LONG GONE LONESOME BLUES - THE THOMAS FRASER STORY (Page 4)
Given his circumstances and environment, Thomas achieved an unbelievable sound. He must have worked really hard to achieve the perfect microphone balance between vocal and guitar. It occurred to me that a great deal of time, money and care had gone in to his recordings. As his friend Eddie Williamson recently pointed out to me, recording was simply Thomas's hobby and he spent a great deal of time and money buying and using the best possible equipment.
Life in the Fraser household was a normal routine of hard work at the fishing, and crofting. No doubt, doing well at the fishing reflected in his often elaborate purchases - one of the first TVs in Burra and in 1960, his first 'proper' guitar: a brand new Levin 'Goliath'. The guitar cost £60 - a massive spend for the day. Another musical friend, Davie Manson, comments on how the purchase reflected Thomas's passion for the guitar above all else. The Levin still survives and still plays and sounds beautifully. Most significant however, was Thomas's (and Burra's) first reel-to-reel tape recorder. Since home recording was then at the cutting-edge of technology, great interest surrounded the machine's arrival. Immediately, Thomas set about recording himself playing and singing. He would learn and record versions of his favourite artists who now included Stephane Grappelli, Big Bill Broonzy, The Inkspots, Hank Williams and Django Reinhardt.
Initially, recording was not done for posterity, rather the sheer novelty of hearing one's self on tape. Soon, Thomas received requests for recordings and people would send Thomas a song complete with a message asking him to record his own version. As the years went on, Thomas recorded thousands of songs. Today, we have around 600 of these. Unfortunately, many have withered with age or are incomplete for Thomas was a perfectionist and would often record then re-record in a quest for the best 'take'. It is clear that without Phyllis, Thomas' tapes may never have survived him. Phyllis would buy tape, mark the boxes, store them and also operate the reel to reel recorder for Thomas ensuring clean starts and stops. They could never have envisaged the release of Thomas' work commercially and indeed, would probably have squirmed at the thought! Who knows what Thomas might have been capable of in a professional recording environment or with access to the kind of technology available to musicians today. Even in the '60s he was experimenting with recording techniques. Bobby Fraser recollects late nights experimenting with new recording techniques such as multi-tracking. Bobby fondly recalls entire nights spent recording with the two enthusiasts only stopping when Phyllis rose to go out and maet da sheep!
Thomas was never far away from music and he constantly practised be it at home or aboard his lobster boat. Many people recollect hearing Thomas yodelling in the Voe off Setter on clear, calm nights.