Sale Folk Club

Newsletter No 31 - 26 May 2009

Eighteen star turns made last night another memorable, we don't want to go home night, at Sale Folk Club. A cracking start was ensured with Steve Tilston's "Let Your Banjo Ring" fom Don & Heather and very soon there was a literal interpretation of that from John Condy and his very lively banjo playing with The Poques "Thousands Are Sailing" and later I'm A Rambling Man, for which we are sure there is treatment. Kath & Stan followed with a more mellow toned banjo and Ruth with her guitar to tell us about The Brown Eyed Girl. They then returned from a brief retirement to a Shady Grove to sing (awake, awake you) Sleepy Desert. Normal service would have resumed except Ed announced the arrival of his new bodhran. Fortunately the comparison with a foot massage, which bucks up the feet, did not apply as Ed accompanied a few delighted performers without mucking up the beat. He was most welcome for Robin's Johnny Cope, a fair old rant, and Carl's own Nights Round The Table. Ged then got up a fair head of steam when said he thought he heard that KC Whistle Moan, then I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground to root that mountain down before his epitaph to bent politicians Joshua From Barbados. Bent politicians were also exposed by Derrick with Two Percent by Les Barker followed by Skoo' Dinners by our old friend Trevor Morton in which sausages for every meal would see the councillors pocketing millions. Ed then gave us all a lesson about life first with Silver Tongued Devil who chats up all the women and then The Widow and The Devil from the other point of view where he fails in his task before It's Hard To Be Humble brought out the belly laughs.

A more serious note was struck by Frank with McTell's "Girl from the Hiring Fair", The Farmer and The Beatles "You've Gotta Hide Your Love Away". Dave Pugh kept the mood with Jimmy's Song by Allan Taylor, The Bergen by Jez Lowe, our next guest, and finally Some Dreams again by Allan Taylor. Mick's own Moon Over Bridge Street about his dad preluded the surreal Flying Red Horse about the freedom promised by Mobil's logo on the gas station wall. Fortunately, insanity soon returned with Stella's brilliant rendition of Send In The Cones, Les Barker's view of motorway roadworks but not before Where have all the Flowers Gone? with husband Brian who reminded her You've Gotta Friend. Ian chipped in with House of Airley and with Jan being on the road to Morocco, sounds like a movie, Mark showed us that you don't have to be drunk to do the Weekend Shuffle before admitting that without her he gets The Cling Film Wrapper Blues before going back to the Whisky In The Jar.

The evening bubbled to a climax with John and Mick's cathartic version of Blues Stay Away From Me followed by Salt Street, Robin, Don & Heather, took us all along The Eerie Canal before sending us home with The Mingulay Boat Song. What a comeback for the man from The Borders.


Newsletter No 30 - 19 May 2009

Mick and John, as Pepper Street, got us off to a great start with Lorelei by the Pogues and after that another craicing evening of music and humour was a guaranteed way of celebrating Heather's Mum's birthday. All that and butties too. Carl followed it up with his own Magical Sky about footballers playing in the Theatre Of Dreams. Not much consolation to a Liverpool supporter like Robin but he still got up later with his band Salt Street to get everyone chorusing to Belfast Mill before finally laying the ghost of Four Strong Winds. And still people were arriving as Ged gave us his American version of Barbara Allen, Kath & Stan delivered the New York Girls to much joining in and Jan & Mark got us going with the Welsh Lullaby Suo Gan,"To my Lullaby Surrender" also sung by Charlotte Church, eat her heart out. Looking fit and well, Ian then surprised us with Waterloo, about the girl who insists on going to war with her love. Very romantic but most blokes these days would let her go instead because as Don & Heather sang, When She Wears Black Clothes she can do just as she wants. As he does, Ed suddenly got the urge to do The Pilgrim by Kris Kristofferson. What a repertoire that man has and I don't mean Kris! Crazy Man Michael came next from Frank to start us thinking, Richard Gray's own composition Don't Quit set us wishing we could write songs like that before Richard Knott's brilliant rendition of Easy Street had half the people leaving to either try and find it or to go and take guitar lessons. Rob thought he had provided the answer down the shipping lanes with Roll Alabama Roll but Dave Pugh put us all right when he told us it was to be found in Shippersea Bay. Derrick had other ideas and soon showed us the error of our ways with A Few Pearls Of Wisdom and Ann's pearl was to put down any idea of male domination with Hares on The Mountain in which it is the men who chase the women and not the other way round.

Of course we had a cracking raffle with somebody saying "You've got too many prizes!" Impossible the crowd roared as they tucked into their sandwiches but save the cut glasses till later. John & Mick then got up a head of steam for the second round and the train they call The City Of New Orleans whose fate was summed up by Ged's I'm Done. A quick and hearty rendition of Happy Birthday to Phyllis was followed by John presenting her with the flowers he won as his second raffle prize before Don & Heather then extolled the virtue of the Spanish Lady. Carl became more serious with Flowers of the Forest by Eric Bogle and Richard Knott took it up with The Shape I'm In. Fortunately, we all cheered up as Rob laughed his way through Sam The Blackbird and Ed appropriately sang If You Had A Brain You'd Be Dangerous!! Derrick continued to explore the ideosyncracies of religion and wasn't surprised when Ged said Jesus Is On That Mainline, tell him what you want. Jan & Mark kept us on the up with Pack Up You Sorrows and Kath accompanied by Stan said she was going to be A Banjo-Picking Girl, very appropriate. The sombre note returned, however, with My Love Tonight the first outing of Frank's first ever composition and it was continued with Richard Gray's Mississippi by Dylan and Rafferty's Mary Skeffington brilliantly delivered by Dave Pugh before Ann reminded us the fate of the Old Maid in The Garrett. Where to turn after that? Well! After running a brilliant evening Mick & John solved it by Killing The Blues before Don & Heather sent us all home to Sonny's Dream pleading Don't Go Away or at least don't forget to come back soon!!


Newsletter No 29 - 12 May 2009

Talk about value for money, 21 performers twice round, and quality quality? Carl got the evening off to a fine start with Steve Earle's Rich Man's War and even with Eric's enforced absence due to pressure of work, he kept things moving smoothly brilliantly. Our old friend David told us about The Light Hearted Maiden, a poem about the lighthouses which guard the rocks outside Larne Harbour swiftly followed by Ruth's Lady Mary, He Was The World To Me. Colin from Baguley soon razzed things up with great guitar on Jelly Roll Blues before Ged carried on the American theme with East Virginia. Cath & Stan then took us Waterbound to North Carolina and Tom Doughty to Illinois for the Blues. Rob returned us to sanity with Knockin 'em Down The Old Pubs and John Condy took it even further with End Of The Rainbow by Richard Thompson which left us all suicidal. Fortunately Isobel gave us a couple of lively tunes Farewell To Aberdeen and Staton Island to prevent any actual deaths, only virtual ones are allowed in folk clubs, so that Derrick could tell us how the Romans Conquered Britannia. Andy Robinson also from Baguley then showed us his quiet side when reminiscing about coming from a Small Town. On the same theme Zoe Mulford's Those Boys couldnt wait to leave a small Pennsylvania township. Not to break the mood Don & Heather sang his Dad's song Flowers On The Water and Mick's Breakfast In Mexico about American cancer sufferers having to go down there because the drugs were cheaper was equally poignant. Another Jez Lowe song, Shippersea Bay was sung by Dave Pugh and Ann Cojeen Once Had A True Love. Luckily she is still married to him. Ed again surprised with The Black Hills, His Worship and The Pig's song about about the slag heaps and their eventual disappearance before Frank's If I Were A Carpenter and Colin Rudd's own lovely song Landscape With Figures. Finally Richard all booted and suited ended the first half on a high with Dido Bendigo.

Carl appropriately got us all going again with Cursed Be The Caller with his knock, knock, knock but we didn't need a knocker up as Andy went into his fantasy about a Red Headed Woman. Fortunatley Colin took us from the surreal to the real with the Beatles Blackbird and Cath & Stan went a cappella as Babes In The Wood. Death returned with Ged's Vincent Black Lightening and Derrick had some Thoughts like, why is it considered necessary to nail down a coffin lid? Ruth's Dogs Gone Wild by John Kirkpatrick led us nicely into Rob's Fred The Slug poem before Ed said Let Sleeping Dogs Lie to the man who demande his wife tell him how she came to have £1000 and 2 chicken eggs in a box. If you don't know come next week! Tradition returned with Dave's Dance To Your Daddy and Ann's Twankydillo before Frank's lovely version of If I Should Fall Behind, a great song by Faith Hill made famous by Bruce Springsteen. Isobel again lifted the mood with Michael Turner's Waltz before Zoe reminded us it's Hard To Make It In This World. The despair was echoed in Mick's Superman Where Are You before Don & Heather showed the way with Song For The Life by Alan Jackson. Dylan's Chimes of Freedom were not only a challenge to John's memory but also everyone's power's of imagery. We probably needed some of what Bobby was on at the time. Where could we go from there? To Tom Doughty http://www.tomdoughty.com who ended a great night with Dylan's Girl From The North Country and Louisiana Flood.


Newsletter No 28 - 5 May 2009

Don & Heather returned to get the ball rolling with the lively The Roseville Fair immediately handing over to Richard who surprised us by telling of the deaths of 90 people when the Bridge Of Tay broke and the train went into the river in William McGonagall's famous poem. Ed then rose to the challenge with Euan McColl's ballad of the Gresford Disaster in which even more people died. Fortunately Frank from the Prospect returned us to some sanity with Spancil Hill. Lifting the mood further, as we knew they would, came Pepper Street with Black Muddy River. What is it about boys and water? Cath & Stan were even more joyful with I'm Going Roung This World, Baby Mine before Mark went into bat with Arthur McBride and paving the way for Jan's Scottish Ploughboy. Carl then took us on the last train, the 1710, Rob sailed the Good Ship Calabar by the Clancy Brothers before Robin waxed lyrical about The Rose Of Allendale. Then Derrick gave us some Misuses Of Words and a message about health and safety with Albert and The Fork Lift Truck before Ann, making up for lost time, got the first May song in with Searching for Lambs to end the round.

Racing into the second half Richard at last exercised his vocal cords with The Nightingale and The Jolly Ploughing Boy and was reconciled with Stella, his wife who had deserted him for the football. Carl came back with a couple of classics, Jez Lowe's Greece Lightening and Jake Thackray's Sister Josephine and Rob sang Grey Funnel Line and Courtin' Too Slow although having swopped his beat-up Fiesta for a new Mondeo he seems to be addressing that now. However Ed again jumped in at this point to give Rob a warning telling him not to become The Oldest Swinger In Town. Robin still pursued the Star of The County Down while Frank lusted after Black Clothes as did we all. Will they ever learn? From the raffle Richard won a 37 quid voucher for Lovefilm, John took the wine, Otto took the suicide kit (cheese knives), Carl and Pat won the chocolate and finally Sandra, who we were delighted to see after her recovery from illness, won a surprise.

Ann completed her set with Hush-a-bye My Laddy and Green grows The Laurel and Cath & Stan gave us another front line performance of Shady Grove and Ring Ring The Banjo. Reversing the order to class first, Jan told of a False Young Man before together with Mark they gave us a rousing version of Ye Jacobites By Name. Fortunately they still had enough gas in the tank to give us all a good laugh with On Ilkley Moor Ba't'at to the tune of The House Of The Rising Sun. Like the Phoenix, Pepper Street again delved into the Mick Hare songbook with brilliant interpretations of Orson Steet Girls and I Don't Blame The Bullet before blowing us away with John's Borderline. Well done lads!!

Don & Heather, somewhat subliminally, reminded everyone about the walk next Sunday with Ramblin' Boy and since, at 11.30pm, all good things do eventually come to an end they sent everyone home with All The Tunes In The World only interupted by Wendy turning up just to say hello.