Larry Lai, Tan Swee Leong, Jimmy Chan: Mary Ho Hosts

Jimmy Chan Piano Solo 

'Tian Mi Mi' [甜蜜蜜], 'Dayong Sampan' [in Malay]

YouTube Video by Jenny Vegan Ahimsa.

From left: Mary, Jimmy, Swee Leong, Sandie, 

Dennis, R, Larry, Andy, Edmon, Selina

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Singapore rock guitarist Grandma Mary of You Tube fame (3 million plus hits) organised a party. Former Rediffusion DJ's Tan Swee Leong, Larry Lai, pianist extraordinaire Jimmy Chan and yours sincerely came with wives and friends Selina, Sandie, R., John, Edmon and Dennis.  There were some other guests invited by Mary. The spread then; Mary, mee-siam, music and merry mayhem throughout the evening. 

There was a lot of food and drinks for all as we tasted the famous mee siam cooked by Swee Leong. His dish was the hightlight of the evening. It was delicious and a period of slurping time with the usual clinking of wine glasses. Mary was generous with her supply of catered, quality dishes on the table.

Since the guests were entertainers, the night was filled with songs as Jimmy accompanied them. A, You're Adorable, Walking My Baby Back Home, April Love, C'est Si Bon and piano instrumentals were played with selections from pop musicals like Evita, The Eddie Duchin Story and others. 

As usual, Swee Leong was the life of the party with his special rendition of Perry Como's 1949 hit, A, You're Adorable. Larry too, after much much persuasion, contributed a song. The highlight was Jimmy's version of, To Love Again, the theme melody from the movie, The Eddie Duchin Story, based on Chopin's E Flat Nocturne. Pity Grandma Mary did not chip in with her solid guitar solos or else we could have enjoyed some Santana music.

Other melodies from both the 50's and 60's flowed throughout the evening and filled the night as Jimmy's dexterous fingers danced and skated on the ivories. The night ended too early but it was already one o'clock when we went home to hit the sack. Thank you gracious Mary for the occasion.

Images: Mary Ho Collection.

Change This Blog To An Internet Shopping Centre?

Maybe I should convert this blog into an internet shop like e-Bay or Amazon.com and start selling the products that I write about. Won't it be a great idea? Imagine the amount of money I can make with just a 10% cut. These letters below are just a few of the mail I have received where surfers and friends have requested to buy CDs, vinyls (records) and books. Here are some of the letters:

1) Just spent 60 Euros on a boring research book recently. This one sounds interesting. Any chance you could fly me a copy Andy? Will do an internet transfer from UOB. :)

2) I am Santhosh from India. I would be extremely grateful to you if you could help me get the MP3 of the following songs of Ervinna. I had a cassette which had 22 English songs of Ervinna, which got destroyed. I have managed to find 13 out of that 22 - but could not get the following 9 songs. I am ready to pay.

3) This musta be the Dinoref that you have mentioned to me... gonna have to see if I can gets my hands on one of Michael Goh's albums of Dinodevotion...

4) Wow, the book by Yusnor Ef is a major discovery for me. I have many songs from that era, now I need that book to accompany them. Please provide some info on where to buy it. Many thanks!

5) "Mary Ho Any chance you have a Red Fender Stratocaster in your collection? ; ) Also, you mind sending me an autograph version of your CD? I will do a $fund$ transfer from here if you don't mind.

6) Do you know of any other copies of the EP (The Diamond Four) that are in existence?

7) Mary Ho commented on a post you were tagged in."I don't have a red one at the moment but would love to own one if I can find it.:) I'm in London now, saw one at Harrod's yesterday but it's a three quarter size... I didn't buy it. Glad you mentioned my CD, will autograph it and send you a complimentary copy. Please let me know where I can send it to.:)"

No I'd rather leave it as a blog and make my usual comments about Singapore 60s music. So please keep on writing because this coming November the blog will be 3 years old. And I am not trying to promote it. Just having fun. And I probably won't earn 2 cents from it.

What do you readers think?

Images: from Google.

Original article: Andy Lim.

Mary Ho: Grandma Diva Rocks And Plays Santana

Mary with Carlos Santana.

She is one of the most celebrated grandmothers in Singapore so when I wrote to her asking how she manages to play the solid guitar at such a tender age she wrote this personal note. With her permission, here is glamorous Mary Ho (75), guitar hobbyist and grandmother of seven:

Hi Andy,

I love the sound of the guitar and started to play at 60+. I stayed home most of the time because I didn't like to leave my then very young grandchildren alone with the domestic helper. I strummed and sang to entertain myself. Nobody in particular encouraged me, just my passion which fueled my love to play on, again and again. To me it is a lifetime of enjoyment.

I bought a book for beginners and started to strum and sing at home and also checked with the CDs available for the melody. After a few years of strumming I started to go solo and play lead guitar. I couldn't find an instructor to teach me to play Samba Pati then and it was difficult for me without a music background. I couldn't read notes and tabs but I have a fairly good ear . Then one of my friends introduced me to Spencer.

He was reluctant to teach me at first but somehow I felt very strongly that I could play the melody. Then after a month or so, he was convinced that I could. It was all hard work after that... lots of practice for many hours every day till my fingers bled and had to be bandaged.


Guitar practice at home.

I usually play the acoustic guitar to strum and the electric guitar for lead. After a few years, I went on to learn to play the organ up to Step 7, i.e. to read notes and tabs. After that, I proceeded to learn the drums for a couple of months. I gave up because my grandson also wanted to play the drums and my drum teacher had only one slot left. So I gave up my lesson slot for my grandson.

I can also play the harmonica. I have so many hobbies and interests like mahjong, dancing, acting and traveling. Because of my love for these activities, I'm always very busy. Right now I can play only a few songs. I used to play and sing a lot of my favourite songs.I can't really remember all of them as I've explained earlier, I have other interests that I rotate around my schedule.

One thing about instruments, if you dont play and practise regularly, you cannot perform. There's no short cut. I've been singing since young... there were so many popular songs in the old days. My family loves music. My dad played beautiful violin, my mum loved singing Chinese operas, my children play classical piano and my grand children play guitar, piano, violin and the drums. They also love dancing, but we are all not professionals - we do all these just for fun, as a hobby.

Mary with piano man Jimmy Chan, Larry n Swee Leong.

I didn't form a band as I'm not a professional and not a full time musician. However, I do have professional musician friends who can jam with me when I ask them. They're really good and can guide me all the way. Depending on the songs I play, I usually jam with a drummer, bass guitarist, keyboardist, and sometimes rhythm guitarist altogether.

We usually jam at my place or in a studio for 2 hours. We're not always together as my musician friends are working. They are very obliging and will make time for me. I have four videos on youtube and have hundreds of friends and fans. They also send me their videos and because of that, I know now about Eric Clapton, BB King and many other legendary performers. Before that I only knew of Santana...LOL!!

Here are some of my favourite guitarists, just to name a few : Carlos Santana, BB King, Peter Green and Gary Moore. When Gary Moore passed away, I cried because I love his music so much. My passion for music has motivated me to record some of my favourite songs. Please visit my website to listen to them. Now, with modern equipments and high-tech facilities, the music sounds so much better.

Performing in a nightclub.

I wish to name a few songs that I love: Blue moon, I cant begin to tell you, Inamorata, Its a sin to tell a lie, If I give my heart to you, Sway, Five minutes more, With a song in my heart. Sleepy lagoon, Stardust, Only you, The great pretender, Spanish eyes, Crazy.

Also, I walk alone, I'm in the mood for love, Mack the knife, Love letters in the sand, He'll have to go, Silver threads and golden needles, I wonder who's kissing her now, Changing partners, Cest si bon. Sentimental journey. 

My collection of guitars stands at ten.

Regards,
Mary.

http://www.grandmamaryrocks.com/

(The above letter has been edited and Mary Ho has agreed to its content.)