Glasgow man tells of saving his Frank Sinatra records after tenement collapse

Something looked different – but he could not quite put his finger on it.

“I had walked up Abercromby Street, reaching Tureen Street which ended at the Gallowgate not far from our close,” explains David, who lived in the flat with his parents, two younger sisters and young brother.

“Halfway up the street I could see the back of our tenement, but it looked odd. Then I realised I could see INSIDE the building – the furniture, different wallpapers. The back wall of our close had ­collapsed...”

David McJimpsey with his wife Pam in 1969. STY.Pic family/ Herald & Times.23/4/21..

Terrified, David ran the rest of the way home.

“As I turned the corner I expected to see a chaotic scene with ambulances and people being brought out of the building injured, or worse,” he recalls.

“Instead, it was very calm, with just a small crowd and a few policemen. No-one had been injured, and luckily, children who might have been playing in the back court had all been indoors having dinner.”

David McJimpsey with his wife Pam in his Gallowgate tenement flat in 1969. STY.Pic family/ Herald & Times.23/4/21..

He adds, smiling: “Later, I discovered our neighbour had been washing himself at the sink and it had just suddenly disappeared.”

For David, faced with having to move out of his ruined home with just a few possessions, the biggest concern was saving something very close to his heart.

“It was decided we would stay with various relative and I was to move in with my girlfriend Pam and her family,” he explains.

“I’d been going with Pam since the start of the year – we had known each other for five years or so – and I was sure they’d have me.

“We were allowed back into the building to collect some personal belongings so I ran up the close, threw a few clothes into a suitcase and picked up my eight Frank Sinatra LPs.”

David McJimpsey's Sinatra collection some of which were saved from his Gallowgate tenement flat. STY.Pic Gordon Terris/ Herald & Times.23/4/21..

David laughs: “I had a large collection of 60s pop music but once I discovered Frank, I started collecting his music and I had quite a few rare records of his. It became a standing joke in the family that in the middle of all that drama that evening, my only concern was to save my Sinatra LPs.

A few weeks later, David and his family were rehoused on Royston Road in the north of the city, and the following year, he and Pam got engaged on holiday in Dublin.

“We were married in March 1971, went to London for a week’s honeymoon and ended up staying a year.”

David McJimpsey with his wife Pam and his Sinatra collection. STY.Pic family/ Herald & Times.23/4/21..

Back in Glasgow, the couple moved into a two-room flat in the East End, opposite Alexandra Park, and after the birth of their two daughters, the family moved to Cumbernauld.

“After 37 years in Cumbernauld we moved to Falkirk to be nearer to our three grandchildren,” says David.

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“Over the years, my Sinatra collection has grown somewhat but I still have those eight LPs I saved that summer evening in 1970.

“For the last 50 years, Pam has had to listen to Frank, although she says she still prefers Engelbert Humperdinck.”

David McJimpsey's rare early Sinatra recordings. STY.Pic family/ Herald & Times.23/4/21..

He laughs: “There’s no accounting for taste...”