Newsletter No 380 31 May 2016

All reported an enjoyable, laughter-filled night with hosts KAMRAN & SUE and even one of three first-time audience members was moved to promise a poem for next week after having a good time. KAMRAN got the ball rolling with DESPERADO and then accompanied BANJO JOHN for the DALLAS BLUES so no wonder SIMON was seeking JESUS ON THE MAINLINE. Next SUE was sporting her ROSE TATTOO (Dropkick Murphys) to which BRIAN added there’s always one SOMEWHERE OUT THERE (from An American Tale) before accompanying BAZ with THE WATER IS WIDE. With a Dolly Parton favourite ROD pleaded with JOLENE before JANET went more traditional for THE FIREMAN'S SONG leaving GEOFF to swing back with Eleanor McEvoy’s YOU'LL HEAR BETTER SONGS THAN THIS. Then from deepest Yorkshire ED turned to WILLIE OIL LAD, for Martin's Hillary in absentia, and JO advised us DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALRIGHT to which CHRIS replied SMART-ASS by The Lillingtons leaving JOAN to declare PEACE (part 1) and GRASSROOTS to lead us in the CIRCLE DANCE (Bonnie Raitt) before BANJO JOHN had us all singing come to me my MELANCHOLY BABY as the interval approached.

The customary Raffle saw a big Box of Tea won by SUE, the Chocolates won by ANN and the Wine deservedly won by MARTIN since he buys most tickets before KAMRAN gave us those DOWNTOWN BLUES and ROD started a REVOLUTION (Beatles). Any way up BRIAN wanted things MY WAY but BAZ was enamoured of MOLLY MALONE leaving ANN to chase after the MR PUNCH AND JUDY MAN before JOAN declared PEACE (part 2). In another way MICK HARE declared a kind of peace MR TAMBOURINE MAN before SUE delivered the BALLAD OF CURSED ANNA and SIMON went CROSSING MUDDY WATERS (John Hiatt). Amid this turmoil no wonder ED turned to the UNIVERSAL SOLDIER but GEOFF turned to MR DREAM SELLER as CHRIS settled for nature with BLACKBIRD. Hurtling towards a climax ROD was still looking for a TEQUILA SUNRISE while KAMRAN was asking us to DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME before ED summed up the night with ALL THE GOOD TIMES are past and gone. Top notch!

Newsletter No 379 24 May 2016

ED & SUE masterfully hosted a full house for our Bob Dylan’s Birthday celebration and we set sail with BANJO JOHN leading us in an all in band up for MR TAMBOURINE MAN followed by ED with MASTERS OF WAR and MARK with LAY LADY LAY. Raising the tempo DON & HEATHER introduced us to QUINN THE ESKIMO before SIMON gave us some respite and had us singing about HARD TIMES only for ROD to return to theme with LAY DOWN SALLY and DAVE reminded us of THE LONESOME DEATH OF HATTIE CARROLL. Another moment of relief came from JAN who sang the lovely VERDANT BRAES OF SKREEN followed by MIKE with YOU’LL NEVER LEAVE HARLAN ALIVE, KATH & STAN with WILLOW GLEN and ALAN with WHERE RAVENS FEED. Back on theme JAMES came up with SHE BELONGS TO ME before BRIAN announced I will MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE until JONATHAN & CHARLIE took us off to AMERICA. Then PETE said IF NOT FOR YOU as PHIL was TANGLED UP IN BLUE leaving FREE SPIRITS to recapture the feel of the WAGON WHEEL and PAUL to lead a band up to the interval with BLOWING IN THE WIND.   

A bumper raffle saw some Wine go to Robin, the good old English Beer to Paul, another Wine to Vic, the Room Perfume go to Martin and the Cadbury’s Roses Chocolates go home with Hilary. 

The second half began with ARTHUR riding in O’RAFFERTY’S MOTOR CAR and RICHARD celebrating his facial hair with an ODE TO THE PIRATE’S BEARD before RICHARD GRAY asked WHO KILLED DAVY MOORE and PETE KING told us I love you JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. Next BOB asked TAKE ME DOWN and ALAN sang Graham Miles’ BELL FERRY followed by BRIAN with Joe Cocker’s YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL TO ME before KATH & STAN went off with THE WAYFARING STRANGER and ROD went off with PROUD MARY. Promising to hunt him down MARK & JAN were next after CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN and DAVE recommended LET YOUR LOVE FLOW whereas PHIL said leave it to a SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE and JAMES reckoned it was a question of DON’T THINK TWICE. Coming to the end of a great night MIKE AND RICHARD teamed up for DIAMANTINA DROVER and THREE TUNES with the whistle before PETE KING sang his own COME ON BLUES. Top drawer!!    

Newsletter No 378 17 May 2016

Entering a room empty of chairs DON & HEATHER must have thought the folk club was PAST THE POINT OF RESCUE but 30 minutes later BANJO JOHN was away RUNNING WILD and ROBIN joined him with the LAST FAREWELL before new guests MARK & LEE called TIME with their own brilliant composition. Rising to the challenge SUE called up her band of GEOFF & PAUL to HOLD THE LINE and PETE declared unequivocally SHE BELONGS TO ME before, back from holiday, PHIL questioned WHERE DO YOU GO TO MY LOVELY and PAUL had us calling Hey BLACK EYED SUSIE. Then turning to one of his favourites CHRIS climbed R. McTell’s SPIRAL STAIRCASE and KAMRAN had the urge to visit BAKER STREET whereas SIMON was more philosophical with BILLY AUSTIN’s sad story by Steve Earle but ED certainly had NO TIME TO CRY with Iris Dement. Nothing, however, prepared us for JOHN’s story of F.I.D.O. the automated dog poo collecting machine so thankfully HELEN took us off to HIGH GERMANY and RICHARD diverted our attention with the DUELLING FOLK SINGERS. Certainly DAVID’s conclusion that YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING made sense as did ROBIN with Alan Bell’s song BREAD AND FISHES before BANJO JOHN urged us to HOLD THAT TIGER as a parting gesture before the interval.

The usual raffle saw Heather go home with a big Indoor potted plant set. The Wine went to Rosalyn, John took home a CD, Joan won some Picture Art and Lee smuggled a Box of Yorkshire Tea home to Wigan where it is considered contraband. LEE was then soon on his feet with MARK with their song INTERACTIVE WEATHERMAN followed by FIDO JOHN who resurrected Lonnie’s BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS and SUE who insisted PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN. For some reason PAUL suggested we TAKE HIM AWAY and abstruse PHIL said I WISH WE’D ALL BEEN READY before SIMON hit the bottom line with ONE MORE DOLLAR. With a tale of deception and fraud RICHARD told of SALFORD’S ARSENIC ALE and HELEN related the fate of the SILVER DAGGER while DAVID and Elvis Costello insisted MY AIM IS TRUE. Unsure whether it was one of his top favourites CHRIS then sang NANNA’S SONG by R.McTell and PETE did the same with WOODSTOCK by J. Mitchell with KAMRAN not to be left out by singing OLD BONES STILL DREAM by our own Arthur Marshall (listen here

). Taking the floor in his own right GEOFF gave us the delightful ONLY YOU before ED gave us a warning to LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE UNDISTURBED as we headed for the finale in which LEE & MARK returned with another of their great songs I TENDER MY REGRETS before DON, HEATHER & PAUL, reminded of another of Arthur Marshall’s great songs, closed the evening with FENCES. A top night!!

Newsletter No 377 10 May 2016

A super evening was hosted seamlessly by KATH & STAN who immediately had us all engaged with the question WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN before BRIAN confessed to his HEART ON MY SLEEVE and DON & HEATHER had NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT ALL before the welcome return of a sadly infrequent visitor JEAN meant we went all traditional with her THREE RAVENS. Then things took a watery turn with PAUL and his FISHING BLUES followed by ED who was TEACHING MY WORM HOW TO SWIM. Sanity returned briefly with SIMON and JOHN DOE NUMBER 24 by Mary Chapin Carpenter and ROBIN who said IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK HOME AGAIN before we were back on the water again with ANN and THE TROUT and CHRIS with Knoppler’s TRAWLERMAN’S SONG. By way of a complete change KAMRAN then went STEALING, STEALING as PETE was stealing after the GIRL IN THE NORTH COUNTRY and KATH & STAN explained it was because HER BRIGHT SMILE STILL HAUNTS ME. Still on a complete downer PAUL now had the WHITEWASH STATION BLUES which affected BRIAN who set about KILLING THE BLUES as DON & HEATHER remembered the RAMBLING BOY. Even further back MARIAN remembered WHEN I WAS NO BUT SWEET SIXTEEN and ROBIN remembered trawling the STREETS OF BALTIMORE. Next JEAN was all at sea with THE WIDOWMAKER WIND by John Conolly and PETE sang his own tribute to MADAM WHISKEY as a form of solace whereas ED gave his own answer to addiction with THE GAMBLER who said if you are going to do it, do it right.

A quality raffle in the interval saw the Wine go to Rosalyn, the tin of Chocolates go to Heather who passed them round, the Chutney go home with Marian and the Cider find Pete a happy recipient before KAMRAN took us to Hobo’s heaven in THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN. A departure for SIMON saw him sing Nancy Griffith’s THIS OLD TOWN and CHRIS give us a great version of Eric Clapton’s TEARS IN HEAVEN before MARIAN went back in time for THE HOLLAND HANDKERCHIEF. Again back in time to his youth BRIAN re-introduced YOU BUTTERFLY and PAUL took us back to CORN BREAD AND BUTTERBEANS before ANN took us back to Rosie Hardman for LADY FOR TODAY. Then ROBIN asked us to MEET ME TONIGHT IN LAREDO but JEAN complained IT RAINS AND HAILS AND SNOWS which had PETE away KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR and KATH & STAN looking up at the MAN IN THE MOON. Luckily we had ED to introduce a bit of levity with TREAT MY DAUGHTER DECENT before SIMON told us of the VIGILANTE MAN and KAMRAN confessed I’LL NEVER GET TIRED OF YOU which was nice of him to say with his own composition. Finally, a big finish was merited and DON & HEATHER had us all rocking with I WASHED MY HANDS IN MUDDY WATER before KATH & STAN played us a couple of lively tunes RAKES OF MALLOW and DORSET FOUR HAND REEL leaving CHRIS to sing and play the excellent FACTORY GIRL of Ralph McTell. Magic!

Newsletter No 376 3 May 2016

Despite the upturn in the weather MARK & JAN thought there was a BAD MOON RISING and PETE ROBERTS had a tough time in OXFORD TOWN before DAVID paid tribute to Roy Orbison to who he said YOU GOT IT. Still in the States DON & HEATHER were then off on the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS while ANN stayed home with TOM PEARCE before JAMES set off WANDERING with a good old American folk song. A rising star in the firmament HELEN insisted on NO NAMES no pack drill presumably as BANJO JOHN chased after the SPARROW IN THE TREE TOP and PAUL RILEY wandered down by BELFAST MILL. Enough of this thought PETE as he boarded the BIG YELLOW TAXI to which JAMES retorted HAPPY DAYS AND LONELY NIGHTS as MARK & JAN headed off to ROTTERDAM to which BANJO JOHN said I’m sure they AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’. Never mind that HELEN said with JUMP RIGHT IN to which DAVID muttered don’t do SOMETHING STUPID. Another warning this time to the sailors on the Rhine came from ANN with the beautiful LORELEI all of which gave PAUL the HESITATION BLUES. Coming up to the interval DON & HEATHER were all romantic with YOU WILL BE THE LIGHT before BANJO JOHN confessed I GET THE BLUES WHEN IT RAINS and it’s worse when I’ve got GEORGIA ON MY MIND.

A big interval raffle saw Kate win the Cider, Hilary win the Olive Oil, Paul win the Bubble Bath, Joyce win the Roses Chocolates and Barry win the Folk NW before MARK & JAN opened up again by telling us YOU AIN’T GOING NOWHERE. So JAMES requested MAKE ME DOWN A PALLET ON YOUR FLOOR but DON & HEATHER were happy down at the RED ROSE CAFE in Amsterdam before ANN told a sad story with THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN. Even sadder was DAVID in his own autobiographical TAKING MY CAR TO THE GARAGE as was HELEN who was on her LONG RIDE HOME (Patty Griffin) before PAUL was joined by James for a blues up. PETE next sang one of his favourites RABBIT HILLS to which JAMES responded with an UNKNOWN LEGEND which had ANN levitating as she was DEFYING GRAVITY to which HELEN responded who’s THE WITTY ONE. Going back in time to the 60’s DAVID had us all singing the Beatles’ THIS BOY which prompted PETE to lead us to DOWN WHERE THE DRUNKARDS ROLL and PAUL to keep the chorus going with CARELESS LOVE as did DON & HEATHER with ALL THE GOOD TIMES are past and gone which they were not as MARK & JAN sent us into the street to the sound of MAMA’S GOT A SQUEEZEBOX to end an excellent evening.