2016 Reports

December’s theme for the folk club was ‘Winter Warmer’, and there was definitely a warm welcome to all performers from a large and supportive audience.  Several of our regular performers were in need of winter warmers as they were suffering from nasty coughs and colds.  Three themes developed throughout the evening.  We had a fine selection of warming songs, a good smattering of Christmas songs, with what developed into “who can sing the oldest song” dimension thrown in.

After I had started off the first half by singing a version of “The Holly and the Ivy” and “Blow the Candles Out” (missing Ted who was at home nursing his cold), we were entertained by the excellent Ian and Sue singing “Drive the Cold Winter Away” (17th Century) and “Hard Times”.  Sue and Sally followed with three numbers including the hilarious “Wearing Thicker, Big Knicker Blues”.  Rik sang “A Pint of Old Peculiar” and “A Polar Bear Sang in Berkeley Square” (yes I did write that down correctly!).  Following Rik, Ray and Anne sang “Banks of Newfoundland” and “Cherry Tree Carol”.  Thrup’nny Bits ended the first half with two rousing songs “Shepherds Arise” (12th Century) and a glorious spoof on Wassailing.

Peter McDonald started our second half in fine form by singing “Wandering Soul” and a very moving version of Tall Ships with Margaret reading “The Wrecker’s Prayer” in between verses. John followed with two Christmas songs, one of which he had written himself.  Peter Mason sang an old favourite “Who Knows Where the Time goes?” and a chilly song “When Winter Comes Howling in”.  A newly formed super group, Cappuccini, sang a beautiful version of the Spanish Carol “Riu, Riu, Chiu” (16th Century) followed by Morris Oxford singing “I am a Brisk Man”.  The Harbury Folk Club Choir finished the second half by singing two of their Christmas repertoire “Awake Ye Drowsy Mortals” and “Mary Did You Know?”.

We were lucky enough to have a third half featuring Peter McDonald singing “Sweet Thames Flow Softly”.  David arrived with his double bass straight from work just in time for “Rumble-o” to perform “Who’s Going to Build Your Wall” with beautiful cello playing from Anna and a version of “Three Jolly Fishermen”.  Peter Mason came back on to sing “The January Man”.  The evening was brought to a seasonal conclusion with Thrup’nny Bits singing “At Break of Day” about the three Kings and finally “Please To See The King”.  All that remained was for us to wish each other a very Merry Christmas despite it being only December 1st and venture out into the chilly night having been thoroughly warmed by folk club performers and audience.

The raffle raised a very generous £80.00 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  January’s Folk Club will be hosted by Des and Debbie and the theme will be ‘Celebrations and Special Occasions’.

Sue Crum

'Around the World in 3 Hours’ was the theme for Folk Club No. 384 on November 3rd.  It was my hope that the performers would dig deep into their geographical knowledge and present a programme of songs from, or about, many of the countries on Planet Earth – and I wasn’t disappointed.  Between 8pm and 11pm, we visited numerous countries in all the major continents and marked them off on a world map.

The singers came from all points of the compass as well as our regulars from Harbury.  The cast list was Ray & Anne, Rik, SRS (Sue, Robin & Sally), Rumble-o (Tina, Anna, Ed, Graham & David), Ted & Sue, the Harvesters, Keith Donnelly, John Zetterstrom, Peter Mason, Des, the Folk Club Choir (slightly depleted but still too numerous to mention) and me.  We started in the Appalachian Mountains and then visited Paris (twice), Jamaica, Canada (twice), Wichita (Kansas), Rawtenstall (Lancs), Australia (twice), Scotland (twice), South Africa, Maui (Hawaii), round the Horn, Rotterdam, China, New Zealand and Ilkley Moor (without a hat).  It was exhausting!

It’s difficult to pick out just a few of the 28 songs that we heard during the evening but Keith was outstanding.  He usually sings his own songs and he remarked how challenging it was to cover other singers’ performances of their own songs.  He then gave virtuoso performances of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Case of You’, Jimmy Webb’s ‘Wichita Lineman’ and Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, as always skilfully accompanied on guitar.  We are very fortunate that Keith finds time to visit Harbury Folk Club several times a year, in between his professional engagements.  However, we are always pleased to welcome and encourage novice performers taking their first steps in playing or singing in public.

The raffle raised an excellent £83 for Cancer Research.  By the time you read this, the next Folk Club will be on January 5th hosted by Des & Debbie.  As always, we meet on the first Thursday of every month at 8pm in the comfort of the Village Club – an evening of free acoustic music – what’s not to like?  We love it!

Peter

This month's theme was "Transport" and the performers steered us through the evening with references to different modes of transport.

The evening was opened by Ian & Sue with two fine songs about a weary hobo and a wayfaring stranger. Ray and Anne rode the American railways but suffered a train wreck in West Virginia. Rik started on a racing clipper ship and then had to slow down for motorway cones. Sally rode through Paris in a sports car before requesting that we get to her by any means of transport. Lou & Mary had us leaving on a jet plane and then visited the west coast of Scotland. Pete Grassby left New Orleans on a railroad car and then returned nearer home, rolling down the Fosse Way. Peter McDonald finished the first half by lamenting dipsticks and seals and finally huddling around an engine room’s little pot stove.

The musicians of the Orchestra took to the stage at the start of the second half and manoeuvred us through four tunes which apparently had some tenuous transport connections. Sue Harris acknowledged National Poetry Day by impersonating a traffic police officer stopping unsuspecting motorists. Norman flew on a 747 and then delighted us with a self-penned song about “little triggers to our memory that can transport us back to the moment they happened”. Pete Mason chronicled the fate of a sunken ship and the efforts to salvage the vessel but were they successful? Morris Oxford, Tina & Graham, gave us tales of stealing purses and a misogynist hunter but, as far as we could tell, bypassed the theme. Keith Donnelly brought a fine evening to a rousing finish in his own unique folky, jokey, karaoke style. He then dreamed of going to California but the audience demanded more and so Keith put on his rocket shoes.

An evening of excellent entertainment and our thanks go to all the performers, the audience, and the Village Club’s staff. The charity raffle raised £51 which has been donated to Harbury e-wheels.

It was a break from tradition by only having two halves. Whatever next? Well find out next month when the club will be hosted by Peter McDonald on Thursday 3rd November when the theme will be “Around the World in 3 hours”.

Doug & Janny

‘Botanicals’ was the theme for Folk Club number 382.

Ian and Sue opened with ’Let the Mystery Be’, which mentions carrots and sweet peas, followed by ‘Wild Rose of The Mountain’. Theresa followed with a beautiful French song entitled ‘Le Muguet’. Pete & Liz performed two of my favourites, ‘Isle of Eigg’ and ‘Rosebud in June’. Ray & Ann gave us ‘Lemon Tree’ and ‘Yellow Bird’. Rik announced to us all that he actually was a Botanist which I have to admit made me panic, thinking that he might expect me to remember all the Latin names he quoted before he sang ‘Watercresso’ and ‘Daisy Lady’. Maureen & Janny sang ‘Hedger & Ditcher/Sorry the Day I was Married’ followed by the brilliant Kinks song, ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’, and Norman closed the first half with a self-penned song called ‘The Last Day in August’ and ‘Alberta’.

Peter Mason opened the second half with ‘What’s the use of wings if you can’t fly’ and ‘Peppers and Tomatoes’. Barbara made a rare visit to the Club and entertained us with ‘Mr. Smith’s Vegetable Garden’ and ‘When the Chestnut blooms in Flower’. Next was two thirds of a new group called Essaress (I think that’s right) who gave us ‘Blue Bonnets’ and ‘Edelweiss’. Debs sang ‘The Water is Wide’ and then recited her great poem ‘Zona Nudista’. Ted & Sue were next with ‘A Bunch of Thyme’ and ‘Misalliance’. Keith closed the second half with ‘A Song without Words’ and ‘Three Birds Flying’.

The third half featured Essaress singing ‘Country Roads’ and Barbara singing ‘Yellows on the Broom’. Keith closed the evening with an hilarious medley of ‘ Girl from Ipanema/50 Shades of Grey/Black Country Roads/Nelly the Elephant’. The verse about Donald Trump certainly sent us all home laughing!

The raffle raised £72 for Cancer Research UK which is the charity Ian ran the Great North Run for. The theme for the October Folk Club is ‘Transport’ when Doug and Janny will be the hosts. 

Sue Hartland

August’s folk club has traditionally been a rather quiet affair, with a number of regulars on holiday. Add to that a theme of “Murder and Death” and we might have expected a gloomy quorum, huddled in a comforting corner of the room. Instead, we had a room packed with performers and an anticipatory audience for Folk Club number 381.

Sue and I kicked off the evening with “Long Black Veil” and “Lily Of The West”, one murder and one death apiece. Then Helen followed with “She Moved Though The Fair” and “Rickety-Tickety Tin”, the latter song adding five to the body count. Maureen and Janny were next with “The Burning Of Auchindoon” and “I’ll Fly Away”. They were followed by the solo talents of Sue Crum who sang: ”Sovay, Sovay” about a highwaywoman, and “Ratcliff Highway” where reprieve robbed us of another victim. Martin gave us a grisly account of “Young Henry Martin”, updated to relate to car-stealing, and then a song written by Jake Thackray about his seemingly immortal grandfather. The half was brought to a cracking conclusion by Ian Bland, an Australian singer and poet who was in the UK for a series of Festival and concert appearances. His self-penned song “Another Man’s Name” dealt with the trading of aliases to conceal murder. He followed that with an excellent poem about a legacy of a pair of earrings to two fractious sisters.

The second half was opened by the Harbury Folk Club Choir, which performed the Appalachian song “Bright Morning Star” and then “John Ball”, about a martyr who supported the cause of the Peasants in their Revolt. Rik followed with a song called “Tapestry” and the popular “The Three Bells”. He was then joined by his wife Therese who sang “Outward Bound”, a rendition that earned possibly the loudest applause of the evening. Norman then sang a short, humorous song about Gene Pitney and then recited a poem he had written for his own (eventual) funeral. He completed his spot with a song dedicated to ageing called: “I’m Falling To Bits”. Peter Mason was up next with “The Bold Poachers” and “Too Close To The Wind”. Pete and Liz had the next spot and gave us “Home, Lads Home” about soldiers in World War 1. They followed that with “The Lambs On The Green Hills”. Peter McDonald was keen to expand the evening’s ‘body count’ with “The Massacre Of Glencoe”. Wielding his concertina next, he gave us “The Innocent Hare” where the intended victim escapes the huntsmen. The half was brought to a rousing conclusion by Dave Fry with “Go Down You Murderers, Go Down” and “With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm”, written about Anne Boleyn. Keith Donnelly and Bill Bates staged their own re-enactment, to the amusement of all.

With yet more performers to shoe-horn into the evening, a short second break was followed by Ray, who opened the third half with “Birmingham Sunday” about racial killings in the US, and then “Fiddler’s Green”, where fishermen supposedly go when they die, and where a incalculable number of deaths was proposed. Sue Harris followed on with the poignant “Last Of The Great Whales” and then Les Barker’s “Have You Got Any News Of The Iceberg?”, relating to the Titanic disaster. Sally, playing her piano, was next and performed “Say Something” and the theme to “M.A.S.H.”, encouraging the audience to hum along with the familiar tune (which is called “Suicide is Painless”). Next to the stage was Des who gave us the powerful “Babylon Is Fallen”, claiming that its theme of Judgment Day scooped any prize for the largest body count of a single song! He followed that with Eric Bogle’s song about Gomez, the Chihuahua. Keith Donnelly was in fine form with his song “Only Passing Through”. He then related a funny story about an encounter with a persistent fly in Australia. With a happy coincidence, that reintroduced Ian Bland to the stage to close the evening with another of his excellent humorous poems, this one relating to a funeral.

No less than nineteen different acts had passed across the stage during the night and yet we still managed to finish shortly after eleven, credit being due to the brisk and concise nature of each act’s performance. The charity for the evening was Cancer Research, for which good cause I will be competing in the Great North Run on September 11th. The raffle raised £100.50, which is a magnificent total. Many thanks to the generous contributions received from everyone on the night.

The next Folk Club is on Thursday 1st September and will be run by Sue, with a theme of “Botanicals”. Harbury Folk Club charges no admission fee yet consistently present acts of the highest calibre. If you’ve not been before, why not give it a try?

Ian Hartland

The theme for the Folk Club meeting on July 7th was “Singing Together”. 

Regular Harbury Folk Club goers enjoy something of a reputation for singing well and with enthusiasm whenever the opportunity presents itself.  I therefore chose the subject to exploit this trait by encouraging plenty of songs with familiar, or easy to learn choruses or refrains.

In spite of some of the regulars being away on holiday, it was a pleasant evening during which we were treated to some very good music and associated banter, punctuated with plenty of audience participation.  While I could name several items which I particularly enjoyed, the item which sticks in my mind the most, was Mary singing “You’re Going to Miss Me When I’m Gone”.  For this she provided her own accompaniment of a clever syncopated rhythm, produced by simply repeatedly upturning an empty cup on a table.  The effect was quite amazing.

The evening concluded with a mass sing-song of old and familiar Beatle songs ably led by Peter McDonald on the piano with a scratch band of anyone who had a suitable instrument to hand.  These were sung with great gusto, and from the look on everyone’s face, appeared to be enjoyed by all.  This fitted the theme admirably and was a fitting way to finish the evening.  See below for a complete list of who sang what.

The raffle raised a total of £81 for the Leamington Night Shelter.  Many thanks to those who contributed.  Thanks also to the bar staff and committee of the Harbury Club who once again were very helpful and welcoming.  The next meeting of the club would have been and gone by the time you read this, so the one to look forward to will be on Thursday 1st September.

Who Did What

First Half

Pete & Liz: Come, come to Flanders Tommy

Ray and Anne: Come all you no-hopers; Pay me my money down

Rik Middleton: Um pah pah, Um pah pah; We’ll all pull together

Peter and Jess Mason: The Keeper; Slip Jigs and Reels   

Des Patalong: Fire Murengo; Fare thee well, We wish ye well

Mary and Lou: When I am gone You are going to miss me; Galway Cutey       

Second Half

Liz: Rocking a Cradle

Ted and Sue Crum: The Gypsy Song; It was on a Monday Morning

Sue Harris: Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill; Early One Morning

Martin Day: Wind to Turn the Mill; Hole in the Road

Sally (from Avon Dassett): Not too late; Home Again

Peter McDonald: Sing me a Song Mr Bloom; The Boatbuilders

Third Half

Pete: Streets of London

Mary and Lou: Sweet Rose of Allendale

Ted and Sue: This Old Man (re Charles De Gaulle)

Des: If you to See the Colonel

Peter McD et al: Beatles Medley

Pete Bones

“Small but perfectly formed” would be a good way to describe the audience at Folk Club No. 391 on June 1st. Actually, there were over 30 people in the Village Club’s concert room but, because of the space available, it did feel a little sparse. Those that came were treated to a good choice of seats and an evening of fine music – 30 songs or tunes performed by 10 different acts – some soloists, some duos. The theme was ‘June’ or anything that rhymes with ‘June’ and, true to form, we were entertained by a variety of interpretations of the theme.

Apart from the items that really did mention ‘June’, the most popular rhymes were undoubtedly ‘moon’ and ‘soon’ but Robin was pushing his luck when he sang a song by Paul ‘Simoon’! He was on safer ground when he accompanied his daughter Claire singing Mary Chapin Carpenter’s lovely song ‘The Moon and St. Christopher’. Norman excelled himself by writing a new song especially for the evening’s theme – the emotive ‘Gone too soon’ – and he also included the nostalgic ‘Owl and the Pussycat’ (complete with the runcible spoon). Ted generally tries to find a Flanders & Swann song that fits the theme and this time it was ‘A song of the weather’ (“June just rains and spoils the crops, thirty days and never stops”); before that, he and Sue had played some tunes on melodeon and ukulele. Ian & Sue sang Ian Tyson’s ‘Someday Soon’ and followed that with Sue dancing some energetic flat-footing to Ian’s fiddle playing with a tune called ‘June Apple’. Pete Grassby chose a Frank Sinatra song to croon – ‘This was my love’ – and then found the word ‘soon’ in ‘Hard Times of Old England’. Keith sang two of his own songs, ‘Soon I must go away’ and ‘Freemantle Sand’, which may or may not have had the magic rhyming words but we enjoyed singing along with the catchy chorus.

Making only their second appearance at the Club, Campbell & Jan embraced the theme with suitable words hidden in ‘Collier Brig’ and ‘Billie sang the Blues’. I stuck to a lunar theme with ‘Once in a very blue moon’ and ‘The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress’ while Peter Mason sang Sandy Denny’s ‘Rising for the Moon’ and revived the old favourite, ‘Jug of Punch’, which conveniently contains the “month of June”. Someone had to sing ‘Rosebud in June’ and Des duly obliged, preceded by Sydney Carter’s ballad of ‘John Ball’ (who was apprehended in Coventry in June 1381, having played a prominent part in the Peasants’ Revolt). After everyone had performed two numbers in the first and second halves, we had a quick-fire third half when we all sang one more each. Pete G brought the evening to a close with ‘Grey Funnel Line’ (by which time we were tending to abandon the theme) and the audience responded with some fine harmonies.

Despite the smallish audience, the raffle raised an excellent £64 for Cancer Research UK. Next month’s Folk Club, at 8pm on July 6th, will be hosted by Ted and Sue and their theme will be ‘Something beginning with S’. We’re always at Harbury's Village Club on the first Thursday of the month but you shouldn’t come along unless you enjoy free entry to an evening of good quality acoustic music in a relaxed, light-hearted, atmosphere with comfortable seats and a genial MC!

Peter McDonald

The theme for the 390th Folk Club was ‘Names’ and I think that everyone came up with a song that mentioned at least one name.

Ian & Sue opened with ‘Spencer the Rover” and ‘Willie Moore”. Peter Mason followed with ‘John Conlon’ and ‘The Mary Ellen Carter”. Maureen & Janny sang the beautiful ‘Searching for Lambs’, which mentions May, then they excelled themselves by singing ‘Dame Durden’ which contained far too many names to mention here! Rik gave us ‘The Great Valerio’ and ‘Joseph Jones’ and SRS followed with ‘Alberta’ and ‘Georgia’. Debbie recited 2 of her poems entitled ‘Trolled’ and ‘The Coffee Morning’ and Martin closed the first half with ‘Young Henry Martin’ and ‘Isambard Brunel’, a song about the S.S. Great Eastern.

The 2nd half opened with the Choir singing 2 very timely songs, ‘Now is the Month of Maying and ‘The May Song’. Peter McDonald stayed on stage and played 2 tunes on melodeon – ‘When Chloe’ and ‘Ville de Quebec’ – and then sang the very funny ‘Red Corvette’. Norman made a very welcome visit to the club and entertained us with ‘Mr. Bojangles’ and ‘My Family Tree’. Sue & Ted were next with Sue singing ‘John O’Dreams’ and Ted singing all about Marylyn Monroe. Des followed with ‘Joseph Baker’ and an old favourite ‘The Alabama’ which got us all singing. Pete & Liz kept us singing with 2 lovely songs ‘High Germany’ and ‘Flash Company’. Pete Grassby was in fine voice, singing ‘The Trapper and the Trawlermen’ and ‘Kin to You’. Keith closed the evening with ‘Isn’t that the Way to say Goodbye?’ and then a song called ‘Katy’ which was a world premiere performance!

A big thank you to everyone who supported the raffle which raised £99. I am taking part in the Race for Life for the 17th time next month and this amount will be going to Cancer Research.

The theme for next month is ‘June or anything that rhymes with June’ when Peter McDonald will be hosting.

Sue Hartland

Harbury Folk Club’s 389th edition was a packed evening of entertainment from eighteen different acts. The decision to run without a theme can be a double-edged sword as some artists like the challenge of finding specifically-focused material. Not in April. We enjoyed a varied programme of songs, poems and props and lack of a theme seemed no deterrent to anyone’s creativity.

The Harvesters duo kicked off the first half with two self-penned songs: “Dancing With Nancy” and “Middle England”. Janny and Maureen aptly sang of “One April Morning” and followed that with “We’ll Yodel It Over Again”. Rick played his concertina and sang “When The Night Surrenders To The Sun” and the Beatles’ “Long And Winding Road”. Nikki gave her debut performance at the club with the popular “Killing Me Softly”. We’re hoping to hear more songs from her at future events. Peter Mason announced that he was on a career break and sang “Idle Time”, followed by “All Used Up”. Surely not? A welcome return to the club from talented a capella singer Ruth Fortey delighted us with “Rhymes And Reasons” and then took us on a “Bus To Saint Cloud”. We hope she doesn’t leave it too long before returning. The half closed with the effervescent Martin Day who recited the ballad of “Cosmo McGrew, The Fairly Accurate Prospector” and then another hilarious poem about the Battle Of Hastings and Harold, on his horse, with his hand up his hawk, amply demonstrated with the aid of a brightly-coloured parrot puppet. Priceless!

The ever-popular Daft Dames opened the second half in lively style. They sang “After The Goldfish” and “Don’t Play Me Your Concertina” (to a well-known tune from “Evita”). The trio S.R.S. followed with an upbeat “Jamabalaya’ and a song called (I think) “For The Sake Of Somebody”. Pete and Liz engaged us with Ralph McTell’s “Weather The Storm” and the plaintive “We Never Mention Aunt Clara”, a relative who made more of her life than perhaps might have been deemed conventional. Grandfather and granddaughter duo Lou and Mary charmed us with their two songs: “You’re Falling Way Behind” and “Whose Garden Was This?”. Peter McDonald debuted a new song, “England Green and England Grey” by Reg Meuross, and followed that with the chirpy “Cigarette Packet Song”.  John Zetterstrom took to the floor with his lively “Bad Health Song” and coupled it with an original version of the venerable “Greensleeves”. The second half was brought to a harmonious conclusion by two songs from newcomers to the club, Jan and Campbell. They deftly joined “The Grey Funnel Line” with “A Sailor’s Life” into a single, engaging composite. The inviting chorus of “The Golden Vanity” completed their set and got the audience fully involved in the accompaniment.

With yet more artists to shoehorn into the evening, and no opportunity for any earlier performers to offer an additional number, the third half kicked off with Des singing Tom Lewis’s timeless “A Sailor’s Prayer” and then he was “Rolling Back The Welfare State’. John Hill made his welcome return to the club with “Lisa, Lisa” and completed his offering with “On The Border”. Ray gave us “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “Four Strong Winds”. To close the evening in fine musical style, Graham and Tina, otherwise known as Morris Oxford, sang of “A Brisk Young Butcher” and finished with the teasingly humorous “Nine Times A Night”.

The chosen charity was Cancer Research, for which Sue and I are both competing in the Great Birmingham 10K on April 30th. We raised a magnificent £89.00 on the night. Many thanks to everyone who so generously contributed, both in money and also in song.

The next Harbury Folk Club will be on Thursday 4th May, run by Sue who has chosen “Names” as the theme. Get there early if you want a great evening of music and entertainment. We’re in the Village Club and we start promptly at 8:00pm.

Ian Hartland

With it only being the second day of “meteorological” spring, I felt it appropriate to have the theme for the Folk Club meeting on March 2nd as simply “Spring”.

There were not quite so many performers as some recent months which made programming the evening much more relaxed.  This, combined with a good selection of songs, delivered by talented performers, resulted in another pleasant and enjoyable evening.  Most of the items delivered had some connection with the season of spring, but there were others that included spring as in well, spring as in suspension systems, or spring as in jump.

Spring being the time of year when we start thinking about day trips inspired the Daft Dames to perform the song “Away Day” which they presented at the recent folk concert in the village hall.  This is a hilarious parody of the Latin song “Gaudette” and for this they dressed up very convincingly as nuns and sang in beautiful harmonies.  To me this was one of the highlights of the evening.  Another highlight was the singing of “Kenny the Kangaroo” by Peter McDonald.  This is a lovely Ralph McTell song and refers to the springing of the kangaroo as he “boings around all over Australia”.

With there being only 12 acts to fit in, it was possible to have a third half during which we had a bonus song from eight of those who had previously performed.  Liz and I finished with the song Celtic Blessing and, being at the front listening to the rich wall of sound coming from the audience, provided a delightful conclusion to what had been another great folk club.  See below for a complete list of who sang what.

The raffle raised a total of £87.00, for the Salvation Army.  Many thanks to those who contributed.  Thanks also to the bar staff and committee of the Harbury Club who once again were very helpful and welcoming. 

The next meeting of the club will be on April 6th, will be hosted by Ian Hartland, and there is to be no theme.

Who Did What

First Half

Pete & Liz : Road to Drumleman, Unseen Highway

Rik Middleton: Old Wild Goose, Skylark

SRS: Here comes the Sun, Island of Dreams

Ted and Sue: Lord Franklin, Transport of Delight

Janny and Maureen: Sweet Nightingale, Almost Every Circumstance

Pete Grassby: Lovely Molly, I’m leaving the Marwin

Second Half

Daft Dames: Away Day

Martin Day: Nobody knows you (when you’re down and out), What a Mouth!

Ian and Sue H: Hard Times, Train on the Island

Keith Donnelly: Seasons flow like the tide, Story about Annie Black

Des: Winter turns to Spring, Rosebud in June

Peter McDonald: Forest Lawn, Where Ravens Feed

Third Half

Martin: ????

Des: What shall we do with the Drunken Sailor

Ted: Nancy does the Polka

Ian and Sue: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Peter Grassby: Cotswold Town

Peter McDonald: Kenny the Kangaroo

Keith Donnelly: ????

Pete and Liz: Celtic Blessing

Peter Bones

The theme for Folk Club No. 287 was “The last two songs you would choose to sing ….. ever.” Steve opened the evening by clarifying the theme as it could have been misinterpreted. With the number of iconic musicians who passed away in 2016, the idea was to have a theme based upon the last two songs you would sing on your death bed or the two songs you would sing at your own funeral but, as they sounded a little macabre, the theme needed to be toned down.

Maureen and Janny stepped up first to perform “Horncastle Fair, a song from their all-time favourite singers, The Threllfalls. Sue and Ted then accompanied them on percussion and bass as they sang the comical “The hot water bottle cover”. Des followed with a self-penned Neo Liberalist anthem called “Rolling back the welfare state” and we then all joined in with “Babylon has fallen”. Pete and Liz chose a new favourite, “Kings Navy”, which told a Jack Tar story about the Navy not being as glamorous as it’s made out, particularly when you have your legs blown off by a cannon ball. They then sang an old favourite that bought back memories of the last 35 years from when Liz was pregnant with Daniel, “Little Man”. Pete Mason chose songs that invoked memories and influenced his singing and so he performed Ralph McTell’s “The Setting” and Steve Tilston’s “Slip Jigs and Reels”. John Hill from Kineton made his debut at the Folk Club and sang two Leonard Cohen songs, “My Secret Life”, followed by “Dance me to the end of time”; both were well sang. Ray was on his own as he sang “Grey Cock” and “Butcher Boy”, a depressing song of a girl spurned in love who ends up hanging herself. Sue and Ted closed the first half with firstly a song written by Sue’s friend called “Kill me a dragon” and then, in keeping with the theme, Ted just had to do a Flanders and Swan song, “The Slow Train”.

Sally and Robin opened the second half and they told us of Sally’s three children’s brilliant weddings where at the last one they sang “Lean On Me”. They followed this with the first song they ever performed at Warwick Folk Club, Keith Hancock’s “Absent Friends”. Peter McDonald performed a song from his favourite songwriter Paul Metsers, “Farewell to the Gold”, and then the very poignant Dougie MacLean number, “Talking with my Father”, a song many in the audience could identify with. Sue Harris accompanied by Robin sang “Rosemary’s Sister” and then told us how she sings a song to all the new children born into the family, “Welcome to the World”. Ian and Sue chose two random songs, one by Iris Dement, “Let the Mystery Be”, and the second by Rick Nelson called “Garden Party”, as it’s all right now. Martin surprised us when he told us his first song, about following in dad’s footsteps when first starting work, “Dead men’s boots”, was written by Sting and then sang, “Absent Friends”. The half closed with the rich sounds of the ever-improving Rumble-o performing Green Day’s “Time of your life” and ended with John Tams’ familiar, “Over the Hills and Far Away”.

The third half saw Keith Donnelly in fine tune as he sang, “Jesus at the Airport” and then the very sad song which was inspired by the killing of a Swan in Leamington by yobs, “Swan Song”. Next, Pete Grassby played a tune on his melodeon that had taken 4 years of practising such is its complexity, “Sir Sidney Smith’s March” and then sang a true tale which he wrote himself, “The ballad of Orca the Cat”. Des closed what had been a full evening’s excellent entertainment with “Windmill in Old Amsterdam”; as we all joined in with the chorus, we all thought we saw a mouse with clogs on running across the floor.

The raffle raised a very generous £95 for the Warwickshire Air Ambulance Service and next month’s Folk Club will be hosted by Pete and Liz Bones when the theme will be “Spring”.

Steve & Maureen Darby

There were 18 performances and a packed audience at the 374th Harbury Folk Club. The theme was ‘All Things Scottish’ and Ian & Sue opened with “Bonny Ship the Diamond" and “The Thistle and the Rose”. Maureen & Janny sang “The Curse of Scotland” and “Twelve and a Tanner a Bottle”. Ray & Anne performed “A Parcel of Rogues and “Mingulay Boat Song” and then Peter Mason sang “Across the Hills of Home” and “The Island”. He played his Christmas present, an eight-string guitar. Rik followed with “Farewell to Tarwathie” and “The Balina” then Morris Oxford performed “The Unfortunate Rake” and “Enrico”. The first half concluded with a real treat and a first for Harbury Folk Club; Lucy played “Pachelbel’s Canon” and “the theme from Swan Lake” on her concert harp. We all loved it so much that we insisted on an encore so she played “When the Bagpipes Play”.

The Choir opened the second half with the two carols they sang at the Christmas Eve service – “Awake Ye Drowsy Mortals” and “Mary did you Know?”. Ted & Sue followed with “Lizzie Lindsey” and two French tunes “Raoul the Rat” and a polka. Mick sang “The Shearing’s not for You” and then invited musicians to join him for some Jigs and Reels. To follow we had another newcomer, Richard, who had just moved from Market Harborough to Coventry; he sang “Black is the Colour” and “The Water is Wide”. Then came Rumble-O with “You talk of New England” and “The Ancient Poaching Song”. The Daft Dames continued with a song for Burns Night – sounded familiar to me! Then Peter McDonald closed the second half with “Feel So Near” and “Caledonia”.

The Third Half opened with another new guest to the club – this time it was Richard’s son Jordan. He sang “Ae Fond Kiss” and played a guitar instrumental, “Sleeping Tune”. Sue Harris followed with “O Can Ye Sew Cushions” and “John Anderson my Jo”. Des continued with “Gomez the Dog” and “Deep Blue Sea” and Keith closed the evening with “Dainty Doon Bye” and “My Sister & Laura & Me”

The Raffle raised a magnificent £84 which I added to our Myton Hospice Santa Run Sponsor Money. Many thanks.

Also thank you to all the performers and to a wonderful audience for a fantastic evening. We’ll do it all again next month when the theme will be “Love” hosted by Doug & Janny.

Sue Hartland