Welcome to the Dragon Folk Club

Welcome to the official blog of the Dragon Folk Club, which meets for a singers night every Friday at The Bridge Inn, Shortwood, Bristol. Everyone is welcome whether you sing, play or just listen.

Monday 28 February 2022

Back to life

Grey seal pup (photo: Simon Meeds)
It's not a normal Dragon Folk Club report this week I'm afraid, since I have been a bit distracted, and indeed I wasn't at last Friday's session in person, however my remote eyes and ears have been doing their job.

It was great to hear that there were five people present. A very welcome return for Geoff, who has been on a sick note for a while. Colin had also brought in first-timer Clive and his officially non-performing wife Jane, who I am told did a fine job of accompanying her husband.

I won't try to go through the songs that were sung in any details, but please listen to the playlist behind the "a selection" link below. I may not have managed to find quite as many appropriate videos as usual, and I may even have misidentified some songs, but a count of 28 identified out of 31 sung isn't too bad.

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 5 of whom 4 performed)

Tuesday 22 February 2022

With love

Coulter's Candy (Photo: alistair fitchett)
Sadly we were back down to two singers last week though there are even more promises of newcomers and visitors, so let's hope that comes to fruition soon. The sooner the better since this week one of the pair won't be around.

One plan to talk of is that we'll have a theme of Wales for a slightly belated St David's Day session on 4 March. As always the theme is optional but your efforts will be appreciated, and if a few songs about whales, daffodils, leeks and whatever creep in then that will be par for the course. As always, check Wikipedia for what St David is patron of apart from the obvious.

In the meantime, the session on 25 February will be theme-less so pretty much anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Back to last Friday, we still seemed to have a few songs of love and lust left over from the previous week's Valentine's Day session, but some other things popped up as well. Colin was MC and started us off with Sing me a song Mr Bloom (Ian Walker). Mr Bloom is a character in the film 'Twilight Zone - The Movie'. In the film he visits homes for old people and, magically, turns them into children again.

Simon continued with another story, this time the Ballad of Patch Eye and Meg (Michelle Shocked). Sadly, but understandably, Michelle has expunged almost all of her songs from YouTube, so you'll have to search out her first album, The Texas Campfire Tapes if you want to hear it. Famously the album was recorded by a campfire at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas by Pete Lawrence using a Sony Walkman. Some people know that Michelle later disowned the album at one stage. What fewer people perhaps realise is that the battery of the Walkman that Lawrence used was running down, so the tape was transported more slowly than usual. This resulted in the published songs being faster and at a higher pitch than when Michelle originally sang them. It still sounds great though with the cicadas and trucks in the background.

A few of the videos I have included in the playlist at the usual "a selection" link below probably bear a little explanation, so I will use those as my theme for the week.

Simon experimentally brought out a song he has been threatening to sing for a long time. It is a pity that classical scholar Derek wasn't with us to hear it, but I'm sure it can be sung again sometime when he returns. The song was Flanders and Swann's The Hippopotamus Song, but this time sung in Latin. The version in question was sung by Ian Wallace at his inauguration as Rector of St Andrews University. His version is not on YouTube, but here is a recording of Ian singing The Hippopotamus Song in English on the BBC programme, The Good Old Days recorded at the Leeds City Varieties. There is a version in Latin on YouTube, but it's not the one.

Colin sang Chris Sugden's (Sid Kipper) By the cobblers which is set to the tune of Clementine (roud 9611). I have found a recording, but it is part of a much longer recording of a folk session on Zoom and I have no easy way of including the required part in the playlist - I wouldn't want you to have to listen to an hour of no doubt perfectly reasonable but off-topic singing just to listen to the Dragon playlist this week. So here, off-playlist, is a link to the appropriate part of the video.

Colin also sang Malvina Reynolds' version of Billy Boy (roud 326). It doesn't appear in the playlist because, like Colin, I can't find it on line, but here is are the words. Colin was concerned whether he had the right tune because Reynolds' words don't appear to fit the traditional one he knows, but he says they do seem to fit the one sung by Martin Carthy.

Simon sang Sovay (roud 7, laws N21), the tale of a young woman who dressed herself as a highwayman to test the commitment of her lover on his return. Simon mentioned that, like Colin's last song, he was influenced by Martin Carthy. However, he wanted to trace a recording of Isla St  Clair singing it on her 1980s children's television programme The Song and The Story. I didn't find that precise clip, but for the benefit of the playlist I found a recording of St Clair singing the song.

Colin can be assured that the song Elsie which he sang was indeed written by our friend Gary Hopwood.

It should be said that we don't tend to shy away from controversial words and topics when they are authentic; this is a folk club and we like to maintain the traditions. If anyone is squeamish then look away now. While Simon sang Oh Susanna (roud 9614), it wasn't quite as ... err ... historically accurate, as this recording.

I was particularly pleased to be able to roll out this recording when Colin sang Coulter's Candy (roud 19019) which was written by a former Galashiels weaver, Robert Coltart (1832–1880). The song was an advertising jingle for the aniseed-flavoured sweeties that he manufactured in Melrose and sold around the markets of the Border towns. The reason this video is special to us is because the singer is Helen Barr who used to occasionally visit the club from her home in Swindon.

I Fear IKEA, sung by Colin, is another song from the repertoire of Gary Hopwood, but under the slightly different title of I Hate IKEA. This one was however written by The Lancashire Hotpots.

Simon closed the session with Ian "Nobby" Dye's Bristol-based song Welsh Back Quay.

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 2 of whom 2 performed)

Tuesday 15 February 2022

Valentine's Day 2022

Last Friday it was good to see Mike back in fine voice following a dog-related incident which had kept him away. The said dog (Indy) was also present and had obviously been practising his scales. We had met to sing songs of love and lust for Valentine's Day (slightly prematurely) and that is pretty much what we did.

Colin, MCing as usual, started us off with Ralph McTell's The girl from the hiring fair. Simon followed with Scarborough Fair (roud 12, child 2) and Mike completed the first rotation with Come write me down (roud 381).

The only exception I have spotted to the love and lust theme was Mike's parting song, All the good times (Bob Pegg).

There were some doubles, the first one I noticed was Simon unusually singing two songs from Dolly Parton: Love is like a butterfly and Jolene.

Some humour came from Colin singing The Kipper Family's version of Soldier, soldier (roud 489), entitled The Disabled Seaman. This was also the only song from the evening for which I have been unable to find a YouTube recording.

Simon sang some songs more often sung by Colin: Running Bear (Jiles Perry Richardson "The Big Bopper") and Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster). In return Colin sang She Moves Through The Fair (roud 861) which Simon sometimes sings.

Colin took on quite a task of singing John Jacob Niles' song Venezuela, while Simon's biggest challenge may have been the guitar accompaniment for Margarita (Harvey Andrews).

Colin closed the evening with the second part of another double, this time from Donovan. He had earlier sung To sing for you, and now finished is off with Josie.

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 3 of whom 3 performed)

Tuesday 8 February 2022

Is brevity a virtue?

(Photo: Simon Meeds)
After last week's marathon report I will keep this one brief. As you can see our stone may have rolled but it hasn't yet gathered any more singers (or audience members). Nevertheless we are gaining promises from an increasing number of people that they will join us shortly. If you are one of those people then please get down to Shortwood on a Friday night soon. If you haven't already pledged your presence then get down anyway with a song, tune, story, poem, monologue or any type of performance as long as it's acoustic.

While we're on the subject of the future, we don't really get too fussy about themes but there are a couple of obvious ones this Friday. Traditionally for Valentine's Day the theme is "love and lust", but if you would rather bring out some sport for the Winter Olympics, that's fine too. Otherwise just forget about themes and do whatever you fancy.

Colin, MC as usual, started off the session with Pete Seeger's Get up and Go.

Simon decided to mark the passing of Norma Waterson by singing three songs from Norma or The Watersons: Bunch of Thyme (roud 3), Country Life (roud 1752) and The Souling Song (roud 304). Colin added to the group Three Day Millionaire (Mike Waterson).

The only song sung during the evening which doesn't appear in the playlist linked with "a selection" below was Ballad of Real Ale (Kevin Pratt) which was sung by Colin.

The evenign was closed by Simon who sang The Ryans and the Pittmans (roud 21113).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 2 of whom 2 performed)