Sale Folk Club

Newsletter No 27 - 28 April 2009

Well, I can honestly say, it was a brilliant night all round. The best evening so far some people think. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Niamh Parsons, which didn't come as a complete surprise to some of our visitors who had noticed her gig in London was advertised for the same night! However, we were not short of talent at all. We were visited by an endless stream of newcomers, all with special talent. It was a truly entertaining evening and provided Ed with a difficult challenge to fit everyone in with two numbers each. He and Robin were the only two unable to sing for a second time and both were extremely disappointed at that!! Robin actually declined from singing in the second half as he was losing his voice and Derrick had an evening off.

Ed opened the first half with an Iris Dement song No Time to Cry. He was then followed by newcomer Colin Evans who played guitar in a spectacular manner and sang Too Much Alcohol. He was absolutely superb. John Condy and Mick Hare sang their popular Guy Clarke number Build Me a Boat followed by Roll on Columbia and received a tumultuous applaud. Ruth, Kath and Stan joined forces again this week and together sang Brown Eyed Boy sounding much more professional as a group and Stan's banjo playing being enhanced by Ruth's guitar. Andy Derbyshire came from Baguley once again and this time his friend, Dave, plucked up enough courage to join him in a duet This Land is Your Land and given a second opportunity, as there were two of them, Andy sang a solo piece You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth. Luckily, Richard Knott returned for a second time this week with his amazing guitar playing and he sang That's the Glory of Love, brilliant! Responding to the challenge, Carl sang one of his own compositions From the Armoury to the Crown, his medieval number, which was excellent.

We had four Richard's performing last night which made administration rather complicated, so we had to issue regal titles e.g. Richard IV etc. The first Richard was part of the group Idle Young comprising a male singer, female singer, and female fiddle player. They covered two numbers Rolling in from the Coast (Factory Babes) and Kiss Me and Weep. They were followed in close succession by their young friend, Dave Burnascon, who was a whiz on the guitar and had a lovely voice to accompany it. He sang one of his own numbers called Stumble. Ann Cojeen sang My Bonny Boy and Richard Gray surprised us all by singing a Bob Dylan number The Times They Are a Changing. Rob gave his version of The Centipede Song and we all joined in with that. Then Frank Aives made his second appearance at the club from the Frodsham Folk Club. His voice is gentle and soft and a wonderful contrast to previous performers. He sang the traditional Black is the Colour. Jed sang a poem by John Betjeman which had been put to music and called On a Portrait of a Dead Man. It was quite amusing in a morbid sort of way. Zoe kept up the theme of death by singing about James McKenzie, an atheist from the railroads who was afraid to be buried underground. The Ace of Spades. Another newcomer Richard Felts (Richard IV) sang a lengthy number Burgie's Bonny Bell. He admitted that it had been a long time since he had performed in public but he still proved to be very accomplished. Robin, in the penultimate position before the break, gave us Streets of Laredo (1876) and the first half was completed when we were then treated to a song by newcomer Bob Ardern who was visiting all the way from Canada, together with his brother Will. He sang and played the guitar Davy Jones' Locker.

Judith Moore phoned during the week to thank us for the card we had sent to Sandra as she was thrilled we had remembered her during her illness. She readily accepted a lift and made herself really useful by manning the door and distributing raffle tickets which she seemed to enjoy as it gave her an opportunity to talk to everyone, especially as she was on her own. She also kindly brought a good quality bottle of French wine as a donation for the raffle. Sue bought Sandra a plant from everyone at the club and Judith has taken it to her today. Incidentally, the raffle which was won by Richard Gray (Wine), The Idle Young (Bath Beauty), Kath Rothwell (Wine) and also Alan Brassington (Perfume).

In the second half, there was little time to stop for breath. Idle Young had to leave early so they were granted the first slot They Don't Know About Us and Cartoon Heart and Dave followed that with Wondrous Wine. Bob Ardern from Canada was also in a hurry to dash off so he was invited to perform next and sang Leave the Light On written by Chris Smitter. Stan and Kath sang Horncastle Fayre together, as later Ruth sang Lazy John alone. She refused Ed's request to move to the centre of the room so that everyone could hear her clearly, so everyone moved to be nearer to her! Colin played A Mishmash Blues, a spontaneously made up title to his fabulous piece and Frank sang Does this Train Stop on Merseyside? which was by a band called Amsterdam. Richard Gray gave his theatrical performance of The Heart of the Matter which was by popular request and everyone was thoroughly entertained, especially those who had never heard it before. Richard Knott sang a self-written number called Feel Good Blues and Ann Cojeen added another drunken maiden to her repertoire and sang Three Drunken Maidens. Zoe sang Elegy and Richard Felts sang an Andy Mitchell song Farewell Indiana. Jed sang Lost John, Rob sang Fathom the Bowl and Andy and Dave were joined by another of their friends called Tony and they all played together Love of the Common People, which sounded great. Carl rushed back in to hurriedly sing a superb version of Taste of Honey and the night was completed at gone 11.30 pm when Mick and John finished this memorable evening with Muddy Water.

Everyone said it was a brilliant night. It must have been something to do with the way the chairs were set out!! Or the brilliant organisers!!!!!!!!!!!


Newsletter No 26 - 21 April 2009

Last night was another very successful evening with many people attending, including some very talented performers. Our old friend Babs came for the first time, so it was nice to see her after such a long time. She came with Frank from The Prospect. Mick and John ran the club night and there was a lot of new people making their debuts, including Frances who played the mandolin. She really came to advertise a Niamh Parsons concert in Levenshulme and she will be staying the night with Frances on the previous Tuesday, so she is going to suggest that they both come to Sale Folk Club 28 April if Niamh is agreeable!!! Perhaps we should get Tony Gibbons over as well and maybe a booking is a possibility later.

Carl won the bottle of wine in the raffle, a visiting lady from the audience won the box of beauty, Richard Knott, who was a wonderful guitarist, won the ceramic pot of bulbs, Isabel won the Folk North West and another gentleman won a bottle of bubbly kindly donated by John Condy. Richard Knott enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and after winning the raffle as well, decided he would definitely be returning!

A prompt start to what was to become another packed evening saw Pepper Street (Mick and John) kick off with the Woody Guthrie morality tale of lies and deception, Hard Ain't It Hard which was was swiftly followed by Ed in one of his more sensitive moods as he gave us Absent Friends. His Time Heals Wounds They Say chorus was soon picked up and a great mood was set for the rest of the evening. Ruth then invited Stan and Kath to join her in Cotton Mill Girls and an embryonic Sale super group continues to emerge. Stan and Kath followed that up with their rendition of Sleepy Desert before Ged brought drugs into the mix with his rootsy Have A Whiff On Me. Weymouth Dick gave us New Boots by Nancy Nicholson and then we welcomed two new faces to the club, Steve and Carol. Steve and Carol do some things together (because they are married) but they don't perform together. Although they were playing solo for us, each of them performs in their own band. Carol, whose band is called Hands In Pockets sang Walking Down the Alleys and then Steve, whose band is called Feet In Mouths sang one of his own compositions, Oak Street. Carl treated us to his own compositions too with The Old England In You, an emotive song of loss with some powerful lyrics. Meanwhile, Isabel had sneaked in, recorder in case and gave us Roxburgh Castle with her usual skill and purity of playing. Anne gave us one from her amazing repertoire of songs, Once Upon A Time and then the Taylor family opened their contribution to the evening with a pair of duets. It was lovely to see Kathy with us again. First dad and daughter sang Lay Lady Lay with a clever vocal harmony and then mum and daughter sang Seven Days also with harmonies from Kathy. A first time visitor to the club, Richard Knott displayed his guitar playing skills with a Stefan Grossman rag entitled See That Girl Sitting On The Fence. Frank, a regular at The Prospect Monday night club in Runcorn and another new visitor to our club sang The Farmer by Simon Hopper. Regular member Rob took up his post and gave us The Process Man, which got us all joining in again. Colin Rudd sang us Child Song by Murray McLaughlin and mandolin player Frances, on a Irish gig publicity raid played several reels. It was good to see some non-singing audience members win raffle prizes although Carl walked off with the wine again!!

Stan and Kath kicked off the second half with Banjo Picking Girl and we were up and running again. Pepper Street bowed to Alan's request and got everyone joining in the chorus to I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water. Ed returned to more familiar ground with His Worship The Pig's song, One Of Those days. Richard had sneaked in at half time with some lame excuse about a choir rehearsal in Glossop. He's not on the telly is he? There may have been some truth in it because he was in fine voice as he sang Fakenham Fair. Also, Wendy, who had hidden herself behind the shrubbery in the first half, was spotted and, after some arm twisting by Rob sang Bad by Kirsty McColl. It was the first time she had sung in public since primary school. Secondary school don't know what they missed. When we turned to Ruth again she gave us Donovan's Colours and then Ged sang Iris Dement's (or as Ged's wife calls her Iris Demiserable's) Easy's Getting Harder Every Day. Maddy Prior's Deep In The Darkest Night was the next offering from Carol and Steve sang another of his own songs, Friends. Weymouth Dick gave a fine rendering of Long Time I Have Been Waiting and Carl sang a favourite of his and everyone else, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Frank returned to his agricultural theme to sing Ralph McTell's Girl From The Hiring Fair. Isabel then played two tunes for us, The Hilting March and another one she promised to spell for me but did not keep her promise! We'll get her to play it and spell it next time she comes! Richard Knott took up his guitar once more and played Black and Blue, a self-penned bluesy instrumental while When First I Landed In Liverpool was Rob's next song. The Taylor family came back with Jan and Mark duetting on Young Billy Brown with Kathy slipping in Captain Pugwash on flute. Anne got us singing along to Waves Over The Sea and then Colin Rudd delivered a powerful song of his own entitled, The Moment. Richard brought the whole evening to a rousing end with Pleasant and Delightful and everyone went home in good spirits.

Sue organised door and raffle brilliantly and it was great to see our former door custodian, Ian, back with us for the first half of the evening.


Newsletter No 25 - 14 April 2009

It was another really good night and Carl and Eric did a fine job of running the evening. There was some new talent in, which was thoroughly entertaining. Andy from Baguley came, after promising earlier, but his friend might pluck up courage to perorm another time, as they intend to return. They were very friendly and joined in with the fun and sarcasm. Andy had an exceedingly loud voice, so Rob and Dave Pugh made a point of moving from the seats in front of him to the other side of the room every time it was his turn to sing. He took it all in good part.

Jan and Mark brought their daughter Kathy and her friend, Andrew, from Glasgow University. He came all the way from Elgin, Inverness and he was an excellent violin/fiddle player. Later the Taylor family joined forces with him to play quite a few numbers together and they were great. Ruth also joined forces with Kath and Stan for one number and they sounded very professional together.

Heather Kenyon helped to run a very good raffle and Kath & Stan won an Anthony John Clarke ticket. Stella and Brian won a bottle of wine, Ged won the chocs and a new chap won the Folk North West.

Stan and Kath sang Shady Grove and Hard Times and they also formed a supergroup with Ruth to do an excellent rendering of This land is Your Land. Ruth's second contribution was her own fine setting of a poem by Winifred Letts called A Call to Arms in Our Street, written about 1914. Chaps off to the war, "Just put a few chords to it" she said. Nonsense, Ruth, you made a very fine song of it. Tom recited a poem called Our Joe's Lad in the first half and was joined for the second half by enough chums to constitute a whole three-quarters of Flotsam: one guitar, three voices, a lovely sound. They gave us The Piecer's Tale, Bound to go Sailing and Bide Awhile. Carl's Rich Man's War by Steve Earle and Soda Man by his idol Jez Lowe gave way to Eric with L'accordeoniste by Michel Emer and made famous by Edith Piaf was sung in French to confuse the audience before Zangra which was his translation from Jacques Brel.
Ed mixed straight and curly with Tom Paxton's Verdigris followed by The Manch by Cockersdale. Stella sang The Purple Robe, an Easter song followed by Quiet Gifts before Brian treated us to the Old Bog Road and Fire and Rain. Ged gave a great rendition of Dylan's Love minus zero and then Here Am I before another supergroup formed by Jan, Mark, Andrew on fiddle and Kathie with her flute performed in various combinations singing and playing Sonny's Mazurka, Munster Buttermilk, Rolling in the Dew, Dandy Man, Gypsy Rover, Fyvie Castle with a superb fiddle solo, Ashokan Farewell and Belle of Belfast City. Anne again delighted with One April Morning and Blue Muslin before Colin Rudd sang a Love Song, his own setting of words by Oscar Wilde, Mountains of Morne and then What are We Waiting For which was all his own song. Not to be outdone, Rob sang one of his newer songs Flower of Scotland and then recited a poem by Trevor Morton, All's Well.

Nothing could prepare anyone for the fullsome tones of Andy Derbyshire from Baguley such that, when he launched into his first song a witty little ditty about Wythy, poor old Rob sitting in front of him ran for his life with his hands over ears. Serves him right he has done it to others! Andy also did The One I Love by David Gray, also very lustily sung. Good on yer Andy. David South, an excellent singer and guitarist who is a recent star of the Full Circle then gave us From Clare to Here, Wild Mountain Thyme and With a Little Help from my Friends.

After all this serious stuff Derrick gave us a List of Objects, male and female e.g. the remote control must be female cos men love 'em, don't know which button to press but keep trying, and Look Closer about an old woman's life, past and present which was very touching. Wendy completed the poetic contribution with recited lyrics of Head Home by Midlake and last, but by no means least, Dave Pugh sang Banjo Man and Some Dreams both by Alan Taylor and Sammy's Song to end a superb musical evening.


Newsletter No 24 - 7 April 2009

In contrast to last week, the majority of performers and audience arrived before 8.45 pm, including Jim Blanchflower who arrived with us at about 7.30 pm. carrying his seven string electric guitar and an enormous amplifier. It was a good job he came early as we had to search around for a plug socket to accommodate all his equipment.

Carl commenced the evening with Looking for the Sun and John Condy, accompanied by Michael, sang Galway Girl and inviting Michael, quite impromptu, to sing one of the verses. Michael then got his own turn next and sang a Dolly Parton number called Wild Flowers. Mark quickly picked up on the mood and played great guitar accompaniment to Jan's beautiful rendition of Blacksmith before his own interpretation of Johnny Jump Up. Kath then sang Shady Grove accompanied by Stan on the banjo and Ged impressed us all with Old Trapeze by Patty Griffiths before Derrick put an end to it with a list of funny stories entitiled That is How the Fight Began which encouraged much audience participation!

Jerry, who played tin whistle at the Volunteer when we used to visit on a Sunday afternoon, made his première appearance at the Club and played a medley of tunes including Lark in the Clear Air and Boys of Blue Hill. Isobel, who hadn't performed at this point, and she looked across the room in wonderment!!! I'll leave that one to your imagination. Dick from Weymouth sang his unaccompanied Chester City, which was great. Then it was the turn of big Jim who next accompanied Leah after first insinuating that Don & Heather were abroad far too frequently and that he suspected they were probably Arms Dealers. In their first appearance as a duo they sang two numbers Dreamer and Sweet Child O' Mine from Guns and Roses. Marian, another newcomer to the club, initially hadn't been sure that she would perform at all, plucked up courage as we neared the break and sang unaccompanied What Will I Do Then?

The most exciting spot of the evening was when Tom Doughty absolutely stunned us all with national steel slide guitar on his lap and the front wheels of his wheelchair propped up on his guitar case. He played an old American folk song from the 1900's called Delia and then part-way through, when we were all enthralled by his guitar playing, he introduced his wonderful voice and we were left speechless by his obvious talent. He was completely professional and his performance was flawless. Everyone shouted for more and he thrilled us, yet again, by playing Brownshill Blues. We had never had the privilege of seeing him before, but he was well-known to John Condy and also to Ged. Both had previously been to see him perform on a number of occasions. Come back soon Tom!! Ann Cojeen had the daunting task of following Tom when the shouting had died down and she captivated us all with Whistle Daughter Whistle.

There was a nice surprise when Ian, The Door, graced us with his presence for the first time since his hospitalisation and although he offered to sit at the entrance and take the money he was encouraged him to sit in the audience for once and enjoy a work-free evening. He did just that and even participated by reading out some funnies about people born before the 1940's. He left around 9.00 pm to get back to his bed but did stay on a little longer as he was obviously enjoying himself and he was quite talkative and bubbly. He appeared to be back to his old self and he did say he was 80% back to normal, at which some wit commented that 80% was better than he had ever been before. Not true of course.

When Jerry left the room for the lavatory, Ed invited Isobel to play her recorder and she played an excellent medley of hornpipes. Jerry returned just in time to catch the end of her performance and he returned the look of wonderment across the room. Rob was back with us again and he briefly told us of his latest sailing experience and then sang I wish I was back in Liverpool, better known to us as The Centipede Song. Everyone joined in with Robin to sing an old favourite Four Strong Winds and Alan Grace finished off the first half by playing the guitar and singing Man of the Earth. Attention was brought to the fact that Alan's guitar was not just decramental as he was not leaning on it!

A 15 min break followed by the raffle saw John Cojeen win a bottle of claret, Leah and Eddie an Easter Egg each, Alan the North West Folk magazine and Kath the Over 1000 Accordion Players on DVD.

In the second half, Ed got a chance to sing Rough Justice, Stan and Kath sang Quair Bundle Rye, Michael sang a Ewan McColl's England's Motorways, Jan and Mark sang The Seeds of Love and Ged sang a very lengthy song with an extremely unhappy ending The Cruel Brother. It was amazing that he could remember all the words and never hesitated once. Rob did hi usual trick of starting Come Write Me Down when something amused him and he began his usual giggling between lines. This prompted Jerry to join him at the door and together they sang a few more verses until Rob told him to Bugger Off as he was putting him off his stride!! Dick sang Ranzel and Jerry then played Lord Inchquin and Spootis Kerry on the tin whistle, accompanied by John Condy and Mark on guitar. This was accomplished with great difficulty as Jerry continually speeded up or altered the tempo. A bit of a renegade.

Ann sang The Saga of Suzannah Jones and Thomas Mort which was written by Greg from a Stockport Folk Club, who is the Vicar of Northenden. Ed had given her the words years ago and she had cleverly devised her own tune to fit so it must go down as a collaboration, however, she omitted the chorus as she thought it too cruel. Alan returned with the old favourite Shanty Man before Derrick again became levitous with a joke and a lengthy list of ridiculous newspaper headlines.

Once again Tom Doughty treated us to a fantastic self-written song with superb guitar playing in Lifeline for which he received tumultuous applause and as time was running away with us Ed thought that Jim and Leah would finish the evening with a loud rock number but it turned out to be a slow melodic one which prepared everyone for Bye Byes.