Saturday, June 25, 2011

Being The 24th of June, 2011 ...

Mr Beresford Greene bravely stepped up as MC.
He did not look thus:


He has been observed to be so-attired in the past, and that noble countenance, (suggestive of wisdom and intelligence,) is unmistakable.

Berry began by delivering an impassioned speech of appreciation and gratitude to David, our sabbatical host. This was warmly greeted with widespread agreement and rapturous applause.

Then we got on with the business of the evening ...

Hey Baby: Berry & Ken
Tom Bowling: Colin
The Rose: Lynda
Picture on the Wall: Angela
Down in Cupid's Garden: Roland
Polly Oliver: Margaret
How Can I Tell You?: Jane & Roger
Windy Old Weather: Mave
Heart Like Wheel: Ken
Fathom the Bowl: Nigel
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times: Roger
My Dearest Dear: Jenny
Hares on the Mountain (Knife at the Window): Bill
Sisters of Mercy: Paul
Lonesome Town: Berry & Ken
When All Men Sing: Colin
Sally Free and Easy: Lynda
Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone: Angela
Lord Franklin: Roland
Go Away From my Window (It Ain't Me, Babe): Margaret
Barbr'y Allen: Jane
No Regrets: Roger
Chickens in the Garden: Mave
When the Ship Comes in: Ken
The Census (William Gill): Nigel
My Cape Breton Home/The Black Joke: Bill
Holmfirth Anthem: Jenny & Bill
Your Cheating Heart: Paul, Berry & full cast

Sympathetic reference was made regarding the recent passing of Mike Waterson, (RIP,) who will be sadly missed on the folk scene.

I counted at least three musical tributes to Mike during the evening.
Mave's rendition of  'Chickens in the Garden' was delightful.
For future reference the choral progression of the legacy is as follows:
  • Cosy little farm
  • Cow
  • Pig
  • Sheep
  • Goat
  • Stock
  • Fields
  • Barn
  • Chickens
We'll all remember that next time, won't we?
(... and Angela volunteered to do sign-language!)

Many thanks, Berry:
YOU DONE GOOD!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to such an enjoyable evening, and it only cost you £2.00!


7 comments:

Parkingspaceman said...

Where to start?
a) It's "When the Ship Comes in" - and I've already had occasion to correct DBS&W on this exact matter (Being the 20th of May q.v.) - BLACK MARK, DBS&W! Lines or detention loom, if you transgress again! Bring back the cane, say I.
b) what DBS&W refers to as "It's Only Love" has the actual title of "Heart Like Wheel", composed by Anna McGarrigle (not Kate, as I mistakenly said) c 1975.
c) even colloquial use cannot justify DBS&W's more esoteric grammatical abuses. For the record, I think Berry did well (although he fell at the old "swap positions" hurdle, cunningly placed by examiner Jenny Webb, and so must remain a Novice and on probation for the time being).
A Good Evening - and no poetry or prose, just good music and fun all the way- AS IT SHOULD BE (imho).

The City Folk Club said...

As ever I am grateful for PSM's corrections of those song titles which have been duly rectified, so nobody will have a clue what all this is about.

Questions:
Should 'heart like wheel' be hyphenated?
Why is 'novice' capitalised?

I never abuse my granny.

Parkingspaceman said...

Perhaps these answers will ease DBS&W's confusion:
a) it depends;
b) you don't have an extant granny to abuse, so your protestation is of little avail. we know what you're like.

Parkingspaceman said...

It further bothers me that DBS&W, in writing "Go Away From my Window (It Ain't Me, Babe): Margaret" places the correct title in brackets, and introduces such wording as to invite confusion with the John Jacob Niles song 'Go From My Window'.
Tch!

The City Folk Club said...

It is DBS&W's role in life to be easily confused ... and to share such confusion with others!

I am impressed that someone else has heard of John Jacob Niles.
I suspect Mr Dylan of plagiarism, but I acknowledge that 'the folk process' and 'oral/aural transmission' might be involved.

I am a forgiving person.

Parkingspaceman said...

Please see http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Go-%27Way-From-My-Window-lyrics-Joan-Baez/2BDB97CED4C628F748256C9C00213847
- this is JJ Niles, which bears scant relation to Bob Dylan's song, except for the first line, which might be quotation, plagiarism or mistaken for originality - I'm sure Mr Dylan ain't sayin' (ev'rything he's a-saying, we can say it just as good -to paraphrase One Too Many Mornings). I confused the JJN title with the 16c song Go From My Window, which I've heard done recently, and very well. (If we keep this diatribe up, someone might turn it into a book or a tv series... MONEY!)

The City Folk Club said...

The clue lies in that first line: “Go [away] from my window.”

Both Dylan’s and JJN’s songs have their roots in the tradition of night visiting, about which there are many songs in the folk canon.

The narrative can be summarised:
Man, being distracted by carnal thoughts, can’t sleep.
He journeys through inclement weather and difficult terrain to the humble dwelling of his true love.
There is whispered conversation through a bedroom window.
Woman, fearful of parental disapproval, tries to send man away.
Depending on which version you study, there may or may not be conjugation.
At the end of a protracted conversation a cock might crow, and it is usually understood that the man eventually gathers up his clothes and rides away.

The lesson, whatever the outcome of the tale is:
It’s always HER fault!

Now, who really wrote Romeo and Juliet?