He’s been thrilling music-lovers with his brilliance for years. Now aged in his nineties, this York musician is finding a whole new audience – on YouTube.
Retired pianist Richard Cameron, 91, lives in Strensall with his daughter Kim. During his career he played all over York as well as in London.
Previously a keen gig-goer, due to health issues he now spends a lot of time at home – but still plays his beloved piano every day.
Richard recently recorded a series of videos with York pianist Karl Mullen, which have been getting lots of hits on YouTube.
“The quality of his playing is incredible given the circumstances,” said Karl. “As is the sheer joie de vivre that shines through.”
YorkMix sat down with Richard to chat more about the life he’s led and his enduring love for creating.
Vocal talent
Richard was born on Davygate and has lived in York his whole life. He’s lived in Strensall for the past 12 years.
Growing up, his house was very musical – his mother, who was a singer herself, “pushed me in a way, not much.”
Though singing was his first passion, he also self-taught himself on the piano, and his musical adaptability has stayed with him throughout his life. Richard still plays every day.
“I do about a quarter of an hour a day – just messing about,” he said. “That’s all I see my ‘so-called’ talent as, messing about.
“I do have this need to play every so often, but it’s nothing like it used to be for singing – that was like a drug.”
His love for singing – and his amazing vocal talent – led him to be discovered when he was a young man, and he went to London to make some recordings there. In the capital, Richard worked with famous York composer John Barry’s father, Jack Prendergast.
“Jack parked his big chocolate Rolls Royce outside the studio, and he was paying £5 an hour, which back in the Sixties was a lot,” said Richard. But he soon found that the showbiz lifestyle wasn’t for him.
“It was one mad rush – it didn’t really give me time to settle or anything, just rushing into the studio doing your thing and rushing out again. It just wasn’t me.
“I realised what you’re seeing on stage and what goes on in the background is totally different.
“I realised I didn’t want that kind of life where I would have to stand up on stages and sing from memory, I realised I just couldn’t. I was in a good job at the glass works, so I turned it down.”
Form of escape
Richard worked at the glass works in York for 25 years, before beginning to play in hotels around the city. “The reason I started playing in hotels was desperation,” said Richard, who was in a “terrible” marriage at the time.
“I wanted to get out so I walked for miles and miles in York until I got a job. I’d more or less given it up, when a friend of mine said ‘Have you tried the Churchill hotel on Bootham?'”
Richard hadn’t, so he went along and demonstrated his skills on the piano before being asked to play there. “But I didn’t get paid,” he said. “I wanted to learn the trade.”
He was there for about a year, before moving on to what was then the Viking Hotel on North Street where he played for six years. Richard also played at the Mount Royale Hotel in York for many years, as well as the “odd gigs in London in all the posh hotels – the money there is absolutely amazing, they just throw it at you.
“The funny thing is, when you play for yourself, it’s pleasure. When you play for somebody else, it’s pleasure but a bit strenuous. When you’re being paid, that’s a totally different ballgame – you’ve got to be good.”
It was at the Viking Hotel, now the Park Inn by Radisson, that Richard met Karl for the first time. Karl was working as a chef at the hotel, and he “popped through every now and again to listen to me play and he seemed quite fascinated.
“He couldn’t play at all at that time, but he’s really good now. He’s very, very hardworking and he deserves everything,” said Richard.
From there blossomed a friendship that has spanned three decades and is still going strong today.
Remember 1,000 pieces
It was Karl’s idea to make some recordings of Richard’s playing. “He had asked me a few times if I would go and do some stuff for Facebook,” explained Richard. “It’s all his doing, I’m not one for pushing at all. I don’t have much confidence in my own abilities.”
Richard can “remember about 1,000 pieces on the piano” and spent nearly three hours with Karl recording around 24 videos.
“That’s very rare because normally I can go for maybe 20 minutes and then I’m totally exhausted,” he said.
“I was a little bit shocked. I’ve been analysing some of the videos that I did and I was on really good form. I surprised myself, and with how long I was able to do it.”
The keyboard he was playing on “inspired me because it was so light. I’ve still got the strength in my hands but not in my arms, so I’ve adapted my playing to pure finger-work.
“I’d swear my fingers have a memory of their own.”
When Karl started posting the recordings to his YouTube page and the views started to climb up, Richard was “gobsmacked” by the reaction to the videos. “I didn’t expect it at all.”
Richard has spent his life “rooted in classical music. All my best friends are musicians, because there’s a different crowd. I just feel at home with musicians.”
Let’s hope there are many more opportunities to hear some of Richard’s beautiful piano playing to come – and you can watch more videos of it at Karl’s YouTube channel.
