Last updated: 06 Nov 2009
| November 2009 | 'Celebration' | Peter M | 300 |
| October 2009 | 'Clothes' | Ian | 299 |
| September 2009 | 'Hatched, Matched & Dispatched' | Steve & Maureen | 298 |
| August 2009 | 'Holidays' | Des & Debbie | 297 |
| July 2009 | 'Just Deserts, Rich Rewards' | Ted & Sue | 296 |
| June 2009 | 'Towns & Cities' | Sue | 295 |
| May 2009 | 'The Great Outdoors' | Des & Debbie | 294 |
| April 2009 | 'Jam' | Doug & Janny | 293 |
| March 2009 | 'Sorrow' | Ian | 292 |
| February 2009 | 'Surprise' | Ted & Sue | 291 |
| January 2009 | 'Dance' | Pete B | 290 |
The Folk Club on October 1st was 299 meetings old. Or young, depending on your point of view. The chosen theme was “Clothes”, which might seem a little obscure at first but it’s actually amazing how many songs do contain references to items of clothing. This became apparent from the start and the theme was continued almost faithfully until the very end of the evening.
First up, The Harvesters with one of the more obvious songs “Where Did You Get That Hat?” complete with a selection of apposite headgear. Stuart was next to the front of house with “No Use For Him Any More” and his re-write of “Gipsy Davy”, both with copious references to clothing. Ted and Sue followed with “Sovay, Sovay”, about a girl disguising herself in man’s apparel as a highwayman. “I was A Young Man” told of a man’s disappointment with married life. Peter McD gave us “We’ll Sing Hallelujah”, by Richard Thompson and the popular “Carmarthen Oak”. We then had Summer and Jenny “Washing The Miner’s Clothes”, this time in a Canadian version, and then “Old Horse”. The first round of the evening was concluded by Keith Donnelly with his excellent “I Saw Jesus At The Airport” and his reply to “Blue Suede Shoes”, entitled “You Never Trod On My Shoes”.
A suitably attired Safari Choir, who performed three of the songs they had performed as part of a much larger ensemble during Warwick Folk Festival weekend, opened the second half. Des, one of their number, remained on stage to give us a Thomas Hardy poem “Ruined, Said She” and the superbly funny story of Belinda Brown sorting out the office computer. Maureen and Janny followed with the apt “Gown Of Green” and then ”Two Brothers”, a song about the American Civil War. Ron instructed us in “Regina v Collins” and followed it with the ever-popular “Joan The Leather Queen”. Peter Mason was next with a couple of excellent songs, one about a Jolly Young Farmer with a modern tune, and another that mentioned rain (and clothes, I believe). To close the second round, we welcomed the Somerville Gentlemen’s Band with their rendition of “Weyhill Fair” and the wonderful “Rout Of The Blues” with ample references to soldiers’ uniforms.
The third part of this busy but bountiful evening was opened with Pete Grassby playing a medley of Longsword tunes, which included the appropriately titled “Rachel Do Your Laces Up!”. He followed that with the song “Barrack Street”, and tacked a tune neatly onto the end of it. Our next performer was new to Harbury, having only recently returned from spending twenty years living and performing in Australia. Ferguson gave us two self-penned songs, “Dodger’s Revenge” for all Oliver Twist devotees, and “The Antipodes Waltz”. Accompanied on an 8-string Octave Mandola, he played some impressive accompaniment to his songs. He is over here travelling around looking for bookings and we wish him every success. Peter McD brought the evening to an excellent close with a song about woad, to the tune of “Men Of Harlech”. Who needs clothes when you can paint yourself blue?
The raffle, which was in aid of Cancer Research for whom Sue and I had run 10K the Sunday before at Blenheim Palace, raised a generous £48.00. The next meeting of the Folk Club will be the momentous 300th edition, on Thursday 5th November, and we expect fireworks from the performers too. Peter McD will be the host and the theme will be “Celebration”. Get there early as it promises to be a classic night with lots of old friends from the Club’s back pages.
Ian Hartland
A 25th Birthday Celebration!
The theme for the evening was “Hatched, Matched and Dispatched” or alternatively “Births, Marriages and Deaths”. We could so well have been dispatched as we arrived at the Dog Inn to find that the back room venue was occupied by an 18th Birthday celebration party. Would the evening go ahead or would we have to abandon our 25th anniversary? We decided to have a safari folk club, starting in the pub lounge and then relocating to the usual back room venue after the other party moved out. We put up a Happy Birthday banner which, half way through the evening, disappeared when the previous party returned to remove their celebratory trimmings…still, Maureen had baked birthday cakes, which served as a reminder of the momentous occasion and which we all shared with enthusiasm during the half time breaks.
Maureen and Janny got the evening underway with a Tom Paxton number called “Birth of a Thought” They were followed by Rik and Theresa who sang songs about courting and weddings with a “Bashful Boy” (who had 5 children) and Jimmy Brown who was born while the chapel bells were ringing. Theresa was so overcome she smashed a drinking a glass!!
Des performed a sing-a-long “Windmill in Old Amsterdam” where the mice had triplets and quins and then he told us of Willie who got 'drownded' in the “Deep Blue Sea”. Summer and Jenny harmonised to a beautiful song about French sailors who went to war and never returned and finished with Mike Harding’s “King Cotton”. The first half closed with Pete Mason providing us with a philosophical view of life with “Blind and Pure to World we come” and “If I was a singer”.
The second half continued strongly with the theme when Maureen and Janny sang “Hedgers and Ditchers” - nobody would woo a young woman who eventually married in haste and paid the price. Peter Bones told us of the ubiquitous nature of good when he sang about the 1972 troubles in Northern Ireland followed by Pam Ayres “Don’t invite me to the wedding” (with no reference to the Darby’s daughter’s impending wedding). Peter McDonald first sang the Huw Williams number “We stayed awake”, this was a reference to the parental state just after a hatching and then a Fred Small song about giving older children advice about life with “Everything is possible”. Pete Grassby arrived late having driven from Cornwall via Somerset and started with “Who knows where the time goes” and then amused us with “They wheeled the coffin down the aisle”, a Keith Marsden song about a philanderer who had a well-attended funeral. Rik closed the second half with “Outward Bound” - a rehearsal for a wedding.
We had a superb second half with everyone joining in by singing “Happy Birthday” and more wonderful tunes starting with Maureen and Janny who dispatched us with the Hamlet and Ophelia based “How should I your true love know”, Pete Mason sang his best song of the night “Slip-jigs and Reels”, Pete Grassby sang Harry Chapin’s “Mail-order Annie”, Peter Bones reminded us it was a 100 years ago when the “Ellen Vannin” ship was wrecked with a great loss of life, Peter McDonald sang Tom Paxton’s “Forest Lawn” where Californian funerals take place and then the evening was rounded off by Des getting us all going with a rousing chorus of “Ilkley Moor Baht ‘At”.
The raffle raised an amazing £46 for TOFS, a charity that provides support to families whose child is born without an oesophagus.
Next month’s theme is “Clothes and Clothing”.
Steve & Maureen Darby
To begin us on
our 297th folk trip Des, our Tour Driver, began the evening by starting up the
Harbury Folk Club engine. The seats had lots of leg room and the view from our
seats looked pretty good too.
Deb, our Tour Guide, made sure that the emergency exits were pointed out, that
our table had plenty of drink on it and that we had put our life jackets on the
backs of our chairs ready for the off. Tonight we welcomed Ted and Sue Crum as
permanent residents of Harbury-on-Sea. Their new bed and breakfast still had its
contents in boxes all over the place. Ted explained that years ago most families
went on holiday by train. Then Dr Beeching made some rather interesting changes
to the train track landscape! One of their songs “The Slow Train” finished with
a very good train hoot sound added at the end. Then along came Summer to
brighten up the trip with Jenny and they sang “In the Morning” which was
dedicated to Jim and, “How Many Ships?”. This was a song written by one of
Jenny’s friends Georgina. Rik was up next and he gave us views, tapestry, sky
and river rock to enjoy. Steve Darby first heard this song when he was on
holiday at Butlins! Peter McDonald brought us a Neil Young song, “Stay Young”,
that he last performed over 15 years ago at the Club. Next he got out his Banjo
Ukulele (which he’d received as a retirement present) and sang “Who’s Taking You
Home Tonight?”.
To open the second half of our journey, the MDs presented “Always On My Mind”. Then a World Premiere was presented to the happy holiday audience. This was a song called “Carnival Queen” that Deb had written recently and that Ian Hartland had put the music to. The chorus engine easily singing along to the new chorus. Jonathan pitched up with a guitar solo by Gordon Giltrap and then he played whilst vocalist Tracey James sang “Summertime”. Peter Mason took us to a seaside town, a Punch and Judy man, summer and a meadow by the river. The Harvesters sang “The End of the Pier Show” and “Moon in a Bottle” a song that they had entered into a song competition only to be disqualified! Miriam Backhouse made an appearance, her last time here was 2 years ago! She sang “January Man” that took us through all the months of the year. To finish she sang “Oh, I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside”.
The third half brought Rick with a favourite song of Debs that involved a Landlady and her rather energetic family. Ted presented the “Rawtenstall Annual Fayre” and Peter Mason was followed by Mike. He recited a poem about a man’s view of war as a tribute to Harry Patch who was our last Tommy! Peter McDonald sang us a song about a holiday romance, the Harvesters sang “Moth to a Flame” and Des, finally brought the trip to an end in the way that Johnny Collins did with a “Farewell Shanty”.
We decided to take a holiday from the raffle to raise funds for young carers. Des’s hat was passed around the audience and when it re-emerged it had almost £70 in it! To everyone who took part in raising this magnificent sum you can now claim “free admission for two” to the next folk club! The next folk theme is “Hatched, Matched and Dispatched” (Births, Marriages and Deaths) with Steve and Maureen and this will be our 25th birthday! Below is a link to the “Warwickshire Young Carers Project” which supports young carers by providing breaks away and welcome treats.
http://www.swyoungcarers.org.uk/
Des and Debs
First the bad news: the Shakespeare had shut up shop and we were homeless waifs and strays wandering in the wilderness. Then the good news: the Dog had re-opened and had offered us a new home in their super restaurant with great acoustics and no coffee machine or wine chiller burping and buzzing in the background. Deep joy, and on a hot steamy July evening we gathered, grabbed a drink, and settled down to a belting evening’s entertainment. First up was Sue Crum who gave us her take on the Little Drummer Boy. Rik followed with two songs including Brother Gorilla. Summer and Jenny sang the Brisk Butcher, tagging Cuckoo’s nest on the end, then gave us Shut the Door (Keep out the Devil) in harmony with no accompaniment. Sue Hartland unleashed her banjo on Shoals of Herring before she and Ian recalled Joan Baez’s Lily of the West. Deb sang Cole Porter’s Miss Otis Regrets, followed by her own poem Bastard, which she described as therapeutic: ooer! Stuart produced his own updated version of Gypsy Davey, renamed Trainer Davey, then coerced Pete McDonald on stage to accompany him in The Wild Rover. Keith produced one of his legendary off-the-wall performances by relating (to suitable accompaniment) a series of song-based jokes and one-liners: indescribable except to say that it was wonderful to watch! Ted, Phil and Jem (The Somerville Three) finished off the first half with Rout of the Blues followed by The Poacher’s Fate, and we all retired to the bar for cooling draughts.
The second half began with your scribe recalling Paddy Robert’s Ballad of Bethnal Green. Mr Shuttleworth then gave us a highwayman/maiden ditty and his delightful French Revolution song. Pete and Liz sang Daddy Fox with many harmonies from the assembled masses, then Liz sang of the Scottish village ladies who shamelessly tricked the Brits and locked them in the church. Pete Grassby sang When a man’s in Love and The Quaker Song, followed by Pete Mason who sang a Stan Rogers song and a wondrous piece he called the Osmosis Song which exposed the dangers of pre-packaged food. Des gave us chance to sing The Alabama, then related the tale of Gomez the Chihuahua, a dog with ideas well above his station. Pete McDonald sang Struck it Right this Time, then sang Paul Metsers’ song about the great Nic Jones, Play it all Again. To complete our first evening back in the Dog, Ian and Sue sang One Hit Wonder and Thistle and the Rose.
The raffle raised £50 which went to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Next month there will be no theme.
Ted & Sue
The theme for the 295th edition of the Harbury Folk Club was ‘Towns & Cities’. This encouraged a wide range of songs from smoky Salford to glamorous Hollywood.
The Harvesters opened with ‘Spencer the Rover’ (Rotherham) and ’The Rigs of London Town’. Peter Mason sang the very moving story of ’Kilkelly Ireland’ followed by ‘Nana’s Song’. Rik sang that song about Salford and continued with one of my favourites, ‘Sweet Thames Flow Softly’’. Janny & Maureen baby-sat whilst Summer & Jenny performed ‘Johnny Miner’ and ’My Youngest Son’. Finally the Bones Family Band concluded the first half with ’Come & Buy’ and ‘Over the Lancashire Hills’.
Stuart started the second half with ‘O Lancashire’’ and ‘The German Clockwinder’, which has a double meaning apparently! The baby sitters were next singing the beautiful ‘Horncastle Fair’ followed by a Medley of choruses from Amsterdam! [Editor's note for the record: at this point, Peter McDonald sang 'Leaving London' and 'Back in Durham Gaol' - clearly instantly forgettable!] The MDs (Mike & Deb) performed ’The House of the Rising Sun’ and by popular demand, ‘Dirty Old Town’ (that Salford song again). Ron followed with ‘I Can’t Find Coventry’ and because it was polling day he sang the Voting Song. Ted & Sue gave us ‘The Punch & Judy Man’ and ‘Marilyn Monroe’ and Pete Grassby finished with ‘Appleby Fair’ and ’The Bell Ringing Song’. Heavenly hammered dulcimer playing on that one!
We had a short third half with Peter Mason singing ‘Joseph Baker’, Peter Bones singing ‘The Streets of London’. We couldn’t let the evening pass without that! Ted closed the evening with us all joining in the very amusing ‘Rawtenstal Annual Fair’.
The Raffle raised £33.00 for Sue’s forthcoming 5k Race for Life for Cancer Research. We will be doing it all again next month when the hosts are Ted and Sue and the theme is ‘Just Deserts & Rich Rewards’.
Be there!
Sue Hartland
The Great Outdoors was the theme for the 294th Folk Club and, even though we were inside the pub, the great outdoors was brought inside with great abundance. Des began the evening, setting us out on a fantastic compass bearing for the delights in front of us. Summer was joined by Jenny (whose birthday it was) and Jenny had brought along the latest addition to the folk family, baby Freya, who was 9 days old. They sang about a “Fine Felt Hat” and their next had us all joining in with the chorus “Arise, Arise!”. Peter and Liz Bones added a Cuckoo and an “English Meadow” into the musical scenery. Ron told us that there weren’t any songs on muck-spreading but he introduced us to scree-running in the rain and a song about a Manchester climber. Rik performed a song by two yanks called “Skylark” and another, “Throughout the Shires of England”, that told us of a rigorous form of outdoor exercise beginning today. Maureen and Janny brought in a May sub-theme and also “What shall we do if we have no money?”
After stopping to enjoy the view and refill our glasses, the second half was opened by The MDs (Mike ‘n’ Debs) with “Where have all the flowers gone” and the “Skye Boat Song”. Once again the Harbury Folk Club chorus engine did not disappoint us. Peter Mason sang a song about an Australian farmer and “Lord Deliver Me” about a man going from place to place to find work. Stuart’s first song was about canals, “No use for him anymore”, and his second had a historical meaning and had a catchy repeat of “manure, manure”. This was the only song that managed to bring in outdoor smells into the night’s theme. Richard Collier, who last performed to us back 18 months ago, entertained us with a song about the River Derwent from Yorkshire and “Where Ravens Feed”. Peter Grassby brought “My Loves Left the Station” and “Brock the Badger”. Keith Donnelly finished the second half with “Down the Road” and “Little Miss Jekyll and Hyde”. He always accompanies his slot with his very witty repartee.
Then we began the last leg of our journey in the great outdoors. The Laners (Albert, Dave, Martin and Derek), a quartet from the Black Country, gave us four very enjoyable tunes. The first was “Four Jovial Fellows” followed by “The Sailor Ain’t a Sailor” and “Sing Out His Name” plus “Shine On”. These were four fabulous songs by four fabulous folksters. Peter Bones sang about “Wild Mounting Time” and Ron sang “Go, Lassie Go”. Then as we were about to finish our journey along came the Somervilles (Jem, Phil and Ted) who have regrouped after 18 years. They brought to the folk “Horace Boggs”, “Wanton Seed” and “Wayhill Fayre”. Along with fourth member Martin they will be found at this year’s Warwick Folk Festival, which is another great outdoor event!
During the night £80 was
raised for the charity Shelter:
http://www.shelter.org.uk/
Next month’s session will be run by Sue Hartland and the theme is “Towns and Cities”. Look forward to seeing you there.
Des and Debs
The theme for Harbury Folk Club number 293 was “Jam”. We had registered as one of the many hundreds of “Oxjam” musical events held during March and April, to raise money for Oxfam in its fight against global poverty. The selected theme tested the skills of the performers, but they “buttered” the audience with their “fruity” delights.
The first half got underway with a new group “JaMaMa” (Janny, Maureen & Margaret) who gave us a delightful song in a Shetland dialect. They were followed by Rick, Summer & Jenny, Stuart, Barbara, Sue & Ted. They “conserved” the theme with various fine offerings which “set” us up for the evening. The topics ranged from the hot stuff, hang man, strawberry, mucky, household help. We were in for a “tasty” evening.
The second half started with yet another new group comprising Janny, Maureen, Ian & Sue. The theme was then “preserved” by more great offerings from Ian & Sue, Peter McDonald, Debbie, Des, Band of Folk. A couple of songs even managed to mention jam, and we enjoyed new “recipes” and old favourites out of the “jar”. Everybody was on great form, and we were ready to “flavour” the final half.
The third half really “jelled” with top notch performances from Pete Mason, Ron and Pete Grassby. Somehow St George got into the theme, but nobody minded as the performers and audience were in great voice. We could no longer keep the “lid” on the evening, so a session “spread” amongst the many talented musicians “jammed” into the backroom of the Shakespeare.
A “toast” to a vintage evening that raised a fantastic £59 for Oxfam. Debbie & Des host the next folk club on Thursday 7th May, when the theme will be “The Great Outdoors”, or stop Debbie and ask her about the alternative theme.
Doug and Janny.
It being the occasion of the Organiser’s birthday, it was a case of “It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To!” Hence, the chosen theme for the monthly meet was “Sorrow”, and what a diverse and superbly miserable bunch of songs were wheeled out for public approbation.
The Harvesters kicked off proceedings with their own “Southern Cross”, a story of forced transportation to Australia and “Once I Had A Sweetheart”. Rick followed with two suitably melancholy songs, including one about “Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust”. We were then treated to two appropriate songs from Summer and Jenny, the first stating “I’ll Never See You Again”, and the second delivered in impeccable French. Ted and Sue Crum were next, imploring us to “Go And Kill A Dragon” and then relating the sad tale of the “Rambling Sailor” played skilfully in a key for which the Melodeon had never been intended. The theme of Mick McTiernan’s first song is not appropriate for a family magazine, but was a superb piece of satire about a World War 1 General, called Shute. He continued with the almost upbeat “Lord Won’t You Buy Me A Mercedes-Benz?”. I wonder if he got his wish? The first half was brought to a suitably sombre conclusion by Peter and Margaret McDonald with Richard Farina’s “Pack Up Your Sorrows”. Peter then concluded alone with “I Once Was A Fisherman”, a sad tale of fish quotas and idle trawlers. Appropriately disheartened by the first half’s songs, we all trooped dutifully to the bar for some anti-depressant fluid.
The second half was started by the Harbury Folk Choir with “Myfanwy”, a mournful song of Welsh origin and unrequited love. Stuart was next with a song inspired by the novel “Brick Lane”, all about a life of sorrow. Then his song “I’ve Got A Surprise For You” delved even greater depths of depression. This was more like it! Peter Bones, who claimed not to know any sad songs, gave us Les Barker’s poem about the Titanic from a polar bear’s point of view, “Have You Got Any News Of The Iceberg?” Peter Mason sang a Jez Lowe song about guilt not hurting him, and followed it with Eric Bogle’s “My Youngest Son Came Home Today”. Debbie Ellis followed with a song about a rape victim and then a poem about a nervous breakdown, both hugely powerful. Janny and Maureen were up next and lightened the mood ever so slightly with “Bushes And Briars” followed by “Let The Cold Wind Blow”. Just when it looked as if we might be verging on the faintly cheerful, Ron completed the half with “The Tyranny Of Time” and a comprehensive version of “The Foggy Dew”, neither destined to raise a gale of laughter. Well done, Ron!
After another fix of happy juice at the bar, the third half started with Des singing “I Wish, I Wish” and then the mournful shanty “Shallow Brown”. Barbara chose a song about the closing of the Lancashire cotton mills and then another favourite tear-jerker, “Puff The Magic Dragon”, proving that a song doesn’t have to be deep to be sad. Keith Donnelly performed the first and only fully instrumental offering of the night with “The Antithesis Of Sorrow” and then a fine version of “Rock A-Bye Baby”. The final act of the evening was almost immediately excused their departure from the evening’s theme. The three-quarter complete reunion of The Somerville Gentlemen’s Band kicked off with a lively French tune, before regaling us with “The Batchelor’s Fate”. With so much fine instrumental prowess and vocal skill, their songs earned them with a well-deserved encore. They completed their set, and the evening, with “The Cheerful ‘Orn”, with everyone singing along.
All in all, a very pleasant evening of sorrow, if such a thing can be said to exist, combined with some memorable and thought-provoking performances. Who says you need to be happy to have a good time? The Raffle was in aid of Myton Hospice and raised a generous £40.00. If you’re reading this after April 2nd, you will have missed another memorable night at the Folk Club, when Doug and Janny hosted the evening with the theme of “Jam”.
Ian Hartland
1. The club was run this month by Ted and Sue Crum
2. The theme was “Surprise”
3. The chosen charity was the Motor Neurone Disease Association
4. The Raffle raised £67.00
On a freezing night with snow crunching in the car park, a surprisingly large band of intrepid masochists braved the bitter weather to keep faith with the music. Ted and Sue started proceedings with their melodeon-backed rendition of “Gypsy Girl”.
Janny and Maureen took the stage and sang “The Whitby Maid”, but then mysteriously declined to sing a second, wandering off hinting at secret surprises later in the evening! Next up were Harbury’s latest supergroup, the MDs, consisting of our Deb accompanied by Mike Jerome on guitar. They gave us two John Denver songs, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and “Annie’s Song”. Mike’s plectrum work on guitar particularly suited the material and Deb got the Harbury Chorus Engine working well.
You can never accuse Mr Shuttleworth of being in any way conventional. The start of his performance was truly surprising: without warning he discharged what sounded like a small nuclear explosion not three feet from the front row! It turned out to be the Coventry Mummer’s startling pistol, of which we are all aware, but it certainly complied in every way with the evening’s theme. We think he went on to sing “Two Butchers” and “The Rich Merchant’s Daughter”, but since we were all temporarily deaf, it could just as well have been “The Alleluia Chorus”. Pete McDonald restored a degree of serenity, not to say sanity with two well-delivered songs, “The Red Corvette” and “I thought you were an Arab”.
The first half came to one of those sublime/ridiculous endings with Lynne Cooke playing a piano arrangement by Elizabeth Sidebottom of “English Country Garden”, which was truly sumptuous. She then contrived to run this seamlessly into a performance of “Whose Pigs are These” which was truly surprising (and somewhat hammy), being delivered by Lynne in company with Peter and Liz Bones and those naughty McDonalds Margaret and Peter.
The second spasm began with the entire club singing Happy Birthday to John Hancock who looked suitably surprised and gratified. The Folk Club choir then rendered their version of “Teddy Bears’ Picnic”, then settled down to watch a performance (your scribe uses the word advisedly) from a visiting group known as the Von Krapp Family Singers. It didn’t take long to realise they comprised Celia, Janny, Maureen and Sue Hartland fetchingly disguised in shawls and wigs with big buns (sic). Their rendition of “Favourite Things” was a hoot, and they left the stage to roars of approval.
Pete and Liz Bones then gave us “Granny’s Armchair”, and a song of feminist emancipation and considerable confusion, “The Bold Dragoon”. Des Patalong sang Alistair Hewlett’s moving song exposing the scandal of asbestos mining in Australia, followed by a risqué tale of a dog (a chihuahua with ideas well above its station). Sue Hartland (with Ian’s backing) brought her banjo frailing to the stage with a Carter Family song, “Wildwood Flower”, and they gave us a fine rendition of “Sound of the Drum” to a tune from Brackley Morris accompanied on mandolin. Ending the second half, Pete Grassby sang “The Banks of Claudy”, and Buddy Holly’s song “It doesn’t Matter Any More”.
The cold weather had obviously slowed time down, because surprise surprise, we had time for a third half! Peter McDonald started proceedings with a super rendition of Paul Metsers’ “Farewell to the Gold”. Ron was then severely body-searched for weapons before being allowed back on stage to sing his unique take on “A Maiden or a Man”, his version concerning lady morris dancers. Ian and Sue then gave a fine interpretation of Iris Dement’s song “Let the Mystery Be”, and Des finished the evening with a Tom Lewis song describing the heinous crime of selling bad beer to sailors (or anybody for that matter). Your scribe was almost reduced to tears by those epic lyrics “Oh Lord send out a dove with beak as sharp as razors to cut the throats of them there blokes that sells bad beer to sailors”. Sentiments with which we can all concur, one feels.
Next month the club will be run by Ian and the theme will be “Sorrow”.
Ted Crum
The previous time I hosted the folk club was May 1st when many of the regulars who were Morris Dancers had been up at 5:00 am to dance the dawn in. Similarly, on January 1st when we had the first folk club of 2009, many of those present had been dancing during the day but not at the unearthly hour of 5:00 but starting at midday, which was infinitely more civilised.
With the combination of the physical exertion plus it being New Year’s Day, I predicted that the evening would not be well attended, and that it would likely have a somewhat subdued atmosphere. However, once again my prediction was completely wrong.
Because of the activities of the day, I decided to have the theme for the evening as “dance”. This I felt was also appropriate as many tunes of Christmas Carols are also dance tunes.
The Shakespeare is normally closed on the evening of New Years Day as in the past it has been very quiet. However it was opened to accommodate the folk club so it was with some relief that by 8:00pm a good number had turned up, and by the time we started, there was standing room only.
As is the custom, with me being the host, Liz and I started the evening with a couple of familiar songs loosely connected with dance. The evening then continued with a wonderful selection of music and songs presented by 16 different performers. Most of the items cleverly included the theme into the lyrics or tune title.
The standard of performance at the folk club meetings is normally pretty high, but this month I thought it was even better than usual. My personal favourites included the appearance of Ruth Fortey singing Marie’s Wedding and the Dashing White Sergeant; Maureen and Janny singing the Les Barker parody of the Abba song “Dancing Queen” entitled “Morris Team”, (complete with costume); and the Folk Club Choir singing the two carols they had presented at the Church Carol Service on Christmas Eve. For a complete list of who sang what, please visit the Harbury Folk Cub Web Site.
Many thanks to all who took part, the audience who provided a good atmosphere; and Darren Wheeler, the landlord of the Shakespeare, for opening the pub just for us.
Thanks also to those who contributed to the raffle which raised £45.00. This was added to the money collected by the Morris Dancing during the day enabling a total of £120.00 to be donated to the UNICEF Congo Disaster Relief Fund.
Who Did What
Pete & Liz: "Loch Tay Boat Song", "Rosebud in June"
Summer and Jenny Joy: "Shaking of the Sheets", "Step it out Mary"
Maureen and Janny: "We’re in the Morris Team"
Barbara & Nick: "Seth Davy", "Planxty Irwin / Fanny Power"
Ted Crum: "Willy Atkinson’s Tunes"; "Joe Joe’s Jig"
Folk Club Choir: "Arise, Arise Ye Mortals All", "Light of the World"
Band of Folk: "Millers Ghost/Lord of the Dance"
Peter McDonald: "Rosemary’s Sister", "Making Choices"
Des Patalong: "Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day", "Then to the Maypole"
Ruth Fortey: "Marie’s Wedding", "Dashing White Sergeant"
The Harvesters: "Ring out the Old", "Ladies go Dancing at Whitsun"
Stuart: "This B****y Orkney", "After the Ball"
Lynne and Celia: "Lucy Grant’s Jig" (with Celia dancing)
Keith Donnelly: "Last Plane to Nowhere", "Crazy Eyes"
Folk Club Choir: "Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day"
Ron Shuttleworth: "Dance to Your Daddy", "Morris Maiden or a Man"
Ruth Fortey: "Gentleman’s Excuse Me"
Reel to Reel: "Air for David/Lynne's Birthday Waltz", "Salt Fish and
Dumplings/Sty Barrow Crag Hornpipe", "Mrs Saggs".
Peter Bones