Discovering the Gift of Music

Holy Trinity Church, on Barking Road, Canning Town

It is not widely known that Reg started his showbiz career as a musician: singing, and playing the piano and the accordion.  At Holy Trinity Church, he sang as a choirboy.

It was while he was recovering in a convalescent home in Seaford, East Sussex — possibly the Surrey Convalescent Home shown above — that he discovered he could play the piano as well as his father. He was about seven years old.

In his autobiography The Little Clown he recalled that very special moment. ‘My father, although he had never had a lesson in his life, was a natural pianist and played beautifully – his chord sequences were a dream,’ he writes. But Reg’s elder brother and sisters had not inherited their father’s talent, and the family piano was usually kept locked.  

At the convalescent home he finds himself in a room with a piano.  ‘No one was around to forbid me, so I wandered over and opened the lid. I stood in front of it, and with my right hand picked out a tune I used to sing at our parties, for the aunts and uncles. It was called “Maggie – Yes Ma!” I then sat on the stool, and within minutes had picked out the right chords with my left hand. From that moment on there was no stopping me.’

At the piano

Back home in Addington Road, and on his own in the house, he found his father’s piano unlocked. ‘What a joy to play on this lovely piano as against the duff one in the home. It was then I realised how much my playing sounded like Dad’s.’ 

Reg’s mother comes home to hear him going through his repertoire. ‘Is that you, Dad?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t answer,’ he recalls, ‘but hearing Mum say that was the biggest thrill of my life, and I couldn’t wait for her to see it was me.’  

Finally, Reg’s amazed and delighted father discovers the pianist’s identity. ‘He just stood staring at me in disbelief; he shook his head very slowly from side to side, then finally accepting that it was me, he flung back his head, and roaring with laughter, shouted back to the kitchen, “Jesus Christ, Mother, I’ve done it at last!”’

From the age of 15, Reg began performing in local clubs.

The ‘Tiger Rag’, a jazz piece first recorded in 1917, was one of his favourite compositions. 

He also played the accordion. His parents were so thrilled with their son's musical talents that they saved up to buy him the instrument as a birthday present. 

You can read more about Reg Varney’s amazing life in Our Little Clown by Michael Downes, obtainable at Fairlynch Museum. See http://fairlynchmuseum.uk/publications.html

The singer Vera Lynn, shown here performing at a munitions factory in 1941, also appeared there.