Jimmie Macgregor

{{short description|Scottish folksinger and broadcaster (born 1930)}}

{{for|the Hong Kong official|Jimmy McGregor}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}

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| name = Jimmie Macgregor

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1930|3|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

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Jimmie Macgregor {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall.[http://projects.scottishcultureonline.com/hall-of-fame/robin-hall-and-jimmie-macgregor-mbe/ "Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor MBE"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211024149/http://projects.scottishcultureonline.com/hall-of-fame/robin-hall-and-jimmie-macgregor-mbe/ |date=11 December 2013 }}, Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

Biography

Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland,{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2002|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-937-0|pages=182/3}} and grew up in a tenement and then a council house, about which he has said: "Our house was a focus for people to gather and make music.... I had aunties and cousins who were chorus girls."[http://www.heraldscotland.com/life-style/real-lives/he-s-set-to-celebrate-his-80th-birthday-but-jimmie-macgregor-is-far-from-over-the-hill-1.1011928 Tom Shields, "He’s set to celebrate his 80th birthday but Jimmie Macgregor is far from over the hill"], The Herald, 8 March 2010. After doing his national service, he studied at Glasgow School of Art, graduating in the mid-1950s and becoming a potter and teacher.

=Partnership with Hall=

In 1960, he formed a musical partnership with Robin Hall that would last 20 years.[http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/folk-legend-jimmie-macgregor-im-1077148 Craig McQueen, "Folk legend Jimmie Macgregor: I'm still going strong at 80 with no plans to retire"], Daily Record, 29 November 2010. They appeared extensively on BBC Television – both on the Tonight programme and on the White Heather Club.{{cite web|last=Guida |first=Nick |title=Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor |url=http://www.theballadeersscotland.com/HM_01.htm |accessdate=2007-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119161143/http://www.theballadeersscotland.com/HM_01.htm |archivedate=19 November 2008 }} Both also played as part of The Galliards with Leon Rosselson and Shirley Bland.

Hall and Macgregor recorded over 20 albums during their partnership, which ended in 1981.{{cite web|title =Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor| url=http://www.footstompin.com/artists/robin_hall_jimmie_macgregor|website=Footstompin.com|access-date = 2007-09-19}} One of their most successful singles was the anthem "Football Crazy", released in 1960 on Decca Records.

=Television and radio work=

Macgregor went on to make television programmes for BBC Scotland, many on long-distance walking, including In the Footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie, On The West Highland Way, and Macgregor Across Scotland. He also made Macgregor's Gathering, a long-running show for Radio Scotland. He has been involved in various conservation organisations, among them the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland,{{cite web|title=APRS |url=http://www.ruralscotland.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030312015037/http://www.ruralscotland.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2003-03-12 |access-date=2007-09-19 }} and was awarded the MBE in 1994 for services to Scottish heritage and culture.[https://www.shetlandfolkfestival.com/jimmie-macgregor Jimmie Macgregor biography], Shetland Folk Festival.

References

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