Happy Hours polka

A tune from the great Northumbrian piper Billy Pigg, the original recording may be heard here: https://app.box.com/s/i1v78rx3i00csmtpzem7 Billy picked it up from Jimmy Shand whose band even had a record “Happy Hours with Jimmy Shand and his Band,” Jimmy in turn obtained it from its composer, mussette accordionist Emily Vacher. I don’t have recordings of either of these source artists playing the tune but this fellow’s rendition sounds much the same as what Billy played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IErAF2-oq0o Incidentally Vacher played a push-pull button box, with 3 rows tuned B/C/D and piano accordion type bass; Jimmy’s weapon of choice was the same expect B/C/C#, the Hohner “Shand Morino,” and no doubt he knew about this Parisian type of accordion, which was supplanted by the Continental Button Accordion which isn’t push-pull.

play video

I’m not really sure if I barred this correctly and am giving up, feel free to give me pointers about how it should be correctly set down, I tried making the Bc^cd etc the 1st notes of the bars and it just gummed up the works, as it is you have an extra beat in the last bar of the 3rd part, ugh. Maybe this is deliberate? I don’t know much of anything about French music but extra beats and bars are part and parcel of French Canadian music so perhaps this stuff is meant to have a bar of 5/8 or something at the end, or a fermata, or…anyway, Happy Hours everyone. ;)

Not Emily, Kevin, but Emile Adolphe Vacher. He had a following in the UK and recorded some tracks it would seem for the British market in 1928, e.g. Irish Washerwoman, Miss MacLeod Reel, High Level Hornpipe, Paddy O’Rafferty. He was admired by Scottish melodeon players and some of his compositions were played and recorded in Scotland, Happy Hours being perhaps the most popular.

Thanks for the info Nigel, actually it’s Émile, I mulled over whether to bother finding the correct accent grave to use but didn’t bother and feminized/Anglicized his name into the bargain too…would be great to hear him have at something from the Islands.

Vacher playing Plaisance Fox: https://app.box.com/s/hkmf1lcuv6mls3ok0q69

Vacher playing “Mrs. Mcleod’s” and the Sailor’s Hornpipe:

https://archive.org/details/emile_vacher_1
https://archive.org/details/emile_vacher_2

X:2 from http://tunearch.org/wiki/Happy_Hours from a book, “Hardcore English.”

Turn out that this isn’t a Vacher tune at all, rather something from the pen of pioneering piano accordionist Guido Diero, the Variety Polka: https://archive.org/details/78_variety-polka-polka-variado_guido-deiro_gbia0006364a