Marlow Bottom Acoustic Club

Burning and busking at The Prince Albert

2012-01-25T23:16:00.000Z

It was Burns Night, and some people came prepared with an appropriate song or tune or two. Well done Fred, Liz and Alan, Stuart and Delia, David, John, Richard, Karen and Alison. I think playing a tune in the French style written by a Scotsman on a Scottish-made mandolin doesn't count. Nor do songs by Carole McKing or the Moody McBlues.

We didn't move the table around, so were even more pushed for space than usual. When Alison, David and Simon started their second turn, David left his guitar case open on the floor, whereupon several people threw coins into it. It appears that Hank Williams' You Win Again, sung by Alison accompanied by David and Simon, with Steve as guest guitarist, is worth 24p.

Next week we'll be at The Dog & Badger.

There's a fifth Wednesday in February (Nerd quiz - how often does that happen?), so we don't have a regular venue. Please let us know if you have any preferences.

The Bottom Line at The Boot, Bledlow Ridge, Saturday 14th January 21:30

2012-01-06T16:10:00.000Z

We were delighted to have David and Alison Fenner join with the Bottom Line for an enjoyable afternoon of music at a packed Dog and Badger on New Years Day. Thanks to all those who came along.

Our next gig is at The Boot, Bledlow Ridge on Saturday 14th January at 21:30-23:00 when, once again, David and Alison will be joining us. Electric guitars and cahon will be in evidence again.

It would be nice to see some familiar faces there. Food will be served from 18:00-21:00. If you intend to eat, please call 01494 481499 and mention The Bottom Line.

Featuring Karen in absentia at The Dog & Badger

2012-01-04T23:34:00.000Z

There was a relatively low turnout at The Dog & Badger, probably due to the shock for some of us of returning to work. However, we were pleased to see Jeremy again after a while and especially good to hear Grateful Dead's Friend of the Devil.

Steve compensated for Karen not being there by singing three of the songs usually sung by her: We'll Sing Hallelujah (a timely New Year number of course), My Man (with Rosie) and one I can't remember.

Also present were Simon, Dick, John, Martin and banjo, Liz and Alan, Jennifer, Rosie and me.

Dave Heath's song sung by John MaRae

2012-01-04T12:20:00.001Z

This is a song written by our very own Dave Heath, as sung and put to video on your tube by John MacRae

Photos of Xmas Do 21st Dec 2011

2011-12-22T10:13:00.001Z

Click on the slideshow photos to view full screen

Noise reduction at The Prince Albert

2011-12-14T23:49:00.000Z

This out-of-sequence Wednesday at The Prince Albert was a super evening, with some Xmas-themed songs, some fine singing and lots of laughs.

We had the Twelve Days of Christmas twice. Firstly from Andy and Richard, with a drinking theme (On the Nth day of Christmas, Michael gave to me....). Later, Fred gave us the Hawaiian version 'Numba One Day of Christmas', complete with hand actions. The picture is 'Two coconuts'.

Simon and David reprised their George Harrison numbers for those of us who hadn't been present first time. If I Needed Someone has a section consisting mostly of aaahhhs. For some reason (it was towards the end of the evening), they decided to rotate their heads in opposite directions for this section. This created the expected speeding up and slowing down effect which was described by someone present (who might have a degree in Chemical Engineering) as the Dolby effect. We didn't record it using the Doppler Noise Reduction system.

Other Christmas or winter-themed numbers were:

Jim Croce's It Doesn't Have To be That Way from Rosie and me
Karen's own Summer in Invincible, and Kay Tilley's New Year song
In The Bleak Midwinter and Here We Come A Wassailing from Andy and Richard
Midwinter Toast, The Innocents and a French lullalby from Alison, David and Simon

We also heard Martin's Christmas present to himself - a 5-string banjo. HE sang What a Mouth and a couple of other songs that worked really well.

Also present were Dave and Norma. We even had a contribution from Plummy (?), one of the locals.

Next week is the Xmas meal at the Dog & Badger. Booking is essential!

The Bottom Line at The Dog & Badger on New Years Day afternoon

2011-12-11T19:56:00.001Z

The Bottom Line played at The Dog & Badger last New Years Day afternoon. We had a good audience of locals and friends and enjoyed the afternoon very much.

We'll be playing again this New Years Day and will once again be joined by some guests that Marlow Bottom Acoustic Club regulars will recognise. Music will start around 13:00 and go on until around 16:00. At least one electric guitar will be wielded.

It should be another fun afternoon. Do come along if you can.

The Xmas song embargo broken at The Dashwood Arms

2011-12-07T23:22:00.000Z

We shuffled our normal schedule around because of our Xmas meal at the Dog & Badger on the 21st, so we were unusally at The Dashwood Arms on this first Wednesday.

It being December, it was inevitable that someone would break the Xmas song embargo. That someone was Simon, with Thea Gilmore's That'll Be Christmas.

As always, it was a pleasure to see and hear Robin, even for those of us who aspire to play the mandolin and had to follow immediately after him. He had planned to play a certain Thea Gilmore song for his second turn and had to change his plan. We therefore heard Ghost Chickens in the Sky, to the tune you'd expect with a chorus that was easy to join in with (if you happened to be a chicken).

Fred was also with us and brought a couple of new parodies - one to (I think) a Bob Dylan tune about the Occupy protests, the other to a John Denver melody and called Annie's Thong. This was not Xmas themed.

Also present were Alan and Liz (back from New Zealand), Dick, John, Dave and Norma, Karen, Martin and Rosie and me.

We're out of sequence again next week and will be at The Prince Albert at Frieth.

Thursday 8th December @ Maidenhead

2011-12-05T12:02:00.003Z

You may like to know that one of long serving regular members, Denise Orchard is singing with "The Morning After" who are guests at maidenhead Folk Club, on Thursday 8th December. Please go along and have a good sing and support them if you can.

Different Venue / Different Songs / St Andrews / Harrison Evening / 30 Nov 2011

2011-11-30T23:21:00.000Z

We were actually at Clayton’s bar in Marlow which was nice, since our name has Marlow in it!

Wednesday 30th November was St Andrew’s Night and very near the anniversary of George Harrisons death – which led to a spate of Scottish and Beatles songs.

Interspersed with these were some standards we had heard before, like Dick’s “Fatal Glass of Beer” and John’s “Don’t Slay That Potato”. Another amusing song was from Terry – a parody of Puff the Magic Dragon by Dave Kendrick.

Scottish contributions were:

Matt Armor’s “Generations of Change”, sung by Delia
Bonnie Glen Shee, from Stiuart
Donald Where’s your Trousers, from Fred
Coshieville, by a McClean, from Terry
Where Two Hawks Fly, from Karen
In friendship’s Name, from Stuart
Fisherman’s Wife, from Alison

Harrison contributions were:

Handle Me With Care (Travelling Wilburys), from Simon, Dave and Alison
I Need You, from Martin
Something from Mike, joined by Martin on guitar
If I Needed Someone, from Dave, Simon and Alison
Blue Jay Way (in Lydian mode), from Fred
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, from Martin

Other offerings were:

Dimming of the Day, from Alison and Dave
A Thousand Years, by Paul Metzer, from Dave
Young Waters, trad, from Dick
Another Train, by Pete Morton, from Dave, Alison and Simon
Dark Side of the Moon, from Mike
Thanksgiving Eve, by Bob Franke, from Karen

Not as we know it at The Prince Albert

2011-11-23T23:40:00.000Z

Fred had been ill and not been with us for a couple of weeks. Naturally, he hadn't wasted his time and brought us two new songs. The first was presumably called Cough, and its inspiration was obvious. The second was called I'm a Beaten Man. Without delving too deeply into the subject matter, I can divulge that pleasure involving whips and chains was involved.

Apart from a selection of tunes through the evening and songs from Richard, Dick and Dave H, we didn't have much that could be called folk music. Instead, the evening included Steely Dan & Pink Floyd (David & Simon), Billy Holiday & Joan Armatrading (Rosie & me), Everly Brothers (Martin) and The Hollies (Mike).

We'll be at Clayton's Bar in Marlow for the first time next week. It's opposite Platt's showroom. Parking is available in the car parks in Riley Road, behind the Waitrose/Sainsbury's site. Bring your George Harrison songs. It would help if you claimed them here so we don't all sing the same ones.

Venues for the next few weeks

2011-11-20T20:08:00.001Z

On 30th November, we'll be trying out Claytons Bar in Marlow. This has changed management a few times in the last few years and is now a nicely laid-out wine bar. It's in Oxford Road, opposite Platt's garage. The best place to park is in the 'Waitrose' (soon to be Sainsbury's) car park in Riley Road, unless you're Simon, in which case you can park in your own drive.

Incidentally, as well as being St Andrew's Day, 30th November is the closest Wednesday to the 10th anniversary of George Harrison's death (29th November 2001). Some of George's songs would be appropriate on the evening. Please comment below if you can contribute one or more so we don't have a bunch of duplicates!

Because we'll be at The Dog & Badger on 21st December for the Xmas meal, we've swapped dates with the Dashwood Arms and will be at The Dashwood on 7th December.

The Chequers has a large dinner booking so can't accommodate us for our usual slot on 14th. We'll be at the Prince Albert on that evening.

We usually have a quorum of people keen to get out of their house between Xmas and the New Year, so expect to be at the Prince Albert then too.

An anniversary surprise at The Dashwood Arms

2011-11-20T19:45:00.001Z

There were relatively few of us at The Dashwood Arms, but our number (and the average singing volume) was increased by John McCrae's presence.

John led in a string of oil-related puns after Dave Heath's 'Oil' song. (we were bored, we knew the drill, should have been played on s strata-caster etc etc). He also sang a song he wrote for a couple he knew who were still soppy about each other in their fifties. They apparently cry when they hear Gulf Coast Highway.

This prompted David (F) to tell us that it would be his and Alison's wedding anniversary the following day and that he would play a song written for her in the days when she was out gigging regularly. It's called Bird on the Wing and, apparently, Alison had never heard. Lovely it was too, and a fifty-something couple (but not the one you'd expect) were noted wiping away tears.

Also present were Dick, Norma, Simon, Hilary, Steve (too late to sing Gulf Coast Highway), Rosie and me.

MBAC XMAS DINNER (with music too) on WED 21st DEC @ Dog & Badger, Medmenham

2011-11-12T18:06:00.002Z

We have potentially around 30 people who might come to the meal on 21st.

Yesterday I emailed all those we have email addresses for and so far 15 people have said they are coming. However, we don't have email addresses for everyone e.g. Mike.

If you would like to come to the meal (partners welcome) please let me know. Subsidised price is likely to be £10 / £15 for 2/3 courses. The menu is here. I will collect money and ask you to make your menu choices from everyone before the 21st Dec so I don't have to do it on the night.

And of course there is a raffle you can't lose because it's Christmas!

Karen

Increasing numbers at The Dog & Badger

2011-11-02T23:41:00.000Z

By 8:45, there only Fred, Rosie and I were there It might have been one of those 'What shall we play? / Everything we know' evenings. However, the following people drifted in over the course of the evening: Dick, Steve (without guitar and words), Jennifer, Dick, David, Alison, Simon, Terry, John C, Matt and Judith, Plus a couple from Cookham who listened for a while, then said they'd return soon to play. We looking forward to hearing them.

As usual, we heard a variety of stuff, including:

one and a half Tom Lehrer's from Terry
Lou Reed from Matt
Native American flute from Fred
an almost-empty autumnal guitar solo from me
an almost-empty verse from David
some almost-Turkish melodica from Rosie
an especially good 'Elvis Presley Blues' from Alison
a coffee pot from Simon

We're at The Chequers next week, eagerly anticipating another new seating arrangement.

More blackberrying at The Prince Albert

2011-10-26T23:19:00.000+01:00

We had the usual good turnout at The Price Albert. This included a first visit from John from Derbyshire, who brought along his guitar and proceeded to dazzle us with three instrumentals, at least two of which were his own compositions. Nice tunes as well as nifty playing. I hope we see and hear more of John.

David, Alison and Simon seemed on particularly good form, notably on Ready for the Storm and Monsieur Le Curé. After Fred played another tune on his guitar, I remarked that I was pleased that I'm not the only person who pulled a funny face when concentrating on playing. It was then justice that I made a few mistakes when playing my mandolin piece because I was putting more effort into not pulling a face than on playing.

Also present were Dick, Martin, Delia and Stuart, John C, Matt and Judith, plus Rosie and I.

After Judith had rescued us last week by letting me use her Blackberry to look up our lyrics, we dedicated The Move's Blackberry Way to her. There was much singing along.

We'll be at The Dog and Badger next week, where I hope for as good a turnout as last time there.

Wheelwrights' Bane Final Fling 29th October

2011-10-25T20:29:00.000+01:00

David Fenner has played with the Wheelwrights' Bane ceilidh band for over 15 years. Those of you who attended Rosie's 50th birthday do will have heard and danced to them.
The band has decided to call it a day after 29 years and are hosting a final dance on 29th October at Loddon Hall in Twyford, from 20:00-23:00.
Tickets are £8 (£5 for concessions) and all proceeds will go to Cancer Research and The British Heart Foundation.
As well as being for worthwhile causes, this should be a fun evening. Tickets are available from David. Please try to come along.
Note that this coincides with the village firework display in an adjacent field. Attendees of the dance are supposed to have priority over use of the village car car park!

Blackberry Way at The Dashwood Arms

2011-10-19T23:30:00.000+01:00

At my count, there were seventeen of us at The Dashwood Arms despite some notable absentees.It being close to Trafalgar Day, some French-related material came out. However, I missed a significant part of the evening, so apologies for focusing this account on what Rosie and I played ....

Firstly, while it was raining when we were on holiday in Turkey, Rosie and I had compiled a list of new songs we might work on. Over the weekend, we'd managed to get two of them to the stage where we were happy to play them at the club - they even went well when we practised them before setting out. Both of them had innovations. However, we realised when we got to The Dashwood Arms that we'd left the lyric sheets at home.

Never mind, I thought, I'll look them up on my phone and we'll write them out before our turn comes. There was no reception for Orange inside the pub so I spent a significant time outside trying and failing. However, my pleas for some with a smartphone (with reception) were answered by Judith and her Blackberry. After struggling with the Blackberry user interface, and skipping our turn, we finally got the words written out. We were therefore able to play:

Autumn Leaves - the Nat King Cole favourite that started life as a French song (Feuilles d'Automne) so Rosie sang the English and French versions of the main theme, with a concertina solo.
Istanbul not Constantinople - a song from the fifties that was covered in the eighties by They Might Be Giants. This had come into my head as we landed in Turkey and infected Rosie too for the rest of the holiday. This had a couple of innovations for us - Rosie played her melodica and I sang a bit!

Secondly, I missed a significant part of the second half because I went to the bar and chatted with the landlord, Wayne. If you've met Wayne, you'll know that this is rarely a short event!

We'll be at the Price Albert next week when I intend to pay more attention, and I hope for less background noise than last time.

Chequers - several Paul Simon as a result of it being his 70th birthday the next day!

2011-10-12T23:20:00.000+01:00

Excellent evening. Some fun and banter as usual and quite a lot of songs as we all sat round one huge table – which worked really well.

Dick: April Morning, Fair Rosamund, Peat Bog Soldiers,
Mike: Needle of Death (Bert Jansch), Wednesday Morning 3am (Paul Simon) , Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Dave: Hop-picking Song, Hobos, Home Town(all by Dave himself)
David, Alison & Simon: Scarecrow (John tams), The Lark (Kate Rusby), Dead Skunk (Loudon Wainright), Cold Days of February (Incredible String Band), tunes – Lisbon, 4 Seasons
Karen: Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Band), Gloria (A J Clarke)
Karen (vocals), Martin (guitar) & France (harp): Kathy’s Song (Paul Simon)
Martin: Bleecker Street (Paul Simon), Mrs Robinson (P Simon), Sparrow (P Simon)
John: Sound of Silence (P Simon), Bournemouth
Matt: I’m Waiting For My Man, Lewis Collins (Mississippi John Hurt)
Fred: Apache Bear Song (Fred), Munster Grass (hornpipe – Irish trad), The Road to Venezuela (Stachridge)
France: Sky Boat Song
Alison: Sweet Hope of Glory
Dave & Simon: Bucks Free Press

Next week we're at The Dashwood Arms, Piddington.

Don't forget to put the Xmas meal in your diaries - Wednesday 21st December at Dog and Badger

Shooting (or was it shouting) party at The Prince Albert

2011-09-28T23:21:00.000+01:00

We had a large turnout at The Prince Albert. Unfortunately, the group at the other end of the bar were much noisier than usual, so much of our subtlety was lost. But we soldiered on regardless.

I couldn't resist this:

Alison (with apologies to Elvis Costello)

Oh it's so lovely to be hearing you at The Prince Albert.

The way you sing A Strange Affair

You know that I’m impressed.

But the shooting party sitting there beside the bar

Shout so we hear it less

And Mike the landlord has a bottle in his hand

He needs to get into the bin

He tried when standing fifteen feet away from it

We hear the crash when it goes in

Alison, I know this noise is killing you.

Oh, Alison, Mike’s aim is true.

There is a second verse, but I daren't publish it here for fear of libel (or severe verbal abuse). Copies on request.

Le's hope for a quieter time next week.

Less crowded at The Dashwood Arms

2011-09-21T23:27:00.000+01:00

After a big turnout for the limited space at The Chequers last week, we had fewer for the much larger room at The Dashwood Arms this week. Of those who did come, John (sore throat) and Steve (no guitar or book of words), weren't able to perform. However, our number did include Richard and Andy, whom we don't see so often these days, and France, who can only come along with his harp to the larger venues.

Karen's guitar playing has benefited from a summer of practice, and her she seems to sing particularly well when accompanying herself. Diamonds and Rust was very good tonight.

Fred first came along three years ago. The first thing he played was his own 'Elephant' song on guitar. He played it again tonight - and considerably less hesitantly than on that first visit! It was also good to hear John Martin's May You Never.

We're at the space-constrained Prince Albert next week, where I expect the usual big turnout.

Claytons Bar in Marlow is under new management, who approached us about hosting the club there. There are five Wednesdays in November, so we've agreed to give it a try then. More details closer to the time.

Xmas meal at The Dog & Badger, 21st December

2011-09-21T11:08:00.001+01:00

We've arranged to have the 2011 Xmas meal at The Dog & Badger on 21st December. As usual, we'll eat and drink well, and have an evening of seasonal music and jollity.

Booking will be essential nearer the time, and we'll also ask you to make your menu choices in advance.

Who let the dogs out at The Chequers

2011-09-14T23:21:00.000+01:00

There was a large party eating in the room in which we usually play at The Chequers so Emma relocated us to the middle bar, which is small and is a thoroughfare to the bar for staff and drinkers. We had a very good turnout of players and guests so it was a bit of a squeeze.

Despite this, it turned out to be a super evening .The highlight was undoubtedly the backing vocals contributed by The Chequers' resident beagle while it was behind the door next to Dick as he was singing Limehouse Lass. Of course, we all joined in with 'I could have loved you so ow ow ow ow'.

Jeremy joined us once more and this time brought along his daughter Anna. After being accompanied by Jeremy for her first song, she picked up the guitar herself for Beeswing. It's a hard song to pull off, and Anna made a great job of it. This was apparently the first time she'd played guitar in public. Let's hope we hear more.

It was great to see Debbie, complete with new hip.

We're at The Dashwood Arms next week where, as far as I know, there is no doggy chorus.

Wed 31 August 2011 at The Prince Albert

2011-08-31T23:44:00.000+01:00

Just 8 of us till John joined us making 9.

Lovely evening, and lots of laughter – well done to Martin for sparking some of it off! Especially the "Post-Coital Concertinas" episode which made us laugh such a lot!

We went in the following order, apart from the odd occasion!

Dick: Claudy Banks, All Things Are Quite Silent, Evils of Tobacco, and another

Fred: Streets of Laredo (on flute), Over the Hills and Far Away (acapella), Romanza (guitar), Lament for the death of Rev Archie Beaton (F Whistle)

Karen: Circle Game and Follow The Heron, both with Steve on guitar, Snowing on Raton accompanying herself on guitar, and The Black Crow, unaccompanied

Steve: You’re Gonna Make me Lonesome When You Go, Paradise (John Prine), Desperado, City of New Orleans

Martin: Lucky Man, Little Pot Stove, For Emily Wherever she May Be, You’ve Got a Friend

John: Shanghai Brown, Casey’s Last Ride

Delia: Grandfather’s Dance / Astley’s Ride

Suart & Delia: Nancy Davison / Bonnets o’ Blue

Stuart: Margaret’s Waltz / Midnight on the Water, truro Agricultural Show, Sammy’s Bar

Next week we're at The Dog and Badger, Medmenham, see you there!

Doubling the kitty at the Chequers

2011-08-10T23:14:00.001+01:00

There was no confusion this week, so we were able to spend the whole evening at The Chequers.

The absence of some of some of our regulars was balanced by a visiting party from Northern climes, whose names I forget. They contributed a selection of songs. I particularly enjoyed the duet version of Donovan's Donna Donna.

This week's Name That (willow flute) Tune challenge from Fred went unanswered. Not only did not recognise it, we also didn't know the song once we knew that it was Kitty From Coleraine. Of course, that prompted Fred to sing it next time around. Fred also explained the willow flute to our visitors, including how he learned it by following a bugle tune book. There followed the performance of a bugle tune.

Highlight of the evening for me was David, Alison and Simons' best performance yet of the unaccompanied 'Lisbon'.
Simon had returned from Sidmouth with a new and interesting tune - The Four Seasons - that turned out to be a three part jig.
Alison led us in singing a round - Shalom Shalom May Peace Be With You.
Mike sang his second Sandy Denny song in a row - Fotheringay this time

We're at The Dashwood Arms on 17t August. See you there

Variety at The Dog & Badger

2011-08-03T23:16:00.000+01:00

We returned to The Dog & Badger safe in the knowledge that the cricket club has no more Wednesday home matches this season.... The pub looks different and somehow more comfortable since Nick and Suzanne have taken over, and is certainly busier on a Wednesday.

We didn't have a large turn-out, but we did have variety:

Gilbert and Sullivan's Tit Willow - John's marking of the 100th anniversary of W.S. Gilbert's death
Harry Champion's What a Mouth from Martin - this happened to have been featured in Danny Baker's Desert Island Discs this week
Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time from Matt (what's good enough for Richard Thompson....)
Billy Holiday's You Go To My Head from Rosie and me
Robert Johnson's Malted Milk from Martin
Several stunning latin-influenced classical guitar pieces from Adam
Plenty of singer-songwriter stuff, including Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down especially for Suzanne, who's something of a fan.
And even some folk songs and tunes

Back at The Chequers at Fingest next week, confidently expecting to be expected.

Remembering at The Prince Albert

2011-07-27T23:38:00.002+01:00

We had a lovely and varied evening at The Prince Albert. It was nice to welcome Mike from Marlow with his songs and guitar. Here's looking forward to his next visit.

The other main thing of note in the evening (apart from Stuart intending to sing one song and another one emerging is recounted below, with apologies. It's to the tune of Blind Blake's Delia's Gone, as sung more recently by Johnny Cash.

Delia's Tunes

Delia, Oh Delia
Delia when she sings
Pitches notes so high that some of us
Think the bats are coming in
Delia’s songs are so high, Delia’s songs

But Delia, Oh Delia
Delia learned to play
A concertina, English style
Reading music, by the way
By the dots, Delia’s tunes, by the dots

Then Delia, Oh Delia
Trusted her memory
Played two tunes without the dots
Sounded so much better to me
Learn some more, Delia please, learn some more

We're back at The Dog & Badger at Medmenham next week.

Not so quiet at The Dashwood Arms

2011-07-20T23:36:00.001+01:00

I think everyone found their way to the right pub first time this week.....

I'd like to report on what everyone sang or played but, because The Dashwood Arms was noisier than usual for the first half of our evening, I'm not sure I'd be accurate. However, we were visited by Peter from Oxford who plays subtle and neat finger-style guitar to accompany his own excellent songs. I particularly enjoyed the multi-generational one, the name of which I forget. I hope Peter comes again when it's quieter.

Fred's point number this week was not so much 'hot off the presses' as 'didn't quite reach the presses' - he hadn't even had time to type the lyrics up. This week's theme was the culling of badgers. The song was funnier than the theme.

We're at the Prince Albert next week (27th). See you there.

Rather more peripatetic than we expected

2011-07-13T23:20:00.002+01:00

Most of regulars like the idea of having a selection of pubs that we play in on a loosely monthly rota. They have different atmospheres, and attract slightly different attendees. Although it's a bit of a step for some of us, The Chequers at Fingest is in a lovely spot and the room is the right size and well-placed. So, we were pleased that the new incumbents were keen that we returned after our June visit. I arranged for us to be there on 2nd Wednesday in July.

When we arrived at 8:30, I was surprised to see a band set up and playing in the room we expected to use. Apparently, the band had called and asked if it was OK for them to rehearse in the room, and the staff thought they were us and said OK! They and the others in the pub were clearly having a good time so, rather than disrupt them, we decided to move on the the Prince Albert. Mike was welcoming and had a surprise for us - Emma from The Chequers had rung ahead and offered to buy a drink for each of us. Cheers Emma!

This short trip between pubs wasn't a big deal for most of us. However, Tony was in the area and had looked at the website and got the impression that we'd be at the Dashwood Arms. So he went there first, ordered and ate a meal before realising we weren't coming. He then headed off the The Chequers before being redirected to the PA. He deserved his free pint for perseverance.

After all that, we had a super evening that included another point number from Fred, a pre-emptive celebration of the demise of a media ~~legend~~ snake. Lyrics below. Thanks to everyone who came.

I've arranged for us to be at The Chequers for the second Wednesdays in August and September, and the Dog and Badger for the first Wednesdays. See the calendar.

We're really at the Dashwood Arms next week, but that doesn't mean you can't visit any of our other venues on the way.

Rebekah's Employer (to the tune of Doctor Hook's Sylvia's Mother)

Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah's busy, too busy to come to the phone
Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah's trying, to start a new life of her own
Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah's innocent, so why can't you leave her alone
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS:
Please Mr. Murdoch I just got to talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mr. Murdoch I just want to tell her
Goodbye

Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah's packing, she's going be leaving today
Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah's joining, a paper down Galveston-Way
Rebekah's Employer says She don't say nothing, she might give the whole game away
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS

Rebekah's Employer says Rebekah is hurrying, she's catching the nine o'clock train
Rebekah's Employer says Take your umbrella, cause Rebekah it's starting to rain
And Rebekah's Employer says News International will rise from the ashes again
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS

Tell her goodbye
Please, tell her goodbye
Goodbye

All change at The Chequers

2011-06-29T23:34:00.003+01:00

The Chequers at Fingest is under new management, Jackson and Emma, who were previously at the excellent Fox & Hounds at Christmas Common. Jackson was indisposed this evening, but Emma made us very welcome. I was less impressed by their dog the size of a horse, or even the smaller dog that toured the room while I was trying to play. At least it had a complete set of legs.

We had a wide variety of material this evening, made wider than usual by Rosie, Steve and I (and bass guitar) running through some Bottom Line material.

Highlights for me were:

John's rendition of a parody of Old Maui called Slowing Down To Lethargy - the theme of this was singing long songs very slowly. Excellent.
Fred's latest point number called, I think, The Cricketers of Penn. This was a result of David's challenge after last week's cricketer-disrupted evening at the Prince Albert.
Martin's version of Paul McCartney's Blackbird
David and Alison's unaccompanied version of Nagasaki (where the men chew tobaccy). It would not be appropriate to say that this song bombed.

We've arranged to return to The Chequers on the second Wednesday of July and hope to make it a monthly venue. Next week we'll be at the Belle Vue.

Bonfire of the guitars at The Belle Vue?

2011-06-01T23:45:00.002+01:00

We had a better turn-out than usual at The Belle Vue this week.

Norman paid us a second visit (a couple of years after his first) and sang a Cyril Tawney song lamenting 'proper' pubs and, later, a parody about his short career as a motorcycle courier. Excellent stuff.

But the star of the evening was Judith's son Adam, who plays latin- and jazz-influenced music on classical guitar. Super playing, and great to have the variety. The other guitar players among us were somewhat intimidated but nobody to my knowledge actually burned their guitar afterwards. We look forward to hearing Adam again.

As Jake Thackray was to The Braden Beat and Richard Stilgoe was to Nationwide, so Fred is to MBAC. Inspired by the recent super-injunction 'news', he gave us another 'point number' this week: The Laws of Libel to the tune of The Shoals of Herring. Facebookers can find the lyrics here.

Back to The Dog and Badger next week - cricketer-free we hope!

Keeping Bob Dylan in the dark

2011-05-25T23:36:00.002+01:00

The Bob Dylan 70th birthday celebration went off as well as I'd hoped - most people came with one or more of his songs and everyone joined in the 'community singing'(*). The atmosphere was heightened by the power cut that meant the whole evening was conducted in candlelight. Luckily Martin had his special lyric-reading lamp and Steve & Jennifer had a torch.

The songs I remember were:

All Along the Watchtower
Time's They are A Changing (and the parody Songs They Are A Changing)
I'm Gonna Miss You When You Go (twice)
Positively Fourth Street (as a tango)
My Back Pages
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Senor
Knocking on Heaven's Door
Mighty Quinn (*)
I Shall Be Released (*)
You Ain't Going Nowhere (*)

I know I've missed quite a few, so please let me know which one they were. we even had David Bowie's Song for Bob Dylan.

Fred even managed to sneak in an excellent 'point number' - The Bonny Ash Cloud (to the tune of The Bonny Ash Grove). Lyrics here. I think I saw a certain rugby fan singing along with different lyrics that would be censored from this blog.

Back to The Belle Vue next week.

Bob Dylan's 70th birthday this week - bring your Dylan songs

2011-05-23T21:15:00.000+01:00

As it's Bob Dylan's 70th birthday on 24th May, it would be nice to have a few of his songs at the Prince Albert on 25th. Please come prepared with any that you know.

Rosie and I are hoping to have a close approximation to Your Gonna Leave Me Lonesome When You Go by then. Please comment below to reserve any you might sing.

I thought we might have all-in performances of the songs below. I'll bring lyrics sheets.

Mighty Quinn in G
Chorus
G D G
Come all without, come all within
D C G
You'll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn
G D G
Come all without, come all within
D C G
You'll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn

Verse:
G C G C
Ev'rybody's building ships and boats
G C G C
Some are building monuments, others jotting down notes.
G C G C
Ev'rybody's in despair, ev'ry girl and boy
G D
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here,
C G
Ev'rybody's gonna jump for joy.

You Ain't Going Nowhere
Verse and chorus chords the same:
G Am
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
C
Tomorrow's the day
G
My bride's gonna come
G Am
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
C G
Down in the easy chair!

I Shall be Released
verse and chorus chords the same
G Am
I see my light come shining
Bm Am G
From the west unto the east.
G
Any day now,
Am
Any day now,
Bm Am G
I shall be released

Back to The Chequers on 29th June

2011-05-15T20:45:00.000+01:00

I've spoken to Jaxon, the new licencee at The Chequers and arranged to return there on 29th June.

Able to hear each other at The Prince Albert

2011-05-11T23:04:00.007+01:00

It was a pleasure to be back at The Prince Albert and to be able to hear each other - except when the most jarring mobile phone ring tone in Christendom was in evidence.

We heard the premier of Fred's cricketer-inspired song 'Ambient Noise', sung to the tune of 'Three Nights and a Sunday Double Time'. I'm looking forward to the first ring-tone-inspired song. I guess that's a challenge.

Most people didn't know that Karen can play the guitar - the last time we saw this at MBAC was at The Pegasus many years ago. However, Gerry had given her a nylon-stringed guitar before leaving for Australia and she felt a duty to give it an outing, so she played and sang Tecumseh Valley, which is one of the few songs on Nanci Griffith's Other Voices, Other Rooms album that Steve doesn't sing. Well done Karen.

Various songs from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack pop up occasionally on a Wednesday (and almost all Bottom Line gigs). We heard a different one tonight - Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby - from the new pairing of Rosie and Alison. Excellent stuff after two rehearsals, one in our front room, the other in the PA car park.

We also saw the re-formed non-musical pairing of Steve and Jennifer. Steve sang his own song Islands with no little feeling. We wish them the best of luck.

Bob Newell has one of the loudest singing voices I've heard, and even he was deterred by the noise last week. It was nice for him to join us again this week and play another couple of songs from his large repertoire.

Richard has recently sung a song that's not really about a Ball of Yarn. This evening he sang one that's not really about a Black Hare. Dick followed the trend with a song that's not really about milling. It was a shame that Dave Sanderson wasn't there to sing the Kipper Family song that's not really about cricket.

Also present, and mostly correct, were Dick, Dave and Norma, Stuart and Delia, Simon, David, John and me.

We'll be at the Dashwood Arms next week. The first four weeks of June are now confirmed as BV, D&B, DA, PA. I'm not sure about the 5th Wednesday yet. More news on venues when I have it.

Medmenham Cricket Club 1 Marlow Bottom Acoustic Club 0

2011-05-04T23:03:00.001+01:00

In my article about our return to The Dog & Badger, I mentioned that our previous visits had been very successful, apart from the one that coincided with the cricketers. I was therefore not too pleased to find that our return visit was a home cricket fixture, so the bar was packed and loud. Indeed, I think it was once again the venue for the annual shouting contest, which might have been preceded by some cricket.

We carried on regardless. As far as I could hear, most of us switched to the less subtle end of our repertoires.

As Fred posted the lyrics to a new song the next day, I can only assume it to have been 'inspired' by the evening. Reproduced here with assumed permission (thanks Fred):

Ambient noise

Chorus:

Please keep up the chatter at the back!

Please keep up the chatter at the back;

A little bit of background noise

Helps us sustain our equipoise:

So please keep up the chatter at the back!

Classical musicians call for silence

They insist on it when tuning up their violins

But Folk musicians have no fear

We'd rather that you didn't hear,

So please keep up the chatter at the back!

Chorus

Sometimes our voices get a bit unsteady

And everybody always knows the words already

Sometimes the singer gets it wrong:

Embarrassment can kill a song

So please keep up the chatter at the back!

Chorus

Penny whistles are a damned infernal nuisance

You're better off ignoring their insouciance

And when accordians start to play

Just raise your voice until you bray

And please keep up the chatter at the back!

Chorus

If you listen to the words you'll get our measure

We are playing for the misery not the pleasure;

If we think it's got too quiet

We'll have a fight and start a riot,

So please keep up the chatter at the back!

Chorus

I've talked to Nick the landlord and have agreed a schedule that avoids have us and the cricketers on the same evening. We'll be back at the D&B on 8th June, but not there at all in July.

Failing to be Gloomy at the Prince Albert

2011-04-27T23:52:00.000+01:00

Transient Doom and Gloom at the Prince Albert 27/04/2011

The Prince Albert was thronged this Wednesday night, with rare appearances by Dougie and Izzy. Spring was in the air, despite our best efforts, although there was only one nuptial reference, and that one equivocal... After the table was turned, the squeezeboxes set to an overture of Young Collins and the Princess Royal. Planxty Miss MacDermott they call that, those who know O'Carolan.
Dick formally opened the proceedings with "Bring us a Barrel". Fred followed that with "The Northhill Maying Song". "Faraway Tom" was Delia's offering. The song is by Dave Goulder, and refers to the cuckoo, she tells us. Dave sang us "Northern Geordie England", one of his own, and very nice too. "Jack Robinson" was played on the mandolin by Alan J, with participation in general. Alan and Rosie together performed "If Love was a Red Dress". Martin invoked Ocean Colour Scene with "The Circle". Richard got topical with "The False Bride" or "A Week Before Easter".
Alan and Liz lightened the mood somewhat with "Lady for Today", and followed it up with "Wild Bluebell", as ever with fine harmonies. Liz set us the question of who wrote "Wild Bluebell". Nobody knew or guessed. It was Agatha Christie. "Lady for Today" was by Rosie Hardman. Dougie spun us a tale of an alleged uncle, to introduce "While the Gamekeepers lie Sleeping". Izzy treated us to a set of "Spoot O'Skerry" and "The Morpeth Rant" with support from various whistles.
I know Simon Dave and Alison have put their initials in another order, but they remain ASD to me. They set to bring the mood down again with "I have been a rambling" (some floating verses with the Northhill Maying Song there) "The very thing that makes her rich makes me poor" and "Ghost" ("I'm just a Ghost in this House"). So we were in a proper Folk Club mood by then.
It was Dick's turn and he made another reference to weddings , for some reason, with a song the name of which I have neglected to record. I am dishonoured. Just imagine to yourselves that I have disembowelled myself with my pennywhistle. One benefit of doing the blog is you can make sure the tune you played incorrectly is correctly spelled. Fred played "An Phis Fliuch" on pennywhistle and did himself no credit. For the English translation of this title you will have to look elsewhere. You could try www.thesession.org. Delia lowered our spirits further with "They built the ship Titanic" but since it had a rousing chorus, the lowering was not entirely successful. Next to perform were Alan and Rosie with "You're so far away", another song of parted lovers. Martin continued that theme with "The Fisher Lad of Whitby", a Frank Tilson number; the lovers in this case being parted by pressgangs. Richard played "The Blossom in the Rain" on the low whistle, "off a Brian Peters CD" he said. As an instrumental this had no depressing storyline, so failed to lower the mood any more.
Liz and Alan maintained a neutral mood with "Toss Your Pennies", from "somebody from Brandywine Bridge", which despite being about unemployment had a merry chorus. It says here "Poor Franklin" which must have been another song by Liz and Alan, although my mind has gone blank. I blame the boondoggle ale. John sang us "Don't slay that Potato" which disgracefully lifted the mood, despite being a song about death... Potatoes die too, don't laugh...
Izzy played us a pleasant little number the name of which she had mislaid, lost or forgotten. It happens to us all. In Irish circles such tunes are referred to as "Gan Ainmh" which is the Irish for "Nameless". So Izzy played us one "Gan Ainmh". This was far too jolly to sustain the gloomy mood. ASD had resigned themselves to being cheerful by this time, so played us "Shepherd's Hay" and "Step Back" ("Old Molly Oxford"). Alison sang "How can I keep from singing" which may have been a cryptic attempt to continue the gloom, but then duetted with Dave for "I ain't done it myself but I seen it done" which was rude as well as cheerful, so a complete failure there. Dick sang us "Royal Oak" about British mariners carving up Turkish Dogs. Maybe somebody other than a Turkish Dog died in it, but if so, we missed it, so it has to be classed as cheerful. Fred finished up with "Wee Jimmy's lost his Marley (Marble)" which despite having a live inhumation and a casual explosion has an agreeable chorus, so very disappointing on the gloom scale.
We did our best to be miserable but just couldn't manage it. Spring must be in the air.

Returning to The Dog & Badger on 4th May

2011-04-27T08:23:00.000+01:00

Nick and family from The Chequers, where we were made very welcome a few weeks ago, have taken over The Dog & Badger at Medmenham and will re-open it this weekend. We wish them the best of luck in their new venture.

With the exception of the evening when we competed with the cricket club, the D&B was a very successful venue for MBAC, so we'll help fill the bar in their first week by meeting there on Wednesday 4th May. See you there!

Canine Adventures at The Dashwood Arms

2011-04-20T23:53:00.002+01:00

Once again we had a good turn-out at The Dashwood Arms and we treated the locals and each other to a very wide variety of styles. It was April, a few days before St George's Day and Easter, so there was plenty of scope for topical material.

Rosie and I started the English theme with The Seven Stars and Billy Bragg's (via Kirsty McColl) New England. Alan and Liz excelled in the English department with Oak and Ash and Thorn, English Meadow and the excellent The Dock and the Nettle by Mark Ashworth. We can always rely on Dick for English material - today's was Fathom the Bowl, The Rounding of Cape Horn and The Molecatcher. Stuart had a similar theme with Cyril Tawney's Stanley the Rat.

And to add some later Englishness, Simon sang the music hall song Old Brown Hat. This was by Harry Champion.who also gave the world Any Old Iron, Boiled Beef and Carrots and I'm Enery The Eighth I Am, which are allegedly different songs.

On the Easter theme, we had Pace Egging from Simon, and for April, Twas On One April Morning from Delia.

Fred has taken my remark on the number of languages in which he sings as a challenge. He offered a prize for the person who guessed this week's language. It turned out to be Hindi, the song being Ishwar Allah Tere Naam (Ishwar and Allah Are Your Names). We were provided with lyrics sheets (in Roman script!) and were able to sing along. He made that into a theme of his own with the Native American We've Gone To Be Bears. (two types of Indian - geddit).

West Coast America got an early outing with The Grateful Dead's Ship of Fools from David, and continued later with The Eagles' Bitter Creek from Steve. Both excellent.

We also heard:

Steve: City of New Orleans and I Hope You Dance, the latter with very good unrehearsed backing vocals from Rosie. Has lots of promise for a certain band.
Alan and Liz: Jez Lowe's Galloways
Deila: Under the Weeping Willow
Richard and Andy: Smokey Robinson's Track of My Tears, Ball of Yarn, Carrickfergus and The Band's The Weight
Alison: Died Standing Up, 10000 miles
David: Ripple Away
Fred: Sweet as Man

Rosie and I managed to bring along the lyrics for the two overdue 'first time out' songs. First was Nick Lowe's Peace Love and Understanding. We postponed the second song so it was the last song of the evening, partly to give Rosie the chance to have a second glass of wine and partly because I wondered whether whoever followed us might be too shocked to sing anything at all. The song itself was Fascinating Aida's Dogging. As the song says, if you're unsure of the subject, you can try google as long as you're not planning to send your computer for repair. Alternatively, you can watch FA's video. We hope no-one was offended.

We'll be back at The Dashwood Arms on the third Wednesay in May. Next week is certainly at The Prince Albert., watch out for confirmation of other upcoming venues soon.

Back to a full quota at The Prince Albert

2011-04-13T20:03:00.003+01:00

After our depleted numbers last week, it was good to get back to a full complement at The Prince Albert this week. That complement included John McRae who was as entertaining as always, although I was forced to administer a yellow card for a joke that involved a cowboy called The Brown Paper Kid who was arrested for rustling. He sang a couple of country-flavoured songs, one of which was about 600 bottles of whiskey, and ended the evening with a shanty that could probably have been heard in Marlow. I hope Delia's ears have recovered.

Our of the highlights related back to last week, when John had sung 'All By Yourself In the Moonlight'at the request of someone whose grandmother had sung it to her. Terry had not been there, but had read my blog post about it. This prompted him to revive a parody from (I think) Dorset that had the rest of us rolling with laughter. Thank you Terry.

Fred rose to my unstated challenge and sang a song in yet another language - Japanese this time. Any guesses on the next language?

I had told several people that Rosie and I had two 'first time out' songs and, indeed, we had rehearsed them earlier that evening. However, Rosie still needs the lyric sheets for them and we left those at home. So we had to dig up older material, with mixed success on my part. The said sheets are now in our music bag and we're confident that the new songs will be aired next week at The Dashwood Arms. I should point out that one comes with a 'rudeness advisory notice'.

I'm pleased to say that Karen and Alison did come fully prepared to sing new songs. Karen with A Kay Tilley song and Alsion with There's a Ghost in This House (recorded by Alsion Krauss).

I took no notes, but here's what else I remembered:

David F:the obscure Steely Dan song Here in the Western World, accompanied for the first time by Simon on bass
Simon, Alison and David: A Calling On Song
Dave H: his 'Gambling, Drinking and Smoking' song
Steve: Green Hils of Antrim
Dick: Here's To You Tom Brown
Delia: an Easter Carol focused on Judasand a concertina duet with Stuart
John Crosby: Bournemouth
Martin was there too

The vital few at The Belle Vue

2011-04-06T23:05:00.001+01:00

There's a line in Me and Bobby McGee that goes something like 'we finally sung every song that driver knew'. It felt a bit that that this evening at the Belle Vue. We had very sparse attendance this week - just Dick, Dave and Norma, Rosie and me and, later, John. We also had some competition from the jukebox.

However, a young couple remained with us in the Belle Vue 'snug' and made an appreciative audience. Sabina even sang us a song from her homeland of Austria. We look forward to seeing and hearing them again. Sabina asked if anyone knew a song her grandma used to sing, for which she knew some lyrics. With the help of the Belle Vue wifi, my phone and Google, John was able to sing 'All By Yourself In the Moonlight' (1928) for her!

As usual for a second Wednesday of the month, we'll be at the Price Albert on Wednesday 13th. I'm confident of the usual high attendance/

I'll touch your bass if you'll touch mine

2011-03-23T23:30:00.005Z

Another splendid evening at the Prince Albert, with Simon's friend Basil the Bass making a second appearance.

Stand-out number of the evening for me was David's take (with the usual supergroup support) on The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor) - it's hard to follow Ry Cooder but this had a great feel about it.

Alison, David and Simon (and Basil)'s other contributions were Darkness Darkness, Let It Be (perhaps prompted by Steve bemoaning the lack of Beatles songs at the club), Ten Thousand Miles and Hey Mister That's Me Up On The Jukebox.
I was pleased to get acquainted with Basil (and have a bit of practice for the following evening's gig at The Boot) when Karen and Steve sang Machine Gun Kelly. Rosie added some concertina to this too, prompting Dick to suggest we were becoming a rival super group. They also sang The Eagles' My Man, Steve sang Sleeping Sailor and Every Now and Then.

James Taylor made a third appearance via Martin with Something in the Way She Moves. Martin also sang Steve Knightley's Arrogance Ignorance and Greed and his own song Touching Base. This cleverly links together a lot of phrases (predominantly from the other side of the Atlantic) that get over-used in the corporate world.

Fred is heading for some sort of record with Je'su Christ s'habille en Pauvre. I think his last four songs have been in four different languages (previous ones have been English, Welsh and Irish)

We also heard:

Rosie and me: Blue Valentines (more practice for Thursday), Looking in the Eyes of Love, Musical Priest / Star of Munster, Kerry Polkas (for a rousing finish)
Rosie: Grandma's Hands
me: Pernod Waltz
Dave H: Misty Glows of Scotland, Hop Picking Song
Debbie: Pretty Amazing Grace and an excellent First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Dick Who's The Fool Now, Come Ye Lads, Here's To You Tom Brown (The Card Song)
Fred: Westmoreland / Sparre Lilla (Little Sparrow)
Tony: Cornish Lads and a tune

As you can see, Karen was captivated by the evening....

We have our first visit to The Chequers @ Fingest on 30th March. This is a lovely pub and has a room that looks very promising for the club. Im looking forward to it very much.

The Bottom Line, with Martin and Paul at The Boot, Bledlow Ridge on Thursday 24th March

2011-03-14T13:33:00.002Z

The Bottom Line will be playing at The Boot, Bledlow Ridge on Thursday 24th March. Music will kick off at around 20:00 and entry is free.
As usual, we'll be playing our mix of country, acoustic rock, folk and blues. It's possible that an electric guitar might make an appearance.
This will be an amplified occassion, just in case the same family of diners who accompanied the MBAC visit to The Boot are there again.

We'll be joined by locals 'boys' Martin Butcher and his open mic partner Paul. Their material ranges from The Everley Brothers to Green Day, performed in a subtle and engaging style.

Rosie and I ate at The Boot a couple of weeks ago after a wet walk in the area. The food was lovely and very good value. Please call 01494 481 499 if you'd like to book to eat, and mention The Bottom Line.

Tongue twisting at The Prince Albert

2011-03-09T11:14:00.003Z

We had the usual good turnout at the Prince Albert and some fine music. The virtuoso performance of the evening was from Simon (accompanied by David) with the Proper Copper Coffee Pot song – quite a tongue twister that might not have been managed so well after a couple of beers. This song has been recorded by The Andrews Sisters and Rolf Harris and this more handsome trio. Simon was obviously in ‘crowd’-pleasing mood when we followed later with the music hall number ‘My Old Brown Hat’. He also brought along his new friend, Basil the acoustic bass.

It’s not unknown for singers to struggle to find the right key for their song. Today, one of our number had trouble finding any key at all, but all was well when the relative minor arrived.

Three of The Bottom Line were present and used the opportunity to run out some songs for their upcoming gig at The Cross Key (a somewhat different proposition to The Prince Albert). The numbers were City of New Orleans, I’ll be Your Baby Tonight, Keep on the Sunny Side (with Richard on whistle) and Cash on the Barrelhead.

We’re seeing Liz and Alan regularly at The Prince Albert and hope they come our new venues in the Wycombe area. This evening they sang Horncastle Fair, Yorkshire Gypsy, One for Sorrow, Bay of Biscay and Girls of Sedgefield Fair.

We also heard:

Alison, David and Simon: Hey Moon, 10,000 miles, The Curst Brothers’ Ain’t Done it Myself and Cape Breton Lullaby
Richard: Haul, Boys, Haul, My Lady Cullens’ Delight / Lusty Gallant and The Parson + The Suckling Pig
John: the contrast of Jake Thackray’s Sister Josephine and Leonard Cohen’s Dress Rehearsal Rag
Dick: Who’s the Fool Now, Peatbog Soldiers, Teenage Cremation
Martin: Boatman by Maggie & Livingstone Taylor (brother of James) and the lovely (but achingly sad) I Can’t Make You Lovely, popularised by Bonnie Raitt
Stuart: Cyril Tawney’s Five Foot Flirt
Stuart & Delia: Concertina Duet by Claire Wren and Carol’s Favourite
Delia: Pete Coe’s Seven Warnings
Rosie and me: 3 polkas and 3 jigs

Next Wednesday (16th), we have our first outing to The Dashwood Arms at Piddington– just West of West Wycombe. As it’s the day before St Patricks Day, I dare say some Irish material will get an outing.

Down to the core at The Belle Vue

2011-03-02T23:48:00.001Z

We had a relatively low turnout of regulars at The Belle Vue and so were pleased that Tony was in the area and joined us for the evening. He played Willy Taylor’s High Tea and Steamboat and sang Drift form the Land.

It was clear from their songs this evening that Andy and Richard have a gig on St Patricks Day. They were Jolly Beggarman/Portsmouth, Dicey Riley/Drowsy Maggie, Banks of the Bann, Seven Drunken Nights (uncensored version), Bonnie Light Horseman, Banks of the Roses, that well known Irish standard If I Were A Carpenter (it was actually recorded by Val Doonican if that counts) and someday soon (can’t find a recordings by anyone Irish).

Also aired this evening were:

Dick: Who’s the Fool Now, Twas On One April Morning, Fair Rosamund, Kissed the Chambermaid
Steve: Family Hands (AKA Weavers of the Cloth), Talk to Me When I’m Listening
Alan (with Richard’s help): Sportsman’s Hornpipe, Stockton Hornpipe and (less successfully) Valse Eric Rocher
Karen and Steve: Machine Gun Kelly
John: Skipper Jan Rebec, If You Had a Brain,
Karen: Maid on the Shore

Yet another new venue: The Chequers at Fingest

2011-02-22T22:45:00.001Z

It seems that new venues come along like buses - none for a while then three in a row.

We've arranged to be at The Chequers at Fingest on Wednesday 30th March. This is a super pub in the Hambleden valley that has a new licencee - Nick. One of the areas of the pub seems to be perfect for us, so I'm really looking forward to our first evening there.

View Larger Map

August List Doing Well

2011-02-20T18:38:00.003Z

I bumped into Martin and Kerraleigh as they were coming out of the Sweet Shop in Marlow. They are doing three gigs a week - could do more, but find that three late nights a week is quite enough. Glad to hear they're doing well!

A valentine's visit to The Boot at Bledlow Ridge

2011-02-16T23:30:00.088Z

This was our first visit the The Boot at Bledlow Ridge and was arranged by Martin, a local resident and MBAC regular. The Boot has re-opened after being purchased by villagers and has had a fair amount of publicity.

There were too many of us for the bar area, so we set up in the restaurant area which was also populated by some drinkers and a few groups of diners. The group of diners closest to us were clearly celebrating something and stayed all evening, getting louder as it went on. This didn't make for ideal conditions.

We had a surprise visit from Bob Newell whose style is better suited than most to a noisier pub. His first song was Christy Moore's powerful Ordinary Man, written in the 80s but all too relevant these days. He later sang the less known Brooklyn, Brooklyn Take Me In by the Avett Brothers.

As this was the closest Wednesday to Valentine's Day, Rosie and I dug out the usual My Funny Valentine, plus Tom Waits' Blue Valentine (which is nothing to do with the feature film currently doing the rounds). Other similarly-themed songs were:

Karen: The Call and The Answer
Stuart and Delia: The Keys of Canterbury (AKA Blue Muslin)
Delia: If I Were A Blackbird
Martin: Elton John's Your Song, Tim Hardin's Reason to Believe, James Taylor's Fire and Rain

We also heard:

Dick: Bring Us a Barrel, She Loved a Portuguese, Twas On an April Morning
Karen; Follow the Heron Home
Karen and Steve: Those Were The Days
Stuart and Delia: Lindisfarne
Stuart: Truro Agricultural Show
Terry: Tom Lehrer's When You Were Old and Grey, Clive James & Pete Aitken's Biro I Could Borrow, Where the Blues are Found
Richard: Bold Riley, Give Me Your Hand, Ramble Away
Rosie and me: Am jigs, Tehans Favourite, Maggie in the Woods
Fred: Stackridge's Clear Cut Case of Tennis Elbow, Polska for Delerna and, to finish the evening, The Herring's Head
Simon: List for a Sailor, I Live This Life
John: Mae West's Bust (to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic

It's been suggested that, for our next visit to The Boot, I should set up a minimal PA and run the evening a biy more like an Open Mic. Please comment below to let me know your thoughts.

Another new venue - Dashwood Arms, Piddington 16th March

2011-02-14T22:45:00.003Z

We've arranged to be at The Dashwood Arms at Piddington (on the A40 West of West Wycombe) on 16th March. This is under new ownership. Wayne, the new landlord, has done a great job of making the pub a welcoming place.

More details later. Meanwhile, here's a map:

View Larger Map

Table Turning at the Prince Albert

2011-02-09T11:50:00.000Z

Prince Albert, February 9th

I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that Folk Night at the Prince Albert starts with table-turning and follows on communing with spirits? If you wanted to push the metaphor, there are a lot of words from dead people... maybe even a "message" here and there.
Dick Frost sang "Drink Old England Dry". We got a good harmony going on the chorus.
Fred played "Miss Bowl's Minuet" on a Low F whistle.
Delia sang "The Three Sisters" (not the Chekov version). Once we got the hang of the chorus, the harmony started coming in. Karen & Steve performed "At the Dimming of the Day", with Steve on Guitar. Steve decided it was safe to sing "Galway Girl" as there was no sign of Simon.
Alan and Liz performed "Cold Blows the Wind to my True Love" . Alan played guitar, and Liz played a bowed Alto Psaltery. That was the biggest Psaltery I've ever seen, outside of a Hogshead Psaltery, which is rather different instrument. Liz's Psaltery gave a lovely sound.
Liz and Alan also sang The Knocker-up Woman (by Martin Graver).
Alan & Rosie played "O'Carolan's Welcome". Then Rosie sang "You keep her in your pocket " to Alan's guitar accompaniment. This was in honour of the White Stripes disbanding. I'm not into those fizzy energy drinks.
Martin played and sang " To hear the Nightingale Sing". Debbie played and sang "To make you feel my love", a tune currently popularised by Adele, but with lyrics by Bob Dylan. (They tell me Dylan is not dead. I remain unconvinced. I've seen him.) Stewart sang "Bound for South Australia". Good chorus, but no harmony. It doesn't really admit of harmony on the chorus. It's a belter!
Simon Dave & Alison (DAS) played The Glendeburgh. They followed that up with Ciel d'Automme and concluded their set with Darkness. Assistance was provided by Delia's music stand.
Commercial break for the purchasing of beer and raffle-tickets. Fred won, and chose a CD. Karen still has to lug the three bottles of beer around...
Dick Frost sang "Fair Rosamund". Fred played and sang "The Arkansas Traveller" now a children's rhyme in America. Delia & Stewart performed on melodions a set comprised of "The Mucking of Geordies' Byre", "Nancy Dawson " and "The Oyster Girl". There were big smiles and wild applause.
Karen & Steve performed "Across the Great Divide". Steve played and sang " Speed the Sound of Loneliness". Lyrics by John Prine, if my Google-fu is accurate...
Alan & Liz performed "The High Part of the Town", a song by Jez Lowe. They followed that up with a lovely bit of close harmony on "The Keys of Canterbury".
That shifted us into a more pastoral mood, so Alan & Rosie sang "Lovely Joan". Martin gave us "The Vale" a song with lyrics by Steve Knightley. Debbie played and sang "Get Here " – an Oleta Adams song. Delia got us singing along to "Bury Me beneath the Willow". John sang us "The Lakes of Ponchartrain".
Topping the Bill, as it were, Dave, Alison and Simon looked around and decided it was safe to play "the Poor Struggler" and allow everyone to join in the chorus. More chorusing with "Time to Ring some Changes". Alison did a solo with "There's a long long trail a winding" and had us chorusing again. There was just time for an encore from Simon on his accordian, playing "The Prince Albert "!

Venue for MBAC on Wednesday February 16th 2011

2011-02-06T18:11:00.004Z

The Dog and Badger is currently closed, awaiting a new landlord, so we needed another venue for our 3rd Wednesday in February. We very much appreciate that The Boot, Chinnor Road, Bledlow Ridge, HP14 4AL, have agreed to us going there on 16th Feb. This has been arranged by Martin, one of our members, who lives in the Bledlow area.

The Boot, previously closed, has been reopened as a community / village pub, and is definitely worth supporting. I understand they stock real ales.

BBC News in November said: A village pub has been bought by local residents in order to prevent it from being converted into a house. Residents of Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire raised £278,000 to buy the pub for the village. Simon Crawshaw, will now be in charge behind the bar at The Boot, as the pub returns to its former status after seven years as a restaurant.

A Review on 28th January 2011 reported: The Boot at Bledlow Ridge re-opened on Saturday 18th December 2010. The food is excellent and you receive a warm welcome. The decor needs a little work but we understand this is being sorted out. There's a good selection of food, at reasonable prices. The beer is Marstons with guest beers as well - currently they have Rebellion on. Walkers are welcome.

Please come along on Wednesday 16th Feb if you can.

Karen & Alan

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Once Upon A Time

2011-02-02T18:37:00.000Z

A story was requested last week, so here it is:

Once upon a time, there was a Restless, Sleepless Sailor who tossed and turned Out On The Ocean sailing toward Stormont and thinking about The Galway Girl in her White Petticoat. She was The Tinkerman’s daughter, and he was a Lusty Smith and he remembered strolling with her Down By The Sally Gardens. “You Go To My Head” he had told her when they were in Carrick Fergus, where she had twirled her Little Ball of Yarn and he had played with his Silver Spear.

He was trying hard to Keep On The Sunny Side as he reminisced about wanting to wear the Green Cockade, for he had really wanted to be A Gentleman Soldier, or anything really, as long as he could still be Teahan’s Favourite Every Now and Then. For as Teahan so correctly observed, they could both say the other was The Weakness in Me. But in those days it was not to be, and so he decided to Say Goodbye To The Hope and Anchor where he and Teahan regularly called out “Bring Us A Barrel” and sang enthusiastically and anachronistically along to The Pin Ball Wizard. But Teahan was now in The Unquiet Grave murmuring sadly away to him from Where The Blues Are Found.

In reality of course he knew his only option was to go back to being The Blacksmith if he wasn’t going to stay and sing Hawl Boys Hawl anymore. He might even have to go back to “My Emma” as he called his wife, but mostly his dreams were, rather surprisingly, of being with Maggie In The Woods, who had called him “My Man” as they walked The Streets of London singing The Ballad of Bethnal Green.

Please add more to this story via the comments box.
Does the sailor find his Galway Girl in Stormont, does he sail back to London and Maggie, does he find more than his wife when he returns, or does something tempt him to stay on board ship? The possibilities are endless.............

The Bottom Line at Arts4Every1 'Creative Cafe' Saturday 12th February @ 13:00

2011-01-31T11:27:00.005Z

Arts4Every1 are holding another Open Day on 13th February to promote the new Arts Centre being created at the St Johns church buildings in Desborough Road, Wycombe.

As well as stalls and presentations, there will be live music most of the day. The Bottom Line will be representing MBAC and playing a short set at 13:00

It would be nice to see some friendly faces while we're playing. Even if you can't make it at that time, do try to pop in and support this fine project.

Mr Burns says Excellent!

2011-01-26T21:53:00.003Z

It was cold outside but snug and warm in the Prince Albert – becoming snugger as the night went on as more gathered to make music. Thank goodness some kind souls had already tucked the table into the fireplace! (You have to be there to know why).

Besides our usual regulars, we were joined by Shirley and Dave from Devon. Shirley used to run MBAC back in the day when it was the Wycombe Folk Club. Lusty singers both, we had some rousing joining-in numbers from them of which more later. Stuart seemed pleased to have a fellow Devonian along.

Dick opened the proceedings as usual with Daddy Fox, followed by Ian with the Dudley Boys, good chorus songs both.

It being close to Burns Night we had some Scottish offerings: Fred sang For a’ That and Mary Mac, a tongue-twisting song nimbly executed. Liz and Alan (Maidenhead regulars) gave us Lad of Lovely Hair, the Thistle and the Rose, and the Massacre of Glencoe. Their other song, Last Trip Home, penned by the Battlefield Band, commemorates the loss of heavy horses from the farming landscape. Liz and Alan not only sing lovely harmonies together but also in the chorus songs, creating a satisfying sound for us all together. Also keeping with the Scottish theme, Karen sang Ae Fond Kiss, which was well received.

Our Alan once again had to soldier on bravely without me by playing Valse Eric Roché on mandolin, supported by Richard on the whistle. Well done Alan!

Shirley chose two good songs for everyone to join in with, Lowlands and The Water is Wide. Dave entertained us with a Mortal Unlucky Old Chap, and a Devon version of Seven Drunken Nights.

An earlier incident with Simon at the Prince Albert was the inspiration for Richard’s self-penned tune, The Handset Behind the Settle, which he played on piano accordion. I never did get to hear the details of exactly what happened...

As well as the evening’s proximity to Burns Night, it also turned out to be ANZAC day, so Delia gave us Click Go the Shears with Stuart on concertina. Stuart followed this up with another song from Devon, Me Old Game Cock.

Andy by this time had arrived, but without the opportunity to confer with Richard, gave us a solo rendition of I Could Not Take My Eyes Off Her, tenderly sung. Later they pursued the Scottish theme with Lizzie Lindsay.

Martin, accompanying himself on the guitar, provided us with a welcome and contemporary contrast in Helplessly Hoping and Jimi Hendrix’s Angel.

With me out of action, we were grateful to have two melodeonists along – Paul and Simon. Paul gave us the reel the Hills of Alva, while Simon entertained us with another Roaring Jelly song, Valerie Wilkins. Later he sang the Remembering Song by Tom Rush, which is full of resonance for those of us of mature years.

Other songs were: Dick with Who’s the Fool Now? And Ian with In Good King Arthur’s Time (a variant of Three Jolly Rogues of Lynne). Stuart and Delia bravely assayed a concertina duet, Elisabeth’s Waltz, which so depleted them that they then conceded to John.

Highlight of the evening was John’s rendition of The Melodeons Are Coming by Dave Taylor:
The melodeons are coming, cover up your ears my friends
When you hear their ghastly wailing carried on the wind
The melodeons have landed and its very plain to see
That this is the way the world will end....All in the key of D!

Full lyrics here.

Undeterred, Paul responded with a snatch of Nellie the Elephant, followed by a couple of jolly polkas which demonstrated that a melodeon sounds just fine in the right hands.
Next week we will be in the Belle Vue for another convivial evening. Hopefully I will be back to full squeezing (and singing) strength by then.

Unusually a 2nd Belle Vue in January 2011

2011-01-23T12:55:00.003Z

Surprisingly, we all managed to accommodate ourselves down the right-hand bar of the Belle Vue and were not in the least distracted by the football-watchers (rare occurance @ BV)in the room on the far side of the pub. We managed about 4 rounds as follows:

Dick (unaccompanied) - Bring Us A Barrell, Drink Old England Dry, Wild Rover!, and Martin Said to His Man

Ian (unaccompanied)- Earsden Sword Dance, Salisbury Plain, Blow the Candle Out, and The Little Tailor

Terry (accompanied by mandolin as his guitar case turned out to be empty! & whistle) - Liverpool Lou, Hawl Away Girls (Wm Pint), Spamish Ladies (tune), Mavis Hornpipe, Sheeps Hornpipe (tunes on whistle - good to hear as Terry is a fabulous whistle player)

Martin (accompnied by his brand new handmade, British, Martin Cole guitar)- No Regrets (Tom Rush), Killing the Blues, Driftin' Blues.

Fred (plumbing pipe whistles & unaccompanied) - Orsa Kyrka (swedish tune), Intoduction of Lily Bolero on whistle followed by The Old Orange flute - described as an old Irish song about a heretical flute), Henry Can'es set of Spanish Ladies, The Ways of Torre (?), and A Farewell to Whiskey.

Alan (without Rosie, but with Mandolin) - 4th time lucky & managed to start the Stockton Horpipe(!) then revealed by expleting "A part now" that he has played the B part first. My Darling Asleep (and so she may have been), Ship in Full Sail

Steve (accompanied by guitar) - Mr Dream Seller, the unaccompanied When I First Came to Caledonia, and Will the Circle Be Unbroken which went down well.

Karen (accompanied by Steve on guitar & harmonies) - the Great divide, though not in a great key, Sonny's Dream, Machine Gun Kelly.

Debbie (accompanied by guitar)Kate Rusby's very clean version of The Good Man, the lovely Song for Ireland.

John (unaccompanied) - If You Had Brain You;d Be Dangerous, & Les Barker's parody of Mud Glorious Mud with the immortal line "men never make passes at girls in crev-arses"

Next week we're at the Prince Albert and as it's Burns' Night it would be great to hear some Scottish songs & tunes.

1st Wednesday of 2011

2011-01-19T18:01:00.002Z

Alan and Rosie and others preluded us with tunes before Dick embarked on Let Union Be, which we did, followed by Steve’s rendition of the Blue Bonnets Grow song which I can’t remember the true title of. As it was the first MBAC of the new year, and as Richard Thompson is MBE in the Honours list, I sang We’ll Sing Hallelujah. Alan & Rosie tried and gave up on the polkas but manged Captain Byng, Peg Ryan and Maids of Ardar, ably accompanied by Richard on low whistle. This was followed by more low whistle to Richard's home-spun composition, in honour of MBAC I think, called Just a Little Tipple on a Wednesday, and the seasonal Advent Mazurka. Later in the evening we had some minute tipples via a box of liqueurs Alan and Rosie donated to the raffle which we decided to share amongst us – and why not!

Martin sang Glen Hansard’s Falling Slowly, from the film Once. And in no time at all it was Mr Frost’s go again as our numbers were select. Dick did The Fatal Glass of Beer (can it really be?) and Steve, surprisingly, did the sad lilting Green Hills of Antrim, and then accompanied Karen on the Eagles My Man, which was written to honour the deceased Gram Parsons.

Alan treated us to Lord Inchquin on mandolin and then part of the Bottom Line band did the rhythmic Cash on the Barrelhead which was accompanied by voyeurs doing a whole lotta shaking. Richard felt the urge to bring out Henry the Accountant, (written by Paul caplan) maybe because he thought the ending reflected what the bankers ought to do! Martin then brought us back to a tasteful rendition of Paul Simon’s Old Friends, but the humour would not die down as John got in one last Xmas song – The Christmas Pudding Hunt.

3rd go round found Dick wishing for springtime with Twas On One April Morning, Steve wishing for the Arizona Plains and his cowboy hat with Night Rider’s Lament, and Karen and Steve pondering the vagaries of loving the inappropriate and unattainable one with Bonnie Bessie Logan. Alan and Rosie, determined to restore their own confidence did the difficult jigs, White Petticoat and Out in the Ocean, followed by the somewhat wistful Neil Young’s Don’t Let it bring You Down. Lovely Nancy brought us all singing together with Richard with accordion, and another wistful & poetic song from Martin with James Taylor’s Fire and rain. The mood then lightened considerably as John had us all singing along to the wonderful parody of Walking in a Winter Wonderland, entitled Walking Round in Women’s Underwear – great stuff!. Dick was obviously determined not to be outdone, and so we smirked at the thought of Brian Boru in his pelt in front of the fire plucking up the courage to tell the lady that times were changing.

Back then to tasteful, with Steve’s Every Now and Then, and yes, there are lots of people we think of every now and then, followed by him and me doing Joni Mitchel’s The Circle Game, about the seasons and time passing as they do, which was followed by one of the classiest songs of the evening, one of my personal favourites when John sings it because he sings it so well and so full of pathos - Casey.

Dog and Badger closed for the time being, so we’re at the Belle Vue on Wednesday 19th Jan. We hope to get some Dog and Badger news by the end of the month and will post it here.

See you all soon,

Karen

PS Sat 29th Jan – Burn’s Night Supper, with Scottish entertainment from the wonderful Colm and Devina McCabe, John Summerville and Moira Craig (nearly said Stewart!) from Maidenhead Folk Club – should be a good night, well worth going to.

Vegetarians can have vegetarian haggis.

Info from Judith Inman:

Could you let the club know of the annual Burns Night at the URC,Quoiting Square, Marlow .
£12 on 29th Jan, starts promptly at 7pm all the usual neeps, tatties, haggis ,speeches etc [its either one or poss 2 drinks included...bring your own whiskey]
and after all that there will be dancing AND Moira , Colm, John and Davina will entertain [also local scottish dance club display] so there wont be much dancing but lots of strange words for the English .
Pearl says its great fun ....
#Any way if anyone is interested please let me know andIi will reserve tickets for you .01628 486845 or e-mail

Passing by the Prince Albert

2011-01-12T23:52:00.002Z

It's always nice to have passing musicians pop in to our Wednesday sessions, and so it proved this week. Charlotte and Richard live near Brighton and were wen route to Oxford, so paid a visit to us. They sang three of Charlotte's excellent original songs, accompanied by Charlotte's concertina and Richard on mandolin or fiddle

The Frost Fair, about the times when the Thames froze over and a fair could be held near Battersea Bridge
SeaHab, describing how young men join the sea crab fisherman in order to get away from temptation
The Sussex Shepherdess, about the trials and tribulations of a modern-day shepherdess

plus an interesting take on Things Ain't What They Used to be and a non-often-heard, and seasonal, George Formby song - Letting The New Year In. They were much appreciated, so we hope they pass by again soon.
Other contributors were:

Dick - Turkish Men of War, The Moon Shines Bright and Limehouse Lass
Alison, David and Simon, who arrived before 9 - early enough for Simon to get a proper seat rather than his usual stool. The Sun It Goes Down, Elvis Presley Blues, something foreign about autumn, Brain Damage, Widdecombe Fair and It's Just Emotion
Fred, who started with Snowy Path on his F whistle and later recited Ogden Nash's I Never Even Suggested It (which seemed somewhat heartfelt)
Karen, with re-instated accompanist Steve, dug up Dimming of the Day and (at the request of one of the locals), Crazy Man Michael
A Rosie-less me: a tune bearing some resemblance to The Pernod Waltz
Steve: Julie Gold's Southbound Train and his own excellent You Only Got One Life
Stuart using Delia's quiter concertina to accompany the lady herself on a 'Xmas/New Year' song, the name of which I didn't catch, followed by a concertina duet of The Huntsmen's Chorus / Astley's Ride. Stuart later sand Daddy Fox, to a different tune than the ine used by Dick
Richard - Marshall's Law and A Maiden Sat A Weeping
John had been told of my facebook post about my series of unfortunate events on the Monday. He was kind enough to dedicate It's Going To Be One Of Those Days to me.

All in all, an excellent evening.

See you at the next one!

While the cat's away at The Dog & Badger

2010-12-15T23:47:00.000Z

It was great that several people had come to The Dog & Badger specifically because we were playing there. I managed to do my duty to engage them in conversation to find out whether they wanted to sing, or had just come to listen. My willingness to do this was completely unrelated to the fact that they were female and Rosie was not with me. It turned out that they or their friends hope to come along to sing in the future.

The evening started eventfully when, as Dick was singing Let Union Be, one of the visitors knocked a full glass over, spilling its contents on the table, dangerously close to Terry’s mandolin. I hereby refrain from making any of the obvious jokes.

For me, the highlights of the evening from the others present were:

Alison, David and Simon’s three part harmony version of Thea Gillmore’s Sol Invictus
David’s take on Try To Remember, popularised by Andy Williams. We’ve heard him play Home Coming Man before. Perhaps he’ll bring along the Cookie Bear soon.
Lord Hoddo’s Lament – a fiddle tune to which Fred has added words
Alison’s songs in Medieval German: Allererest leb’ich mir werde – Welther von der Vogelweide’
Alan’s version of Bill Caddick’s Unicorns
John’s Gorging Jack and Guzzling Jimmy
Simon’s compulsory-at-this-time-of the-year Xmas In Australia
France’s harp pieces: Anwyn and Elenor Plunkett
Steve’s Old Tennessee, which is not ‘his’ new song, but a recent song for him

Next week is the Xmas meal at the Dog & Badger, for which you need to have contacted Karen if you want to come! There will be plenty of opportunity for music between the eating and drinking.

Prince Albert Wed 8th December

2010-12-08T23:38:00.001Z

Dick Frost - Let Union Be, The Eynshaw Poachers, Fanny Blair (unaccompanied songs).

Terry - John Hobbs, Slow Down to My Speed (collected at Uxbridge Folk Club 1968/9), Annie Monroe (Jez Lowe).

Delia & Stuart - Da Stocket Light (concertina duet).

Delia - When the Snows of Winter Fall (unaccompanied).

Richard - The Pleasures of Hope, Back of the Haggard (hornpipes played on low whistle), Man's Best Friend (a rather rude song, unaccompanied), Boys of Ballysodare & The Butterfly (red admiral) (tunes).

Rosie & Alan - Silver Spear & Sally Gardens (tunes), A Christmas Carol song by Tom Leara), It Doesn't Have to be That Way (song by Jim Croce), Have Yourelf a Merry Little Xmas.

Roger - Arrest These Merry Gentlemen (unaccompanied song).

Roger & David - Far Away & Onwards and Upwards (guitar duets).

Martin B - Only You, Julia (John Lennon - it was the anniversary of his death), Here is My Song for the Asking (Paul Simon)

Tony - Cornish Lads (unaccompanied song), La Morrique & Horses Brawl (concertina tunes), Threescore and Ten Boys and Men (unaccompanied song)

Simon & Dave - Napoli (unmistakeably a Steve Knightly song), Biker Hill.

John Crosby - The Funeral S (All His Other Wives Came In), The Flushers Song.

And apologies from Karen who'd almost lost her voice and could hardly talk let alone sing!

With sincere apologies to James Taylor

2010-12-01T23:03:00.000Z

There is a small club known as MBAC
That meets in some pubs near Wycombe or Marlow
To sing songs and play tunes every Wednesday we all go
To a pub small or large
To meet with our friends-eh-eh-ends

The Prince Albert is tiny but a proper old pub
The Dog and Badger is larger and has a good sound
The Belle Vue is lively but Alan has made it
A very nice place for musicians to play
We meet there ev-er-y first Wednesday

So come along and join us
The musicians of MBAC
Folk songs or blues, anything that you choose
Will be welcome - there's little to pay
One pound raffle it all that it takes

The first of December was covered in snow
And so were the roads to The Belle Vue from Marlow
Karen was tired and decided to stay home
And Rosie was recovering from seeing a cra-a-a-ash

In the Belle Vue the snug’s now an artistic gallery
With photos of semi-clad ladies on show
With tattoos and piercings it seemed like the real thing
We all sang some songs but our minds were elsewhere-ere-ere-ere
It was getting hard not to just stare

And we sang without any ladies
Ian’s song was near to the bone
Martin sang some blues and Simon played some tunes
We left early to get home safe-ly
And be safe for the Prince Albert next week

Jukebox page added

2010-11-29T13:43:00.000Z

There's now a 'jukebox' page where you can hear some of our regulars in action. Thanks to everyone who has contributed their material and recording facilities.

I've also:

included more photos into a new photo gallery page
collected our videos into a video wall

Alison & David Fenner with Simon Diegan live at the Arts4Every1 social event on Saturday evening @ old St Johns Church, Wycombe

2010-11-25T16:44:00.002Z

The old St Johns Church in Desborough Road in Wycombe is being renovated to be an Arts Centre, including exhibition space and performance areas. The group doing this is called Arts4every1 and has an open day at the St Johns Halls on Saturday (27th November) afternoon, followed by a social event in the evening starting @ 19:30.

As Marlow Bottom Acoustic Club has a group membership, we were asked to provide some music for the evening. Alison & David Fenner with Simon Diegan have stepped up to the task and will be playing an amplified set at around 20:00. Rosie and I can't make it, but it would be great if there were some friendly faces in the audience, so please go along if you can. You'd be sure to hear some great songs, performed in their inimitable style.

Entry is free and there's a 'bring your own refreshments' arrangement rather than a bar. More details about the evening are here.

After the Lord Mayor’s Show……

2010-11-24T23:21:00.002Z

We were pleased that Tom McLelland from Scotland, who was visiting relatives in the Chalfonts, was able to find his way to the wilds of Frieth. He sang three really original songs for us, accompanying himself with deft and subtle guitar playing. Let’s hope he returns when he’s next down our way. It was also nice that John came along to show us how easy finger-style guitar can be made to look.

By common consent, last Wednesday (17th) was one of the best MBAC evenings for a long time. Not only did we have a big turnout, with very diverse material, but everyone seemed to be on top form. That was always going to be hard to follow this week and so, with some notable exceptions, it proved. We had:

forgetting of words
starting a song to the tune of a different one (whilst not being part of a Radio 4 panel game)
apparently not knowing the melody to a song at all
switching from one whistle to another, then back
announcing a tune in one key and playing it in another, then getting a bit lost

Someone was heard to say “ has washed his and can’t do a thing with it”.

Apart from the musical difficulties, there was a post-shooting party at the pub when we arrived. That’s not unusual at the Prince Albert, but this group was a rowdier than most and lingered a bit longer. There were also two middle-aged chaps at the end of the bar who seemed to be competing in the UK talking-loudly competition. All this was a far cry from our usual convivial and accomplished evenings at The Prince Albert. However, we did get to eat some left over pasties (and feed some more to the dogs), prompting Stuart to sing The Oggie Man.

I should mention that Fred premiered Festival Creep, a song he’d written that morning about ‘Xmas’ starting earlier every year. Lyrics are here.

We’ll be at The Belle Vue in Wycombe next week (1st December) and hoping that the Fenner/Diegan slot at the Arts4Every1 event on Saturday persuades some new people to come along. Also hoping that we’re back to the usual high standard that most visitors remark on.

Three Daves in a Row at the Dog and Badger.

2010-11-17T12:44:00.002Z

The significant event at this week's well attended spectacular had to have been Dave and Alison's Anniversary. Alison made the careless remark that she was absolutely exhausted. It was one of those "was my face red" moments. And there were three Daves in a row, which makes things tough for me. One day I'll learn people's surnames. That will be after I've learnt their forenames, so don't hold your breath.

Overture was "Princess Royal" and "Young Collins", and Mr Frost opened the proceedings with "Blow Boys Blow". Steve followed that with Lyle Lovat's "If I had a Pony" (or "If I had a Boat") – I've got mixed up there somehow. Terry continued with "Bird on a Wire" (as performed by that renowned tragedian Mr L. Cohen). Alan and Liz performed some intricate harmonies on "Poppies Lie Buried". (Magenta.) Martin made his fingers dance picking "April Come she will". Debbie made everyone coo singing "The First Time ever I saw your Face". That was by Ewan McColl. Not George Michael. I had a crack at "Winter Winds" to the tune of "My Lagan Love". I wasn't the only one to commit a long pause this evening. Delia led us all in "Lavender's Blue (dilly dilly)". Alan and Rosie played "A French Waltz in E minor", it says here. Can there have only been one? Someone should write another! And despite crippling ear problems, Rosie sang "Blue Valentine".

Dave and Alison sang "The Rose". Dave performed a solo with "You've got a friend in me", the Randy Newman song popularised by a Kinematographic Animation, they tell me. Then the other Dave (Dave H) performed his own song "The Eagle". Then the other other Dave sang "Sail on By" with his own accordian accompaniment. Allah knows who these Daves are. Simon sang "My Brother Martin". Karen and Roger performed "When I'm Gone", and Roger played "The boys of Bluehill" and "Fishers Hornpipe". Hornpipes on guitar are no mean feat. We had come full circle so Dick sang us "The Verdant Braes of Skreen". Terry leapt into the fray with "Hello Hans", providing another echo of Remembrance Day. Alan and Liz gave us more intricate harmonies with "I'm going to Drown my Cat" (by Judith Aarons); a pastiche on "All Around my Hat" which had us falling about. (On Mudcats they attribute this to Bob Walser who "got it from someone in England". You might like to set the record straight there.)

Martin went fingerpicking again with "While my guitar gently weeps". Debbie did her own fingerpicking with "Underneath the Stars". I sang my own song "Essentials", which has a nice simple refrain of "A Green Field, under a Blue Sky". Delia sang us "Only Remembered for what we have done". Alan and Rosie played "The Tar Road to Sligo" and "The Blarney Pilgrim". When you can peer over peoples shoulders to read the sheet music you don't have to whistle at them when they're at the other end of the room. Simon, Dave and Alison performed "The Tall Ships", and Alison sang an American version of "Little Sir Hugh", which cheered us up immensely. Dave H sang his song "Tolpuddle Men are We". The other other Dave sang "Her Name's the Marco Polo". I think it was. His lovely companion, whose name I do not yet know, played "The Coleraine Jig" and "The Humours of Cork". It was her I had to whistle at. I'm sorry. I've sure it's not the first time she's been whistled at. Karen and Roger sang "Sonny don't go away". Roger and Dave co-ordinated to round up the evening with "Merrily Kissed the Quaker's Wife" and "Gander in the Pratie Hole", both on guitar! Lots of diddly tonight!

P.S. I'm told the other other "Dave" is actually called "Doug". And his companion is called "Issy". I can't bring myself to ruin a good title.

A mini festival of Remembrance at The Prince Albert

2010-11-10T23:04:00.002Z

It was the evening before Remembrance Day, and several of the assembled number (but not Rosie and I) remembered to bring along songs suitable for the occasion. If I’d made better notes (or even any at all), I would have listed all the songs here. I’d be happy to add any that anyone present can remember.

Notably, we failed in our duty to have anyone sing The Green Fields of France, or even any parody of it. However, we probably won’t be expelled from the folk club union because of Paul’s excellent and touching rendition of The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

Here’s what I do remember or have sought out:

Dick: Fair Rosamund, the Royal Artillery version of Old King Cole, Manchurian Border
Steve: Old Tennessee
Karen: Briege Murphy’s One Down the Road
Karen and Roger: Follow the Heron Home
Roger: an unaccompanied song
Dave H: two songs, one of which was about a bomber mission and was written in the car
Fred: Mick Maguire and his own somewhat tardy, but very good, Samhain Song
Rosie and me: Time of the Preacher, You Go to my Head
Martin: David Farncey’s Flowers of Saskatchewan and one other
Me (with help from Richard): Ships in Full Sail
Richard: a song and some tunes I think
Alison, David and Simon: Battle of the Somme (with help from Richard), Poor Struggler (Curst Sons), Home Lads Home (Fox-Smith/ Sarah Morgan), Jesus Wept, (Reg Meuross) and the Scarecrow (John Tams).
David and Simon: General and Majors
Paul: some dance tunes and the aforementioned TBPWM

Apologies to the singers of the ones I’ve forgotten.

We’ll be at The Dog and Badger next week (17th November) on which date:

Peter Cook, Gordon Lightfoot & Jeff Buckley were born
Alan Hull died

Open mic but closed eyes at The Belle Vue

2010-11-03T23:24:00.002Z

Our regular 'first Wednesday' evening at The Belle Vue fell in the middle of their beer festival. We expected a larger and livelier than usual crowd, so Andy set up his excellent mini-PA so we could hear ourselves and be heard. Thanks for that Andy.

However, many of the BV regulars had over-partaken of the beers at the weekend, so there were actually fewer people there than usual. Nevertheless, we had an excellent evening, which we ran more like a 'open mic' than our usual 'sing-around' style. Contributors were:

Dick
Andy and Richard
Rosie and me
Martin
Terry
Debbie
John C

During our first turn at the mic, I noticed that Rosie was trying hard not to laugh while singing. Was my guitar out of tune? Perhaps I was playing too fast? It turned out that she'd noticed that Terry has his eyes closed and was breathing slowly. I think that's what we call 'sleeping'. Nice to know that we were putting on a good show.

I'm pleased to say that it wasn't only us that sent him to sleep - it happened with everyone else too. The amazing thing was that Terry continued to plink along on the mandolin while showing all other outward signs of being alseep.

We're at the Prince Albert next week, where we'll all squeeze in and try to stay awake.

The Xmas meal will be at The Dog & Badger on Wednesday 22nd December. Numbers are limited so please let us know ASAP if you'd like to come.

All skin and bones at The Prince Albert

2010-10-27T23:52:00.003+01:00

Most of us had forgotten that this was the closest Wednesday before Halloween. Stuart, however, had not and gave us ‘All Skin and Bone’ in his usual engaging style, with some extra menace as befitted the material. We all fell for the shock at the end. Well done Stuart, and thanks for your tip about lantern walk at Aston Rowant on Saturday.

We welcomed Alan and Liz, usually to be found at Maidenhead, and their harmony singing. Their three songs were Kent and Keer and Lune, When the Snows of Winter Fall and Penny for the Ploughboys. Let’s hope that they enjoyed the atmosphere more than they felt cramped!

There were at least seven guitars present for the evening. It was the one owned by John that dazzled, with his instrumental piece Naked Ladies and Electric Ragtime, and in accompanying his singing of Big Bill Broonzy’s Trouble in Mind.

We also heard (in round the table order):

Dick: The Miller and the Maid, Ben Hall, Turkish Men of War

Karen and Roger: Silver Dagger, Great Divide (which was preceded by a comic interlude as Roger played the intro the Here in California) and a first time for Roger accompanying Here is My Home, which Karen has previously sung unaccompanied.

Martin: Paul McCartney’s I Will, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s He Thinks He’ll Keep Her and, a perfect song to finish the evening, Last Thing On My Mind

Me (initially without Rosie): My Darling Asleep and Lord Inchquin on mandolin, ably supported by Richard

Steve: first time out for Dan Fogelberg’s Old Tennessee and, be popular demand following Martin’s lead, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Family Hands (AKA Weavers of the Cloth) – expect to see both in a Bottom Line gig soon

Kerraleigh and Martin: Hank William’s Alone and Forsaken, The White Stripes Dead Leaves in the Dirty Ground, Johnny Cash’s Big River and Jonathon Rice’s Best To Keep It All Inside

Richard: The shanty Serafina (excellent for joining in) and the slip jigs Boys of Ballysodare and The Butterfly of the low whistle

Delia: Where Ravens Feed

Delia and Stuart: Huntsman’s Chorus

Simon and Roger: Madeleine’s Waltz

Simon: Always to Galway/ List for a Sailor

Rosie (late arrival) and me: Carole King’s It’s Too Late and White Petticoat / Out on the Ocean – we hadn’t actually practiced tunes so I was surprised that Rosie chose to play the trickiest jig we know

We’re at The Belle Vue next week. This is in the middle of their beer festival so we expect the start of the evening to be even more lively than it usually is there. We’ll set up a small PA system so we can be heard and will probably run the evening a bit more like an ‘open mic’ with everyone having longer turns – this will save changeover time as people step up to the kit!

Oceans 11 at the Dog & Badger

2010-10-20T22:02:00.000+01:00

Wednesday Oct 20th saw one of the smallest gatherings of Marlow Bottom Acoustic for a long time. I got there about 8 pm, and was surprised to be the first; it got to about 8:40,and I thought that I'd somehow got the wrong night or the wrong venue, until at last,to my great relief Dave & Norma turned up, followed by Dick. Then Stuart & Delia arrived, followed by Terry, so we had just enough to get started.

I suggested to Dick that rousing chorus songs might not be well supported, so he kicked off with the lovely "Go From My Window", after a "warm up" & tuning session of "Seven Stars; Oyster Girl; The Princess Royal, and Young Collins" led by Dave H.

Delia then sang "Three Sisters", by which time not only Ian, but Dave F, Alison and Simon had swelled our numbers, but that was to be the final total -- 3 couples and 5 solos!! Stuart continued with "The Smugglers Boy", after which Simon, Alison & David ( SAD ??) warmed up with "The Galway Girl"( Arr. Diegan).

The exciting new guitar duo of Dave F and ..er..yours truly, having rehearsed at Chez Roger the previous evening, tried to please with the lilting "Onwards & Upwards" which I struggled with, having forgotten how to play the B part!

Spurred on by someone's oblique reference to winkles (the shellfish), Terry performed the humourous "Winkle Song" which engendered some subsequent ribaldry. Dave sang "Changing Time", Alison "Keep From Singing" and Ian his song about the perils of piracy, "Flying Cloud".

Dick, it having got back to him rather swiftly, sang "I Drew My Ship", followed by Simon's rendition of "Old Brown Hat", which elicited yet more ribaldry. Delia and Stuart concertina-duetted with "The Queen's Birthday" and "Royal Oak", followed by the Fenner Trio performing "Poor Struggler" and "Far From Home", with which latter many of us joined in, to the approval of our "audience" of four diners !

It having got back to Terry, he sang the very topical "October Song", which Ian followed with "Through Moorfields" or "Through More Fields" ( dunno !). At Norma's request, I then led the multitude in "Le Canal En Octobre", again very topical, although still no mention of Nelson (I had forgotten myself, even!).

Back to the new guitar duo; David and I played our arrangement of "Merrily Kiss The Quaker" and "The Gander In The Pratie Hole", which went down rather well, I felt. Dick sang of "Sweet Primroses", Delia tried "Blow The Wind Southerly", although some of us were singing "Breaking Wind Suddenly", but I don't think she noticed! Simon gave us "Widecombe Fair", after which he was joined by Alison and Dave for "Time To Ring Some Changes", leaving Ian to close a surprisingly (given the numbers) pleasant and cosy evening for us and (apparently!) our lovely four-strong audience, with "Nancy Of Yarmouth".

[NB: An addition from me, to Roger's blog:- Apologies from Karen, who was at a colleague's leaving do, and Alan and Rosie who were holidaying in foreign climes. Also, Karen has spoken to Geraldine to find that John is fine but very busy with all his other musical commitments, including making scenery and practising for a televised event which we look forward to watching over the Xmas period. See you all next week at the prince Albert, Karen]

An expected bonus at The Belle Vue

2010-10-06T23:16:00.004+01:00

Alan has done a great job in revamping The Belle Vue. There’s now a ‘snug’ area, with soft chairs and sofas, where the dartboard used to be. This is where we play now, and it works pretty well except that the dartboard is now the other side of the partition and occasionally provides unwanted percussion.

The renovation has clearly worked – the pub was packed and very lively when we arrived. Those of us who had planned quieter material had to re-think and do sing-along stuff instead. So we heard things like Take Me Home Country Roads, The Boxer, The Old Kent Road & Waited As Long As I Can.

The pub quietened as the evening went on, so we were all able to revert to the material we might have planned.

Later on, someone looking and sounding a lot like Vicky, but with short and coloured hair, arrived and was persuaded to sing. Her version of The L&N Don’t Stop Here Any More was lovely. We’ve missed you Vicky and look forward to future visits.

Special mention to Fred, for his entirely appropriate ‘Hosanna’ parody of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, and Roger and Karen for one or two new songs. Thanks also to Clive for Alberta and Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out - both played with the swing they deserve.

Our next visit to The Belle Vue will be on 3rd November, which happens to be during their beer festival, when it will probably be even livelier. We may set up a small PA system so that the punters can hear us and we can hear ourselves.

We’re be at the Prince Albert next week, where space will be at a premium so arrive early to bag Simon’s stool.

Old, new, borrowed and blues at The Dog and Badger

2010-09-29T23:11:00.002+01:00

We had three people perform original songs this week.

David F doesn’t sing his own material often enough IMO, so it was great to hear Gone Too Long for Returning again. According to my reckoning it’s only the third time he’d sung it at the club.
Martin B has aired a few of his own recently – this evening’s as Walk Barefoot in the Sand and was particularly good.
As usual, Dave H’s songs were self-penned. The Little Sardine is a newish one, and was a big success last time he played it The Dog & Badger and was again this evening. The excellent lyrics are below.

THE LITTLE SARDINE

Protesters with banners they shout and they hail
Save the Panda the Tiger and Orca the Whale
Conservation symbol is only a dream
No-one gives a sod for the little Sardine
Silvery shoals we glint in the sun
In formation we look as though we are one
The net has just snagged and come undone
So swim for the hole and let's have some fun
The skipper is swearing and cursing the boat
The propeller has just wrapped itself round a rope
To finish it nicely would be hope upon hope
That a sardine bone gets stuck in his throat

CHORUS

Our cousins and us we all share the same fate
Anchovy, Pilchard, Sardine and White Bait
Rectangular tin with a best before date
Always the starter, not on the main plate
Tomato juice, olive oil, like Sardines we're packed in
Headless, boneless, without any skin
Final humiliation, you just-cannot win
They solder the key to the lid on the tin

CHORUS

Of all the fish that live in the sea
The salmon is king I think you'll agree
Then someone discovered Omega 3
And that put us right back on the top of the tree
Folk clubs the world over you can say without fail
There'll be a bloody song on hunting the whale
Stormy seas, shipwrecks and fighting the gale
Not one Sardine song will ever prevail

CHORUS

Sardine, Anchovy and Pilchard and that
All wonder what kind of sarcastic pratt
Collectively lumped us all up as a sprat
Something you find in some mangy old cat
So high street supermarket, wherever the place
When a conservation box is rammed in your face
Searching for change, not to look mean
Ask how much of this for the little Sardine.

CHORUS

Other highlights of the evening (in round-the-table order) were:

the always-good Limehouse Lass from Dick
Mose Allison’s Everybody’s Crying Mercy from Rosie and me
Song for Ireland from Debbie
Tony’s song about God arriving for afternoon tea
Martin’s version of Drifting Blues
You Win Again (the Jerry Lee Lewis blues-style song, not the Bee Gees one) from Alison, David & Simon, featuring some guitar wizardry from Mr Fenner, taking advantage of the action on a certain Martin guitar

We’re at The Belle Vue next week. Holidays made the attendance a bit sparse last time there, so let’s make a good effort this time!

A cracker from Fred at The Prince Albert

2010-09-22T23:22:00.005+01:00

We welcomed John the Norfolk Trucker via his for-one-night-only abode - the Handy Cross layby. John had come a few times before but I’d only remembered his visit to The Pegasus. However, within a few words of Bill Caddick’s lovely Dream Factory, both Rosie and I pictured his previous visit to The Old Ship.

It was great to see Dave and Norma again, especially with Norma looking so well, winning the raffle and choosing the wine now that she’s allowed to drink again! Dave now has a Morgan trilogy: Sticks/Swim/Run and played them as a set for us.

I'm sure everyone will agree that the stand-out moment of the evening was the world-premier of Fred’s original song, My Alpaca. The lyrics are below (reproduced with Fred’s permission).

My Alpaca

Chorus:
My Alpaca, He’s no slacker
He chews coca and tobacco
He's so truly soft and woolly
That it keeps him warm at nights;
He’s a cracker, my Alpaca
And he’s useful in a fracas
And he’s handy in the Andes
‘Cause he’s such a head for heights!

I’d much sooner
An Alpaca than Vicuna;
It would not make me calmer
If I were fobbed off with a llama!

Chorus

I would be a silly billy
If I were journeying in Chile
Not to make use of such a creature
-That’s the lesson I would teach ya!

Chorus

It's a thing that does console us
That we know how to throw a bolas
There are no fences now to cramp us
As we wander round the pampas

Chorus

Around the campfire eating nachos
And sipping lovely cool gazpachos
We hear the stories of the sideshows
From the garrulous old gauchos

Chorus

Other items of note from the evening were:

Down the Can – a new original song from Kerraleigh and Martin
Izzy demonstrating why her name has two z’s in it after she’d played a nice jig in Am
One Year Later (and one jig faster) from Douggie
Three bird songs from Stuart and Delia (Blackbird, Crow, Chicken)
The very short Good King Arthur’s Pudding from Ian
A couple of Germanic-sounding (at least to me) but English polkas called (I think) Walter Balwer’s 1+2 from Paul
A solo David F and his version of The Everly Brothers’ Take a Message To Mary
Rosie and I were there too…

My apologies to the young woman in green who may well have wanted to sing, but left before I managed to ask her to.

We’re at the Dog & Badger next week. I’ll try hard to ensure that everyone who might want to join in gets the chance.

September Fifteenth, An Evening in Haiku, For you all to read!

2010-09-15T23:05:00.000+01:00

Dick Frost he was there
Singing songs that we all knew
We all sang along

T'was Rosie's birthday
Somehow to our great delight
She won the raffle

Roger had a box
A droning loud noise it made
Alison liked it

Terry joined us too
His head never was bereft
His fingers were lead :)

Debbie Dibley sang
She was given two CDs
We do hope they please

Alan played along
And his wife she sang a song
They were excellent

Alison and Dave
In their usual good form
They sang and they played

Karen was annoyed
Accompanied the shruti
In a key too high

Stuart and Deal-ya (poetic license)
Music stand at the ready
To aid their playing

Concertina Liz
Lovely unknown tune she played
But we know it now

Tony from the north
Carved wood on concertina
He ate, sang and played

Kerraleigh she sang
With Martin and his guitar
And lovely it was

Another Martin
Solo sang and played guitar
Very good it was

Dougie he looked pale
All shook up was he, he said,
For Liz drove too fast

Simon came at last
Better late than not at all
But no middle stool.

All’s fair in Devon from The Prince Albert

2010-09-08T23:41:00.000+01:00

As usual, we had an excellent turnout at The Prince Albert. Sadly, the Fenners could not be with us because David has cricked his back. He currently considering buying a new guitar. Simon has suggest that he should consider a Crickenbacker.

We were pleased to welcome Nigel, who’s finding his way back into the folk scene after a spell working too hard! His first number was Joseph Baker. He’d played this at Sidmouth while Pete Coe (who’d written the words) was in the audience. Second time around, he sang his own song Hawthorn, Mistletoe and Ivy. He finished with Blackwaterside which has an interesting recent history, having been recorded by Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch, Sandy Denny and Led Zeppelin. It came closed to being the subject of legal action for breach of copyright. See here for an interesting take on this.

There was a time when it was common for the B side of singles (remember them?) to be instrumental versions of the A side. We had the reverse – Stuart and Delia first played Westering Home as a concertina duet (with Rosie turning snippets of it into a trio by reading the third part over Delia’s shoulder). Later, Delia gave us the vocal version, which Andy had apparently learned at school.

Stuart contributed to a Devon theme, with Smuggler’s Boy that he’d learned from adopted Devonian Jacky Oates and Tavistock Goosey Fair (always a favourite). We also visited Widdecombe Fair courtesy of Simon, who sang Steve Knightley’s haunting song of that name. Martin also sang a Steve Knightley song – The Vale.

We also had a couple of songs from the East of England. Rosie and I had just returned from our annual holiday in Norfolk so it was appropriate for her to regress to her Norfolk accent for the Kipper Family’s All On The Shore (The Body) – AKA Overstand. Ian sang Sidney Carter’s The White Buck of Epping, about the proposed cull of a white deer that might dilute the genetic purity of the herd.

We also heard:

Dick: Let Union Be, Turkish Men of War, Mancurian Border
Ian: Greenland Whale Fishing, Old Maid in a Garrett
Martin: Don’t Fade on Me (Tom Petty), Lucky Man (Dave Francey)
Rosie and me: Am jigs, Ole Devil Called Love, Blame it on the Sun (Stevie Wonder), Silver Spear/Sally Gardens
Steve: Every Now and Then (Garth Brooks), Bless the Broken Road (Marcus Hummon / Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
Simon: ‘List for a Sailor
Richard and Andy: Arthur McBride, If I Were A Carpenter (Tim Hardin), Singing the Blues, Banks of the Roses, Old Kent Road

We’ll be at the Dog and Badger next week (15th). Hope to see you there.

Joining in the chorus at the Belleview

2010-09-01T23:03:00.000+01:00

Dick was in high hopes of occupying the new armchair suite. There was no sign of any of the high heid yins. We delayed and delayed, and even had the barflies asking when we were going to play some music. By this time the darts players had taken possession, so we stayed where we were. There were four of us: Ian, Dick, Terry and me, Fred. The guest ale was Black Cat beer, a "chocolate malt" at 3.4%. Safe to drive home with. Certain individuals were said to be sporting themselves in the crags and eyries of Norfolk. There was a spirited review of Towersey, with reflections on the price of drink there, and rumours of someone getting their mobile-home stuck in a marsh, and animadversions against singer-songwriters. But eventually Dick kicked off with "Bring us a Barrel". Terry was in full folk-critic mode, and reminiscing about his old days of playing blues. He gave us "Mary Love" (The folk-club, lass, won't do for you), accompanying himself on his mandolo. Then I had a crack at "Norwegian Wood" on the willowflute. Dick was nodding his head, so it's recogniseable. Ian sang John Barleycorn, and we raised our voices in chorus aginst the volume of the barside chatter. Dick followed that with "The Innocent Hare", and Terry supplied "The Bold Fisherman". I took out my high D whistle for "The Roaring Barmaid" and "Get up Old Woman and Shake Yourself." At least with a high whistle you have an edge against the background conversations. Ian sang "Ratcliffe", and Dick "Limehouse Reach". John manifested himself and took a stool against the far wall, until he realised there wasn't a crowd, and came and joined us. We weren't falling apart but we weren't far off it. Continuing the naval theme, Terry gave us "Water and Beer", revisiting the biblical legend of Noah. I sang "The Road to Venezuela" (per Stackridge) and we had a rousing chorus. Ian stubbornly insisted on being nautical with "Cruising round Yarmouth". Dick was still smarting under the fine imposed upon him the last time he sang it, but he wanted to get the rest of the bar singing. It was "The Wild Rover". And they all joined in like good 'uns. Dick was grinning evilly by the end of it. Terry shifted the mood with "The Flowers and the Guns", but John shifted it back with "If you had a brain you'd be dangerous". Then I played "Country Roads (take me home)" on the Willowflute. Ian resumed his theme with "On Board a Man O'War, Boys". Dick led us in "The Lusty Smith", going for the rousing chorus. This prompted Terry to sing "Letters to and from a young man". John felt that if Dick could sing "The Wild Rover", then he could sing "Danny Boy". Oh yes. It was all coming out, the folk club dark-side. Chorus? I'll give you chorus! So I led them in "Ilkley Moor bar't'at". They seemed to know that one. Ian sang "The Jolly Tinker" and Dick "Drink Old England Dry". Terry had had enough of original songs by then, and was back in folk-critic mode, so he sang "The Songs they are a Changin'". John released his alter-ego in the song "Big John". We had a bit of trouble with the bass notes. My voice was beginning to go. I resorted to a lyric sheet for "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" expecting Dick would join in, but it was the Woody Guthrie one, not the Burl Ives version he knew. Ian capitulated to the general mood and sang "Old Maid in the Garret". It was getting near chucking out time by then. Dick was looking around for his taxi. But he gave us "The Fatal Glass of Beer". (It wasn't beer, it was bitter shandy! ) Terry couldn't let us go without one last quick one, so he sang "The Good Ship Calabah". So there you are. We wuz the hard core, keeping the legend alive!

Deal or no Deal in Frieth

2010-08-25T23:28:00.000+01:00

The Prince Albert was a very welcome site on Wednesday as the intrepid acoustic players and singers fought their way through torrential rain. After the usual rearrangement of the furniture, and indeed the rearrangement of some customers who, despite pleadings from us couldn’t be persuaded to join in, we settled down to a great evening.

We were privileged to have a visit from Glen who was in these parts for an audition for Deal or no Deal! (should you really admit to something like this??). Unfortunately for Glen, and us, she didn’t make it. Amazingly there were 60,000 applicants which begs the question how on earth does Noel Edmonds still have such an influence on British culture. We did get the benefit of Glen’s voice however.

Tradition has it that Dick starts proceedings, he duly obliged did with ‘Bring us a Barrel’ which got us all in good voice. The two further offerings from Dick were ‘Silver in the Stubble’ (Sidney Carter) and ‘The Lusty Smith’ (didn’t understand a word of it!!!). John was in the hot seat, i.e. immediately to Dick’s left, and he gave us ‘Benjamin Bowman ‘eer’, ‘My Favourite Things’ (if only I could remember what it was about I think us old ‘uns would have thoroughly agreed with its sentiments?) and ‘The Flushers’, a delicate tale of human waste. Ian made up a trio of unaccompanied singers huddled in the corner. He sang ‘John Barleycorn’, ‘Harvest Song’ and ‘Silver Threads’. I spoilt the pervading unaccompanied theme by using my guitar for Ian Anderson’s ‘Life’s a Long Song’ and Paul Simon’s ‘For Emily Wherever I May Find Her’. My second, and heavier, banjo got a very rare outing for ‘Putting on the Style’ (I was very relieved to find that everyone joined in lustily for the choruses which helped to disguise my lack of skill on the banjo!).

Delia’s lovely voice gave us’ The Beggar Man’ and ‘Adieu to Old England’ whilst Stuart sang ‘The Grumpy Old Man’, a salutary tale about the use of meaningless American clichés that pervade our language these days. Anyone using ‘ball park figure’ from now on will be severely reprimanded. Stuart also sang the lovely ‘The Grey Funnel Line’. This marital combination also combined well on concertinas to give us ‘Astley’s Ride’.

Alan’s prowess on mandolin was well to the fore with ‘The Stockton Hornpipe’ and he and Rosie did a great version of John Lennon’s ‘Across the Universe’ where once again the assembled throng showed their age by joining in. Alan (mandolin), Rosie (melodeon) and Richard (low whistle) played a lovely version of ‘Valse Eric Rocher’. Further offerings from Alan and Rosie were ‘Almaz’ and ‘The Watercress Girl’.

Alison and David did a beautiful rendition of Sidney Carter’s ’Crow on the Cradle’ as well as ‘Let me Fall’ (from Cirque de Soleil). David’s wonderful guitar playing was in evidence with ‘Askett Morris’ and also when he sang ‘Dusty Road Diamantina’. Glen showed us what television was missing by singing ‘Kitty Bourne O’Brien’ and ‘When my Morning Comes Around’ (you do you get to sing on Deal or no Deal don’t you?).

Richard always appears with a bag full of different instruments, some he has kept from school, and tonight was no exception. In addition to the aforementioned low whistle he sang ‘I Drew my Ship’ accompanied by his accordion and he played ‘Twin Sister/Softly Robin’ on recorder (at last, someone who was paying attention in junior school music lessons). The evening was brought to a fitting close with Alison singing ‘The Cottage Door’ before we all fought our way once more through the rain and wind. (Can this really be August?)

Next week we are to assemble at the Belle Vue

My failing brain cell may have let me down on some spellings of song titles, for which I apologise.

Martin Butcher

The Melodeon Liberation Front targets the Dog & Badger

2010-08-18T23:05:00.001+01:00

I’ve often noticed that we have a bunch of unaccompanied songs, then a bunch of more contemporary numbers. This evening demonstrated why this happens – we sat in factions and then followed our usual ‘clockwise starting from Dick’ routine. So, in that order…..

The traditional faction

As usual, we had unaccompanied songs from Dick and Ian. Richard added another couple of those, plus a pair of tunes (Daphne and The Northern Lass) on the low whistle.

The young faction

Martin and Kerraleigh gave us their usual contemporary take on Americana, including their own excellent song Sally Sings Blues. See them at the Riley Park Music Festival on September 11th. Martin J was somewhat tired early on and sang a couple of downbeat songs, but compensated later with Tim Minchin’s Rock n Roll Nerd.

The guitar and voice faction

Rosie, Steve and I went through a few numbers in preparation for the Bottom Line Three gig on the Friday, with Steve and I talking turns to play bass parts on acoustic guitar and Martin B taking the solo in Killing the Blues. Martin’s songs included Secret World, a Peter Gabriel song that I’m not familiar with. After some rehearsal in the break, he also accompanied Rosie for You’ve Got a Friend. Martin J joined this faction briefly to sing Peg (a song from 12 years before he was born) with Rosie. Karen and Roger (and Roger’s excellent Guild guitar) arrived a little late, but still managed to fit in a couple of songs between their debates about which keys they should be in.

The Melodeon Liberation Front

Simon declared himself to be in the Melodeon Liberation Front as he started with Moll in the Wad. He also spoiled my symmetry by singing Steve Knightley’s Widecombe Fair.

Rosie’s melodeon also appeared for a few Irish tunes, with much joining in.

Don’t forget Dick’s gig at Tudor Folk Club in Chesham on Monday 20th August.

We'll be at the Prince Albert in Frieth next week (25th August). Expect the usual rush for good seats.

Look what they’ve done to my songs ma

2010-08-11T23:39:00.000+01:00

We had our usual excellent turnout at The Prince Albert, with our usual mix of tunes and songs, and the traditional and the relatively-contemporary (and some contemporary in the traditional style).

Dick is preparing for his gig at Tudor Folk Club, Chesham on 23rd August and is digging out some material we don’t often hear. Tonight we heard All Things Are Quite Silent and Cuckoo in April. No doubt his set list will include some old favourites too. Do try to go along to support him.

Fred’s originality knows no bounds. He probably lives in fear of a writ from Joni Mitchell because of his Chuchtown Morning adaptation of her Chelsea Morning – not sure the Churchtown Tourist Board would be keen on it either. We enjoyed it though. His other adaption of the evening was a neat willow flute version of Melanie’s What Have They Done To My Song Ma. Indeed.

For some reason, Steve was in a James Taylor sort of mood and played two of hi songs: Anywhere Like Heaven and (my favourite JT song) You Can Close Your Eyes.

We also heard:

Karen and Roger: Kate Wolf’s Give Yourself to Love (practicing for singing it at a wedding next weekend), Karine Polwart’s Sun’s Coming Over the Hill
Richard: John Kirkpatrick’s tunes Petal of Spice and Blossom Made of Fire on accordion and the song The Farmer from Chesire
Rosie and me: the tunes Schottische à Bethany and Shaskeen/Pigeon on the Gate and the songs You Go To My Head and Willie Nelson’s The Time of the Preacher.
Kerraleigh and Martin: Rev Gary Davis’ Sally Where D’You Get Your Liquor, Damien Gerado’s Best Dress, a distinctive version of the traditional Black Jack Davey, Low Anthem’s The Ballad of Broken Bones
John: Don’t Slay That Potato, Kris Kristofferson’ Casey
Martin B: Norwegian Wood, Please Read the Letter (originally on the Page/Plant Walking into Clarksdale album but probably better know by Plant/Krauss)
Paul: Henneseyside Reel/Sligo Fancy and the lovely song Flower of the Hazel Glade
David, Alison and Simon: Steve Knightley’s Tall Ships, Jacob’s Dream, Madeleine’s Waltz, Monsieur le Curé
David: Loudon Wainwright’s New Paint
Delia: If I Were a Blackbird
Stuart and Delia: Huntsman’s Chorus (concertina duet)
Roger and David: Far Away

We’re at the Dog and Badger next week and hoping for another good turnout.

The Mostly-Magnificent Seven at The Dog & Badger

2010-07-28T21:04:00.002+01:00

MBAC attendance is somewhat unpredictable in the summer holidays. However, I successfully predicted a lower than usual turn-out this week.

We heard the following from the seven assembled musicians:

Dick (who’s trying some no-often-heard material for his gig at Chesham on 23rd August): Fair Rosamund, Monday Morning, The Ship in Distress, Man in the Moon (more of which below)

Steve: My Live is Changing (good to hear more of his own songs recently), Bitter Creek and Desperado (both The Eagles), Southbound Train (Julie Gold via Nanci Griffith), Family Hands (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Delia: Hard Times Come Again No More, Lavender’s Blue, Blow Your Winds Oh, Brand New Key (Melanie)

Stuart: Dog & Gun, Elsey’s Waltz, Brighton Camp

Stuart & Delia: Sheebag Shemore

Martin B: Touching Base (original lyrics about corporate buzzwords, very familiar to those of us working in large organisations), The Fisherman of Whitby (Steve Tilson), Dimming of the Day (Richard Thompson)

Rosie and me: Silver Spear/ Sally Gardens, Tar Road to Sligo/Tripping Up the Stairs/Blarney Pilgrim, Off to California/Tomgraney Castle, You Go To My Head (with very approximate guitar accompaniment from yours truly)

Me: My Darling Asleep

Rosie, me and Steve: Keep on the Sunny Side, Killing the Blues

Rosie asked Dick about the history of Man in the Moon. The first recording known by Dick was from 1959. The sleeve notes of his ‘Live at Wycombe Folk’ CD say:

‘One of the nicest songs I know. It’s actually a late version of “The Hares on the Mountain” . Some verses were added by Phil Tanner, some by American servicemen 1944-46. ‘

For the record, the verses Dick sang tonight were:

- rabbits
- sheep
- vixens
- fish
- b29s
- bells
- bricks
- ladies

We’re at the Belle Vue in Wycombe next week (4th) and hoping for a better turnout so we don’t all have to work so hard.

On Tuesday 3rd, The Bottom Line will be playing their regular ‘first Tuesday’ set at The Dog & Badger. It would be nice to have some friendly faces in the audience.

Hot and sultry at the Prince Albert

2010-07-21T23:49:00.001+01:00

Well, Prince Alberts should be hot and sultry, shouldn't they? Okay, forget I said that. There was some sort of a warm-up jig or two that most instrumentalists joined in, even Izzy. I was still finding my pen at that point, so I never did hear what they were. Dick Frost kicked off with "Bring us a Barrel". The chorusers are really getting into those six-part harmonies, there. Delia sang "Bury me beneath the Willow", and Stuart sang "Oh you New York Girls (can't you dance the polka)". We got some good choruses going on those too. What's the Acronym? EJITC. Everyone joined in the chorus! Ye gods, this internet stuff is taking off. Or catching on. One or the other. Then it was Dougie and Bob, a lovely combination of fiddle and guitar, an entertainment in itself while Dougie was getting his guitar out of the fireplace, and later when they were playing musical chairs, or perhaps it was falling between two stools. They played "The House Carpenter" first (in Dorian, or possibly Doreen), and then "Living in the Country". Alan and Rosie were next. They played two "easy polkas" Teahan's Favourite and Maggie in the Woods. (They played the same ones last time I did the blog. I expect they thought I wouldn't notice. It does make it easier for me! )Then Rosie sang a Joan Armatrading number "I really must be going" to Alan's accompaniment. It brought a tear to the eye. Then it was me, doing the best I could with two jigs on the pennywhistle: "I do not Incline" and "Tousle your Kerchief". Martin and Kerralee showed us how it was done with a number by Jonathan Rice "Further North", and one of their own compositions, "Twenty Four Letters". These guys get my vote. They are blogger-friendly and showed me the titles on paper! And I loved Martin's ornamental bottleneck. Kerralee is getting good on that harmonica accompaniment!
Around about this time there was an influx of cricketers, so the buzz of chat from the other end of the bar increased perceptibly. Not that it affect us, at all.
Marty played "Cousin Jack" – I think it was on his tenor guitar, but I can't be sure. EJITC! Richard and Andy played "Carrickfergus", on guitar and low whistle and singing with a fair amount of joining in, since it doesn't actually have a chorus as such, but everybody knows the words to that one. Don't they? Simon had snuck in by that time, looking like a dirty stop-out, and played "No-one ever had a brother like Martin" on his accordian. EJITC again.
We had come full circle back to Dick again, who obliged with "Twas on an April Morning", without a chorus but a certain amount of joining in anyway. Delia got a lot more joining in with "Messing about on the river." There is a certain skill in choosing a song with a nice simple refrain. Stuart sang "Pleasant and Delightful". Some of us know the chorus to that one, too. Or the words. One or the other. Maybe both. At any rate we can repeat the last line like a good 'un.
Now Dougie and Bob played a pair of French Canadian Reels. But they didn't tell me which ones. Not blogger-friendly, guys! Black mark! Their second number was the Ballad of Eddie Baker, with a joining in chorus. Now see, if they were blogger-friendly, I wouldn't mention the mild memory-lapse... could have happened to anyone... I have these memory lapses myself... and they're contagious... but I remember the bone-shaker/muck-spreader. Can you have a bone-shaker-muck-spreader? Obviously you can.
While the raffle equipment was being found, Alan played the Pernod Waltz on his mandolin. Lovely stuff. A very curious tune. I've got that in my pending file. I must have another look at it. Rosie sang "The Grass is Blue" to Alan's accompaniment. Sad songs they're playing. Anything you need to share, guys?
Then I had a go on my Native American Flute. They don't call it NAF for nothing... Quoted the Skolion of Seikilos, which is the oldest tune I know. It's the wrong thing to do on a NAF, but arguably the right thing to do at a folk club.
The Raffle was a Triumph, with an matching image being picked in fewer than ten goes! John won! (With a Xylophone.)
Martin and Kerralee again, playing their own composition, "We live in the valley", and one by Bonnie Prince Billy "Ease Down the Road" . "A song of Infidelity and Drunk-driving" as Martin said. See? Keep in with the blogger and you get verbatim quotes. Fail to do so and your witty story may be lost to posterity... No, I don't bear grudges...
Marty used his other guitar to play "Old Friends", a melancholy folk-club-ish one. Nicely done. John regaled us with the original traditional version of "Pinball Wizard", a cheerful delight after the distressing rocked-up version by that pop band. Can't remember the name... the who? Richard and Andy combined to play "Mrs McGrath" and followed that up with "To Welcome Paddy Home". Simon took out his accordion again to play a couple of tunes, the second of which was "the Prince Albert" which I find variously described as a hornpipe and a scottische. If that's the tune he was playing, which it might not be. The serious instrument-players were joining in, anyway. SO there you are.
Dick Frost wound up the evening with "She loved a Portugee". That put the cap on the session.
I'm getting the hang of this blogging business, I think. Song titles in 12-point Times New Roman on plain white stationery, for next time, please. Bitter, since you ask, and I'm happy to accept halves. I'm not proud. You *can* get a good write-up!

Prince Albert 14 July 2010

2010-07-14T23:51:00.000+01:00

Herewith a somewhat shortish " ROGBLOG", as I / we prepare for our East Anglian Odyssey.

Wednesday the 14th of July saw a good turnout, once again, at the Prince Albert in Frieth, in a bar which seems to be acquiring more furniture than White's Repository. Somehow, we all managed to squeeze in, and soon Dick's dulcet, or do I mean duck-like, tones signalled that the proceedings were under way. His first choice for the evening was "Fathom The Bowl", although I have a suspicion, to be honest, that it was IAN who started us off with "Lord Benbow", now I come to try to make sense of my notes !!

Anyway, The Gruesome Twosome were soon at it with some A minor ( or "R Moll" as they say in Bavaria) jigs, followed by a delicately -performed "I only Have Eyes For You", or, as HM The Queen says, "One Only Has Eyes For One". Steve then sang the lovely "Sweet Music", what he wrote hisself. The Newly- Weds, freshly returned from The Everglades, offered "Medicine County" ( H Golightly ) and "Money In The Bank" (Dawn Landes), which, if they continue to get better & better each week, is what we'll have to pay them! (Only joking, you two!. Melodeonist Paul, (a welcome visitor) entertained with a deftly-fingered "The Railway" & "The Rogue's March". Fast becoming "regulars" are Duggie Brown and his charming companion; although possessed of a concertina, she demurred, so he took up his guitar and sang "The Ballad Of Jamie Penman", by Robin Lang, after which Karen and I dusted off "Follow The Heron Home" with reasonable success. The Back Bar Ramblers then, somewhat noisily, gave us "See How The Wind Do Blow" and "You Are My Moonshine".

This brought us to SAD ( Simon,Alison, and Dave ), who seemed to have been waiting since the previous week, and who ventured "Sun Goes Down", "Just The Motion", and something that looks like, rather improbably, "Hole In Worms" ( in my notes !). Alan & Rosie, their names restored, performed "Angie Baby", followed by Steve and "Sleepless Sailor" ( K Rusby).

The Newlys then showed more class with "The Ghost Who Walked" ( Karen Elson). Paul's next pairing was "Will Ye Go To Flanders" (I think !)(Corrected by Karen from Willy Goes to Flanders!) and "Wine In The Glass". Tony, whom we hadn't seen for almost a year, sang "Drift From The Land", and Karen & I were joined by Dave Fenner for our arrangement of "Here In California" (K Wolf), which seems to go down well !

The late (as always!) John Crosby sang Mr Thompson's ""Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight", after which Andy proffered "If I Were A Carpenter". Well, that's about it, Folks; there's nothing else in my notes, so apologies to those that I missed due to lavatorial visits, chatting, etc !! See you all in 2 weeks time !!

Extra Note from Karen: The newly-weds were presented with a bottle of Fizz, under the pretext of the raffle, to help them continue celebrating their nuptials (Roger's word)!

Even better second time around at The Belle Vue

2010-07-07T21:31:00.000+01:00

Those who have looked over my shoulder while I’ve been taken notes on a Wednesday will not be surprised that, this week, I can’t actually make head nor tail of them. So this is a set of highlights from the bits I can actually de-cipher…

We had two second time visitors…. Firstly Garry, who’d once made it along with his resonator guitar to The Pegasus and made a big impression. He was on even better form this evening with Stephen Foster’s Hard Times Knocking At My Door, an excellent song of his own called, I think, Planet Earth to Heaven. Plus one more! It’s great to hear the resonator played so well.

We often see Creag’s parents at The Belle Vue. Creag was visiting them so popped in with them for a second time. He started with an impressive original song called Naturally Beautiful. This usually mentions Bristol where he lives but, this evening, Wycombe was the natural choice.

It’s always a pleasure to see Malcolm, who can always be relied upon for an amusing song or two in addition to his melodeon playing. This week’s gems were The Hole In The Elephant’s Bottom and Sidney Carter’s Play The Film Backwards.

Also in attendance with selections from their usual repertoires were (in order of appearance) Dick, Terry, Rosie and me, Richard and Andy (not sure I’d heard the Tommy Steele hit Singing the Blues from them before), Debbie and John.

We’re at The Prince Albert for each of the next two weeks. Be there, or be in the wrong place.

30th June at The Dog and Badger

2010-06-30T22:17:00.000+01:00

This week a good turnout at the Dog and Badger provided much amusement and great performances. Newcomer Anthony presented with some very nice arrangements of a traditional song Lady and the Grenadier as well as Piers Haymen’s Each To His Own, while Richard sang I Keep Dogs and Ferrets and played us a couple of his own tunes he had written a few years ago - Dashwood’s Golden Balls and The Hellfire Club. Doug had recently started coming to the club again, and performed The South Atlantic by Alan Frank on the subject of Maggie Thatcher, especially for Dick! He also sung the very enjoyable Good Enough For Me by Peter Bellamy.

Martin B treated us to Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound and Bonnie Rait I Can’t Make You Love Me, whilst I (as Martin J!) performed the blues classic Stormy Monday with Dave accompanying. I finished the evening with the original version of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails.

The evening also saw a few laughs, not only at Roger and Karen’s brief preamble before Kate Wolf’s Medicine Wheel but Doug and Roger’s conflicting harmonies during Bring us a Barrell! Dave’s self-penned The Little Sardine had us in stitches at the toils of the poor unrecognised fish, whilst Terry gave us a hilarious parody of the blues... “who says the third line has to different at all?!”. John sang us an entertaining new take on The Who’s classic Pinball Wizard. I also provided some amusement with Flight of the Conchords’ Most Beautiful Girl in the Room.

We also heard:

Dick: The Innocent Hare – Trad, Limehouse Lass – Trad.

Terry: Have you got a Biro I could borrow – Clive James and Peter Aitkin

Karen and Roger: This Old Town – Janis Ian and Jon Vezner

Rosie and Alan: Tar Road to Sligo & Blarney Pilgrim- Trad., Blame it on the Sun – Stevie Wonder, The Shasheen & Pigeon on the Gate - Trad., Don't Let It Bring You Down – Neil Young

Dave: Smuggler’s Moon – Original

In and out at the Prince Albert for Alison’s birthday

2010-06-23T23:40:00.001+01:00

It was a lovely evening, so we decided to start our evening in the garden at the Prince Albert. This meant that most songs were accompanied by the goosey choir, with interludes by the local songbirds and the occasional lamb. This all made for a great atmosphere. We managed to hold out against the dropping temperature for one turn each and then retreated inside for a second time around.

It also happened to be Alison’s birthday. Not only did but David produce a mini birthday cake with a single candle, Alison also won the raffle. The exact quota of candles is not known to most of us.

The outside atmosphere seemed to inspire some fine performances. Notably:

• George Gershwin’s Summertime from Debbie
• Year Comes Around Again by Simon, David and Alison
• Steve Tilson’s Speaking in Tongues by Martin B
• The almost-apt Old Game Cock by Stuart

We had some highlights when inside too, in particular:

An ‘all-hands’ sing-along of Let It Be, led by Simon with David and Alison
Bill Bailey’s The Proper Love Song by Martin J, which had several of those assembled crying with laughter

We also heard:

Dick: Drink Old England Dry, The Miller and the Maid
Ian: Radcliffe Highway, Trubshaw’s Bold Hussar
Terry: Robb Johnson’s Where The Blues are Found (about Billie Holiday), The English Country Blues Band’s Strong Man, a re-working of John Barleycorn
Delia: Joy of my Heart, Aiken Drum
Stuart: Waits and Weeps – a timely reminder of 1998’s Piper Alpha distaster
Debbie: Kate Rusby's Underneath the Stars
Martin B: Ocean Colour Scene’s The Circle
David, Alison + Simon: The Eagles’ Hole in the World Tonight (acappella), Coshieville, Died Standing Up
Karen and Roger: Richard Thomspon’s King of Bohemia, Oh Cumberland
Roger: Upton Stick Dance (I think) on harmonica
Rosie and me: Kerry polkas, Carole King’s So Far Away, Dark End of the Street
Martin J: Ian Siegal’s Sugar Rush (this prompted one of the groups of drinkers who weren’t with the club to offer him a gig in Cheltenham)
Steve: Gulf Coast Highway
Douggie: Tony O’Neil’s Hell Bound Boat, Bob Dylan’s Death is not the End
John: What You Do With What You Got by Si Kahn

We’ll be at The Dog & Badger at Medmenham next week (30th June). Not as conducive for an outdoor event, but with much more space inside!

16 June at The Dogfish and Badger

2010-06-16T22:48:00.000+01:00

As usual we had a lovely evening, fun and with some excellent singing and playing, as well as drinking of bitterling served by the alewife in pints and half-gills. We went 10 minnows over time to get everyone in threespine stickleback times. Someone offered to sing You Ain’t Nothing But a Houndshark but we’d run out of time.

As is often the case with folk music, we heard songs about lots of natural fauna, flora, Geography, transport, etc. During the evening at The Dogfish and Badger, we had foxes (Dick), Enrico or Jacob Sheep by Stuart & Delia (Hardy Ms tunes), flowers & guns (Terry, without bango or pipefish), green eels of Antrim (Stevefish), a railray (Dave F), a bus (Patrick), a hoteel (Patrick), Burma (Patrick), and a morning town (Delia).

The Shoals of Whiting (Roger) seemed to start a bit of a theme, which, as you can imagine, swam into the general manta. Simon gave us lots of tuna including The Gallant Hussar, Bass End, Sitting on the Haddock of the Bay and Jenny Ling. Steve sang that there were fish in Scatteree, Dave H wrote and performed his song about catching Haddock and Cod in Nova Scotia, Karen & Stevefish sang Bonnie Bass or Boga, Stuart and Delia sang a charming duet - Madtom Will You Walk? which I think included the offer of her ring, and Dace & Alison sang of angelfish dancing on Sunday.

Plaices wherein fish could flounder were the streams (Dick), a canal (Roger), Hake Michigan (Alison), water (Terry), Toll Puddle (Dave H), Portsmouth AKA Not Plymouth (Roger), and some “Irish Reefs” that sounded, apparently, a bit like the gaol of Tralee (Dave H). Terry unfortunately gave up trying to remember a fisherman song which would have added to what turned out to be the theme of the evening.

There were a minnowrity of non-natural-features songs and tunes which I think were, possibly, Simon’s music hall “If it wasn’t for the houses inbetween”, Fragila (Debbie) and When I’m Conga (Karen & Roger).

Next week we’re at The Prince Albert and hopefully the football fish will not disturb us there. See you there!

Apologies for typos - I've had to write the blog in a hurry!

Prince Albert, Frieth, 9th June 2010

2010-06-09T23:10:00.000+01:00

Prince Albert, 9th June 2020

Alan and Rosie are off to Forrin Parts next week, so they've delegated the Blog to me. They're off to the Triumph Dolomites. And their broadband is down, apparently, courtesy of V*rg*n Networking – see, they should have gone for someone with experience. I expect Alan has sprained his typing finger as well, although it doesn't stop him playing guitar and mandolin. And the dog ate his laptop.
I missed the overture, between Dave and Alan and Rosie. It was the tune that I keep mixing up with "Jack Robinson" but isn't. You know the one. Of course you do. And the other one. Yeah, that one.

Dick Frost kicked off with "Let Union Be", and we got a good chorus harmony going on that. Ian followed with "Strands of Gold." He has some nice satirical numbers, there. Then it was me, Fred, having a go at "The Times they are a-changin'" on the Appalachian Dulcimer. Dave accompanied himself on guitar as he sang "How Village Life was Born" which I think is one of his own. Alan and Rosie played "Scottishe Bethany". Are Scottishes coming back into (folk) fashion? Or is it just the weather? Something fast but not too fast, in the humidity? They had a bit of a Roger-and-Karen moment before they sang "Looking in the eyes of Love". Steve was just beginning "Galway Girl" when Simon walked in, and Steve looked very guilty. I don't think Simon has taken out copyright on that yet, so Steve got away with it. Martin took out his tenor guitar and played "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for". He tells me it's tuned like a mandolo. Lovely sound, anyway. Alison and Dave had settled down by that time, and sang "The Hand Song." Simon got out his squeeze-box to join them for "The Calling-on Song". They followed that with "The Huntsman's Chorus" and "Broom's Reel".

That was a circuit of the room, so next was Dick again with "Here's to you, John Brown". Chorus coming up lovely, look you. Ian sang "A Sailor's Life" which was more of a sailor's death, as he himself admitted. It's not a folk night without songs of somebody dying horribly. I played "Scottishe à Brice" and "Trip to the Bar" on the Low E plumbing-pipe whistle. I told you Scottishes are getting fashionable again. Dave did another guitar number, "Fun Fair comes to Town" – another one of his own songs, I think. Alan and Rosie played "The Musical Priest" and "The Star of Munster", and then performed "Everybody's Crying Mercy" (by Mose Allison) which had caused their moment-of-inertia earlier. You have to get back on the horse. They did, and did very nicely. Steve played his own song "Islands", which I think is Steve's lovers'-quarrel with John Donne. Martin got out his other guitar and played "Heartland" by Graham Nash. "Singer's Request" was next, by Simon, Alison and Dave. I think that was the a capella one where we got another bit of harmony going on. Alison did a solo number "The Mason", and Simon and Dave sang "Fisherman's Blues". Somewhere in there, there was the raffle, and it took Norma six goes before she pulled out a ticket that matched Jennifer's (that matched ANYBODY's)!

John had crept in and refreshed himself by this time, and was prevailed upon to lead us in "Gorging Jack and Guzzling Jimmy and little boy Billee." I know John sings "And Jerusalem and Madagascar, and North and South Amerikey, and the British Fleet riding at anchor, and Admiral Nelson KCB". And I know the guy he learnt it from sang the same. But I've seen it written down, and the version I saw was "Admiral Napier KCB". Nelson was a KB (order of the Bath) not a KCB, and anyway was dead by the time of the wreck of the Medusa. On the other hand, who remembers Admiral Napier these days? Sorry. Geek episode. What can I say? I'm a Geek. Dick started an outrageous allegation that the verses were by Tennyson, and had Simon believing him for a moment. When he realised no-one was falling for that one, he sang "Bonny bunch of Roses-o". It was Ian's turn next, and he gave us "Spencer the Rover". Then it was the world premiere of the Solo Opera "Winter Cruise" by me, Fred. I think somebody laughed out loud. That's all right, they were meant to. Dave refused to sing anything to follow that, so he got out his squeeze-box and played us "Morgan's Run" and a Gan Ainm number (that means one we don't know the name of). "Morgan's Run" is his own composition! Gan ainm isn't... Alan and Rosie sang "Walking on a Wire" – well, you know, Rosie sang it while Alan played. Then Steve played "The Life of a Country Boy" with the chorus "...ramble in the new-mown hay". Martin did a James Taylor number "You can close your eyes". Final number of the night was "How Sweet the name of Bournemouth sounds" from John. And there was a Godly one from Alison in there somewhere with Angels in it. I must have blinked and forgotten to make a note of it. Sorry, Alison. I was carried away by the music, honest. Apologies too, to anyone whose name I got wrong, because I didn't know Martin, and I thought Dave was Gordon and the other Dave was Stuart and I'd forget my own name if I didn't have it on this piece of paper... damn! Where did I put it?

Norma (I think it was) said "It was a really good night, tonight". It was indeed!

Meet me around the corner at The Belle Vue

2010-06-02T23:14:00.003+01:00

An interesting collection of groups meets at The Belle Vue, including a Book Club and a Knitting Group. To accommodate them better, Alan the landlord is in the process of turning the ‘darts’ area around the corner from the main bar into a more separate ‘snug’. We were encouraged to try out this new area this evening rather than play in the main bar; the darts’ players took the area at the bottom of the bar.

As only five of us were there at 8:40, this seemed like a good plan. However, not only did we get enough of a turnout of regulars and occassionals to fill the room, there were also two couples who’d come specifically to listen. It didn’t seem right to leave them straining to hear from the bar, so we shuffled up and squeezed them in, even though that involved one of them sitting on the floor. So we had a cosy evening.

The welcome surprise of the evening was the appearance of Douggie Brown and friend Issy. Douggie started with one of Peter Bellamy’s settings of a Kipling poem (if anyone recalls what it was called, please let me know). Second time around, Issy (with D on the guitar) played a set of jigs (93 not out, The Plane Tree, The Turnpike) on the concertina. Douggie also got to sing ‘Grandy Berk’ (with what Terry called ‘funny fills’ on the melodeon) and Rambling Sailor.

I was surprised to see Martin and Kerraleigh - they’d played at The Marlow May Fayre on Saturday, the Crowne Plaza Beer Festival (£4.50 a pint!!!) on Monday and The Dog and Badger with The Bottom Line Three on Tuesday. Not only that, they have the small matter of a trip to USA next week to sample some music, maybe buy a guitar and see some sights. And to get married too. Congratulations in advance to them. Apart from Nina Nastasia’s Odd Said the Doe, this week’s collection of songs had fairly conventional names: Further North by Jonathon Rice; Walk a Mile by Holly Golightly; Kerosene Hat by Cracker and Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Other contributions were:

Terry: Leon Rosselson's Single in Spring, Dylan’s Now ain’t the Time for your Tears, Shel Silverstein’s (via Doctor Hook) Freakers’ Ball
Dick: Daddy Fox (that had been borrowed from him last week), Man in the Moon, She Loved a Portuguese
Andy and Richard: Drinking Gourd, Banks of the Bann, The Band’s The Weight, Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight and their instrumental version of Over the Rainbow.
Rosie and me: Three polkas, two mazurkas (with percussion in 3-time as the darts thudded into the other side of the partition behind us), You Go to my Head (via Billie Holiday), Fishing Blues (via Taj Mahal), If Love is a Red Dress (Maria McKee via Pulp Fiction)
Simon: Always to Galway, Year comes Round Again, Shepherds’ Hay
John C: Its Going to be One of These Days, Lily the Pink
Clive: Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out

We’re at The Prince Albert next week (9th). As always, arrive early for a good seat (or, perhaps, any seat).

Clive’s Open Mic is at The Belle Vue on Sunday 13th, starting 3:30ish. Rosie and I went to the last one and got to play five songs - about two more than we’d expected.

Valse Eric Rocher

2010-05-26T23:43:00.002+01:00

Several people have asked about this tune that Rosie and I play. You can find the dots here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.jackson87/images/EricRocher.jpg

We expect mass participation next time we play it.

Au revoir to Glen with a fine session at The Prince Albert

2010-05-26T23:03:00.002+01:00

Despite the absence of several regulars, there was decent turnout a The Prince Albert for Glen’s final visit before heading south-west again. Glen herself hadn’t intended to sing this evening, but couldn’t resist it after Stuart had suggested that we might be able to fill a whole evening with versions of Daddy Fox. Stuart sang it to a different tune than we usually hear from Dick. Glen naturally responded with a version to a further different tune and later added Ploughboy Lads.

Perhaps for the first time, we had three songs from Stuart – his other two being There Was an Old Woman Who Swalled a Fly and Cyril Tawney’s Ballad of Sammy’s Bar. Delia’s songs were Johnny Todd and Soldier, Soldier.

All the above were unaccompanied, as were Dick’s Fair Rosamund, Turkish Men of War and The Card Song (Here’s To You Tom Brown) and Paul Simon’s Sound of Silence from John C.

Martin B had started with a lesser-known Paul Simon song – Wednesday Morning 3am and continued later with Robert Johnson’s Malted Milk. He finished the evening with the lovely You’ve Got a Friend by Carole King (via James Taylor), with almost everyone singing along and seeming to know all the words.

In Karen and Roger’s absence, Rosie and I plan to play some atypical songs at The Bottom Line gig at The Dog & Badger on Tuesday and gave outings (with varying degrees of success) this evening to The Ole Devil Called Love, Dream a Little Dream and Almaz.

On the pop song theme, David and Simon duetted on XTC’s Generals and Majors, which is probably not in any collection of folk songs from the Upper Thames (or Swindon). Their other songs were David’s own fine Islands of Steel and Steve Knightley’s Widdecombe Fair.

Andy took some time out from pulling together the music for Monday’s Beer Festival at the Crowne Plaza to join Richard for Lizzie Lindsay, You Are My Moonshine and the saucy Ball of Yarn, coupled with The Proudlock Hornpipe.

Naturally, we had some tunes too, notably from Paul, whom we hadn’t seen for a while. He started with Uncle’s Jig and St Lawrence Jig and later played Ty Coch (which is apparently Welsh for Red House) and the Polish Redower Polka. I was disappointed that Ty Coch was a polka rather than a slow blues.

Paul also joined in heartily with The Kerry Polkas, which was led by Rosie and me. We also played reels The Silver Spear and Sally Gardens.

Simon’s joining Roger to play for Herbaceous Border at Chippenham this weekend. As Simon gave us Upton Stick Dance this evening, I assume this will be part of the repertoire.

We’ll be at The Belle Vue in Wycombe on Wednesday 2ndJune. I hope we have a good a session there as we had last time.

Meanwhile, The Bottom Line will be down to three (Rosie, Steve, Alan) for the regular ‘first Tuesday’ gig at The Dog & Badger. We will be joined by The August List (Martin & Kerraleigh), so do try to come along to give them your support.

Marlow May Fayre - Higginson Park Saturday 29th May

2010-05-24T22:18:00.003+01:00

Several of our regulars will be playing at the Marlow May Fayre in Higginson Park on Saturday 29th May. Please come along and lend your support. Here's the schedule:

12:30-13:30: The Bottom Line Three (Steve, Rosie & Alan), Dick Frost

14:45-15:20: The August List (Martin & Kerraleigh)
15:20-15:30: Fred Cairns

16:15-16:40: Stuart Walker
16:45-17:15: Ye Expanding Waystrels (Andy and Richard)

The Rogablogalog

2010-05-19T18:05:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday, May 19th, 20 or so stout fellas and fellaresses squeezed themselves into the farthest recesses of the dining-room of the Bag and Dodger, and much joyous music and singing ensued.

First to vocalise his innermost thoughts was Dick, sometime upholsterer and veritable Doyen of the Buckinghamshire Balladeers, who launched himself into "I Have A Sister " with all the verve and gusto that only a former Light Infantryman could muster. This was followed by "Marcie", from the troubled pen of J Mitchell (Miss), performed nicely by Robin. Two tunes, namely "Shaskeen" ( sp. ??) and "Pigeon On The Gate" came from Alan & Rosie's corner of the room, and they also duetted on "Bang Bang", which, sadly, isn't a Swedish love song, but should be (IMHO).

The ever-dependable Richard led us in "Lovely Nancy", after which Martin & Kerraleigh entertained with "At The Bottom Of Everything" and "Wonderful Life", attributable to Bright Eyes and Felice Brothers, although which to whom, sadly, evaded my notes. Delia sang the Acker Peller (remember him ?) version of "Can Ye Sew Cushions ?" after which her other (and much better) half played, rather dashingly I thought, "Midnight On The Water" on his concertina, to which I contributed a modest accompaniment (blush). Dave & Alison Fennel performed the tragic and evocative "Take My Hammer", followed by "Red Guitar" (it says in my scribble).

Next, I almost hesitate to mention, came the turn of ourselves, yes Karen and Moi ! With an eye to the future and Bank Holiday Weekend's Chippenham Festival, whereat we shall be performing, with Simon Diegan ( !!) (blush encore), I essayed a quick "Upton Stick Dance" on tremelo harmonica, although Karen declined to demonstrate the footwork, after which we together performed "Across The Great Divide" by Kate Wolf. Debbie delighted with "Fling It Here", the great Muckspreader Disaster song, followed by The Other Martin singing "The Needles And The Damage Done", about the pitfalls faced by knitters with the DTs. Ian stuck to his traditional guns with "Spencer The Rover", and Terry shone with his version of Bill Caddick's "Unicorns".

After the interval, Dick re-started us with "The Peat Bog Stories" and Robin sang the "Sideboard Song ". Rosie and Alan then got greedy and were quite carried away with "The Tar Road To Sligo", "Tripping Up The Stairs", & "The Blarney Pilgrim" and a song, "People Being Sensible" (which they weren't). Richard's "The Football Match" amused, Kerraleigh and Martin (I'm tempted to call them "KLM" in future) pleased with "Arms Outstretched" & "Come On Billy", and John led us all in "Where The Robbers Retreat" in a dodgy (for me) key .Delia sang about the regretful Miss Otis, whilst Hubby declined his turn; I played "Portsmouth" on harmonica, and Karen & I rendered "This Old Town" as per the singing of Nancy Griffith. Terry probably did something else, but I missed it ( possibly went for a "cuddle "), Martin sang "Behind Blue Eyes", and finally (gasp!) Dave Fenugreek performed "Next Best Western", finishing off a splendid evening, aided my Mrs F and "Love Thee, Dearest, Love Thee" ( and I'm sure they do !)

We are busy preparing for Chippenham, so will probably miss this Wednesday at the Prince Albert, and next week we're in Gloucestershire and Lyme Regis, so see you all again sometime in June !!

Roger

Marching through The Prince Albert with some new old stuff

2010-05-12T21:15:00.001+01:00

It seems that most people who play at clubs like ours have a core repertoire that they choose from each week, trying not to sing the same song too often. This week, Dick gave the lovely Limehouse Lass, which he can sing as often as he likes as far as most of us are concerned, plus My Boy Billy, which seems to have moved from the fringe to the core recently. His third song was The Belle of Barking Creek, which I don’t think he’s sung in the ‘Marlow Bottom’ years.

Richard sang three songs that I don’t remember having heard from him before: The Rambling Comber (presumably learned from the singing of John Kirkpatrick), The One Thing or the Other and the somewhat saucy Bonny Black Hare (which was recorded by Steeleye Span) . Saucy didn’t quite cover Roger’s Ring a Ding Ding Dong, which probably has a rugby heritage.

We’ve heard The Wild Rover lots of times, but not to the unusual tune to which Ian sang it this evening. We have heard Durham Miners’ Lament, but I don’t think we’ve heard him sing Bold Richard to any tune. Ian had sung Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn (AKA Three Jolly Rogues Together) at one of his early visits to the club. Rosie and I learned this song from a nursery rhyme tape by Rick Kemp and Friends, on which it was sung by Maddy Prior, and have sung it a couple of times at the club before this evening’s rendition.

Grandmothers featured in a couple of songs: Didn’t I Dance from Glen, about three generations of women looking back at their younger days and Bill Withers’ Grandma’s Hands from Rosie.

Fred played a set of three marches: The Girl I Left Behind (AKA Brighton Camp); Garryowen and Bonny Dundee. As far as I know, whistles made of plastic pipe have yet to be adopted by any military band in the western world. But you never know. They don’t tend to have guitars either, so Roger’s British Grenadiers was fitting.

Fred also played the tune C’est La Vie, by Stackridge. They were a little-known, and very quirky, band from the 70s who, in a slightly different formation as The Korgis, had a massive hit with Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime. I saw Stackridge live as a support band at Bristol Colston Hall a couple of times around 1971. As it happens, the current line-up played there a couple of weeks ago.

We only heard Stuart singing along to others’ songs this week. Delia struck out on her own to sing Bonny Labouring Boy with an excellent concertina intro and outro.

Both Simon and I were wrong about Lindisfarne’s Meet Me on the Corner - it hit the charts in early 1972. It was the first song Steve sang in public, at Chesham Folk Club not long after its release. Tonight’s version had plenty of singing along, as did Unison in Harmony.

Martin and Kerraleigh continued their quest to find songs or artists with unusual names with Brad Haunts a Party by Nina Nastasia. More conventional titles were My Home is the Sea (Superwolf), Cape Canaveral (Conor Oberst) and Rise Up with Fists (Jenny Lewis),

We also heard:

Dave H: Weatherman, The Age of Steam
Karen and Roger: The Sun’s Coming Over the Hill (Karine Polwart)
Karen, Roger and Steve: Lowlands
Simon:Oranges in Bloom, Enlist for a Sailor
Delia: Faraway Tom
Rosie and me: Three polkas (Captain Byng/Peg Ryan’s/Maids of Ardagh)
Me with some help from Richard (and perhaps Fred): Lord Inchquin
Glen: Success to the Farmer
Fred: Oh Sir Jasper

We’re at the Dog and Badger next week, where I anticipate the usual good turnout.

Bon turnout at the Belle Vue

2010-05-05T20:00:00.000+01:00

Compared to our last session at the Belle Vue we had a splendid turnout this time and instead of everyone having to dredge their memory banks for 4 songs we only had to remember 2.5 songs this time.

As usual Dick opened the batting with 'Let Union Be' which got us all (well nearly all) in good voice. Dick's later and more oiled offerings were 'Jones' Ale' and 'Broomfield Hill'. Richard, sporting his piano accordian let rip with 'Two Lovely Black Eyes' (with topical words) and later with 'Bold Reilly' and '50 Years Ago'. Mandolin wizard, Robin gave us the Scottish traditional song 'False False' and later followed up with some very fancy picking on 'Byker Hill'. His 'piece de resistance', however, at the end on the night was 'Delila' (Tom Jones has nothing on this version).
Helen's lovely voice enraptured us all with 'Divided Country' (Bing Lyle), 'May Morning Dew' and 'Grey Dawn'. As normal Ian's great unaccompanied voice wafted over the pint glasses to the assembled throng with three ditties; 'Hal-an-Tow', 'Trees They Do Grow High' and 'Pleasant and Delightful'.

Dave sang his self-penned 'Funfair Comes To Town' and again sported his melodeon skills with 'Morgan's Run/Tune With No Name' and 'Bear Dance'. Martin and Kerraleigh came armed with yet more obscure songs (well obscure to those of my vintage anyway). Learning even 1 new song a week is certainly beyond my aged brain cell but Martin and Kerraleigh seem to learn 4 new songs each week with ease and Kerraleigh's beautiful voice gave us 'Madeline Mary' (by Bonny Prince Billy; would he have made a better fist of things in 1745?), Yellow By The Sun (Low Anthem), 'Easy Does It' (Will Oldham) and the self-penned 'Old Song' and 'Death Penalty'. This last song relates to an odd law, still in force in a forgotten US state, where the penalty for jumping off a building is death!

Alan and Rosie gave us the traditional 'Valse Eric Roche', with great melodeon and mandolin backing, 'Dark End Of The Street' and 'If Love Is A Red Dress' (Maria Mckee). Rosie also showed off her linquistic skills with 'Labour On Principle' which was sung in impeccable Norfolk. Martin sang the Chris Smither blues 'Surprise, Surprise' and Neil Young's 'After The Goldrush' (note to self - try and learn the words). Debbie's wonderful voice entralled all present with Sting's 'Fragile' before Terry's equally wonderful voice burst forth with 'Vote For Me' (Dave Kendrick). Terry also sang 'Haul Away Girls'.

Simon's skill on the melodeon knows no bounds and was much to the fore with 'Lass Of Richmond Hill/Belle Vue' and the great singalong 'Time To Ring The Changes'.
Those lucky enough to only have to remember one song this week were John who gave us 'Lazlow Fair' and Clive who sang 'Alberta' accompanying himself with Alan's guitar.

A most enjoyable evening putting us all in a good mood for voting on the 'morrow.

Right Side, Wrong Side and Sheep at The Prince Albert End April 2010

2010-04-28T21:51:00.000+01:00

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!

Le Blog According To Rog 21 April 2010

2010-04-21T20:55:00.001+01:00

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

Prince Albert, Darkest Frieth, 14th April 2010

2010-04-14T23:26:00.000+01:00

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...

David and Alison Fenner with Simon Diegan at Maidenhead Folk Club - Thursday 29th April

2010-04-12T23:54:00.000+01:00

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 MS concert & Ceilidh 11-12th June 2010

2010-04-12T10:58:00.000+01:00

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
read more
Ceilidh with Graham Cox and The Somon Care Band: 11th June
read more

Both at Old Mill Hall, Grove, Oxfordshire

The vital few at The Belle Vue

2010-04-07T21:37:00.000+01:00

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.

Five Martins, two Dans, four Easter songs, two John Denver songs and two obscurities at The Dog & Badger

2010-03-31T22:46:00.000+01:00

The Dog & Badger was doing good business on Wednesday, but had kindly put reserved signs on the tables at the end at which we usually gather. We had a very good turnout and, as we squeezed in to the limited space, we made sure that all three Martins, two of whom were playing Martin guitars, sat in a row.

Here’s what the Martins (in descending age) played and sang:

‘Bledlow’ Martin: Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat (which took some of us back to our times at university, when it was playing at every flat you went to) and Tim Hardin’s Reason to Believe. This song was the original A side of Rod Stewart’ massive hit ‘Maggie May’

Martin and Kerraleigh (The August List): Crow Jane (trad but learned from Holly Golightly’s version), Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness (Bonny Prince Billy), Sweetheart Rodeo (Dawn Landes) and Happy (Jenny Lewis)

Martin Jackson (on a brief visit home from Derby): Steely Dan’s Peg (with Rosie), Jace Everett’s A Little Less Lonely, Alice in Chains’ No Decision

Martin J also accompanied Rosie (who had an accompanist upgrade for the evening) on Joan Armatrading’s I Really Must be Going. This excellent torch song was not originally released in the UK, only on an EP on the continent which also, incidentally, contained Rosie, Joan’s hit single (well #49 anyway) about a transvestite.

The other rock obscurity of the evening was David’s rendition of Steely Dan’s Here at the Western World. This is another super song that’s not on a mainstream album, just on compilations.

We also had some Easter songs: Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life) and Easter Draws Near at Hand from Ian, Joseph’s Son from Debbie and Pace Egging Song from Simon.

Terry sang Forest Lawn (I Want To Go Simply When I Go). I was surprised to find out that this was written by John Denver, whom I associate more with songs like Follow Me, sung later by Glen (who only got one turn - sorry Glen).

For me, the two contrasting highlights of the evening came near the end:

Terry’s version of Shep Wooley’s hilarious parody of You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille.
Alison and David’s beautiful version of Steve Prothero’s The Swallow. This was a ‘pin drop’ moment. The attendees of Maidenhead Folk Club might be lucky enough to hear this on 29th April.

The other songs were:

Albatross and Hop Picking (Dave)
Billy Bragg’s New England (Rosie and me - guess who’s got a St George’s Day gig)
Adieu to Old England and, in a key to attract the local bats, Raggle Taggle Gypsy (Delia)
She Loved a Portuguese and Fatal Glass of Beer (Dick)
Mixed Morris Dancing and Pat Pong Girl (Patrick)
The Crow on the Cradle (Alison and David)
The Sun it Goes Down (David, Alison and Simon)

The tunes for the evening were:

Teahan’s Favourite/Maggie in the Woods (Rosie and me)
Up the Sides and Down the Middle and Oscar Wood’s Jig (Simon and David)
One I didn’t catch the name of and The Bear Dance (Stuart and Delia)

We’re at The Belle Vue in Wycombe, next Wednesday, 7th April. In the meantime, there’s The Bottom Line gig at the Dog & Badger on Tuesday 6th.

The Bottom Line at The Dog and Badger, 6th April

2010-03-25T14:06:00.007Z

The Bottom Line's next 'first Tuesday' gig at the Dog & Badger, Medmenham is on 6th April. Our March gig was very well attended, so we hope for as good a turn-out this time. We'll kick off at around 8pm.

Download flyer

We'll also be playing an English set for The Dog & Badger's St George's Day event on Friday 23rd April. More details coming soon.

The Bottom Line is Rosie, Karen, Steve, Roger and Alan
See http://bottom-line-band.co.uk/