Marlow Bottom Acoustic Club

It was a slow start as we chatted quite a bit because there weren’t many of us, while Roger tinkered with a tune but then we asked Stuart and Delia to lead a tune.
1. Stuart obliged, first with the music and then, more successfully, without the dots.
2. Innocent Hare from Dick
3. Having swapped seats with Stuart to be on the right side, which was in fact the right side, Delia announced that she’d got her concertina the right way up AND the right way round. They played, and very nice it was too, especially the last 3 notes, no actually most of it. It was Swindon by Archie Dag. Archie was a shepherd in Northumberland, best known for Elsie’s Waltz, and he was eventually retired to Swindon, but as Stuart said, you feel relief when you discover it was Swindon in Northumberland.
4. When He Comes by Holly Golightly and
5. Sally Sings Blues both performed by the August List
6. Home Boys Home sung by Glen and the chorus joined in by Karen and everyone else eventually, once they’d learnt it.
A black Labrador then came looking for Alan
7. Tune by Roger, which he said was topical because it was Polish and called Varsonvina, and Karen related how her college Jagoda would have been on the Polish plane crash if her passport had been in order. Fortunately it wasn’t and she was therefore unable to accompany her father (former president / royal family) who unfortunately died along with all the other important Polish people.
8. Dimming of the Day, which seemed to go down well, by Karen accompanied by Roger’s lovely playing, though Roger was on the wrong side.
9. Martin sang From 4 till Late by the late and murdered Robert Johnson – all because of a women apparently, though from what Martin told us I think it was womaniser Robert Johnson’s fault. A line from the song illuminates what I’ve just said – “A women is like a dresser, some man is always rambling through her drawers” – Well, what sort of man does that make Robert when he writes lines like that! But as usual the halo effect kicks in and we forgive anyone with a positive specialism for all their other faults or ignore the negatives in them.
10. Morris tune - Simon sang about red sky in “Shepherd’s Hay”. Roger related Eccles & other Goons conversation – imagine Eccles little voice now: “I’m a spy.” “Well why are you doing dressed up as a shepherd? I’m a Sherderd spy”
11. Rat-a- tap-tap by Dick Frost with quite a lot of tapping from others.
12. Delia sang “Messing About On the River” which everyone seemed to know, sung by John McCrae (but not our John McCrae) in1962 written by Lee Reed not Lou Reed.
13. Stuart – “On the 14th November” = about the French.
14. The Dancer by P J Harvey – excellent song sung by Kerralieggh
15. Rich Wife Full of happiness” (sounds good to me) by Bonnie Prince Billie, sung by Martin. Someone accused Martin and Kerraleigh (the August List) of making up a lot of names.
16. Glen announced that she’s never ironed a man’s shirt in her life! Then sang Geoff Wesley’s “Weatherman” which was very funny and well appreciated (note my move into modern common parlance).
17. Roger than attracted our attention by saying “Getting back to sheep ….” A wether, Roger informed us, is a castrated ram. He then played a tune, Canal in April, as I chose to call it. Martin then announced that his son-in-law is a sheep farmer in Broadwood Kelly near Winkley, who, as some of our attendees knew, was also famous for cider and solid fuel stoves. Roger then informed us that the Welsh have started wearing kilts because the sheep have got used to the sound of zips, at which point Simon suggested playing the RAM bling sailor and Glen mentioned LAMBert or was it LAMBent.
18. Martin then nearly knocked his beer over, then his guitar strap fell off the button end of his guitar and when he re-attached it the top end fell off, but he then managed to give us the lovely Falling Softly which was from a film about an Irish busker called Once. The song was by Glen Hansford and Marquita Irgovia. Then somehow that led to information that Hull University had a Sheep Appreciation Society which involved going to pet sheep and then going to the pub.
19. Simon – lively Moll on the Wad (tobacco)
20. John sang the 2 lines he knew of Sean the Sheep then “My Husband’s Got No Porridge In Him”
21. Dick – Let Union Be
22. Sean South tune by Delia and Stuart – which went very well and was not about a sheep as far as I know.
23. August List did Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis
24. Glen sang Kitty Bawn O’Brien
25. Karen was going to sing Searching For Lambs but there wasn’t time for 2, so opted for the more upbeat This Old Town
26. Live This Life by Simon, and I guess that’s what we all should do
27. John finished the evening with the monumental “Walk the Iron Road” written about someone’s Grandfather, which John learnt from Artisan – who are on the road again.

A very pleasant evening!

A mere two Wednesdays ago, the Dog & Badger was full almost to bursting with revelry and merry-making, carousing, drinking, and lusty singing. Then, various members of Marlow Bottom Acoustic turned up,and ruined everything. But, never mind.

As the evening was rather close to St. George's Day, Roger, Karen, Steve, Alan & Rosie, not unsurprisingly, used it as somewhat of a practice session, and thus regaled the assemblage with, at divers times, Scarborough Fair, The Weakness In Me, Looking For A New England, and The Whistling Gypsy Rover. All this, of course, after a fine start to the evening by Terry Silver and his joiny-in "Good Ale", followed later by "Joe Peel", plus various contributions to other performances,in his own inimitable style.

Kerraleigh & Martin were well to the fore again, with "Tennessee", by the Silver Jews, "Roll My Blues" (Holland), or there again, possibly (you never know!), "Roll My Blue"(S Holland) ---- my writing, like my bank-balance, leaves a lot to be desired (and has to be edited and punctuated properly in word-processing style by Karen!! & Karen wrote that bit! - I i.e. karen, have to add and subtract a lot of spaces!); and later "Dead Leaves In The Dirty Ground" was by the White Stripes (even I know that. Because they told me).

Anyway, I digress. Or is that "Tigress" ?? God knows.----- Richard sparkled with "Greensleeves", "Cocaine Blues",and "Angie" ( any connection ??), with a later "The Blossom And The Rain". Steve went solo for "The Galway Shawl", and Stuart and Delia (Oh Delia), with an eye on a joint OBE perhaps, played "The Queen's Birthday", by Si Cough-Ants. Simon & Dave were up for it with "Easter Eggs & Bonfire Night", & "Farewell To The Gold", and, with Alison, "Dark The Night" ---Alison, unencumbered by blokes, offered "The May Song " and "Lake Michigan" (lovely).

John gave us Bert Jansch's cheerful "Needle Of Death", and the tune "Green Onions", and Rosie and I had a bash at "Portsmouth", whilst Gorgeous Glen tickled our collective fancies with "Yellow's On The Broom", and "When My Morning Comes Around", by Iris Diment ---- any relation to Adam Diment of "The Dolly Dolly Spy" fame, I wonder ?? Adam WHO, you ask ??

Dave Heath offered "Cross Of Saint George" and "Summer Time Is Really Here " (Oh yeah ??).

So----who, and what, else ?? According to my notes, we also had DICK !! (of course!) with "Lovely Nancy", and "The Miller" ; Martin sang "Ruby Tuesday", and Steve sang a lovely self-penned song about our friend Eddie, who is making a name for himself, in his 70s, as an unaccompanied singer at festivals everywhere. {note from Karen here - Eddie used to be Head Gardener at various places and worked for many years at Bradenham Mamor} Ian sang "Jackie Robinson", and doubtless summat else while I were in't loo (sorry,Ian------ it's tough being a blog-writer).
There you go then !!
Roggablogga

So Dave Heath turns to me and says, "A' course! That's why you're asking the names of everything! You're doing the blog!" See, that Hobgoblin Ale is strong stuff. Anyway, if you're asking the names of things, Dave Heath is a good man to sit beside.
There was an overture of "The Morning Star" and Dick started proceedings officially with "Bring us a Barrel". Despite being squashed in a corner, Steve played "Miner's Life". Alan and Rosie played a pair of Polkas: Tehan's Favourite and Maggie in the Wood. Then Alan played as Rosie sang "Lovely Joan". Delia and Stuart did a duet on concertina with the tune "Waltz for Sally" (by Paul Barrett, they tell me). Ian sang "The wild Deer of Epping".
Dave played and sang "Northern Lights" and Fred sang something called "The Congress of Vienna". Richard played "Dance of the Demon Daffodils" on concertina. Or is it accordion? Accordian to me, I haven't the faintest idea. More beer! Simon appeared, and someone made a comment about "talent". We weren't sure whether it was Simon was meant, or the ladies in the corner next to him. Simon played "Mrs Casey" and the one that comes after it, which turned out to be "Hodson Will". On a squeezebox of some kind. I'm almost sure.
Andy and Richard did a duet with "Old-Fashioned Saturday Night". Back to Dick again, and he sang "Broomfield Hill". Steve played Lindisfarne's "Dreamseller". which prompted some discussion about concert-going in Bristol. Alan and Rosie cut that short by playing "The Rakes of Kildare" and "The Tenpenny Bit".
Then there was Delia with "I got a Bran-new pair of Rollerskates" and everyone joined in the chorus. Alan and Rosie played "The Dark End of the Street" and explained that it was from the film "The Commitments". Stuart sang "Tavistock Goosey Fair". I can't keep saying everyone joined in the chorus. They just do.
Ian sang "Through Moorfields" and there was a general joining in as Gordon played "Young Collins" and "Princess Royal". Some of us were playing something different, but it came out all right. Did I mention that Delia won the raffle? She asked for the jar of honey, but it had gone. So sad...
Dave played "Northern Geordie England" and Fred played an air called "Rothbury Hills". Nobody could think of any songs about April, so Simon sang "I have been a rambling..." in the best tradition of cheery folksongs. Continuing the mood, Andy and Richard played and sang "Tracks of my Tears". Then they sang "Little ball of yarn". This had a marked effect on some of the females in the gathering. Obviously something of great personal and sentimental significance. John had snuck in by this time and was prevailed upon to sing "If you had a brain you'd be dangerous." Rick sang "Here's to you John Brown" and there has got to be an internet abbreviation for "and everybody joined in the chorus". EJITC. Somehow that seems appropriate. Steve played "Gulf Coast Highway". And Alan and Rosie sang "Nothing's going to change my world" which they classed as a topical number, by Folk-Club standards... EJITC. Delia sang "Bobby Shafto" but it didn't have a chorus. Ian sang "Newlin Town" which was another cheery one. Dave sang "The Connemara Horse Trade Fair" and Fred played "Råttjävlen" (That Damned Rat) on Willowflute. Simon sang "Your Baby has gorn darn the Plughole" EJITC. So sad. So Sad. My handwriting...I can't make it out...
Andy and Richard sang "The Bonnie Light Horseman" and continued the Cockney theme with "Knocked them in the Old Kent Road". EJITC. There was just enough time for John to sing "Black is the Colour" and the bell went. Did the bell went? I never heard it! Okay then. Blimey, it really goes to your head when you hit the cold night air...

You can hear a few numbers from this terrific trio most Wednesdays with us. You can hear a full set on Thursday 29th April at Maidenhead Folk Club at the 'Seven Stars', Knowl Hill, RG10 9UR for a mere £5.

Expect to hear an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary material.

Folk for M.S. started in 1990 as a one-off concert to raise funds to help people with Multiple Sclerosis. The evening was such a great success that it has continued as an annual event, now held at the Old Mill Hall in Grove, Oxfordshire. In 2006 it joined forces with the organisers of the White Horse Ceilidhs to hold a joint ceilidh in aid of FfMS. The first ceilidh was a great success, so now it is now another annual FfMS event!

This year's dates are:

• 12th June: Concert featuring Bob Fox, Artisan, Moonrakers and Rebekah Findlay
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• Ceilidh with Graham Cox and The Somon Care Band: 11th June
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Both at Old Mill Hall, Grove, Oxfordshire

Fewer of us than usual turned at The Belle Vue this week, partly because there had been a Bottom Line gig at the Dog & Badger the day before. Nevertheless, we all dug deep and managed to pull together more material than we thought we’d have to play.

Martin and Kerraleigh made their first visit to The BV, and made the most the opportunity to share part of their growing repertoire, including their own impressive songs Garden Ray, The Old Rocking Chair and Petrified Forest. I was very taken by The Low Anthem’s To the Ghosts Who Write History Books (what a great title). We also heard This is not a Test by She and Him (not a great name), Isobel Campbell’s The Circus is Leaving Town, PJ Harvey’s White Chalk (about Dorset rather than the Chilterns) and Settling Song by Nina Nastasia.

We also had an original song from Glen – At the Dawn of my Day. However, her most notable contribution was Gary Richard Tigerman’s.Seduced. Given the lyrics, and the fact that she was sitting next to Dick, it was natural that hands would wander and the number would end with a kiss! Her other songs were John McCutcheon’s Stone by Stone and John Denver’s Kissing You Goodbye.

As usual, Dave’s songs were his own. Tonight’s were (in my opinion) two of his best; Tolpuddle Men and Nova Scotia. He took us back to the Pegasus by playing Young Collins & The Princess Royal - we used to play them pretty much every week. He also added Morgan’s Run.

On the subject of The Pegasus, Dick used to be accused of singing Bring Us a Barrel every week. Tonight, it was part of his ‘greatest hits’ package that also included Limehouse Reach, Fatal Glass of Beer and Man in the Moon.

Sadly, Jimi Hendrix’ material doesn’t feature often in our evenings so Martin’s version of Angel, from the last Hendrix album Cry of Love, was much welcomed by me. His other songs were Scarborough Fair, David Francey’s Lucky Man and Carol King’s You’ve Got a Friend (in the James Taylor style).

Ian’s songs were Harvey Andrew’s Unaccompanied, about the Jarrow marches, the sea song Radcliffe Highway and The Back Streets of Glasgow. John contributed May The Turtle be Unbroken and Ghost Riders in the Sky (who probably didn’t write history books). Being without Rosie, I had to inflict three mandolin tunes on those assembled. They were the jig Ships in Full Sail, O’Carolan’s Draught and the English country dance tune Jack Robinson (with Dave’s assistance).

Clive, who runs the BV Open Mic on the second Sunday of the month at 3pm, encouraged us to attend, before borrowing a guitar and singing John Sebastian’s Younger Girl,

We hope to have our usual good attendance at the Prince Albert next week.