Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang was a British comedy musical group, formed in 1946 by Morton Fraser (born Emmanuel Fish; 3 November 1905–10 June 1982).

History

Fraser was born Emmanuel Fish in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, to a naturalised immigrant family of Polish Jews originally named Fisz. In the 1920s, he won an All-American

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

competition in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and became a renowned solo harmonica player, touring theatres around the world.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.24 In the late 1930s he intended to form a harmonica group along the lines of

Borrah Minevitch Borrah Minevitch (sometimes spelled Minnevitch; 5 November 1902, Borovin, Minsk, Russian Empire – 26 June 1955, Paris, France), born Boruch Minewitz, was a notable harmonica player, actor, and leader of his group The Harmonica Rascals. The ...

's Harmonica Rascals, but with the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and became a participant in ''

Stars in Battledress Stars in Battledress (SiB) was an organisation of entertainers who were members of the British Armed Forces during World War II. History In Britain, during the Second World War, entertainment was considered an essential to keep morale high. I ...

'' shows as a harmonica soloist.Art M. Daane, "Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang", ''ArtDaane.org'', March 1999
Retrieved 4 December 2020 After the end of the war he formed his troupe of harmonica players in 1946. They starred in the 1947 film ''Morton Fraser and his Harmonica Rascals'', later changing "Rascals" to "Gang" to avoid confusion with Minevitch's group. They rapidly became a popular

variety act Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

in Britain, playing at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

on many occasions, and featured in television shows through the 1950s and 1960s. They also recorded for

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. The personnel of the group changed over time. In 1950, Fraser himself stopped performing, becoming the group's arranger and manager. The group included, at various times, Stan Key, Henry Samuels, Nat Lees, Dave King, Tony Vincent,

Gordon Mills Gordon William Mills (15 May 1935 – 29 July 1986) was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter. He was born in Madras, British India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. During the 1960s and 1970s ...

, Don Paul, Ronnie Wells, Johnny Stafford, Reg ‘Johnny’ Farrow and "Tiny" Ross. Mills, Paul and Wells left in the late 1950s and formed

The Viscounts The Viscounts may refer to: *The Viscounts (American band) *The Viscounts (British band) See also *Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. ...

; Mills later became a songwriter and the manager of Tom Jones, among others. Dave King became a successful solo comedian, singer and actor; and Stafford became a popular solo singer and entertainer in the 1960s and 1970s. "Tiny" Ross (born Walter John Ross Skudder, 1910–1994) had

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

and was often the focus of the group's comedic antics; he later featured prominently as an actor in the 1981 film ''

Time Bandits ''Time Bandits'' is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and ...

''. The suggestion in some sources, that gangster Royston Smith was the dwarf member of the group in the 1950s, is not supported elsewhere. Fraser died in 1982, in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, aged 76. Morton Fraser, ''BFI''
Retrieved 4 December 2020 The group continued for some time thereafter, under the leadership of Tony Vincent, until changing tastes and lack of venues led them to disband.

References

External links

Forum discussionMorton Fraser's Harmonica Gang (1947)
at

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...

Harmonica players Musical groups established in 1946 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-band-stub