A quick roundup

Empty bed (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Please pardon me if I keep this report of last week's Dragon Folk Club session a bit bare bones. It's no reflection on the quality of the session, but just because I'm running a bit behind this week.

Colin as MC started us off with Mobile Bay (roud 4696), recently collected from the singing of the Bristol Shantymen, of whom our previous MC, Mike Starkey, was a member.

Heather's first song was It is no secret what God can do (* Stuart Hamblen). Heather's friend Hazel doesn't sing, but she amused us with a joke about a pirate.

Simon was tempted to take a prompt from Hazel's joke, but had to change to another song instead: Johnny Todd (roud 1102).

Paul W ventured Bold General Wolfe (roud 624) and was followed by Denny with Moon names (# Charlotte Oliver).

Paul M sang Nantucket (Jonathan Michael Peter Darely, David Robinson, Robert James Alexander Sattin, Andrew Robert Yates).

Bob woke up with the Empty bed blues (J C Johnson) and Sue brought the first rotation to a close with Red River valley (roud 756).

Songs not already mentioned that were new to the Dragon database were:

• Heather - Seven lonely nights (* Earl Shuman, Alden Shuman, Marshall Brown)
• Paul W -  Cheap boat (* Jon Heslop)
• Denny - Winchester geese (*# Ann Reader) 
• Heather - Help me make it through the night (* Kris Kristofferson)
•  Sue - Beautiful Sunday (* Daniel Boone, Rod McQueen)
•  Colin - We sing out (* Pete Seeger)

Sue closed the session with Whistling Gypsy (roud 1, child 200).

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

(Number of people present - 9 of whom 9 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though not always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

Almost normal

After a few weeks of ups and downs we were back to some sort of normality last week. The environment was acceptable, and all the usual people were present. All we were missing was a selection of welcome visitors, but we can't have everything and we have enjoyed a good variety of those in the previous weeks and months. Let's hope there are many more to come.

Colin, our usual MC, got the session going with Smith of Bristol. One source I've found claims that the song can trace its roots back to the 17th century and relates it to Spanish Ladies (roud 687), but I'm not so sure because I can't find that in any of my usual, mostly authoritative, sources. It is in Ireland sings: An anthology of modern and ancient Irish songs and ballads (Dominic Behan) [song number 83]. It doesn't have a roud number though it seems to be traditional.

Simon sang his own song, The story of John Twigg (Simon Meeds): the true story of an eccentric chap who lived in Alford, Lincolnshire.

Denny followed that with Young banker (roud 3321) and Paul gave us Adieu Sweet lovely Nancy (roud 165) which is related to Swansea town.

Sue promised something uplifting and sang The crawdad song (roud 4852) before Bob predictably brought us back down with Blood red river (roud 15807). Was Sue thinking of this later when she sang Red river valley (roud 756)?

Denny sang the first song of the evening new to the Dragon database with Charlotte Oliver's Idle women of the waterways about women who worked on the narrow boats during the Second World War in a similar way to the more familiar Women's Land Army whose members worked in the fields.

The next new song to the database was Colin's rendition of Ewan MacColl's Browned off. While this song may be new to the database it certainly isn't new to the club having been sung by our late friend, Pat. Pat was from the North East of England, so it was fitting that the songs which followed were too: Simon with The Lambton Worm (roud 2337), and Denny with Teeside Bridges (Erik Gooding), another song new to the database. Erik, a mathmatics student, worked a holiday job with the Dorman Long Company in Teeside as steel stocks piled high. Erik also worked for a year in Australia as a maths teacher at Scotch College in Melbourne.

Paul suggested that Country life (roud 1752) was first sung by music hall artist Harry Linn. Linn certainly wrote a related song, also categorised as 1752 by roud, but his song: Eggs for Your Breakfast in the Morning is rather different. What I don't know is which song came first. The Watersons got Country Life from Mick Taylor, a sheepdog trainer of Hawes in Wensleydale.

Bob added one to the database with Gram Parsons' Luxury liner and the last new entry of the evening was for Denny with Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie).

Sue closed the session with Ian Tyson's Four strong winds.

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

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

When is the blues not blue?

Lake Wakatipu, South Island, New Zealand
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

At last Friday's Dragon Folk Club there were six singers who sang 37 songs with no official theme. Pretty good going as always. Two of those wont be around this week, and another two will be missing next week then we are into holiday season when anything could happen, so we need all the support we can get from regulars, friends we know and friends we have yet to meet. You know who you are... maybe.

Colin, MCing as usual, kicked things off with John Tams' Steelos, about Steel, Peech and Tozer, a steelworks in Rotherham. From steel we moved to the sea with Simon singing Lukey's Boat (roud 1828), a comic song from the east coast of Newfoundland.

Back inland, Denny took us to South Island New Zealand and the Shotover River, which flows into Kawarau River and thence on to Lake Wakatipu. Shotover, once one of the richest gold-bearing rivers in the world, inspired Paul Metsers to write Farewell to the gold.

Paul then brought us back to England albeit a fictional place in the country, with Rose of Allandale (roud 1218 - words by Charles Jefferys and music by Sidney Nelson). So, despite beliefs to the contrary it's neither Irish, Scottish, nor strictly traditional, being written by named English composers and first published in 1833.

Bob promised to really depress us later in the evening, but in the meantime whetted our blues appetite with Blood red river (roud 15807). Following on in a red, rivery vein, Sue finished off the first round with Red river valley (roud 756). The linked recording of Bright Sherman Valley (linked with I'll be all smiles to-night love) by Luther B Clarke is the earliest recording of the song albeit not in the relatively modern popular version. Incomprehensibly this song (Red river valley) is the first of this week's that are new to the Dragon database though it certainly isn't new to the club.

Other songs sung during the evening that are new to the database include two blues parodies by Loudon Wainwright III and both sung by Paul: I'm alright and Haven't got the blues (yet). These apparently followed on from a conversation between Paul and our resident blues-man, Bob. Paul decided to look through his own collection of blues to see what he could sing - these were the only ones he decided would work (allegedly).

Other "new" songs were:

• Sue - Recycled teenager - her own song about people of a certain age meeting at ukulele jams (not on the "a selection" playlist linked below)
• Colin - It's not easy (Alan Foster) -  (not in the playlist) a parody of Eric Bogle's Now I'm easy
• Bob - Death don't have no mercy (Reverend Gary Davis) - the depressing song Bob promised us earlier
• Colin - What's the use of anything (Richard Digance) - (not in the playlist)
• Paul - Bird on the wire (Leonard Cohen)

Colin finished the evening with the eminently sing-along Air Fa La La Lo (Traditional gaelic translated by Hugh S. Roberton).

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

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

Here We Arrrrrrrrrr Again

Tuesday 19^th being International Talk Like a Pirate Day your Substitute Scribe was shocked to discover that his own rendition of Phil Tanner’s version of Henry Martin (Child 250) was the only piratical event of the evening. 

The session began with Colin singing Droylesden Wakes, which he entirely failed to record in the Book as Dreighlsdin Wakes, which was its original title before it was rendered into ‘more gradely English’!

A couple of unusual partnerships should perhaps be recorded in case they one day prove to have been the birth of a pair of world renowned Super Groups. Firstly John B, having arrived with not only his trusty bodhran but also an Egg Shaker which he had bought that afternoon and was anxious to try out, asked Colin to accompany him on guitar whilst he sang Australian Slim Dusty’s Pub With No Beer. Secondly Derek, when singing Jarama Valley (Alex McDade), asked Roger, who had earlier both sung and played Red River Valley, to reprise his harmonica part as an accompaniment.