Folk wherever it comes from

Bob Dylan at the Aust Ferry, just twelve miles from
our venue at The Bridge Inn, Shortwood

Last Friday's session saw the return of erstwhile regulars to the Dragon Folk Club: John B, Alan K and Steve G. It was great to see all of them. While we had seen John once before in 2023 I am pretty sure Alan and Steve hadn't joined us since well before the pandemic. It's great to see a good variety of singers at recent sessions. Everyone is welcome any Friday whether they have been to The Bridge recently, long ago or never before.

We're not all Americana by any means, but this session saw quite a lot of that genre come out for the evening. Whatever is your thing in acoustic music, wait a few weeks and you may well find it come up in a Dragon Folk Club session.

Colin was MC as usual and started off proceedings with Mick Softley's Goldwatch Blues. John B followed with Leon Payne's Lost Highway.

After some quick last-minute guitar tuning Simon gave us Tom Paine's Bones (Graham Moore).

Steve had a bit of a false start when a technical failure of a table caused his full beer glass to fall to the floor, but he eventually got into John Smith's Salty and Sweet. Alan followed that with One too many mornings, the first of several Bob Dylan songs heard in the course of the evening.

And so we had completed the first circuit of the room.

There are several things I want to draw out of the evening, so I hope I can do that accurately.

As already mentioned, there were several Bob Dylan songs. Apart from One too many mornings we had three more, all of which were new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily first outings at the Dragon Folk Club:

• Steve G - You're gonna make me lonesome when you go
• John B - It's all over now Baby Blue
• John B - Chimes of freedom

We had two songs from Leonard Cohen:

• Alan K - Suzanne
• John B - Tower of Song (another one new to the database)

Apart from the aforementioned Salty and Sweet, Steve G gave us another John Smith song, There is a Stone.

Other songs new to the Dragon database were:

• Alan K - I still miss someone (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash)
• Colin - Rolling Drunk (Chris Sugden) - one of two songs not in the "a selection" playlist linked below
• Steve G - Catch of the Day (Steve Goodfield) - i.e. his own song
• Steve G - Lawrence, KS (Josh Ritter)
• Alan K - A clear, still day (Alan Kirkpatrick) - another self-penned song and the second one not to feature in the YouTube playlist
• Steve G - Hold On (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan)
• Colin - The Song goes on (Mick Ryan) - A posthumous tribute to Cyril Tawney

It finally came to John B to close in rousing chorus with Down by the Riverside (roud 11886), yet another one new to the database.

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

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

I'm sure we could squeeze some more in

Squeeze Guts Alley, Truro
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

There was no theme at last week's Dragon Folk Club session. Eight singers met and sang the night away.

MC Colin started things rolling with The Bristol ship the Matthew written by local shanty singer Maurice Flay, obviously about John Cabot's and his voyages to America. The song is set to the tune of Bonnie Ship the Diamond (roud 2172).

Simon open his account with Dave Sudbury's King of Rome, though he later went on to follow Colin's lead with local shanty singer Ian "Nobby" Dye's Welsh Back Quay.

Rob's first song of the evening was The Golden Glove (roud 141, laws N20), a new song to the Dragon's database, but I can't say for certain one that's never been sung here before - surely most indexed traditional songs have been.

Geoff sang Gone to America (Peter Knight) from the Steeleye Span stable. Paul reclaimed Rosabella (roud 21134) after Denny borrowed it the week before for our May theme. Denny went on to give us Willy 'Ole Lad (Keith Marsden).

Sue cited Mary Hopkin when singing Those were the days (Gene Raskin, Boris Fomin). Simon pointed out that it was originally a Russian song called Дорогой длинною (By the long road - Boris Fomin, Constantin Podrevsky) - listen to the linked performance of Those were the days by Daria Kulesh as she sings it in four languages.

Bob finished the first round with Matchbox (Blind Lemon Jefferson). While I've previously credited Carl Perkins, I think Bob's version may owe at least as much to Jefferson's Match Box Blues, so I have linked that this time.

Later in the evening Rob's Squeezy Belly Alley (Maggie Duffy) is of interest here mainly because it provides a link to this week's featured image. Simon mentioned Squeeze Guts Alley in Truro; Squeezy Belly Alley is in Port Isaac and both are in Cornwall.

Apart from The Golden Glove, already mentioned above, the new entries in the Dragon Database this were were:

• Paul - Bye Bye My Roseanna (roud 12380)
• Bob and Sue - Things (Bobby Darin)
• Bob and Sue (a work in progress) - Upside down (Paloma Faith, Andrew Nicholas Love, Jos Hartvig Jorgensen, Belle Sara Humble)
• Bob - My Girl Josephine (Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew)
• Colin - Six Feet of Mud (Cyril Tawney)
• Paul - Nelson's Death (roud 18837)

The evening was closed with Simon singing When All Men Sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

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

May the force be with you

Stokes Croft, Bristol
Not too far from Gloucester Road
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We had another cracking session at the Dragon Folk Club last week. Despite five of the previous week's eight singers being absent we still met as six and managed to sing a whopping forty two songs. It's not quite a record, but it was a very good effort.

We were a little late getting round to our annual "May" theme this year because of some little royal event or other. We sang a reasonable number of songs about the month of May before we started to move to songs about people called May and songs including the word "may". I won't try to work out which were which because I would no doubt fail somewhere.

In the absence of Colin, Simon was MC and started the evening with Claudy Banks (roud 266, laws N40).

In his absence Denny took as her own one of the songs Paul usually sings with Rosabella (roud 21134). Geoff borrowed Galway Shawl (roud 2737) from Simon. No, we don't really own songs, but he did make an unnecessary apology. Steve C gave us Just as the tide was a-flowing (roud 1105).

Steve and Sue opened their account with Maggie May (roud 1757), closely followed by Nobody knows you when you're down and out (roud 18521 - Jimmy Cox). And so ended the first of seven tours of the room during the evening.

I'll mention the songs new to the Dragon database although that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't been sung here before. Unsurprisingly, most of them come from relative newcomers to the club, Steve and Sue whose repertoire is not yet a matter of record.

• Steve and Sue - Run for home (Alan Hull)
• Steve and Sue - Roll me up and smoke me when I die (Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon, Rich Alves, John Colgin, Mike McQuerry)
• Steve and Sue - Gloucester Road (Andrew McGillan - "inspired by John Denver")
• Steve and Sue - Walking back to Blueberry Hill (Billy Mitchell - about Fats Domino)
• Steve and Sue - Killing the Blues (Rowland Salley)
• Steve and Sue - My walking shoes (don't fit me anymore) (Paul Williams, Jimmy Martin)
• Steve and Sue - You ain't goin' nowhere (Bob Dylan)
• Steve and Sue - Corinne, Corrina (roud 10030 - first recorded by Bo Carter)
• Geoff - I did what I did for Maria (Mitch Murray, Peter Callander - recorded by Tony Christie)
• Steve and Sue - Further on up the road (Bruce Springsteen)

The only song of the evening not on the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below was Steve C's When Adam was first created (roud 728).

The session was completed by Steve and Sue performing Bob Dylan's I'll be your baby tonight.

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

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

King Charles III Coronation

Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)

We met the day before the coronation in the knowledge that we probably didn't all have the same view of the King or of his coronation. Not all of the songs sung had anything to do with the theme, but those that were sung were both sung and heard non-judgmentally. The sentiment of each song may or may not represent the thoughts or beliefs of the singer.

The group of singers who met numbered a very respectable eight persons and good sing was indeed had.

Colin, as MC and first arrival, started off with Rod Shearman's London River.

Some of us were fairly tenuous in our connections, satisfying ourselves with mentions of some king or queen, and so did Denny who sang Vin Garbutt's Beggar's Bridge.

Paul had written one song especially for the evening, a version of Bold Riley (roud 18160), which I suppose he called Old Charlie. Charles III is of course the oldest British monarch to be crowned. Later he even wrote another song on the fly: a version of Roll the Old Chariot (roud 3632) which he presumably called Roll the Old Carriage.

Rob often reacts to the words of Child Ballads, realising that either the story isn't finished or lacks some element of exposition - he proceeds then to write a companion song which attempts to fill in the gaps. In just this spirit he sang his own rewrite of the Hindhorn (roud 28, child 17) story, which he calls Young Horn and Lady Jean.

Simon brought out the kings in force with a rendition of The Vicar of Bray (roud V4266).

Bob created a secondary theme for the evening (not followed up on) which referred to the recent death of Gordon Lightfoot. On this theme Bob sang Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain.

Sue took to the plains of the Wild West with Don't Fence Me In (Robert Fletcher, Cole Porter).

Geoff completed the first round of the evening with Joseph McHugh (Dermot Kelly).

I was particularly pleased to hear Rob's version of The Handsome Cabin Boy (roud 239, laws N13) which I don't think I'd heard for many years at a folk club. I wonder where Rob got his starting line "It's of a lass for Staffordshire as you will understand..."? As with all folk songs, the words vary, but the more usual version seems to be "'Tis of a handsome female, as you will understand". It's the specificity that is of interest, not simply the difference.

The other new entry in the database this week was Bob and Sue's singing of Creeque Alley (John Phillips, Michelle Phillips). It caused some discussion, so I hope this helps resolve things...

Recorded by the Mamas and the Papas, the band of which the writers were members, the song narrates the story of how the group was formed, and its early years. The title of the song, which does not occur in the lyrics, is derived from Creque or Crequi (pronounced "creaky") Alley, home to a club in the Virgin Islands where the New Journeymen, John and Michelle Phillips' original group, spent time on holiday.

The lyrics mention, directly or indirectly, many artists and bands who were part of the folk music scene at the time, including fellow band members Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, and Barry McGuire of The New Christy Minstrels. Several locations important to the band's story are mentioned, such as the Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village. Michelle Phillips is referred to in the lyrics by her nickname Michi ("John and Michi were getting kind of itchy, just to leave the folk music behind"). John Phillips said that he wrote the song to tell their producer Lou Adler "who was who" in the band's history.

Rob sang his version of Raggle Taggle Gypsy (roud 1, child 200), which while faithful to the usually words, puts a darker slant on the mood of the song - in the linked version Alison Moyet goes some way to getting the same feel as Rob.

It was Geoff who finished off the session with Dandy Vernon (Michael Snow).

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

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

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)