![]() ![]() Remember, JJ is one of only five valve manufacturers in the world. This is because they guarantee you get awesome tone and long life and they don’t cost a fortune. We always recommend JJ valves for Fender Bandmaster amplifier. A brand new set of valves will get your amp sounding like new again. ![]() Bram’s daughters, Pat, Marilyn, Ruth and Pam had their part to play as well and you didn’t have to be in Bram’s company long to know how very proud he was of them.Over time your valves will lose their tone and their power. They had been sweethearts from the age of 14 and Mary as well had a special place in her heart and always a warm meal for the many young bandsmen who came to the Citadel and needed looking after. Shortly following the Sweden tour Bram announced that he was to retire and bring to an end years of quality leadership and example.īram was always supported by Mary his wife. It is perhaps not so widely known that Bram was leader of one of the first Salvation Army Youth employment training schemes – ‘Salvo’ which he led on his retirement from full time work and assisted so many youngsters to learn new skills to help them find effective employment.Ī further overseas tour was arranged to Norway in 1977 and then to Sweden in 1983 and Bram was excellent in making sure that the band was thoroughly prepared for the musical demands of such momentous occasions. Bram’s charisma was always at fullest level on these occasions, charming the audiences as he ‘chaired’ the band’s programmes and of course there was always the call to the ladies of the home corps near the end of the festival ‘to get the kettle on’! BCB was continually proud of Bram’s long associations with the UK’s National and Divisional Music Schools and here his influence and encouragement was shared by many outside of Birmingham Citadel. The band was invited to numerous national events during his tenure as Bandmaster and of course there were countless weekend campaigns, Saturday night festivals as well as visits to local Churches to present musical programmes. One of his sayings was, ‘We welcome you the first Sunday, after that you are in the band as much as anybody else and your contribution is valued and needed.’ This was particularly true of the many students who came into BCB during the 28 years of his leadership and many of them bear testimony to the interest and encouragement that Bram gave them in those early highly influential years of a young Salvationist. For many leaders this would be too much of a test to get an effective consistent musical ensemble together, but Bram relished the challenge, making new people welcome and straight away fully involved in the band. In those days Birmingham was an industrial city with a highly transient workforce which of course affected the band with some members only being in it for a relatively short time before moving on to pastures new. But he never forgot that the band’s real purpose was in its service in the city of Birmingham, at the Citadel and that the same standards of playing and deportment were expected in the open air meeting and Sunday morning meeting as were to be given in the Royal Albert Hall! Bram led the band to their second appearance at the RAH in 1964 and chose to play Erik Leidzen’s ‘None other Name’. For lesser men this would have been too big a task, but Bram more than rose to the challenge and took the band to higher levels of achievement in performing in the nation’s most high profile concert halls, recordings on radio, television and LP’s as well as leading the band on three overseas tours. Langworthy who Bram readily recognised as a legend. He became Bandmaster in 1955 taking over from B.T. There began a love with BCB which was to last all his life. Bram was an inspirational leader, a fine musician and a fantastic encourager who took a real interest in the lives of his bandsmen.īram came to the Citadel from Oldbury at the age of 8 and worked his way through the junior corps, learning to play an instrument and eventually joining the senior band. The name of Bramwell Williams has been synonymous with the Birmingham Citadel Band for well over 70 years. ![]()
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