Mike's songs

"Gresford mining disaster:
rescue team leaving the air lock"

Mike and Maggie weren't around for this session so Richard was in charge. Mike had embraced the inevitable last week by announcing the theme as "Songs that Mike sings". Most of us were able to rise to the challenge.

There were two and a half occasional visitors present.

Mervyn occasionally joins us when he's passing through on his trips between the South West and Berkshire. Understandably, he didn't attempt to match the theme, singing Rainbow connection "from the singing of Kermit the Frog". It was indeed an original song for The Muppet Movie, written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher. He went on to sing John Conolly's Punch and Judy man and Dolly Grey "collected" from the Black and White Minstrels. He also recalled an evening at another club themed as "One song to the tune of another"; as on that evening, Mervyn sang Paul Simon's Kathy's Song to the tune of The Silkie.

The other one and a half occasional visitors were Steve and Jane. We haven't seen Steve for a while, but Jane's presence is a rare treat with her well-told stories. In particular she said she is starting to tell stories from her own experience, and in that vein she recounted an incident shortly after the end of the Second World War, when a German POW turned around the expectations of the people present by performing a valiant feat.

Cohen and Sands

Leonard Cohen

This week Maggie was absent, apparently packing for a holiday with Mike in nearby Somerset. Mike was around for the first half but left early, declaring that next week should be the now customary "sing Mike's songs" evening, and will be led by Richard, who ably managed the last part of this week's session.

This week's unfamiliar face was Paul, who has visited several times in the last few months, and before that turned up at the club about twenty years ago. Paul played some of his own guitar instrumental compositions: Peppermint Nile, recalling a holiday on the river where stewards had a ready supply of peppermint to combat stomach problems, and an unnamed tune which, when Richard asked what it was called, was quickly named "Richard's question".

Apologies for lateness - law and order

John Tams

It has taken a while to put together the report for last week's session. For that I apologise. I hope it's better late than never.

Mike kicked off with Outward bound. He challenged us to say why this shanty was not a shanty. The answer is that a shanty is either an outward bounder or a homeward bounder. A shantyman would not sing an outward bounder while homeward bound or vice versa but this song includes verses for both outward and homeward bound. In fact it would be sung for hauling while in port but a shanty was by definition a song to accompany work at sea. Hence, it is not really a shanty.

Special edition

Jane Turriff

This is a special edition report, which serves as an addendum to the report on the session of Friday 30 August 2013. It picks up where that report left off, and covers some more of the songs sung on that evening, together with some stories behind the songs.