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P-51 Mustang and Spitfire MH434
(Photo: Simon Meeds) |
Unusually for recent sessions of the Dragon Folk Club, last week we were running on a skeleton crew. Yes, some of our core regulars had "notes" for medical reasons or family commitments, so we will forgive them. The two of us who sang nevertheless had an enjoyable evening of music and chat. With an optional theme of VE Day 80, Simon sang mostly his usual selection of war songs while Denny added an impressive count of new songs to the Dragon database by giving us a wartime "greatest hits".
I don't think there's too much cause to have an official optional theme this Friday at The Dragon Folk Club, but if you need some inspiration, here is what has happened in the past on 16th May.
Back though to last week, Denny started as she meant to go on with Run, rabbit, run (* Noel Gay, Ralph Butler). In fact she added two songs to the database in one by also singing the wartime parody, Run, Adolf, run (* words by Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen).
Along similar lines, Simon opened his account with Bless 'em all (roud 8402 - Fred Godfrey, Robert Kewley) which, although credited to Godfrey and Kewley with a date of 1917, may have existed in some form amongst British military personnel in the 1880s in India (probably not with "bless" in the title). More importantly for us here it was first recorded by George Formby in 1940.
With the first rotation over I will concentrate on Denny's "new" songs, all popular and well known for their choruses, but challenging for their often less well known verses and sometimes a barely remembered preamble.
(There'll be bluebirds over) The white cliffs of Dover (* included in roud X4988) was written in 1941 by Walter Kent and Nat Burton and was made famous by "forces sweetheart" Vera Lynn's 1942 version. Interestingly, American lyricist Burton was probably thinking of the North American bluebird which I have seen on my travels, but I had always rationalised it as referring to the duck-egg blue painted underside of early Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes. I remember this colour name from my youth when painting Airfix models, but apparently the official name for it is Sky Type "S". Either way the aim was presumably to camouflage aircraft flying over in a pale blue sky. Note also that there are often bluebirds (and other inappropriate species) in an English country garden (roud 29760 - Thomas Walker, Robert M Jordan).
We'll meet again (*) was written in 1939 by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The original recording used a Hammond Novachord, arguably the first commercial polyphonic synthesizer, sold from 1939 to 1942.
Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye (*) was written by Phil Park and Harry Parr-Davies. It appeared in the 1939 film Shipyard Sally, sung by Gracie Fields.
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (*) was written in 1939 by Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin. The song was published in 1940 and was first performed in the London revue New Faces by Judy Campbell.
Hands, knees and boomps-a-daisy (*) was written around 1939 by Annette Mills, sister of John Mills and presenter of Muffin the Mule. The linked recording isn't the best quality, but has Mills singing.
The Lambeth walk (* roud 25672) was written by Noel Gay, Douglas Furber, and L. Arthur Rose for the 1937 musical Me and My Girl. In 1942 British propaganda film "Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk" Nazis are made to look as though they are doing the dance.
Down at the Old Bull and Bush (* roud 23914) is an adaptation of Under the Anheuser Bush, a beer garden song commissioned by the Anheuser-Busch brewing company in 1903 with music by Harry Von Tilzer and words by Andrew B. Sterling. The Old Bull and Bush refers to a pub of that name in Hampstead Heath, London. This version was written for Australian music hall singer Florrie Forde.
Knees up Mother Brown (* roud 24984) is believed to date back to the 19th century, but was first published in 1938. It is documented to have been sung widely in London on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Night). The 1938 version was attributed to Bert Lee, Harris Weston and I. Taylor. During the Second World War it was performed frequently by Elsie and Doris Waters (Gert and Daisy).
After Denny had sung all these 30s and 40s songs Simon finished the evening with a 1940 American song: You are my sunshine (roud 18130 - Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell).
Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.
(Number of people present - 2 of whom 2 performed)
In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not to be found in the playlist linked from "a selection" are marked with a hash (#).
