Poor old Jack Griffiths arranged the evening but missed it - he’d forgotten he would be on holiday! Tough, Jack - it was a great ‘do’!

The party was held at their usual venue, The Junction. Several people (us included) had taken ‘boxes’ along, but no picking was arranged - just the Duffey Duo, who did two spots.

After a wonderful (?) build-up intro from Dave Bresnen, the brothers made a grandiose entrance - maybe they’d been expecting a fancy dress party, judging from their dress! We had never seen this act before but knew to expect comedy - and the comedy exceeded our expectations, as did the standard of the music! Quite difficult to do both very well, I think.

Vicar and Man-About-Town entertain!

After a goofy start, with Leo coughing - and coughing and coughing - Raymond asked “Is that strictly Bluegrass?” whereupon Leo asked for “no smoking”. It didn’t work, sad to say.

After the first real offering - the swing number Right Or Wrong, played on guitar and fiddle, they sang Crying My Heart Out Over You, with lovely mandolin intro and terrific cleanly-picked guitar bass runs then suddenly they started playing discords! Very clever, but it spoiled my enjoyment of a good song. Leo called out “We want everyone to join in the chorus!.” I did - and the next appeal was to me: “Please don’t join in!”

I was just thinking “We could do with one sung straight” when, with perfect timing, the lads sand a beautiful version of the cajun-style song Down In Louisiana with a nice key change half-way through. That was followed by a Texas fiddle tune, Cotton Eyed Joe, again done straight.

It was about this point that Ray started playing with knitting needles while Leo indulged in a lengthy explanation. Dave Frets said “He could have finished a scarf during that!” - a slight exaggeration! Then came what they called their “token gospel number”, The Homecoming in 3/4 time, sung straight and done well.

Ray and Leo Duffy -
"The Duffy Brothers"

The first set finished with Little Maggie; not the usual 0.99C version (the what? Ed.) but with an effective vocal start (Ray) accompanied sensitively by banjo. Then Ray’s guitar joined with 1 chord strum per bar, ending up with the more usual version. An unusual treatment, like many of their songs.

The traditional buffet meal provided got serious attention and before long only ham sandwiches were left.

So on to Part 2 with a great start. Randy Lynn Rag (written by Scruggs for his son Randy Lynn) was played straight and led straight into The Ballad of Jed Clampett played camp. This was followed by a camp song Into Leather Again, all about sex shops and wife-swapping, and with lines like “Her grey hairs have gone, except beneath her arms, Her teeth are all there, like the grate on a drain” and “She’s got more chins than a Chinese telephone book.” Really!

A string of straight material followed: Somebody Touched Me (gospel), a guitar solo instrumental (who’s title escapes me) from Ray, then the Furies version of When You Were Sweet Sixteen,sung by Ray (guitar) with single-string banjo from Leo. Very delicate.

Then into the finalé. The Boston Boy guitar/banjo duet, played this time at 1.1 times the speed of light, with some very tasty, precise guitar flat-picking. At this point the air pressure must have increased - only slightly slower came Uncle Penn, in which they had the audience clapping the rhythm. Then we entered a vacuum for Sally Goodin’. My - were we all breathless! I’ve used 596 words so far - it would take as many again to describe their final offering - Duelling Banjos! Crazy and cracking!!

How to top that? Well, the encore was The Orange Blossom Special played by Leo on fiddle with guitar acc. OBS is a train song with track and bell noise obligatos. The fiddle usually does the bell by ‘pulling off’ on the strings, and Leo did. But he needed more - Jean Brandon was provided with a hand-bell which she was to ring at certain times that Ray would indicate. Needless to say Ray’s signals were very hard to interpret and Jean ended up dropping clangers (pun intended!) Then they decided to make the encore a two-number affair and sang Dave Frets’ special request, Amelia Erhart, with guitar and mandolin accompaniment.

A cracking performance, enjoyed by everyone. And only £2 ($3.25) a head, buffet included. There were visitors from clubs up to 35 miles away. But why only 43 people?
Want Bluegrass? Must support.  Play Bluegrass? Must travel.

Well done all concerned!

PS: "C" = the speed of light....

Derek Brandon, Chester
Fotos: Copyright © D.Brandon May be used if permission requested

Updated 23rd Jan 1999