Harbury Folk Club Reports 2012

It was the thirteenth time that Steve and Maureen had hosted the Folk Club which was reflected in the theme for the evening, “unlucky for some, maybe lucky for others”. Unluckily for some, the torrential rain during the day may have put them off from making the journey to Harbury but those lucky enough to attend were in for a treat as we enjoyed yet another evening of great music and singing.

Maureen and Janny kicked off the evening’s entertainment with two songs from the Threlfalls, “Searching for Lambs” followed by “Hedger and Ditcher” which was unlucky in two respects. Firstly, a young woman was out of luck because no one would marry her and then she was even unluckier when some rascal did marry her. Rik then reminded us it was Pete Seeger’s 93rd birthday and then sang a song he had stolen from Ron Shuttleworth about luck being on the up. He then proceeded with a song he first heard some 50 years ago from Rambling Jack Elliott. Steve then spoke some Malawian as he read a letter of thanks from the village of Namachete where a Folk Club donation had enabled them to purchase 500 exercise books and 1 eraser. “Ndikuthoza kwambiri chifukwa cha zithandizo zochulaka” translated to “we thank you for your continuous support”. Pete Grassby told us the story of a lucky Friday 13th when he sat in his car looking at a £20 note on the pavement; he eventually picked it up and went to a charity shop where he purchased his “lucky” guitar for £15. He then beautifully sang, “Down Where the Drunkards Roll” followed by “The £40 wedding” by George Thomas. Ted had been unlucky enough to get a booking at the Upton on Severn festival; he had planned to take the caravan but needed a barge instead. He sang two songs where the blokes had bad luck and the women good luck. The second song, “Rambling Sailor” told of the mariner who left the sea seeking “negotiable affection”. He does the deed but whilst asleep, the fair maiden wakes up and steals all his belongings. Peter McDonald closed the first half and had selected two Hugh Williams songs with contrasting fortunes. The first was, “Struck it Right This Time” a song of optimism and the second “Rosemary’s Sister” was very sad indeed. Rosemary’s sister never heard the bomb that fell on Bethnal Street that fateful night during the Blitz.

The Folk Club Choir opened the second half with two songs appropriate for the month of May, “Padstow” and “The May Song” (where the tenors in particular shone!). Des came up and was heard “Bending his Cordwangle” to the tune of “What shall we do with the Drunken Sailor” followed by “Deep Blue Sea” where poor old Willy got drowned. The emerging talents of Guy, Morris and Thompson entertained us with a song about not getting locked in the cupboard if having an encounter with the neighbour’s wife – David played a very confident double bass section. They followed this with “Pity Mans Pay”. Mike gave us a monologue about the struggles of Richard the Lion Heart who, unluckily for him, just couldn’t escape from Blondel’s signature tune. We then had a surprise performer all the way from Denmark. Ebbe sang about the Danish window cleaner that believed he was the best in the world at his job, as it was sang in Danish we had no way of validating the story! Keith Donnelly sang a song about “Falling in and Climbing out of Love” which he originally wrote for accompaniment on an electric guitar but played on an acoustic for us. He then captivated us with a superb acoustic version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross”. Sue and Ian closed the second half with a Bob Dylan song about sailing away for good, never to return, followed by “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor” where Sue played the banjo with Ian on guitar.

The final half included the Choir singing “Now is the Month of Maying”, Peter McDonald singing John McCutcheon’s “The Red Corvette”, Guy Morris and Thompson played “If I were a Blackbird”, Des had the audience accompany him with “Roll Alabama Roll”, Pete Grassby sang an unnamed Danish song, Keith sang “We all Live in a Yellow Submarine” in shanty mode and Sue and Ian drew the excellent evening’s entertainment to an end with “Sail away Ladies”.

The raffle raised £70 towards the Friends of Chernobyl's Children charity, which will gratefully be doubled to £140 with a matching donation from Bibby Plc. Next month’s Folk Club theme is “Colours”.

Steve & Maureen Darby

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At the 329th session of Harbury Folk Club on April 5th, the theme was ‘Light and Dark’ and the charity raffle raised £45 in aid of PHABkids, a worthy cause selected by Ian Hartland for his London Marathon run on April 22nd.

17 performers used their imagination to interpret the theme in various different ways. I started the evening with ‘Sing me a song, Mr Bloom’, a song which tells of an entertainer who brings light to the darkness of residents in an old people’s home. Terry followed with two fine ballads, beautifully sung – ‘Bay of Biscay’ and ‘Lakes of Pontchartrain’. Sue and Ted sang the topical ‘Twas on an April morning’ and then Ted reminded us of the wicked songs of Tom Lehrer with ‘National Brotherhood Week’. Debbie read one of her own poems before getting the audience to reach for the high notes in ‘You’ll never walk alone’. Janny & Maureen left us wanting more after their single song – ‘Avila’ (the Sweet Peace song) – then Rik finished the first half with ‘Stardust’ (with a very nifty guitar accompaniment) and the rather more folky ‘Spanish Lady’.

I had hoped that the second half would start with a massed orchestra of a dozen or so musicians. In the event, just five of us (Lynne, Margaret, Ted, Celia and I) got up to play the haunting tune, ‘The Slokit Light’, a melody of lament by the late Tom Anderson, inspired by the declining population of the Shetland Isles, as evidenced by the reduction of lights visible from the ferry. Des was next up with ‘Nana’s Song’ followed by Ron Shuttleworth’s classic ‘St. George for England’ (a song that Ron would have surely sung himself had he been well enough to come). Pete Mason’s songs were Jez Lowe’s ‘Idle Time’ and Peggy Seeger’s ‘Springhill Mining Disaster’ so we were grateful to the Harvesters for cheering us up with ‘Keep on the sunny side of life’, although their second, ‘Long Black Veil’, was no bundle of laughs. Keith Donnelly entertained us in his own unique style with ‘Little Miss Jekyll and Hyde’ followed by a bizarre story about a Goth wedding!

In the third half, there was time for an extra song from each of six performers. Pete Bones showed off his new guitar on ‘Clown’ and Ted closed the evening for us with ‘The Farmer’s Toast’, a song we could all get our teeth into (with some fine chorus singing).

The next meeting of the Folk Club will be on May 3rd, starting at 8pm in the Dog Inn.  Maureen & Steve will be your hosts and the theme is "Lucky for some, maybe unlucky for others".

Peter McDonald

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Peter McDonald chose the theme ‘The Environment’ for the 328th Folk Club but unfortunately he was unwell and didn’t get to host the night. The Harvesters opened with ‘Farewell to Fuinary’ and then Ian played the fiddle for Sue to do an Appalachian step dance. Stuart followed with a song about his life and then a song about the Working Man. Debbie read us 2 of her poems and we also sang happy birthday to her left hip it was 5years old that very day! John was next, he was in a Bruce Springsteen mood followed by Rik who accompanied himself on Appalachian mountain dulcimer and then Des closed the first half with ‘Farewell to England’ and ‘Windmill in Old Amsterdam’.

As it was St David’s Day, the choir opened the second half with ‘Myfanwy’ while Sue Crum’s and Lynne’s Welsh cakes were passed round (yummy). Morris, Thompson and Guy followed the theme well with ‘Green grows the Laurel and ‘Over the Lancashire Hills’, Pete Mason sang about the Islands and also performed a great version of ‘But you Go’, Pete & Liz stuck to the theme admirably with ‘Green grow the Rashes O’ and ‘The Trees they do grow high’. We then enjoyed 2 songs from Norman, a Canadian song and then in contrast one about a place called Nemprit Thrubwell (or something similar!). The Crums were next, Sue sang ‘The Dragon Song’ and Ted gave us a Flanders & Swann number called ‘The Bedstead Men’. Pete Grassby sang about the sea and then Maureen & Janny were spot on with the theme when they sang ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ and ‘Gown of Green’. Keith Donnelly closed the evening singing ‘Well Met’ and ‘Green Grow the Issues O’.

As it should have been Peter’s night, Margaret organised the raffle, provided the prizes and chose the charity which was Ovacome/Cancer Research. £62 was raised and will be winging its way to those two good causes. The theme for April’s Folk Club is ‘Light & Dark’ hosted by Peter McDonald.

Thank you to all the performers and to the enthusiastic audience who make it all worthwhile.

Sue Hartland

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The theme the meeting of the Folk Club on February 2nd was “Choruses and Refrains” and was intended to encourage a good lot of audience participation. I wasn’t disappointed.

Liz and I opened the evening with the Valentine song, which had enough choruses for us to realise that once again the attendees of the club were in fine voice as they joined in with gusto.

This atmosphere continued throughout the evening as we were treated to a variety of musical items, most of which had choruses and refrains with which we could join in.

The first half included items from Rik Middleton, followed by Terry, a relative newcomer who impressed us all with his dextrous guitar playing. It was good to see Barbara from Braunston after quite a long absence and she sang a couple of songs accompanied on her guitar. One of these was “Still Waters” – a beautifully written song penned by out own Ian Hartland. Thrup’nny Bits followed and in their repertoire had us all singing an impressive 4 part round. They were followed by Peter Mason before Janny and Maureen took us up to the first break with a couple of lovely songs with rich harmonies.

In the second half it was soon back to enthusiastic singing. After a warm up song from Liz and me, Ted and Sue followed with a couple of songs delivered to their usual high standard. This was followed by John who is now becoming quite a regular. There then followed one of the highlights of the evening when two flautists known as “Cameron” captivated the audience by playing a couple of beautiful sets of tunes. This was followed by Des who must be regarded as one of the masters of getting audiences singing, and he lived up to his reputation. Our up-and-coming local supergroup, “Guy, Morris & Thompson” treated us to a couple of delightful songs and once again the audience was captivated, particularly with the song “Bright Eyes”. The mood then changed when Keith Donnelly had us aching with laughter in his very entertaining spot which took us up to the second break.

The third half was quite short but we enjoyed repeat items from Terry, “Cameron”, “Guy, Morris & Thompson”, and Keith Donnelly. Lynne Cooke also led us in a short music sessions.

For the full list of who sang what, please see below.

The raffle raised £70 for Auditory Verbal UK, a charity that provides therapy for profoundly deaf, pre-school-age children. Many thanks to those who bought tickets. Thanks also to all who took part and helped make the evening such a pleasant experience and again thanks also to Wayne and the staff of the Dog Inn for being so hospitable and welcoming.

Who Did What

First Half
Pete & Liz: Valentine Song
Rik Middleton: Bonny Barque The Bergen, Collapse of the Cooley Dam
Terry: Alabama Rain, Why Worry Now?
Barbara: Still Waters, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter Too
Thrup’nny Bits: John Bull, Great Tom’s Cast
Peter Mason: You Won’t Make Old Bones, Slips, Jigs and Reels
Janny and Maureen: Burning of Ockendoon, Dame Durdon

Second Half
Pete & Liz: Miraculous Fish
Ted and Sue Crum: Little Gypsy Girl., It was on the Monday Morning
John: I Can Dream a Dream. Working at the Mill
Cameron: Sleeping Tune (Gordon Duncan), The Thirty year Jig, Stone of Destiny
Des Patalong: Beaks as Sharp as Razors, Noah's Ark Shanty
Guy, Morris & Thompson: Bright Eyes, The Blackbird
Keith Donnelly: My sister and Laura and me, I wish I was Rolf Harris

Third Half
Terry: (I forgot!)
Cameron: (I forgot this as well, but it was lovely!)
Lynne: Princess Royal, Speed the Plough
Guy, Morris & Thompson: White Cockade
Keith Donnelly: This was unforgettable, but I forgot! Doh !!!

Pete Bones

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The theme for the Harbury Folk Club number 326 was “Kings, Queens & Castles”. The room was bursting at the seams, and the balancing act of getting performers to and from the “stage” further complicated by a couple of large (in numbers) groups, and the temporary placement of a food heating cabinet occupying half the stage area. We apologise to those in the audience who could not get a seat but, with normal club humour, everybody adapted to the limited available space.

Unlike other folk club correspondents, we do not try and make a list of who sung/played what. We are instead busy enjoying the acts and, not being seasoned folkies, most of the offerings are new to us. We do though keep a record of who performed and try to give an idea of the off theme topics that sneak into the evening.

The first half had excellent performances from Janny & Maureen, John (not the John H of the third half), Ted & Sue, Terry, Rik, Peter McD, Janny & Maureen & Harriet & Ian. Our notes suggest that most acts tried to fit in with the theme and, although the “Shinfield Boys” connection was tenuous, it was an excellent self-penned offering from Terry. Our “Scottish” representative could not resist trying to justify a Glencoe connection but did placate us with a pot of coffee.

The standard in the second half equalled the first, with fine performances from the Harbury Ukulele Band, Band & Ragged Friends, Ian & Sue, Pete Mason, Des, Keith Donnelly, Guy & Morris & Thompson. The Ukulele Band won the prize for the largest number of performers, and Guy & Morris & Thompson were awarded the endurance prize for waiting for their spot.

Our favourite third half arrived and there was now room for everybody to have their own seat. John H, a new singer to the club, was a little reluctant to perform but went down a treat. Pete Bones’s first song title, let alone the words, failed the censor’s pen, and he then had the audience choir roaming through the Streets of London. Finally, Guy & Morris & Thompson had a more relaxing spot and finished the evening on a very high note.

The raffle raised £70 for the “Caring for Life” charity based in Leeds. A great evening and thanks to all the performers, audience, the pub landlord and staff. Peter Bones will host the next Folk Club on Thursday 2nd February when the theme will be “Choruses and Refrains”, and then Peter McDonald on Thursday 1st March with a theme of “The Environment”.

Doug and Janny

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