St George's Day 2023

Now that's what I'm talking about! Last week's Dragon Folk Club session really was a triumph. There were twelve people present, ten of whom performed including four newcomers to the club (plus the two audience members were also newcomers). We can only hope that they will all return soon and that even more of you will join them. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and there was quite an eclectic mix of music and song.

The optional theme for the evening was St George's Day - we were just two days early to be celebrating it.

I assume that Paul and Denny arrived first since it was Paul who Colin asked to sing first. He stared a trend by singing Hard times of old England (roud 1206). This led later to two parodies of the same song. Paul himself sang Les Barker's Hard cheese of old England and Colin sang Grumpy old men of old England (John Conolly, Bill Meek).

Second to sing was Denny with Rolling home (to dear old England) (roud 4766). She was followed by MC Colin singing The new St George (Richard Thompson).

Malcolm was next. He sang his own song, The wild rose (Malcolm Perrett) thinking it had no connection with St George, but he was assured that St George is the patron saint of soldiers.

Bill sang in public for the first time in about thirty years. He only gave us one song, but it was a fine rendition of The water is wide (roud 87).

Rob and Sian, being a duo, were required to sing two songs in each round and the first time they gave us I am going to the west (Connie Dover) and Jordan am a hard road to travel (roud 12153).

Simon's oblique reference to St George involved a metaphorical dragon in The Lambton worm (roud 2337).

Bob gave us New train (John Prine) and Sue followed that with Jeff Lynne's Hold on tight. And so the first, rather satisfying, tour of the room was complete.

The rest of this report, as is customary, is a list of the remaining songs sung by our newcomers, Malcolm, Sian and Rob:

• Malcolm - It's a difficult question (Malcolm Perrett)
• Rob and Sian - Billy Gray (Norman Blake)
• Rob and Sian - I don't want to get married (collected from the Poplin Family of Sumter, South Carolina)
• Malcolm - Here in America (song for Sam Cooke) - (Dion DiMucci)
• Rob and Sian - Hard times come again no more (roud 2659 - Stephen Foster)
• Rob and Sian - Hush (The Manx lullaby - Arrane Ny Niee)
• Malcolm - Poles apart (Malcolm Perrett)
• Rob and Sian - Columbus stockade blues (roud 4546)
• Rob and Sian - Loch Lomond (roud 9598)

And so it fell to Paul to finish proceedings with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

(Number of people present - 12 of whom 10 performed)

Nostalgia is what it used to be after all

Leo Maguire
(1903 – 17 December 1985)

As we expected, last week's Dragon Folk Club session was down to a kernel of two singers, but sing they did. You may think a lot of the songs are not folk, but when you get two men of a similar age sat down and singing these things can happen. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit younger and I can go happily along with the same mix. So, it was quite a sixties and seventies evening, but I hope you will agree it was a good selection, even with a bit of folk and near folk mixed in.

Colin started off the evening with Hotel California (Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey). Geoff followed on with The Whistling Gypsy (roud 1, child 200), which is obviously traditional but I suspect the version Geoff sang was based on this one copyrighted in the 1950s by Leo Maguire.

Despite there being only two singers they managed to get through several songs (including the two mentioned above) not previously on the Dragon Folk Club song database, so I will list the rest of them:

• Colin - Across the universe (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 
• Colin - Vincent (Don McLean)
• Colin - Lady Madonna (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
• Colin - Hey Jude (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)

It was also Colin who finished off the evening fittingly with George Papavgeris' Friends Like These.

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

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

Easter 2023

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was actually held on Good Friday, but was optionally themed for Easter. While there were some Easter and tenuously Easter songs, I won't claim most of us stuck religiously to the title. It was great to see six singers once again and a good time was had by all, I believe.

Colin, our usual MC, started off the session on topic with Three Weeks Before Easter (roud 154).

Rob at least invoked the season with When Spring Comes In (roud 439), but Simon went a bit off the rails with Wee Pot Stove (Harry Robertson) - OK, it mentions penguin eggs.

Sue and Bob, working together, together gave us San Francisco Bay Blues (roud 20960 - Jesse Fuller). Since duets can't count for both singers, Bob followed up with Lucinda Williams' Lake Charles.

Geoff brought the first round to a close with That's What Love Will Do (Trevor Peacock) . Yes, that's Trevor Peacock who played Jim Trott in the Vicar of Dibley. The song was made famous by Joe Brown.

I'll mention the songs we sang which were new to the Dragon blog database.

Rob said that the write of his song Saint Patrick Battalion, David Rovics, is a prolific song writer. So much so that when he was once in Rob's audience, he was knocking off songs at the back of the room. Rob was a bit put out that Rovics wasn't listening until after he finished his set they had a conversation and it was clear the American had been listening as well as writing. The song tells the story of John Riley, one of the Irish fighters who switched sides in the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, joining the Mexican side as the Batallón de San Patricio.

Geoff, maybe inspired by Rob's contribution, sang Allan Sherman and Lou Busch's comedy lyrics for the Mexican Hat Dance.

Bob sang Blood Red River (roud 15807). There seem to be many versions of the song, and many related songs, but Rob's seems to have been close to, or maybe exactly, Josh White's version.

Rob gave us The Brisk Young Sailor (roud 60, laws P25). Both Roud and Laws index this song together with There is a Tavern in the Town.

It was also Rob who sang Rocking the Cradle (roud 357). He referred to a version which had inspired him. I think it may have been the one I found by Bill Jones.

Geoff sang Sally Ann, written by Alan Klein. Geoff cited the version sung by Joe Brown, but it seems to have been originally recorded by Freddie and the Dreamers.

The final newcomer song also came from Geoff, being Andy Kim's Rock Me Gently.

The session was rounded off by Colin, back on the Easter, or at least Good Friday, topic with The Old Rugged Cross (George Bennard).

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

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

Silly, nautical or naughty?

Another great session at The Dragon Folk Club with a nicely quorate six singers. There was no official theme, but since it was the day before All Fools there were plenty of songs with some degree of silliness. A bit of a nautical theme (silly or otherwise) also developed.

After a social preamble and a fashionably late start to the session Colin as MC started us off with Jez Lowe's song Candles. Bob followed this with Matchbox (Carl Perkins) and Sue with the Crawdad Song (roud 4853).

Simon gave us the first song of the evening not present in the YouTube playlist: Richard Stilgoe's Transplant Squad.

Paul sang When All Men Sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford) and Denny followed that with Pleasant and Delightful (roud 660, laws O30).

I'll leave you to investigate the "a selection" playlist linked below to see what other silliness and nauticality were on show, but I will mention those performances for which there is no representation on YouTube:

• Simon - House of the Rising Damp (Mary McCloud)
• Paul - Salty Young Sea Dog (Graham Holland)
• Colin - Laura The Leg (Mike Absalom)

And it was Colin who completed the evening with a good sing-a-long to Tom Lewis' The Last Shanty.

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

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