What's Ozzy got to do with folk music?

Ozzy Osbourne in 2010

Yes, we were a bit thin on the ground at last week's Dragon Folk Club session, but we sang. There were no attempts for a record number of songs, just lots of chat and lots of singing.

Stand-in MC, Simon, started us off with Chase the dragon (* Keith Hancock) which Simon acquired from the singing of Gregson & Collister (Clive Gregson and Christine Collister) - Hancock and Gregson were school friends. Simon sang the song for the first time in a few years as a sort of sideways tribute to the recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne.

After earlier talk of children working in the mines, Rob decided to sing Frank Higgins' The testimony of Patience Kershaw (*), based on the report given by Kershaw, of Halifax, to the Children's Employment Commission of 1842. Rob said that Patience wasn't as well respected by the commission as the song implies.

Stan completed the first rotation by singing Return to me (* Carmen Lombardo, Danny Di Minno), first recorded by Dean Martin in 1958.

The one song of the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not in the playlist linked below was Rob's own Lost in the wild (Rob Winder).

Stan sang More than I can say (*), understandably mentioning the 1961 hit version by Bobby Vee, but it was written by two members of Buddy Holly's band The Crickets: Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison and was recorded by them in 1959 soon after Holly's death, being released in 1960. The link is strong because the then fifteen-year-old Vee was one of the musicians who volunteered to fill in with his brother Bill among others after singing stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash on 3rd February 1959. The stand-ins performed as a band which they named The Shadows on the spur of the moment. The band which already existed without a name modelled itself on Holly's style. This marked the beginning of Vee's career.

After some discussion of the 1960s and whether one remembers it Rob segued seamlessly and artfully into Shel Silverstein's monologue, The man who got no sign (*).

We had a mini links theme which started when Simon sang Roger Whittaker's Durham Town, which incorrectly places the city of Durham on the River Tyne. I incorrectly stated that Whittaker was South African. He was in fact born in Kenya to English parents although he enrolled at the University of Cape Town in 1956. He moved to Britain in 1959.

Rob's linked song was Back in Durham Gaol (*) written by Jez Lowe. Not only is the song about Durham, but Lowe is from County Durham.

Simon's next song also came from the pen of Jez Lowe, being The Bergen, which our friend Derek Brinkley once suggested may be the only song that has been about Seaton Carew.

Rob's last song of the evening was Bob Dylan's Just like Tom Thumb's blues (*). The penultimate song of the evening was Earth angel (Curtis Williams, Jesse Belvin, Gaynel Hodge) sung by Stan, followed ultimately by Simon inviting everyone present to raise their voices for When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

New faces and lots of "new" songs

Connie Francis in 1961

At last week's Dragon Folk Club is was great to see Paul and Denny swelling the numbers by bringing along Helen for her second experience of a session, and Quentin for his first. Helen had prepared some songs, which was great, but lack of preparation didn't stop Quentin from venturing three with the help of others present who provided the word sheets.

I know Helen enjoyed the experience and will be back; I think the same is true of Quentin. We're a friendly crowd; performing is encouraged and very welcome, but encouragement is just that, everyone should feel free to just sit and listen if they want to, maybe joining in with the odd chorus and some banter.

With Colin as MC, Roger was invited to start the session and he marked the recent death of Connie Francis by singing her 1960 hit Everybody's somebody's fool (* Jack Keller, Howard Greenfield) which made her the first woman to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Paul sang Peggy Gordon (roud 1180) and Denny gave us Idle women of the waterways (Charlotte Oliver).

Helen's first song of the evening was When I'm gone (roud 17255 - AP Carter) though some readers may know it better as Cups (A. P. Carter, Luisa Gerstein, Heloise Tunstall-Behrens), sung by Anna Kendrick in the film Pitch Perfect (2012). As I've said many times, I'm always sceptical when I see AP Carter as the writer of a song because, under the instruction of his publisher, he often took traditional songs, made a very minor change to them, and claimed US copyright. I don't hold that against him personally, but it was certainly a sharp practise by the music industry albeit presumably one seen to have no victim. I am sure he is not alone in being a victim or beneficiary, depending on how you look at it, of this way of working.

As already noted, Quentin had come to the session without any songs, but he seemed keen to contribute. He said he might manage a Beatles' song, so Roger dug out the words to You've got to hide your love away (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) and he sang it with guitar accompaniment from Roger.

Colin's first musical contribution was the Bee Gees' New York mining disaster 1941 (* Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb).

Simon returned us to traditional songs (we don't really mind what you sing) with Claudy Banks (roud 266, laws N40).

By the time it came to his turn, Steve had arrived and he finished the first rotation with Stan Rogers' The Field behind the plow (sic).

Paul's self-penned song Close the dentist's door (# Paul Welcomme) is the first of two songs performed that are not to be found on YouTube and therefore are not in the linked playlist.

It was quite a surprise that Denny's singing of The Bellringing (* roud 1515) was a new entry into the Dragon database because Colin has certainly sung it before, but so it is. The database only goes back to 2018 and isn't complete even that far.

Helen brought us I'll sail this ship alone (* Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray) from The Beautiful South.

This time round Quentin was presented with words by Paul. He said it wasn't the sort of thing he would usually sing, but he would manage it with help from the assembled masses. With this promise he sang Drunken sailor (roud 322).

From Roger we got a self-penned and autobiographical song called Fifties child (*# Roger Stanleigh).

Helen gave us a another "new" song in Hunter (* Dido Armstrong, Rollo Armstrong).

Quentin again looked to Roger for words and he came up with Raindrops keep fallin' on my head (Burt Bacharach, Hal David). To resolve the discussions that went on on the evening, it was written for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realising that "it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me."

The film is an American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the "Sundance Kid" (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia to escape the posse.

This was followed by Colin singing another song more loosely connected to a film and where I can clear up some more conversation points. They shoot horses don't they? (Gareth Mortimer) performed by Racing Cars and which got to no. 14 in the UK charts in 1977 was inspired by the 1969 film of the same name, which was in turn based on Horace McCoy's 1935 novel.

The story centres on Robert Syverten (Michael Sarrazin in the film) who is sentenced for murder. The main timeline of the book though involves a dance marathon competition where he partners with Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda in the film). It is Gloria who he is accused of killing.

From the start, Gloria tells Robert that she wishes she were dead, a point she repeats in most of their conversations. Her parents are dead. She ran away to Dallas from a farm in West Texas where her uncle always made passes at her. In Dallas, she tried to commit suicide, then ran away to Hollywood with dreams of being in movies, but is finding only rejection.

In the end Gloria presents Robert with a gun and asks him to kill her, which he does. He remembers when he was young, and his grandfather shot the beloved family horse, which had broken its leg. The police ask Robert why he shot Gloria, and he answers, "Because she asked me to." The policeman persists. Robert answers, "They shoot horses, don't they?"

Helen's final song was Good riddence (time of your life) (* Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day).

The last addition to the database for the evening came from Colin and was The wee cooper o' Fife (* roud 117).

The session was closed by Steve who gave us a good sing-a-long opportunity with Leave her Johnny (roud 354).

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

(Number of people present - 8 of whom 8 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

As hot as...

Photo: Simon Meeds

As expected at the end of another scorching day we were slightly low on numbers at last week's Dragon Folk Club session but we carried on singing. Paul selected from his repertoire songs he hadn't sung recently, Simon appropriately sang mostly songs relating to hot or warm weather, and Denny just sang some excellent songs.

Simon as stand-in MC and first comer started off the session with Three songs to one burden (*), a song written by our old friend Derek Brinkley. Denny followed on with I live not where I love (roud 593) and Paul finished the first rotation with Waking dreams (roud 22620).

Simon's second was The hippopotamus song (Michael Flanders, Donald Swann) where instead of singing a chorus in Russian as Flanders sometimes did, he switched to Latin:

Lutum! lutum! Pulcherrimum  lutum

veni, o veni huc mecum ablutum

sequimini cuncti, laeti coniuncti

et volvamur uncti in luto pulchro.

Looking over Paul's shoulder, Denny managed to follow from the front, singing Sweet thyme (John Conolly, Pete Mundy) in correct expectation of Paul's Wild mountain thyme (roud 541 - Francis McPeake).

When Simon followed that with Brian Bedford's This is the way the world ends Denny asked how she knew the writer's name. Brian Bedford was a member and the main songwriter of Artisan, the harmony group that also included his wife Jacey and Hilary Spencer. Simon thought that Denny may know Brian's song What's the use of wings (*) and so she did, from the singing of Vin Garbutt (his version which he called "Wings"), and so proceeded to sing it. Below the YouTube video of Vin's version I see Jacey Bedford has made this comment:

"We (Artisan) played Trowbridge Folk Festival many years ago, and Vin was on the same bill. We were put up in the same pub and late one night we were sitting in the bar with Vin, sharing songs. We sang What's the Use of Wings - that's its full title - and Vin immediately asked Brian if he could sing it, Brian was delighted, of course. Some years after that Artisan was invited to play the Port Fairy Festival in Australia and on the way we did a stop-over in Hong Kong where we were accommodated by the Hong Kong Folk Club (which was in Doyle's Irish bar in Kowloon - how surreal!). We sang Wings and the whole audience sang it with us... courtesy of Vin taking it there long before we did. Thanks, Vin, you took Brian Bedford's song around the world. Lovely job."

Paul returned us to our old friend Derek Brinkley by singing his song Lament for the fishing (#).

Simon spent some of the evening well off the folk piste, including sharing The bare necessities (Terry Gilkyson).

Denny charmed us with Linden Lea (William Barnes, Ralph Vaughan Williams), which became this week's photo feature thanks to a chance find only yesterday.

Simon took a leaf out of Denny's book by singing a popular song from the early 20th century - 1932 in this case. So he sang The sun has got his hat on (* Noel Gay, Ralph Butler) - and yes, he made a small word replacement from this original version found on YouTube. Ensuing talk of songs evolving to fit changing fashions and mores caused Simon to make his last song of the session Ol' man river (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II). Simon remembers watching a whole television documentary programme about adjustments made to that song over time.

Denny's final song was a good sing-along: Byker Hill (roud 3488) and Paul finished the session appropriately with the Farewell shanty. Having no reference for this other than that it is one sometimes used by our friend Mike Starkey when asked to sing at a funeral, I decided to do some digging. I didn't have far to look because MainlyNorfolk provides a quote from the notes for Brenda Wootton and Robert Bartlett's 1975 album Starry-Gazey Pie:

"Mervyn Vincent from St. Issy and Alan Molyneux from Plymouth are largely responsible for the revival of this lovely West Country shanty. Mervyn found it in an old book on boat-building and it later served as the closing song at Alan’s Breakwater Club in Plymouth."

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

American Independence 2025

Photo: Simon Meeds

At last week's Dragon Folk Session Colin sprang a theme on us quite reasonably, but very last minute. Being 4th July we were invited to find songs with American (or should that be USAnian?) connections. This was done admirably by all. I believe American connections were found for every song sung, but don't look too closely at the playlist because some were very tenuous, maybe even treasonous, connections depending on which country you find yourself in.

There seemed to be something not quite right with the ladies' toilet, so there were occasional excursions made through our room during the evening. Almost without exception they weren't too disruptive, but even as I arrived one lady was sitting with Roger. On a later visit this same person, who Roger later assumed to be his groupie, approached him while he was singing and appeared to caress his head. Roger meanwhile impressively continued his performance without so much as a stutter until she left the room, at which point he could go on no more. He soon carried on from where he had left off.

Colin himself started us off with Yankee Doodle (* roud 4501). There are plenty of stories about the origin and meaning of this song.

The Macaroni wig ("called it macaroni") was an extreme fashion in the 1770s and became slang for being a fop. Dandies were men who placed particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisure hobbies. A self-made dandy was a British middle-class man who impersonated an aristocratic lifestyle. They notably wore silk strip cloth and stuck feathers in their hats. In British conversation, the term "Yankee doodle dandy" implied unsophisticated misappropriation of upper-class fashion, as though simply sticking a feather in one's cap would transform the wearer into a noble.

Roger stayed firmly on the appropriate side of the Atlantic with Banks of the Ohio (roud 157, laws F5).

Paul brought to mind the author of Innocent when you dream (Tom Waits) before Denny gave us Row on (roud 2084), the words of which were found in the 1846 logbook of the Nantucket Whaler, "The Three Brothers". It was a transcription of a poem from GPR James' 1844 "Arabella Stuart: A Romance from English History". It has been said that it was written in part in memory of the crew members of the "Essex", sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, but this is thought to be unlikely. The crew of 20 of the Essex were in rowing boats for 95 days. Eight survived.

Simon completed the first rotation with The night they drove old Dixie down (Robbie Robertson).

Roger introduced a number of new songs to the dragon database, the first being It never rains in Southern California (* Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood).

It's not a serious aim or competition, but we do maintain a record of the number of songs sung at a Dragon Folk Song session. On the face of it at 41 performances, this evening was doing well, but nothing remarkable. However, Roger put the cat among the pigeons by singing and playing two medleys. The first combined four songs and the second included six. This could be said, arguably, to bring the total for the evening to 49. There is however no need to bring out the umpires to make a special decision, because the current record stands at 50.

Roger's first medley incorporated: Blue moon of Kentucky (* Bill Monroe), Today's teardrops (* Gene Pitney, Aaron Schroeder), Oh boy (Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, Norman Petty), and Hello Mary Lou (* Gene Pitney, Cayet Mangiaracina).

On a roll, Roger's second medley combined Folsom prison blues (Johnny Cash), Freight train (Elizabeth Cotten), Last train to San Fernando (* Sylvester DeVere, Randolph Padmore, Mighty Dictator), Worried man blues (roud 4753), Runaway train (roud 9859), and Six-five special (* Don Lang and His Frantic Five).

Colin finished the session with Keep your lamp trimmed and burning (roud 10433).

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Old, new, borrowed and blue

Denny wearing Bonnet and Shawl?
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session saw a very rare appearance from Alison: non-singing but nevertheless welcome. There was no theme and an eclectic bunch of songs was sung.

There will be no official theme again this week, but as usual feel free to bring your own or we can allow something to develop through the evening.

The reason for Alison's presence was Simon's birthday, and the session was started and finished with Happy birthday to you. Of course, this song is problematic for the scribe, because it is probably included in roud 36104, which appears to be a bucket for unloved songs, and it is controversially attributed to Patty and Mildred J. Hill who wrote Good Morning to All.

The session proper started with Colin singing Ben Backstay (roud 21256).

Deny's first song of the evening was Graeme Miles' Drift from the land (*) and Paul's was Generations of change (Matt Armour).

On the face of it Stan gave us a new song: AP Carter's I never will marry (*), but according to the Roud Folk Song Index it is a version of the oft-sung Forsaken mermaid (roud 466, laws K17). I assume there was an interim American version since Carter is well-known for having taken traditional songs and, under instruction from his publishers, making very minor changes before claiming copyright.

Simon completed the first rotation with Jez Lowe's The Bergen.

Colin had us singing along to Sail away ladies (roud 17635). I didn't take enough notes to be sure, but I think it was the Uncle Dave Macon version rather than the hit version from The Vipers Skiffle Group and Lonnie Donegan among others, Don`t You Rock Me Daddy-O (Bill Varley, Wally Whyton). I believe Colin has sung both in the past and I was singing too hard to take note of which it was.

Stan introduced us to another "new" song in Earth Angel (* Curtis Williams, Jesse Belvin, Gaynel Hodge), from the singing of The Penguins. I knew I recognised the song. It could well be because I used to be, and still am to some extent, a fan of 50s and early 60s music, but could it also be because it was used in Back to the Future - here.

Stan was full of new songs for the database, giving us My buddy (* Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn), first recorded in 1922 by Henry Burr and later by Mario Lanza among many others, and then Eileen (Sylvia Fine, Max Liebman). Fine, who was Danny Kaye's wife, is credited with the lyrics. It has been collected in Ireland and England and is listed as roud 23884, but it seems it may have been original to Fine since the collection dates all post-date Bing Crosby's recording of 1950.

Simon finished off the evening in traditional Dragon club style with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford), that is before the aforementioned post cantatum reprise of Happy birthday to you.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 5 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

In the Summertime

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session got off to a simple start with Colin singing to himself for the first few songs, but he was soon joined by Steve who had been held up in traffic. The lack of people wasn't unexpected and we should be back to normal this Friday. Do come and join us from 8:15pm in the barn (just past the toilets) at The Bridge Inn, Shortwood, Bristol (UK), BS16 9NG.

For those who are interested, the new mega-batch of club beer mats have arrived and should be available on Friday for use or for marketing purposes.

This dragon wasn't present at the session, so please forgive any minor inaccuracies.

Colin started off with four straight songs before Steve arrived:

• Deportee - plane crash at Los Gatos (roud 26302 - Woody Guthrie)
• History lesson (Leon Rosselson)
• Here comes the sun (* George Harrison)
• I'll follow the sun (* John Lennon, Paul McCartney)

Although there was no official theme for the evening you may detect something of summer developing.

My guess is that Colin sang Summer in the city (* John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Steve Boone) to allow Steve time to settle down, but I may be wrong, which would throw the rest of the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below out of line slightly. Let's not worry about that too much.

Steve's first song of the evening was Streets of London (Ralph McTell).

Two further songs from the evening, both sung by Colin, which require a mention are Ageing old hippie (#) by our old friend Richard Gillion which doesn't appear on YouTube, and Come to the fair (* roud V21367 - Easthope Martin) which is new to the Dragon database.

The final rotation, in one or other order as explained above, involved Colin singing Cracklin' Rosie (Neil Diamond) and Steve singing Ranter's wharf (John Conolly).

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 (*).

Mixing it up

Friday's Dragon Folk Club session was rather enjoyable. Denny and Paul brought along their friend Helen. As I warned last week, this will be an abbreviated blog report with no YouTube playlist, written quickly before this dragon disappears in a puff of smoke for a few days.

As far as I am aware there will be no official theme next week (20th June), but we will be short of a few regular bodies, so I would be grateful if you can make an extra effort to turn up and help Colin to sing up a storm.

Back to the recent session, the ladies' toilet was out of action so we had an intermittent stream of them through our room, but all were quiet and respectful to the singing that was going on and caused no trouble at all.

Paul kicked off proceedings with Tom Lehrer's The Irish Ballad, to be followed by Denny with Samuel Laycock's A tribute to the drowned. The latter was about a disaster at sea where 27 volunteer lifeboatmen from St Annes and Southport died on 9 and 10 December 1886 while attempting to rescue the crew of the German barque Mexico, which ran aground in a gale on the Main Bank off Southport, Lancashire, while en route from Liverpool to Guayaquil in Ecuador.

Helen had only prepared one song to sing, but it was a good joiner-inner, being Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair) (* Tom Gilbert, Sandi Thom). While this was her only solo performance of the evening, Helen proved a strong support with her chorus singing. She promised to return with more songs another time. We can't wait!

Colin's first song of the evening was The old A1 (* Pete McGregor). Stan followed that with Plaisir d'amour (* Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian).

Simon completed the first rotation with The Lambton worm (roud 2337 - Clarence M. Leumane).

Keeping it very brief, here are the remaining songs new to the Dragon database:

• Colin - Rainbow warrior (* Patricia Middleton, Douglas Dinn)
• Stan - That silver-haired Daddy of mine (* Gene Autry, Jimmy Long)
• Colin - Condoleezza's Cowboys (* Pete McGregor)
• Stan - The end of the world (* Arthur Kent, Sylvia Dee)
• Stan - I will always love you (* Dolly Parton)

Denny finished the evening with Pleasant and delightful (roud 660, laws O30).

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Vistors welcome

Bob Watson who died on 31st May

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session saw us able to welcome two new first time visitors: Richard and Anne are from the Stroud area and they brought some excellent songs, singing and playing to our evening as well as their two very well behaved canine companions. We hope they return soon. We really have had some great visitors recently and long may it continue. Perhaps some of them will even become regular?

This Friday there will be no official theme once again though you are welcome to bring your own or make one up as you go along. A bit of an early warning - next week's report is likely to be brief, probably without a YouTube playlist. Normal service should be resumed the following week.

Back to last week's session, Colin, MC as usual, opened the account in memory of the recently deceased Bob Watson by singing Bob's Shantyman.

Richard and Anne opened their Dragon account with No telling (* Linda Thompson) and Harvest moon (* Neil Young).

Bob's first song was So much trouble (* Brownie McGhee) and Sue's was Beyond the sea (Charles Trenet, Albert Lasry, Jack Lawrence). The latter being an English language version of Charles Ternet's La Mer.

Simon marked the 81st anniversary of the Normandy landings and completed the first rotation with D-Day Dodgers (Lance-Sergeant Harry Pynn).

In the second rotation Anne sang Cold Missouri Waters (* James Keelaghan) and Richard gave us his own version (*# Richard Cox) of Carrickfergus (roud 17556). The popular version of the song is attributed to Dominic Behan who said he learned the third verse from Peter O'Toole. Richard's version tells of a man who would like to go abroad for his holiday, but his wife wants to stay in Ireland.

Colin debuted a song which he heard from the singing of friend of the club, Terry Cock, that being What happened to the ponies (Jim Moreland). This is the first time I've been able to find a recording of the song to add to the playlist linked from "a selection" below.

Continuing the tradition of mentioning all songs from newcomers to the club, Anne and Richard sang Stan Rogers' Lock-keeper, and Richard went solo on his own version (*# Richard Cox) of Spencer the Rover (roud 1115) in which Spencer is dissatisfied with the service being provided by the council in Stroud. He tries moving to Wales, but finally returns.

On the next rotation Richard and Anne gave us Graham Nash's Wasted on the way (*), and Richard sang The man who wrote the songs (*) which was written by our very own Derek Brinkley who had paid us a long awaited visit only the week before.

Returning to singing solo, Anne performed In search of angels (* Calum McDonald, Rory McDonald) from the band Runrig, of who she was clearly a fan having attended their last gig in Stirling in 2018.

Richard's last song of the evening was Chris Smither's Origin of species (*).

Sue sang her own song, Recycled teenager (#) and Bob evoked Lynyrd Skynyrd's version of J J Cale's Call me the breeze (*).

Simon finished the session off with Stan Rogers' Northwest passage.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 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 (#).

A welcome return

Redcliffe Wharf, Bristol (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last Friday's Dragon Folk Club session was special to those of us who have been around for a while. Not only did we have a highly respectable head count, being joined by regular irregulars Roger, Stuart and Steve, but were able to welcome back to the fold the long absent Derek and Maggie, complete with new canine companion Bertie.

Like last week's, this week's session will be without a theme so as usual anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Despite having memory issues and having not sung in public for three and a half years, Derek made a valiant attempt with four songs from his formerly vast repertoire. Both Derek and Maggie joined in with numerous choruses in fine voice and we hope to see them again soon.

Colin started us off with Last night I had the strangest dream (Ed McCurdy) and Roger followed him with This land is your land (Woody Guthrie).

Stuart had expected to be accompanied by Carrie, so when she turned out to be unavailable he had to quickly rework his set-list. His first was Bert Jansch's Soho (*).

Simon opened his account with Bonny ship the Diamond (roud 2172).

Paul sang Song for Ireland (Phil Colclough, June Colclough) and Denny stayed in the Irish Sea with The Ellan Vannin tragedy (Hughie Jones).

Derek offered us the first song he had sung at the beginning of his singing career, suggesting that this evening was the end of it (we hope not). The song was Roger Watson's Invalid miner (#).

Steve closed the first rotation with The rare ould times (Pete St John).

In the second rotation Stuart gave us a song new to the Dragon database which I believe was How long, how long blues (* Leroy Carr).

Derek's second song was one I think he calls The lobster (roud 149) though I wouldn't be surprised if he collected it from Cyril Barber who apparently called it Jimmy Johnson. His next song was Mary went to a tea party (# roud 24991) which he collected from Bertha Brown.

Colin sang Robb Johnson's More than enough (*).

The last "new" song of the evening came from Stuart and was Roger McGuinn's version of the traditional He was a friend of mine (*) which deals with the subject of John F Kennedy's assassination. Stuart's final performance was a repertoire first with Lady Franklin's lament (roud 487, laws K09).

Derek's final song was Jack Hall (roud 369, laws L5) and the final song of the evening, coming from Steve, was Leave her Johnny (roud 354).

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

(Number of people present - 9 of whom 8 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 (#).

Sea and land

Dungeness (Photo: Simon Meeds)

It was another great session at the Dragon Folk Club last week. Rob made one of his occasional appearances to give us some great unaccompanied singing and we enjoyed a first visit from Mark who provided more unaccompanied singing as well as the unusual but enjoyable experience of solo five string bass guitar.

There will be no set theme again this week though that doesn't preclude people arriving with their own or something developing over the course of the evening. Remember that even when we set a theme it is always just for fun and very much optional.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with Steve Knightley's Cousin Jack. Rob followed on with a different version of Geordie (* roud 90), which I have found in the singing of June Tabor.

Simon sang The Handweaver and the factory maid (roud 17771) and Mark's first contribution was Cyril Tawney's Grey funnel line.

Denny sang another song which I found in June Tabor's repertoire: Lisbon (roud 551, laws N8) and Paul finished the first rotation with The ship in distress (roud 807).

As usual I will mention all of newcomer Mark's songs together with anything else that needs highlighting.

Mark announced his second song as O my love's gone, which is a version of The forsaken mermaid (roud 466, laws K17).

Colin's version of The soldier and the sailor (roud 350) included versions with relatively modern verses including one about a "radiation-proof room".

Rob sang two songs written by his late friend Adey Shaw. The first was Monkey in the hold (*). The other one, about Adey's cat called Bosun, which was killed by a dog is simply To Bosun (*#).

Mark sang two of his own songs: Back and forth (*# Mark Gunner) and When it ends (* Mark Gunner). His last two songs of the evening were The crafty ploughboy (* roud 2637, laws L1) and Stan Rogers' Mary Ellen Carter.

Denny closed the evening with Dave Dodds' I can hew boys.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 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 (#).

Follow my leader or be miserable

The Jacobite about to leave Mallaig station
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

At last week's Dragon Folk Club session we were back to being quorate, and there was no official theme in sight. Two things emerged though. Simon tried to follow Colin thematically on each of his turns, and Paul tried to out-miserable our resident blues-man, Bob, while others joined in that pursuit from time to time.

Colin, back as MC after a short break, started us off with Pete Budd's Somerset born and proud (*). It was the only new song for the Dragon database this week - though definitely previously sung at the club in May 2014 if at no other time. Simon took us in a southerly direction to Dorset for The Yetties' version of Buttercup Joe (roud 1635).

Denny's first song of the evening was Linden Lea (William Barnes, Ralph Vaughan Williams) and Paul gave us Somewhere to begin (T R Ritchie).

Bob said he had wondered how Gram Parsons' Luxury liner could be made of just 40 tons of steel until he realised it referred to a railway (railroad) locomotive rather than to a great ship.

Sue completed the first rotation with The whistling gypsy (roud 1, child 200 - Leo Maguire).

When Colin sang If (David Gates) Simon responded with another love song albeit unrequited and slightly creepy: Elusive butterfly (Bob Lind). Simon pointed out that in the early 1980s Paul Gambaccini declared on BBC Radio that Telly Savalas' version of If was the UK number one hit with the shortest title and Simon thought the record probably stood. Wikipedia says that "In the U.S., Bread's tune was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with 7, later matched by Britney Spears' No. 1 hit 3 in 2009." Given that 7 only reached #27 in the UK and 3 only reached #7 I would suggest that Gambaccini's statement probably still holds. In the same broadcast the song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) written by John Phillips and recorded by Scott McKenzie was said to be the longest UK #1 title. It would be much more difficult to prove whether or not that still holds. I know, this story is the antithesis of folk, but I think it's interesting if trivial and very nerdy.

Paul's first attempt at out-miserabling Bob was with The last of the great whales (Louis/Louisa Killen) to which Bob's riposte was Leon Payne's Lost highway.

Colin lightened the mood with Just kidding (# Miles Wootton, Fred Wedlock) which unfortunately cannot be linked so you can't experience the joys of clingfilm over the loo. Simon's answer to that was bed bugs eating paper off the wall in Down our street.

When Bob sang Orange Blossom Special (roud 17742 - Ervin T Rouse) he suggested there were no songs about British trains. The list, like a head of steam, started building: Last train (Stanley Accrington), Children of the train by our own Mike Starkey (not his tune in the linked video), Railway station song by Steve Andisaw (definitely worth a listen), ... To prove the point Sue sang Blackpool Belle (Howard Broadbent, Jimmy Smith).

Colin took an eco and sligtly miserable turn with Leave them a flower (Wally Whyton) and Simon followed him down the path of (anti) environmental destruction with Brian Bedford's This is the way the world ends.

Denny's contribution to the miserable theme was Ron Angel's The chemical worker's song about life inside ICI's Billingham factory and Paul continued with the negative side of industry, remembering the Aberfan disaster with Close the coalhouse door (Alex Glasgow). Maybe Bob had had enough of the misery since he added Blues stay away from me (Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Henry B Glover, Wayne Raney).

Colin sang of the trials of Wreck of the Ragamuffin (roud 10466 - John J. Stamford) so Simon followed that with the tragic end of The Bergen (Jez Lowe) which our own Derek Brinkley once claimed to be the only song written about Seaton Carew where the crewmen were buried.

Paul dredged the depths of misery with Hanging Johnny (roud 2625) and Bob made his last offering another railroad ditty: Golden Rocket (Hank Snow).

Sue finished off the session in good spirits and with High hopes (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn).

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 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 (#).

VE Day (80) 2025

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 (#).

May Day 2025

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was our first one of May, so our optional theme was that very month, and certainly there are lots of songs which mention it.

This week's theme will be VE Day and everything that goes with it. No doubt songs of war and anti-war will emerge.

We were pleased to see Stan who has been an occasional visitor for some time, as well as Stuart and Carrie who are become more frequent which is great. Denny was without Paul who was apparently biting his nails over the snooker on television.

Stand-in MC Simon, while not late, was last to arrive and so was relegated to the graveyard shift on each rotation. It was Stuart and Carrie who kicked things off with Bonny light horseman (* roud 1185).

As usual with a duo Stuart and Carrie (or should that be Carrie and Stuart?) were asked to sing again immediately and they gave us Hills of Shiloh (Shel Silverstein, Jim Friedman).

Denny started the May theme with Rosabella (roud 21134) "One Monday morning in the month of May...".

Singing I'd never find another you (* Gerry Goffin, Carole King), Stan referred to the version by Billy Fury, but here we have the original version by Tony Orlando.

Simon finished off the first rotation with Lady Franklin's lament (roud 487, laws K09). Stuart mentioned that he had been asked by someone to sing this song and wanted to play along. Simon suggested he might play the same tune again later (which he did).

On the second rotation Stuart and Carrie sang Joni Mitchell's Urge for going (*). If you watch the video, please bear with the first minute because it's worth the wait for this less-well-known of her songs.

It was on this second time round also that as promised Simon gave Stuart a chance to try his accompaniment, this time to Les Barker's Lord Franklin. Stuart continued, joined by Carrie to sing Mark Knopfler's Why worry (*).

Carrie was very pleased when Stan introduced one of her favourite songs, Don MacLean's Castles in the air (*).

Stuart and Carrie introduced yet another new song for the Dragon database in You've got to walk that lonesome valley (* roud 7098), represented here by the earliest recording of the song with The Jenkins Family singing it in 1925.

Carrie performed Jake Bugg's Country song (*) alone followed by Stan introducing us to Hier encore (Georges Garvarentz, Charles Aznavour), but in its English version: Yesterday when I was young (*), with words by Herbert Kretzmer.

Stan's final song was Always on my mind (* Wayne Carson, Mark James, Johnny Christopher). He was thinking of Willie Nelson's version, but here we have the original recording by Brenda Lee.

Simon finished off the session with Big rock candy mountain, claimed to have been written by Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock. This version is a bit harder-hitting than that sung by Burl Ives and a mainstay of BBC Radio's children's programmes.

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

(Number of people present - 5 of whom 5 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 (#).