Live review: Woody Guthrie Folk Club @ The Ship & Mitre
Thursday 29th December 2011
Visiting the Woody Guthrie Folk Club for the first time was like going back to my musical roots. It was many years ago in the upstairs room at the Ship & Mitre on Dale Street that I first discovered folk music when I stumbled across the Liverpool Singaround Folk Club. After just one visit I was hooked, and I ended up attending every week to play my songs, and enjoy the singing, the company and the real ale. It was here that Folk North West magazine introduced me to other folk clubs across the region which, in turn, lead to me getting bookings on the folk club circuit, joining the Shellback Chorus, and playing festivals across the UK. Happy days!
The Liverpool Singaround Folk Club closed in 2002, so I was delighted when I heard that Alun Parry had decided to hold his new Woody Guthrie Folk Club upstairs at the Ship & Mitre. Despite the event’s reputation and popularity (the ticket-only nights are regularly sold out), the nostalgic venue (for me, at least), and the fact it’s been running for nearly two years, I’d never been able to get along to one of the nights before, so I was really glad when the opportunity to attend was unexpectedly presented to me at the end of December 2011.
Alun Parry opened the first half of the night with a solo song he wrote about the time his Dad, the hero, stood up for the rights of passengers on a train from Barcelona in 1962. This was followed by Greedy Fingers, which was commissioned by Bolton UNISON for the N30 strikes and puts into song the frustrations felt by the average worker made to pay for the mistakes of the banks, big business and government. Linus then joined Al on banjo, along with Gabi and Peter from The Good Intentions, for a rendition of Midnight Special. This traditional song, about a man who ends up in prison and feels badly done by, was made famous after Lead Belly first recorded it in 1934.
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| Linus, Alun, Gabi & Peter (photo © Sharon Latham) |
The folk club is named after legendary singer-songwriter and folk musician Woody Guthrie. It’s no surprise then that it promotes ‘songs of humour, struggle, life and justice’, all four of which were encapsulated by the first three songs of the night.
The rest of the first half featured members of the club who’d asked to sing. First up was a young lady whose name I missed (sorry!) who played a ukulele and sang one song. This, it turns out, was the first time she’d ever performed in public, and she couldn’t have found a more friendly and supportive bunch of people to do it in front of. Fred was up next and sang two songs unaccompanied. The self-penned Peace On Earth, Goodwill To Men was as good as any traditional folk song you’ll hear, and the tale of the cockerel put on trial for ‘having his way’ with Nancy Hogan’s Goose was fun.
Wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition from this time of year that sees groups of people travelling around the village from house to house or orchard to orchard, singing songs, and drinking to ward away evil spirits and promote a good harvest for the next year. Why am I telling you this? Because three members of a group called Greenblade sang two unaccompanied Wassailing songs, one from the home of cider, Somerset.
Richard was up next with two unaccompanied songs, one originally from the Fens area of Norfolk, and one ‘collected’ (a folky term for when someone first writes down a traditional song that they’ve heard someone singing) in Wirral in 1920. Finishing the first half was young Nick on guitar, who ably accompanied Alun on Al’s own You Are My Addiction, and Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin’.
The break provided a welcome opportunity to stir wide-eyed at the massive board downstairs showing all the different ales and beers on sale from around the world. I opted for a rather nice cherry stout, which sounded like it aught to be a Christmassy drink. Back upstairs we were offered a selection of cakes, the excuse being that it was Christmas. I don’t know who make the bara brith, but it was spot on and went perfectly with the stout!
The second half kicked off with Al and Gabi singing Merry Christmas Everyone. They are normally joined by Vinny and perform as Rich Man’s Ruin, but poor Vinny was too ill and unfortunately missed a golden opportunity to take part in this Shakin’ Stevens masterpiece. There’s always next year, Vinny!
Next was a powerful song called ‘Esperanza’ – Spanish for ‘hope’. It was written by Al and Gabi via text message and was based on a news story that the BBC broke in October 2011. In Spain over a period of 40-50 years, up to the 1990s, doctors, nurses and Catholic nuns stole babies from the enemies of the Fascist state or those judged to be ‘morally deficient’, and sold them to Franco’s supporters, then latterly childless Catholic families. This is a real-life song about real injustice – Woody would be proud!
Al and Gabi finished their set with Guthrie’s Bury Me Under The Willow Tree, and the Chumbawamba song El Fusilado (The Executed One) about the Mexican revolutionary who survived being ‘executed’ by firing squad.
Then we were back to our singers from the audience, and John, suitably donned in a Christmas cardigan, sang unaccompanied versions of The Holy And The Ivy, and the Corpus Christi Carol. He was followed by two thirds of the award-winning The Good Intentions, as Gabi and Peter treated us to Black Train, and Jon Byrd’s wonderful original song Silent Night.
Kath and Emma sang the traditional song The Wind And Rain followed by a quaint song about a talking frog! Emma on guitar with Josh on acoustic bass performed the traditional The Blackleg Miner, and The Rose Of York, as sung by Roy Bailey. The last of the floor singers was Linus who, to my utter shame, I missed when I popped downstairs for another pint and bumped into someone I knew. However, I was back in time to see Alun round off the night singing When I’m Cleaning Windows on his banjolele, and the two traditional closers – Oh Mr Cameron (words by Al’s mum Norma), and Woody Guthrie’s Union Maid. The perfect end to an interesting, varied, and highly enjoyable night.
The general perception of folk music is that it’s not current and that only older people enjoy it. The Woody Guthrie Folk Club well and truly blasts that myth to smithereens by combining traditional (there’s little more traditional than a Wassailing song) with modern (you can’t get more contemporary than a song about the November 30th strikes), and performers old and young. I’m not going to fall into the trap of saying which of the performers are in the former category, but I’ll gladly point out Linus, the girl with the ukulele, Richard, Nick, Emma and Josh as being closer to the teenage end of the age spectrum. And this can only be encouraging for the future of folk music.
The Woody Guthrie Folk Club normally takes place on the last Thursday of the month. Due to the high demand for places, everyone attending has to buy a ticket in advance, although at only £3 it’s hardly going to break the bank. The good news is that if you turn up and perform on the night you get your money back!
Full details can be found on the club’s website at woodyfolk.co.ukPlease note that this month’s Woody Guthrie Folk Club is taking place a week earlier, on Thursday 19th January. At the time of writing there were only 13 tickets left. You can buy yours at wegottickets.com/event/150157
© 2012 Graham HollanLiverpool Acoustic – liverpoolacoustic.co.uk
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