As Dave Whitton born 1950 a real Clydesider and singer with the band am afr… Read Full Bio ↴As Dave Whitton born 1950 a real Clydesider and singer with the band am afraid cannot be neutral but am open to corrections!
This cover shows one of the "original" lineups with - from the left - John Graham /fiddle
Sandy Kelso/guitar - Duncan McCrone /guitar - Dave Whitton/ mandolin.
All the band were vocalists and generally belonged to the West of Scotland around Glasgow.
As far as I know only my dad was a real Clydeside worker at the shipyards.
Apart from Duncan ( in the Robert Burns tradition- was an exciseman til Duncan faced a man at gunpoint) all were teachers.
The main fun was in the singing and arrangement of harmonies for all sorts of trad and contemporary songs some written by Duncan.
Performed regularly on Radio and TV and theatre and clubs all over the country.
Lots of highlights to past. Terry Wogan show and singing with the BBC orchestra and BBC Radio orchestra as a backing band!
LPS recorded at Radio Clyde with Pete Shipton and on stage with such Scottish greats as Jack Milroy
Johnny Beattie, Andy Cameron etc etc etc
A more instrumental slant was introduced when Dave left through illness and was replaced by different instrumentalists.
Oddly enough this sample track shows the cover of the line up with Dave and not the lineup from Crossing the Border - perhaps one wasn't available at the time- I assume it was Chris Stout on fiddle but will be pleasantly surprised if it was John.
Wish we had exposed more of John as such a talented fiddler at the time - apologies John!
Dave's influences were harmonies from Simon and Garfunkel - the Beatles and The Johnsons the Corries and Dave Swarbrick SteeleyeSpan .Also his English teacher who started a folk club at Knightswood sec School where Billy Connolly entertained the senior pupils and made us laugh without an ****ing mention of that word!
Dave formed a duo with a school pupil Denis Mackie sadly deceased and began their efforts at folk singing around all the west of scotland clubs moving in and out of different lineups until Dave met Sandy and John when he moved to Cumbernauld a thriving host town for folk music especially at the Cottage theatre and Labour club. Anyone wanting more I could write a book!
Dave is now working at more tunes on his resophonic mandolin has written his own songs and has one about John Rae included in the Big Orkney Song book:
the scottish superman who really discovered the northwest passage.

The Clydesiders Lyrics