Getting Upstairs Blue Eyed Stranger - Music

Getting Upstairs Blue Eyed Stranger by William Kimber

William Kimber

Artist Biography For William Kimber

William "Merry" Kimber 8 September 1872 – 26 December 1961 Was An English Concertina Player And Morris Dancer Who Played A Key Role In The Twentieth Century Revival Of Morris Dancing The Traditional English Folk Dancing. A Bricklayer By Trade He Was Famous Both For His Concertina Playing And For His Fine Upright Dancing Such That In His Day He Was Presented In The Highest Circles Of Society. Kimber Was Born At Headington Quarry Oxford And Had Various Jobs Including Bird-Scarer And Bricklayer. However Kimber Also Played The Concertina For His Local Morris Dancers The Headington Quarry Morris Men And He Was The Musician When They Were Encountered By Cecil Sharp In 1899. Sharp Who Was To Be In The Forefront Of The Revival Of English Folk Music And Dancing Noted Down His First Morris Tunes From Kimber's Playing. Subsequently Kimber Acted As Sharp's Informant On The Headington Quarry Morris Tradition And As His Assistant At Lectures - Sharp Would Lecture On Them While Kimber Demonstrated The Dances And Played The Concertina. Kimber's Fame Grew And He Danced At The Royal Albert Hall The Mansion House And In Front Of King Edward VII And Queen Alexandra At Chelsea Hospital. Kimber's Anglo Concertina Playing - Making Use Of The Left-Hand To Add Simple But Effective Chordal And Rhythmic Accompaniments - Showed Great Vitality And Lightness Of Touch. The Recordings Made Of Kimber Many Of Which Are Now Available On CD Are Among The Very Few Recordings That Exist Of English Traditional Concertina Players And Have Been Very Influential On Later Twentieth Century Exponents Of The Instrument.