Bedford Folk Club Report – from the (late) Clubmeister. It’s always pleasing when things work out better than expected. Having sent my apologies due to a meeting, it ended early enough for me to do both, so I high-tailed it off to Daley’s, and only arrived 20 minutes late. Actually, I wasn’t late at all, since while the cat was away, the mice had just been sitting around gassing. Lord knows when they would have started if I hadn’t turned up. Anyway, back in the snug tranquillity of the Sports Megadrome in the corner of the bar, I had just got the ball rolling – when who should turn up but Mel and Zoe, a particular pleasure since he had also stated he wasn’t joining us this week. It was a delight to see them, and everyone else, and proof positive if it’s needed of the gravitational pull of the BFC. For the first time I can remember, one of our performers this week asked me NOT to report on one of the songs they did – so I won’t even say who it was for fear of giving the game away. Don’t fret, dear Reader, all will become clear, just not yet. The song count was fairly low this week at only 20, but we were all pretty relaxed, so didn’t try to rush things through. Somehow, my share was 4 songs, beginning with the inevitable Paxton, stepping up a gear to a couple of McTells and then stepping up a key (for which I incurred a fine as well as a befuddled brain) to a Noel Coward. This last song “Bad times are just around the corner” was all Bubbles’ fault since it echoes a song she sang “Pack up your troubles”, as part of her growing WW1 suite. She also gave us “Keep the home fires burning” (British Gas please take note) and “Long way to Tipperary” – another of those songs that has a totally unrecognisable verse and a well-known chorus. As I discovered when invited to play along, it also has a good many more chords than Bubbles was willing to admit to! Karl followed Bubbles’ wartime theme with a beautiful performance of “Love’s farewell”, closely followed by a Jonathan Swift tale of a hanged highwayman called Tom Clinch. Of course, Charlie had to go and spoil it all by saying that the likes of Judge Jeffries had an unwarranted reputation, since most of those sentenced to hang were actually reprieved. Charlie had the leading contender for Title of the Year so far, with ”The doleful dance & song of death” – quite a mouthful, as I’m sure you’ll agree, but a remarkably cheerful and lively song for all that. “The water lily” was rather more bleak and deep, whilst at the opposite end of the poetic spectrum, Charlie treated us to his “Duck with piles” ditty, for which even he could not supply a title. All very nicely done. Mel sang an all-time favourite of mine “Love at the 5 and dime”. In Open G I believe – musically, a foreign country to me – it’s a great listen. As was his first offering, a James Taylor classic “Sunny Skies”, which by contrast appeared to have only 2½ chords, which even Mel admitted were pretty much interchangeable. It was really good to see Zoe again, and since she was fluteless, she exercised her beautiful vocals for us on “Blue cockade” and “Wild mountain thyme”. References to summer went down very well, as you can imagine, and singing was rife in the chorus. Being the only one even to acknowledge St David’s Day, I have to single out one of Roy’s songs from a fine clutch – a superb parody on “Wales, Wales”, which alluded to the climate across Offa’s Dyke. It had the classic chorus line “Hail, Hail – if it’s white and it bounces, it’s Hail.” That man’s irreverence knows no bounds, thank goodness! A very pleasant evening in fine company – must try to engineer more short meetings, to do it all again next week.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 13:36:00 +0000
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