Tunnel Through - Handley's Oldtimers
A photograph of the band from the late 1940s is available here.
This is an excerpt from the full audio file, available here.
Piano - Melody Handley
Accordion - Roger Handley
Banjo - Lloyd Handley
Bass Guitar - Richard Handley
Fiddle - Les Handley
We think the caller is Jerry Harmon. The first part of the dance is like the fifth figure of the Lancers, with side couples falling in behind Couple 1 and then couples chassez to the right and back. This dance adds the tunnel through figure of the title.
The album was made available on the YouTube channel of the Saskatchewan Music Project. Viewers might also be interested in the band's recording of the Butterfly, a dance common to the Canadian prairie states; that dance alternates a bouncy waltz with a lively jig and is a common couple dance included in traditional square dance programs in that region.
The Saskatchewan site also includes recordings of other groups who played for square dances such as the Grand Coulee Old Tyme Jug Band.
Liner notes: Back as early as the ‘dirty thirties’ the Handley Brothers ‘Les and Lloyd’ got their first start at entertaining at school parties and dances under the supervision of a kind hearted and musically interested elevator agent by the name of Len Morrow who helped them get started. Many times they played for free or what could be collected by passing the hat. The constant encouragement of their parents Mr & Mrs Roy Handley, who were early settlers in the Turin area, kept them playing for parties and dances specializing in old time tunes which they learned from other older fiddle players and musicians. As many of the old time dances are without music and the rhythm of these dances is very important they became well known in Southern Alberta as a good time orchestra with a good old time swing and a definite beat you just couldn’t get out of step to.
Public demand for the Handley’s Orchestra to get back together again and bring back he old tunes in the same old time swing as they remember them to be played in, brought about this souvenir album.
Band information from the Galt Museum and Archives website:
Lester Samuel and Lloyd Handley were the sons of Roy Ingram and Lena Mae Handley [nee Koenen]. The family farmed in the Turin district, and the boys were educated in the Turin School. In 1930 they began to play at dances held in the Turin School. The original band members were Lester (fiddle), Lloyd (banjo) and their cousin Irene Matthews (piano). In the early 1930s the band was hired to play at an Iron Springs Hall Company dance. Irene Matthews left the group about this time, but Gilbert Haynes (piano), Bill Mehlen (guitar) and Bob Green (violin) joined the band. The new group was named The Homesteader Five.
The Homesteader Five, renamed Handley’s Oldtimers by 1949, became popular performers in the 1940s and 1950s as old time dance clubs were formed throughout southern Alberta. The band played music for the two-step, polka, square dance, waltz and other dances. In the 1940s Corne Martens (drums) joined the group, as did Reg Romaniuk (accordion) and Barb Renfrow (keyboard). In the 1950s Jerry Hammond (guitar and square dance caller) rounded out the band.
Among the band’s accomplishments, Handley’s Oldtimers played the annual ball of the Pioneers Pemmican Club for over 30 years. In later years family members played with the band, including Lester’s children Melody (piano) and Roger (accordion), and daughter-in-law Catherine (drums). Other musicians who played with the band in more recent years included Norman Grover (drums), John Wiebe (guitar), Stan Keeling (piano) and Ken Krogman (violin).
Tags: Alberta, Handley's Oldtimers, Tunnel Through
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This is an excerpt from the full audio file, available here.
Piano - Melody Handley
Accordion - Roger Handley
Banjo - Lloyd Handley
Bass Guitar - Richard Handley
Fiddle - Les Handley
We think the caller is Jerry Harmon. The first part of the dance is like the fifth figure of the Lancers, with side couples falling in behind Couple 1 and then couples chassez to the right and back. This dance adds the tunnel through figure of the title.
The album was made available on the YouTube channel of the Saskatchewan Music Project. Viewers might also be interested in the band's recording of the Butterfly, a dance common to the Canadian prairie states; that dance alternates a bouncy waltz with a lively jig and is a common couple dance included in traditional square dance programs in that region.
The Saskatchewan site also includes recordings of other groups who played for square dances such as the Grand Coulee Old Tyme Jug Band.
Liner notes: Back as early as the ‘dirty thirties’ the Handley Brothers ‘Les and Lloyd’ got their first start at entertaining at school parties and dances under the supervision of a kind hearted and musically interested elevator agent by the name of Len Morrow who helped them get started. Many times they played for free or what could be collected by passing the hat. The constant encouragement of their parents Mr & Mrs Roy Handley, who were early settlers in the Turin area, kept them playing for parties and dances specializing in old time tunes which they learned from other older fiddle players and musicians. As many of the old time dances are without music and the rhythm of these dances is very important they became well known in Southern Alberta as a good time orchestra with a good old time swing and a definite beat you just couldn’t get out of step to.
Public demand for the Handley’s Orchestra to get back together again and bring back he old tunes in the same old time swing as they remember them to be played in, brought about this souvenir album.
Band information from the Galt Museum and Archives website:
Lester Samuel and Lloyd Handley were the sons of Roy Ingram and Lena Mae Handley [nee Koenen]. The family farmed in the Turin district, and the boys were educated in the Turin School. In 1930 they began to play at dances held in the Turin School. The original band members were Lester (fiddle), Lloyd (banjo) and their cousin Irene Matthews (piano). In the early 1930s the band was hired to play at an Iron Springs Hall Company dance. Irene Matthews left the group about this time, but Gilbert Haynes (piano), Bill Mehlen (guitar) and Bob Green (violin) joined the band. The new group was named The Homesteader Five.
The Homesteader Five, renamed Handley’s Oldtimers by 1949, became popular performers in the 1940s and 1950s as old time dance clubs were formed throughout southern Alberta. The band played music for the two-step, polka, square dance, waltz and other dances. In the 1940s Corne Martens (drums) joined the group, as did Reg Romaniuk (accordion) and Barb Renfrow (keyboard). In the 1950s Jerry Hammond (guitar and square dance caller) rounded out the band.
Among the band’s accomplishments, Handley’s Oldtimers played the annual ball of the Pioneers Pemmican Club for over 30 years. In later years family members played with the band, including Lester’s children Melody (piano) and Roger (accordion), and daughter-in-law Catherine (drums). Other musicians who played with the band in more recent years included Norman Grover (drums), John Wiebe (guitar), Stan Keeling (piano) and Ken Krogman (violin).