On a roll

Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)

The Dragon Folk Club has really been on a roll recently with a host of "new" singers gracing us with their presence and entertaining us with their songs... and hopefully vice versa. Last week the newcomers were Susan and Steve who played and sang together when their turns came throughout the evening.

It was our MC, Colin, who started off the evening with John O' Dreams (Bill Caddick, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky). Maybe strange to start off the evening by sending everyone to sleep?

Next came Sue with Island in the sun (Harry Belafonte, Irving Burgie), no doubt marking the recent death of Harry Belafonte, and Bob with Eddie Heywood Sr's Pawn shop blues.

Steve and Susan's first contribution was Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster). Being a duo they were requested to go straight into another song which they did with Gordon Lightfoot's Redwood hill. This was before Lightfoot's recent death.

Denny sang The white cockade, which since I wasn't present I have assumed to be roud 709 rather than roud 191 - sorry if my assumption is incorrect. In retrospect I think I probably was wrong. My excuse is that 709 is The white cockade whereas 191 is effectively The <insert colour of your choice> cockade.

Paul's first song was Tom Waits' Innocent when you dream, and Geoff finished off the first round with As I roved out (roud 277, laws O17).

As is customary, I will list the remaining songs sung by newcomers to The Dragon Folk Club, Susan and Steve:

• Dimming of the day (Richard Thompson)
• If it hadn't been for love (Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton)
• Tequila sunrise (Don Henley, Glenn Frey)
• The pilgrim: chapter 33 (Kris Kristofferson)
• The ballad of St Anne's Reel (David Mallett)
• The boys in the barroom (Robert Hunter)
• I'll be your baby tonight (Bob Dylan)
• Key to the highway (Charles "Chas" Segar, William "Big Bill" Broonzy)

It fell to Geoff to close the session, which he did with Paul Simon's Slip slidin' away.

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

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

Seek and ye shall find

Judith Durham in 1970

OK, so that went well didn't it. With Colin away last week I did a bit of extra publicity and... Geoff and Simon ended up serenading each other for the evening. Seriously, we had a pretty good do, with plenty of singing and a bit of chat thrown in.

Since Geoff arrived just before Simon he was called to sing first. He sang Good Hearted Woman (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson) which he said was written during a card game, inspired by Tina Turner and the abuse she suffered while married to Ike.

Both Geoff and Simon sang songs which had been recorded by The Seekers to mark the death of original lead singer Judith Durham. Geoff sang Bush girl (words by Henry Lawson) and Simon sang Morningtown ride (Malvina Reynolds).

Simon marked Colin's absence by singing a song from his repertoire: Cousin Jack (Steve Knightley).

There was a brief conversation about songs which while good aren't very nice, usually it seems in terms of misogyny. Note that we don't avoid songs which may cause offence, particularly when those songs are historical artefacts telling of past attitudes. There followed a few of these, possibly including:

• Geoff - Step it out Mary (Sean McCarthy)
• Simon - Laird of the dainty Dounby (roud 864)
• Geoff - As I roved out (roud 277, laws O17)
• Simon - No Sir no (roud 146)

Simon closed the evening with Jean Ritchie's The L&N don't stop here anymore.

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

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

May I have some more?

Hawthorn 1 (Photo: Chris Phillips)

Last week's session had no official theme but there were clearly a lot of songs left over from the previous week's May Day celebration. It was good to see Geoff after a short break and also to welcome Steve C and Jane, whose story telling lends a texture to the evening.

There will be no theme again this Friday (17 May) so anything goes. Perhaps there could even still be some unsung May songs lurking in the dusty corners of someone's repertoire?

Last week, Colin was MC as usual and started off the unofficial May left-overs theme with We'll Have A May Day (Matt McGinn). This was followed by Derek's traditional singing of The Constantine, a version of Hal An Tow (Roud 1520) sung in the village of Constantine, just down the road and one week later than its more famous neighbour, Helston.

May Day 2018

Padstow 'Obby 'Oss (Photo: Bryan Ledgard)

Last week's session had the theme of May, being our closest to the first of that month. So we roved out with Colin, our MC, who started the evening off with the Pleasant Month Of May (Roud 153).

Mike led us on our customary journey to Helston in Cornwall with Hal An Tow (Roud 1520) and Colin took us 40 miles North East to Padstow, singing the Padstow Morning Song (Roud 305). Towards the end of the evening Colin sang another song with Padstow connections, though also known in other areas of the country including Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire; this was the May Day Carol (Roud 305).

A random selection - almost

Pecker Dunne

Another themeless session last week which I think remained pretty much that way, no major themes emerging through the evening. Tom was a very welcome visitor, ahead of his spotlight set at Chipping Sodbury Folk Night on 1 June.

As usual, Colin was MC, and as often happens he started off the evening, this time with George Papavgeris' As Long As Someone Sings A Song.

Derek continued his ongoing May theme well into the evening, starting with The Verdant Braes Of Skreen (Roud 419).

Geoff challenged me to find the version he sang of his first song. Derek suggested looking up Elizabeth Cronin but I'm afraid I failed, so here is Séamus Ennis' version of As I Roved Out which seems similar enough. Apparently Ennis recorded Cronin's singing, so perhaps this isn't such a surprise.