1. George Scott-Wood was a British pianist, accordionist, arranger and bandleader.
11 Facts About George Scott-Wood
1. 2.
George Scott-Wood gave public performances in his mid-teens, and won awards at classical music festivals in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
3.
George Scott-Wood then joined Jay Whidden's band as a pianist and arranger.
4.
George Scott-Wood reportedly made more recordings than any other musician during the 1930s, sometimes anonymously or under a pseudonym, and in many cases arranging and leading orchestras behind such stars as Richard Tauber, Al Bowlly, Harry Lauder, Beatrice Lillie, Gracie Fields and Ivor Novello.
5.
George Scott-Wood recorded with the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra after its leader, Ray Noble, left for the US in 1934, and established his own small jazz group, the Six Swingers, including the drummer Max Abrams.
6.
George Scott-Wood established himself as a leading exponent of the piano accordion.
7.
George Scott-Wood is credited with introducing the instrument to Britain, and in 1930 published the first comprehensive accordion tutorial book.
8.
George Scott-Wood regularly played the accordion to accompany tango dances, and in 1934 became musical director of the London Accordion Band before forming his own Accordion Band later in the decade.
9.
Between 1943 and 1947 George Scott-Wood performed mainly as a solo pianist, touring widely in Britain and visiting a wide range of military camps, theatres and factories during the Second World War and afterwards.
10.
George Scott-Wood re-formed the Six Swingers in 1950, but the group could not match its former success, and he failed to persuade the Light Entertainment Department of the BBC either that he should adopt a fashionably Italian name, or set up a 23-piece theatre band based around his accordion band.
11.
George Scott-Wood died in Eastbourne in 1978, at the age of 75.