End of the road for tenor’s Sir Harry Lauder show

Sir Harry Lauder was Scotland’s first global superstar.

The first British artist to sell a million cylinder records and a further million newly-invented flat discs.

Plans to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth in Portobello were derailed in 2020 by the pandemic but tenor Jamie MacDougall will mark his idol’s 155th birthday with performances in the town hall this week.

The show Lauder was created with Scottish Opera in 2017, adapted from a script by comedian and actor Jimmy Logan, who was responsible for sparking Jamie’s interest in the performer.

“I was ten years of age at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow when I saw Jimmy Logan perform this very play,” he recalls.

“I was taken twice that week. My grandpa knew all the songs and at the end of the week, a record had been bought for me and I began learning them.”

Sir Harry premiered his classic song I Love A Lassie onstage at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, when he appeared in his first pantomime, Aladdin.

It’s easy to dismiss his couthy characters, which fell out of fashion after the demise of music hall, but they were hugely popular and Lauder was a shrewd businessman who knew how to manage his successful career.

“He toured America 22 times and did six world tours,” Jamie says.

“This is before there were planes. He was an incredible artist with a huge global appeal.”

Other stars of the time wanted to be seen with him.

He posed with Charlie Chaplin, swapping hats and canes for a photo in 1918.

But that year also brought heartbreak, with the death of his only son John at the battle of Pozières while serving with the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Lauder threw himself into fundraising, raising a million pounds for returning servicemen as well as writing another of his most famous songs – Keep Right On To The End of the Road.

Jamie continues with that cause today, as an ambassador of Erskine Veterans Charity, which will receive all of the proceeds from the Portobello concerts.

Jimmy Logan has his own connection to the charity since his father was one of the first recipients of an artificial limb at Erskine.

And part of the reason Jamie wants Lauder to be remembered is because the royalties from his songs continue to go to the homes.

“It’s important for everybody to remember who Harry Lauder was. I hope by singing the songs, keeping the songs going, they will find a new audience,” he says.

“I’m very keen for young people to get to sing these songs.”

For Jamie, it’s time to hang up his lowland bonnet and concentrate on other things.

“It’s been this constant presence in my career that’s taken me all around the world,” he says.

“I really had to be here this year because I think this is my last hurrah for Harry. It’s been fun and this is a great way to bow out.”

He hopes another young performer will be as inspired as he was by Scotland’s first global star.

“It would be wonderful if somebody came up with an idea to make a film and there was a young actor out there who could play that incredible life. What a feel-good movie that would be.”

Lauder is at Portobello Town Hall on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 August at 7pm.