Homeward bound

Ruins of downtown Hinckley after the 1894 fire

Last Friday's session was the last time we shall see Gabe, at least in the near future, as he will soon be heading home to the USA. I'm not sure we can really say a theme emerged from the evening, but if there was one it might have been American songs of various sorts with a couple of local West Country dialect songs thrown in to challenge Gabe.

I'm a bit short on time to write the report, so I will concentrate here on mentioning those which I was not able to find on YouTube. For the rest, please refer to the "a selection" link below. Despite quite a lot of chat, initially on the subject of beer, we got through a healthy number of songs: 36 if my count is correct.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with You can't get petrol, written by Jimmy Crowley. While there doesn't seem to be a shortage of fuel at the moment the prices have certainly gone up so there may be some self-rationing going on.

Simon's self-penned song, The Story of John Twigg to the tune of Villikins and his Dinah (laws M31A/B, roud 271) tells the true story of an eccentric of the town of Alford in Lincolnshire who got up to all sorts of mischief during his life.

Gabe sang Charlie Maguire's The Hinkley fire. The entire town of Hinckley, Minnesota burned in a giant forest fire in 1894. The song tells of James Root and his Afro-American fireman Jack McGowan in one episode of bravery that was previously "unsung". They rescued nearly 300 people by backing up a train nearly five miles to Skunk Lake, where the passengers escaped the fire.

Geoff finished off the evening with The City of New Orleans written by Steve Goodman. Gabe recalled that his father, when a student in Chicago, often saw Steve Goodman performing.

And so, we wish Gabe good travels through Europe and on home to Minnesota. Let's hope we see you and your lovely wife Sarah again in the future.

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

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