EF-in saints and sinners

Glendalough (Photo: Allan Henderson)

This week's report is going to be slightly shorter than usual but you will find that a remarkable count of 34 of the 35 songs we sang have been found on YouTube, so there's plenty to listen to behind the link at the bottom of this report.

Colin was MC as usual and started off the evening with John Dory (Roud 249, Child 284).

Geoff went to the song catalogue of the Eagles for Jack Tempchin's Peaceful Easy Feeling.

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.