Thursday, December 09, 2010

Beatles - A Day In The Life - Bungalow Bill at HFC

Last time I made it to Havering Folk Club I played two Beatles songs, "A Day In The Life" and "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"

A Day In The Life - Beatles




Bungalow Bill - Beatles





Then there was time for one more after the break so I sang one of my own songs, The Wreckers Prayer.

The Wreckers Prayer


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Camborne Hill : Ca Sert A Quoi?

Wednesday 17th November, an ordinary singers' night at Havering folk club but they did have some special Cornish beer on tap which meant I had to sing in French. So here's "Ca Sert A Quoi?" written by Maxime le Forestier:



It was late in the evening, almost the end in fact, and then my guitar strap broke. So I put it away and sang unaccompannied or acapella as it's sometimes known. "Going up Camborne Hill Coming Down" is a good old Cornish sing song staple, more often heard in rugby clubs, late night drinking sessions or ex-pat reunions than at folk clubs but it does have a serious side, commemorating the historic first ever steam engine ride on Christmas Eve 1801 by Richard Trevithick, the Cornish engineer. I don;t get all the words exactly right, but the beauty of this is how quickly people who've never heard the song before can pick it up and join in.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Crownstreet at HFC & How Does it Feel

I didn't make it to Havering Folk Club last night, we sneezed a lot and didn't feel up to it, but the week before ( Wednesday 3rd November) was a good one with Crown Street as the guests. I'd link to their own site if I could find it. Have you ever heard a folk saxaphone section? Lots of other instrumentalists as well, and a fine old Martin guitar.

I wanted to play my newly learned version of Roy Harper's "How Does it Feel" so my guitar was open tuned down to C, and it's a long enough song anyway to just do the one.



* Found Crownstreet now.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Acoustic Guitar Podcasts: Episode #19

Episode #19 in Andy Roberts series of acoustic guitar podcasts was recorded on Tuesday 9th November 2011 and published today on the 10th.

Inspired by friends’ lists of 15 songwriters tagged and copied in Facebook, I played songs by Neil Diamond, Steve Tilston, Andy Roberts, Loudon Wainwright and a bonus track Roy Harper song at the start of which there’s an unfortunate inbound telephone ringtone but I didn’t let that faze me at all, oh no. If you do happen to be listening on an iphone or in a house then the effect could be unpredictable.

Here’s the stuff:

 Standard Podcast [00:30:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Subscribe to the podcast RSS or get it from iTunes

Download MP3 to save – 29.2 Mb in size, playtime 30 minutes 20 seconds :-

19 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 19.mp3

Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 19 Show Notes

  1. “I’m a Believer” – by Neil Diamond
  2. “One Man Band” – Music and lyrics by Steve Tilston
  3. The Rowan Tree” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts

  • “Samson and the Warden” – Music and lyrics by Loudon Wainwright
  • Migration” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts
  • “I’ll See You Again” – Music and lyrics by Roy Harper
  • acoustic guitar podcasts

    acoustic guitar podcasts

    Friday, November 05, 2010

    How Does It Feel? Podcasting

    I announced a new series of podcasts back in the summer and I've published 18 episodes so far.  The original idea was just to provide another distribution method for the live house concert that I broadcast weekly for the past year or so. So it's just me and my guitar, not much chat or conversation, and I try to feature my own compositions as a matter of course, with the covers creeping in as and when I feel like it.

    But this week I actually went and learned a Roy Harper song that is new to my repertoire - the classic  "How does it Feel?"  And then I went and performed it live at the Havering Folk Club at somebody else's guest night, with some good reactions, but not necessarily from the usual suspects.

    So I thought I'd do a post here on Stormcock.net, an exercise in listing each of the individual podcasts where I've included a Roy Harper cover.

    The Andy Roberts Podcast is hosted at http://andyroberts.me and can also be accessed from iTtunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-roberts/id378470885

     

    So starting with the last first,

    Episode 18   Track 4 - How Does it  Feel?  download

    Episode 15   Track 1 - Don't You Grieve  download

    Episode 12  Track 1 - IF  &  Track 4 - The Same Old Rock download

    Episode 3  Track 7 - When An Old Cricketer download

    Episode 1 Track 3 - I'll See You Again download

     

     

     

    Wednesday, November 03, 2010

    Andy Roberts Podcast #18

    On this week’s podcast which is episode number 18 we have mostly Any Roberts own compositions and one classic Roy Harper song which hasn’t been covered here before at all, or by Andy Roberts ever, in fact.

    Here’s the stuff:

     Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    Subscribe to the podcast RSS or get it from iTunes

    Download MP3 to save – 26.6 Mb in size, playtime 29 minutes 05 seconds :-

    18 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 18.mp3

    Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 18 Show Notes

    1. “The Nutmeg Tree” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts, from Album 1
    2. “The Show Carries On” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts, from The Andy Roberts Tapes
    3. “Joan of Arc” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts from The Andy Roberts Tapes
    4. “How Does it Feel” – Music and lyrics by Roy Harper
    5. “Change Is” – Music and lyrics by Andy Roberts from The Last Nail

    Some youTube Videos of the same songs

    The Nutmeg Tree

    The Show Carries On

    Joan of Arc

    How Does it Feel

    Change Is

    Sunday, October 03, 2010

    Live at Havering Folk Club

    Mostly I’ve been documenting which songs I’ve played at Havering Folk Club on which dates over on the Andy Roberts Music blog on blogspot but I decided a short while ago that I’d start putting those posts here instead, I just haven’t stuck to it very well! The idea was that by tagging posts with song titles, I’d be able to look up very easily and keep track of which songs I’m playing mor often than others, and help me seek out those elusive numbers that I’ve forgotten about for long enough that they suddenly seem fresh and new all over again.  But the tagging system never works out quite as tidily as you might imagine, and the dates become a bit blurry as the habit of reporting promptly wears off.

    So one date that was remarkable was the date when the Australian duo Cloudstreet came to the Golden Lion to do a long awaited guest spot for Havering Folk Club. Wednesday 15th September. They didn’t disappoint, it was one of the most enjoyable evenings we’ve had there over the years, and I even managed to track down their own blog afterwards so I can keep up with where they are touring, ready for next time they are in the local area.

    cloudstreet - New Australian folk music

    cloudstreet

    As one of only a small number of floor spot artists I had the chance to play two songs, and these were:

    Joan of Arc

    Sometimes this happens, and my voice hadn’t warmed up in time for the first song, so I’ve trashed the video and instead here is the song as performed for podcast episode 10. I think I’ll leave this one for a while now.

    Followed by The Cajun Cooking Cajun Music song.

    There’s a nice bright image on that video, thanks to Linda innovating with the video settings on her relatively new stills camera.

    Thursday, September 30, 2010

    Podcast #13 : 3 Andy Roberts Songs

    Episode #13 brings three Andy Roberts compositions, two of which are longer than average songs. The first is the almost completed song which has undergone some serious birthing difficulties, but I hope you will think it’s been worth it eventually…  “Change Is” began life as two separate songs appearing ten weeks ago in Podcast #3 provisionally entitled “Trevellas” and “Summerhouse”. So that’s just one track now, coming in at still only about seven minutes long, which is a lot shorter than fourteen verses of The Lincolnshire Poacher. A fair comparison, I’m sure you would agree.

    The second song is a rare live rendition of “Gernika” which I’ve written about elsewhere, and is the title track to my album of songs all written during one week in Spain.

    Then I attempt to lighten up with a little ditty from 2009, Yellow Boat.

    Here’s the web player, download link, tracklist and show notes for Podcast Episode 13:

     Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    Subscribe to the podcast RSS feed using the url:

    http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast

    Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-roberts/id378470885

    You can also download the MP3 audio file which is 20.9Mb in size and 22 minutes 15 seconds in duration from this link

    13 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 13.mp3

    Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 13 Show Notes

    Show notes and information for Podcast Episode 13 broadcast on September 28th, published on September 30th 2010.

    1) Change Is

    Words and Music by Andy Roberts, from the album “The Last Nail

    2) Gernika

    Words and Music by Andy Roberts, from the album “Gernika

    2) Yellow Boat

    Words and Music by Andy Roberts, from the album “The Last Nail

    The Tree of Gernika in 2003

    Friday, September 17, 2010

    BBC Four launches month-long celebration of the singer-songwriter

    Something worth watching on the TV at last.

    BBC Four today announces an exciting month-long celebration of the singer-songwriter, led by a new series of specially commissioned concerts titled Songwriters’ Circle.

    The celebration, which starts on Friday 1 October, presents an insightful and varied array of programming and features some of the world’s best pop and rock singer-songwriters, including Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, Chris Difford, Elton John and Cat Stevens amongst many others.

    The channel celebration also includes, Singer-Songwriters At The BBC, alongside classic BBC In Concert shows and recent concert acquisitions such as James Taylor & Carole King at The Troubadour.

    Richard Klein, Controller, BBC Four, says: "BBC Four is the home of contemporary music and to have some of the best singer-songwriters playing for us in specially created concerts is a real delight"

    In the new series, Songwriters’ Circle, the singer-songwriters perform their classic songs in turn, while helping each other out musically with harmonies and the odd guitar part. The four shows are filmed live in a small London concert venue, with the artists only meeting an hour or two before going onstage. In between performances, the artists take the viewer inside their work, chatting about their songs, their history and background.

    Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega and Loudon Wainwright kick off the series, swapping songs at West London’s Bush Hall, including signature tunes like Thompson’s "Vincent Black Lightning", Vega’s "Luka" and Wainwright’s "The Swimming Song".

    Thompson helps out with acoustic guitar fills throughout and Wainwright and Vega duet on a ’countrified’ song on the impact of the recession on failing marriages and couples who can’t afford to divorce, in "House".

    Loudon Wainwright and Richard Thompson together in concert.

    Saturday, August 21, 2010

    New Videos from Andy Roberts music 21 August 2010

    New Videos from Andy Roberts music 21 August 2010

    Posting a selection of new videos that have been published on the youTube channel in the last week or so. two of them are from Havering Folk Club taken with the canon camera and the others are edited out from the Ustream recording which is taken directly from the built in webcam.



    * The Last Nail - Andy Roberts boat building folk song
    * Wrecked Again - Michael Chapman cover Andy Roberts hfc
    * You Can't Say "NO" to that Woman
    * Deep River Blues + Nobody Know You When You're Down And Out
    * You Can Count On Me | Andy Roberts
    * Doing it all alone
    * Hesitation Blues - Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 6

    Three of the songs are Andy Roberts original songs and the rest are covers or traditional


    Andy Roberts Weekly podcast at http://andyroberts.me

    Sunday, August 08, 2010

    Beginning August Havering and Romford Folk Club

    Let's see now where are we.... The last entry here was for HFC on 21st July and since then I've done two podcasts, episode 4 the Loudon Wainwright Special and episode 5 on Folk Music, missed a week at Havering when I was still in central London due to a trackside fire at Romford, and last week made a first appearance at Romford Folk Club on the Tuesday, right after the podcast, which is not to be confused with Havering folk club which is also in Romford.

    Both folk club events were member's special nights which I didn't want to miss.

    Romford Folk Club


    Clive and Linda aka Ploughman's Lunch guested at Romford Folk Club which is held every Tuesday downstairs at the Sun pub, not all that far from the Golden Lion really.

    THE SUN
    Address: 47 London Road
    Romford Essex
    RM7 9QA

    Since Clive and Linda sing mostly traditional agricultural folk songs I played one of my own that's kind of in that style, The Rowan Tree

    So it was the first time I'd ever been to that venue, due to Tuesday's not being a good night fr us usually, but it was interesting that we managed to get there after the podcast show finished at home around 7.30 and arrive in Romford and find the place still in plenty of time before the evening kicked off.

    Havering Folk Club


    Wednesday 3rd of August was a special members night for Phil Duffield which gave him a chance to show a wider repertoire than we normally hear from him. There was a new song Phil has written as a proposed new national anthem for Wales, which is a fine ambition to have, and the song certainly has a lot of potential become something like that with the right sort of take up.

    I played a song of my own which Phil has asked me to make sure I do a bit more often so this was the perfect opportunity, the song is called "The Dream is Over" and here's the video taken with Linda's new camera:

    Tuesday, July 27, 2010

    Havering Folk Club July 21st 2010

    Havering Folk Club July 21st 2010

    I went along to Havering Folk Club last Wednesday after a week away on holiday and tried to do a vesrion of one of the new songs I haven't finished yet. I know It didn't work out very well, partly because I don't have the lyrics memorised yet and I tried reading from a crib sheet on the music stand, which has never worked out for me in past and probably never will. I can sing and play at the same time, sometimes I can sing, play and read at the same time, but not it seems in front of an audience, standing up and without reading glasses. So I've uploaded the podcast versions of the unfinished songs to youTube instead. The one called "Untitled 1" in the episode 3 shownotes is provisionally called "Trevellas" now, and unfinished 2 is called "Summerhouse" but I also have a plan for combining the two songs into one single work that would be longer and more complex. We'll have to see.



    Sitting On The Bank

    To recompose my composure, finding myself with a capo on fret 4 I decided on the spur of the moment to sing "Sitting on the Bank" which is a simple song I wrote when I was about 15 or 16 and thinking about leaving home soon. While uploading I noticed that the melody is developing slightly even now, I'm not sure it's correct to call it a revival though, as it's never really been out of the repertoire.

    The Mighty Quinn

    After the break and with the list of floor singers completed there was a little time left and Pep kindly asked me to do another, so after 3 pints I decided to do a singalong that everybody knows though it turned out not everybody at Havering Folk Club knows that the Mighty Quinn was a Bob Dylan song. The Manfred Mann cover version was better known in the UK in 1960s and afterwards.

    Thursday, July 08, 2010

    Quake and Tremble

    It was Dave and Linda Worley's members' night at Havering Folk Club last night, Wednesday 7th July and despite the football on TV, a good crowd turned out.

    I took along my six string guitar and played a couple of songs to start off the second half, after the break. Linda's camera battery failed again so I don't have any fresh video capture of that particular performance but I can post alternative versions from my ever growing collection on youTube in order to maintain the record of which songs were performed when.

    Yellow Boat




    If I had a Yellow Boat I'd sail it to St Martin's
    Moor it off the white sand bay
    Bobbing in the turquoise sea


    Wonderwall


    Wonderwall is a very famous song from Mancheser band Oasis, in the 1990s

    Tuesday, July 06, 2010

    Two Roy Harper Covers

    I seem to have had a bit of a Roy Harper fest recently and did two of his songs last week:

    Highway Blues - by Roy Harper




    Evening Star - Roy Harper




    It was a quietish week and I had time for one of my own as well:

    Swimming Pool ( or "Searching for Venus")


    Thursday, July 01, 2010

    Big Eyed Beans From Venus - Captain Beefheart

    Distant cousins, there's a limited supply.
    And we're down to the dozens, and this is why:
    Big Eyed Beans from Venus! Oh my, oh my.
    Boys and girls,
    Earth people around the circle,
    Mixtures of man alive.
    Big eyed beans from Venus,
    Don't let anything get in between us.
    Beam in on me baby,
    and we'll beam together
    I know we always been together,
    but there's more.
    Mister Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note,
    and let it float.
    Men let your wallets flop out,
    and women open your purses,
    Cause a man or a woman without a big eyed bean from Venus
    Is suffering with the worstest of curses
    Yeah, you're suffering, with the worstest of curses.
    Put 'em out in the sun, and when the night come
    You don't have to go out and get 'em
    They'll glow with you
    They'll go with you
    They'll show with you
    Ain't no losers
    Cause they're on the right track
    Cause they're on the right track
    You can be on the right track, woman,
    Of course, of course
    Ain't no SNAFU, no fol-de-rol
    Check these out, Big eyed beans from Venus
    Oh, let a few out, let 'em pass in between us
    Distant cousins, there's a limited supply.
    And we're down to the dozens, and this is why...
    Don't let anything get in between us!
    Big eyed beans from Venus
    Big eyed beans from Venus.

    Isis - Bob Dylan Desire Album with Jaques Levy

    I married Isis on the fifth day of May
    But I could not hold on to her very long
    So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
    For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong

    I came to a high place of darkness and light
    The dividing line ran through the center of town
    I hitched up my pony to a post on the right
    Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down

    A man in the corner approached me for a match
    I knew right away he was not ordinary
    He said, “Are you lookin’ for somethin’ easy to catch?”
    I said, “I got no money.” He said, “That ain’t necessary”

    We set out that night for the cold in the North
    I gave him my blanket, he gave me his word
    I said, “Where are we goin’?” He said we’d be back by the fourth
    I said, “That’s the best news that I’ve ever heard”

    I was thinkin’ about turquoise, I was thinkin’ about gold
    I was thinkin’ about diamonds and the world’s biggest necklace
    As we rode through the canyons, through the devilish cold
    I was thinkin’ about Isis, how she thought I was so reckless

    How she told me that one day we would meet up again
    And things would be different the next time we wed
    If I only could hang on and just be her friend
    I still can’t remember all the best things she said

    We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice
    He said, “There’s a body I’m tryin’ to find
    If I carry it out it’ll bring a good price”
    ’Twas then that I knew what he had on his mind

    The wind it was howlin’ and the snow was outrageous
    We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn
    When he died I was hopin’ that it wasn’t contagious
    But I made up my mind that I had to go on

    I broke into the tomb, but the casket was empty
    There was no jewels, no nothin’, I felt I’d been had
    When I saw that my partner was just bein’ friendly
    When I took up his offer I must-a been mad

    I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
    Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover
    I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied
    Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her

    She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise
    Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed
    I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes
    I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead

    She said, “Where ya been?” I said, “No place special”
    She said, “You look different.” I said, “Well, I guess”
    She said, “You been gone.” I said, “That’s only natural”
    She said, “You gonna stay?” I said, “If you want me to, yes!”

    Isis, oh, Isis, you mystical child
    What drives me to you is what drives me insane
    I still can remember the way that you smiled
    On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin’ rain

    Tuesday, June 29, 2010

    Two Revived Songs at HFC

    I've picked out two songs from my old back catalogue of songs from an earlier era and relearned them, adapted slightly for my current style. Then I played them both for the podcast prototype 3  and then the next day at Havering Folk Club ( HFC ).

    Unfortunately these songs don't really go together back to back very well, being both in the same key and also having some of the same words in each's title so I sandwiched something else in between each time.

    The War is Over




    Yesterday




    The Dream Is Over





    Future Music Blogs


    In the future most of these little blogs recording which songs I played where are going to be posted over at the new site I've set up for the podcasting, andyroberts.me

    Wednesday, June 23, 2010

    The Same Old Rock

    last week I took my 12 string guitar along to Havering Folk Club and at the last minute decided to play a version of Roy Harper's The Same Old Rock, just because I felt like it. Tis my favourite song after all. Not my best rendition ever, but I enjoyed myself anyway.

    Tuesday, June 15, 2010

    Podcast Prototype Number 1

    Well I didn't get to Havering Folk Club last Wednesday because I was on holiday canal boating on the Kennet and Avon canal on board Isabella.
    So instead I'm blogging here about what's happening with the Tuesday evening live streaming music show that I've been doing for almost a year now, most weeks. I've decided to turn it into a podcast as well.  That means you don't have to be there live at 7.00pm on a Tuesday in order to hear the show. You should be able to subscribe with iTunes or similar feed reading software, and have each episode downloaded as an mp3 file to listen to as and when you have a spare moment.

    The show itself is pretty much the same unrehearsed music and chat as always except that I don't stop to mess about with the record/stop button and saving the description and tags etc in between each song. The whole thing gets recorded as one block and then the audio is stripped out and distributed through the podcasting channel via one of my websites called  andyroberts.me

    We're still in the prototyping stage so this could change but for the present the new url for the podcast feed should be at

    http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast

    Try putting that into your iTunes subscriptions . In my version you have to go to the overhead top  go to the top of page drop down menu and select "Advanced" then "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the url http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast  into the box which pops up. Your mileage may vary.

    I can still edit out individual songs for uploading to youTube so there's nothing lost in that respect and here are the five songs from last week's Andy Roberts podcast prototype number 1

    The Wreckers Prayer




    People Are Strange




    Cormorants




    Here Comes The Sun




    Narrow Boats


    Sunday, May 30, 2010

    May 26th People are strange, When the Waters Rise

    May 26th at Havering Folk Club ( HFC ) after missing a week for no particular reason.

    People Are Strange - The Doors


    A cover of the Doors song People Are Strange



    When The Waters Rise


    When The Waters Rise



    San Francisco


    After the interval at Havering Folk Club there was time to do one more song each and I decided to play San Francisco the song by Mazime Le Forestier

    Friday, May 14, 2010

    May 12th HFC The Last Nail, Sitting on the Bank

    On May 12th 2010 at Havering Folk Club I played two Andy Roberts songs,

    Sitting on the Bank and The Last Nail

    May 5th - Golden Brown

    On May 5th 2010 I played my version of Golden Brown by the Stranglers, at Havering Folk Club for the Hillbilly Express members night.

    Tuesday, May 04, 2010

    Golden brown

    Golden brown texture like sun
    Lays me down with my mind she runs
    Throughout the night
    No need to fight
    Never a frown with golden brown

    Every time just like the last
    On her ship tied to the mast
    To distant lands
    Takes both my hands
    Never a frown with golden brown

    Golden brown finer temptress
    Through the ages she's heading West
    From far away
    Stays for a day
    Never a frown with golden brown

    Never a frown
    With golden brown
    Never a frown
    With golden brown

    Sunday, May 02, 2010

    The Drugs Don't Work


    C
    All this talk of getting old
                     C2  Am      Am7 
    It's getting me down my love
                     Em                 F
    Like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown
             G        C         C2       C    
    This time I'm comin' down
                   C
    And I hope you're thinking of me
                     C2  Am     Am7   
    As you lay down on your side
                            Em
    Now the drugs don't work
                            F
    They just make you worse
                G            C         C2       C           
    But I know I'll see your face again
                            Em
    Now the drugs don't work
                            F
    They just make you worse
                 G           C         C2       C  
    But I know I'll see your face again
    
                   C
    But I know I'm on a losing streak
                          C2  Am      Am7 
    'Cause I passed down my old street
                        Em
    And if you wanna show
                         F
     then just let me know
             G             C       C2       C  
    And I'll sing in your ear again
    
                           Em
    Now the drugs don't work
                            F
    They just make you worse
              G              C         C2       C
    But I know I'll see your face again
    
                F
    'Cause baby ooh
    G            Am
    if heaven calls
                 G
    I'm coming too
                     F
    Just like you said
    G                  Am
    if you leave my life
                     G
    I'm better off dead
    
                C
    All this talk of getting old
                      C2  Am      Am7 
    It's getting me down my love
                      Em
    Like a cat in a bag
                   F
    waiting to drown
              G       C      C2       C
    This time I'm comin' down
    
                           Em
    Now the drugs don't work
                           F
    They just make you worse
           G                 C         C2       C
    But I know I'll see your face again
    
                F
    'Cause baby ooh
    G             Am
    if heaven calls
                 G
    I'm coming too
                  F
    Just like you said
    G                 Am
    if you leave my life
                      F
    I'm better off dead
    
                        Em
    But if you wanna show(want a show)
                       F
    then just let me know
                  G        C       C2       C
    And I'll sing in your ear again
    
                           Em
    Now the drugs don't work
                           F
    They just make you worse
              G              C         C2       C      C2
    But I know I'll see your face again
    
    C           C2                      C      C2
    Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
    C           C2                      C      C2
    Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
    C           C2                      C      C2         C
    Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
    C           C2                      C      C2         C
    Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
    
    C                             C2                          
    I'm never coming down, no I'm never coming down
    C                                   C2
    No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
    C                         C2                          
    never coming down, no I'm never going down   
    C                                  C2
    No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
    C (Arpeggio up(let ring))    

    Wednesday, April 28, 2010

    People Are Strange - The Doors

    People Are Strange - The Doors

    People are strange when you're a stranger
    Faces look ugly when you're alone
    Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
    Streets are uneven when you're down

    When you're strange
    Faces come out of the rain
    When you're strange
    No one remembers your name
    When you're strange
    When you're strange
    When you're strange

    Saturday, April 24, 2010

    21st April Mazet

    On Wednesday 21st April at Havering Folk Club I talked a little bit about Paris and the cafe Mazet then played the song named after the bar

    Mazet - Andy Roberts music and lyrics




    Northcountry girl




    This video is in fact from another occasion because I kind of messed up last week and forgot one and a half verses, not sure why that happened exactly, just a bit unprepared I suppose.

    Shifting Sands, Wrecked Again, Dead Skunk

    On Wednesday April 14th 2010 at Havering Folk Club:

    Shifting Sands - Andy Roberts music and lyrics




    Wrecked Again - Mike Chapman




    Dead Skunk in the middle of the road




    Dead Skunk by Loudon Wainwright

    Sunday, April 11, 2010

    Two More Andy Roberts Songs

    So last Wednesday April 7th at Havering Folk Club I decided to play two more Andy Roberts Songs, both from the Spanish collecton, in fact written on the same day in the French Pays Basque Pyranees. One comes from the bottom of the mountain and the other from the top. Perhaps one day I'll write a song for the little rack and pinion mountain railway that connects the two.

    Blue


    Sitting On Top Of The World

    Thursday, April 08, 2010

    Thursday, March 25, 2010

    Truro Agricultural Show

    My version of "The Truro Agricultural Show", a traditional Cornish folk song, with a knocked about archtop guitar at Havering Folk Club last night, Wednesday 24th March 2010.

    Interestingly four seperate people made enquiries to me about the origins of the song, having some sort of Cornish connections.

    The lyrics are published earlier on the Andy Roberts music blog somewhere down there...

    Friday, March 19, 2010

    The Last Nail

    The Last Nail is the title of my latest new Andy Roberts song, it's a folk song ballad sea shanty whatever that laments the closing of a boatyard inspired by the story of St Monan's in Fife, Scotland where I spent some time recently.

    Hers is the video of the first live performance of The Last Nail at Havering Folk Club on Wednesday March 17th, St Patrick's Day as it happens.



    These are the Lyrics to The Last Nail:

    Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill
    That's where they built the boatyard, and the structure stands there still.
    Not much boat building happens now, just repairs and fitting out
    but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can hear the old boatbulders shout:
    Will you pass the last nail over and I'll knock it into place,
    Then with four more coats of varnish, she'll be ready for the race.

    Our grandfathers put up the boatyard, to build the fishing fleet,
    more than fifty boats in the harbour, and shops all down the main street
    then the steam age brought in the drifters,
    boat builders became engineers
    Now the wind blows straight through the boatyard,
    there'll be no more boat building here
    Will you pass the last nail over and I'll knock it into place,
    Then with four more coats of varnish, she'll be ready for the race.

    With a keen eye for staying in business, they switched over to build leisure craft
    And the weekend yachtsmen snapped them up, no expense spared fore or aft
    Then wooden hulls went out of fashion, the order book emptied last year
    So the bankers foreclosed on the boatyard,
    and there'll be no more boatbuilding here
    Will you pass the last nail over and I'll knock it into place,
    Then with four more coats of varnish, she'll be ready for the race.

    Now the Vikings invented the clinker for both strength and shallow seas
    and the herring boats followed the coastline, until the canning ships found the key
    There's a regatta here every August, and the whole village turns out again
    But the Sea Queen's no real competition, and it's guaranteed to rain
    Will you pass the last nail over and I'll knock it into place,
    Then with four more coats of varnish, she'll be ready for the race.

    Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill
    that's where they built the boatyard, and the skeleton stands there still.
    No more boat building happens now, not even fitting out
    but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can still hear the old boys shout:
    Will you pass the last nail over, we'll knock it into place,
    Then with four more coats of varnish, she'll be ready for the race.

    Why are we sleeping

    Why are we sleeping - Kevin Ayres Soft Machine

    It begins with a blessing, it ends with a curse
    Making life easy by making it worse
    "My mask is my master", the trumpeter weeps
    But his voice is so weak, as he speaks from his sleep

    Saying: "Why, why, why... Why are we sleeping?"

    People are watching, people who stare
    Waiting for something that's already there
    "Tomorrow I'll find it", the trumpeter screams
    And remembers he's hungry, and drowns in his dreams

    Saying: "Why, why, why... Why are we sleeping?"

    My head is a nightclub with glasses and wine
    The customers dancing or just making time
    While Daevid is cursing, the customers scream
    Now everyone's shouting, "Get out of my dream!"

    Thursday, March 18, 2010

    Back In The Field - Norwegian Wood - Wreckers Prayer

    That was a whole week ago, so I'm getting behind with blogging the weekly songs which makes it more difficult to remember.

    So the date was Wednesday 10th March at Havering Folk Club and the songs I played last week were Back in The Field and Norwegian Wood.

    If I remember correctly there was also time for one last song at the end of the evening and I played The Wreckers Prayer.

    Not to self: Must be more prompt when writing up these music blogs. According to youtube I seem to have played The Rowan Tree recently as well and that may well be a missing week.

    Monday, March 08, 2010

    Listening to the 12 string Guitar

    last week it was the turn of Simon Oliver to have a member's featured evening at Havering Folk Club, and he borrowed my vintage Guild 12 string guitar for a few numbers which gave me the chance to sit in the audience and hear what it sounds like, unamplified, in the medieval pub room upstairs at the Golden Lion, Romford. Sounded pretty good to me, Well done Simon.

    I played "The Nutmeg Tree"

    Sunday, March 07, 2010

    Fred Wedlock RIP

    THE FOLKER

    (Fred Wedlock)
    I am just a folker and my story's seldom told
    I have massacred folk music with a yard of German plywood and a capo
    I do requests--just the ones that have two chords in them and I disregard the rest
    Na na nya na na na na na na nya etc . . .

    In the Seabeen Pub I clean forgot the 42nd verse,
    So I sang the 27th twice as loud and in reverse and no one notice.
    I laughed for hours the tears ran down me trouser leg
    I thought I'd wet me drawers

    Well, I stand on stage the hero a martyr to me trade
    And carry the reminders of all the gigs I've played in like the Irish Club
    Where I fled in mortal fear—with the imprint of a Guinness bottle stamped across my ear
    Na na nya na na na na na na nya etc . . .

    Seeking twenty with expenses I went looking for a gig
    But I got no offers--just a come on from a groupie up in Boulder
    I do declare--I was feeling rather randy and I had her then and there
    Na na nya na na na na na na nya etc . . .

    Na na na-ya Na na na na na na na-ya
    Na na na-ya Na na na na na na na-ya
    Na na na-ya Na na na na na na na-ya

    Well, I've sung the folk tradition with my finger in my ear
    Cause half the stuff I'm singin'—I just can't bear to hear—it's a load of cobblers
    Bar after bar--to the rhythm of an out of tune Japanese guitar
    Na na nya na na na na na na nya etc . . .

    Well, I met this great guitarist and I asked him for advice
    But the message that he gave me--wasn't very nice or even civil
    Stick it where--and if I did how could I tune it with it shoved way up there
    Na na nya na na na na na na nya etc . . .

    Now I've got my thing together, man, I'm really freaking out
    Reading “Melody Maker,” mainlining on draught stout and having hang ups
    And like the rest, I'm having trouble with my sex life since I fell and broke my wrist
    And my other songs are twice as bad as this

    Wednesday, February 24, 2010

    Playing the Saz at Havering Folk Club HFC

    Last week I finally got around to taking my SAZ along to Havering Folk Club. It had been lying around sadly out of tune for months and then I managed to wrestle it back on form and tried out a few tunes on the Tuesday Night Show. There's a long story about how I bought the SAZ in Turkey and brought it back, the story used to live on a wiki of its own but now should be available on a blog post somewhere, I'll dig it out and link to it later. Anyway, in order to take the fragile instrument out on a journey I had to first give it a bit of s clean up with furniture polish and stuff, then figure out a way to make it fit in a guitar bag. The Saz is a long necked lute and a bout two inches longer all told than a 12 string guitar, but with a tear drop shaped bowl instead of a guitar body. I found that I could just get it into my biggest guitar case, the one I bought for the 12 string, sideways on and with a bit of strain on the zip.

    On arriving at Havering Folk Club, upstairs in The Golden Lion pub, Romford, I was pleased to find teh Saz was still in tune and signed up for a floor spot.

    I played a tune which I call "Istankoy" and then another which segues into a version of Buddy Holly's Rave On.

    Istankoy is in fact the Turkish name for the island known as Kos in Greek.

    Istankoy




    Rave On


    Tuesday, February 16, 2010

    Rave On

    A-well the little things you say and do
    They make me want to be with you-oo-oo

    Rave on, rave on and tell me
    Tell me not to be lonely
    Tell me you love me only, rave on to me

    Rave on, it's a crazy feeling and
    I know it's got me reeling when you
    Say, "I love you," rave on

    The way you dance and hold me tight
    The way you kiss and say good-ni-hi-hight

    A-well rave on, it's a crazy feeling and
    I know it's got me reeling I'm
    So glad that you're revealing your love for me

    Rave on, rave on and tell me
    Tell me not to be lonely
    Tell me you love me only, rave on to me

    Sunday, February 14, 2010

    The House Is An Allegory For The Mind

    Here's a song called "The House Is An Allegory For The Mind" which is explained in the video to some extent. This was Wednesday 10th February, an open night at Havering Folk Club, and the second song is Down Drinking at the Bar by Loudon Wainwright.



    There was even a spot left in the second half so I played Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene

    Thursday, February 04, 2010

    Time for The Music

    Last night it was the turn of Steve O'Kane and Fiona McBain to guest at Havering Folk Club (or HFC).

    I played early, no video from this session but the songs were Time for The Music and The Biggleswade Stomp.

    Time for The Music






    The Biggleswade Stomp



    Thursday, January 28, 2010

    Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

    "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" is the title of the song by Loudon Wainwright which I sang at Havering Folk Club on Wednesday 20th as part of a new series featuring tributes to recently deceased musicians. Loudon Wainwright is still alive (at the time of writing), this was in memory of Kate McGarrigle



    On the video clip, there's also the main part of another song, "Waiting" which is an old Andy Roberts song.

    Thursday, January 14, 2010

    Pink Floyd - See Emily Play | Andy Roberts Guitar Music

    First outing to Havering Folk Club this year, it's been a while due to various things.

    Pink Floyd - See Emily Play | Andy Roberts Guitar Music

    I decide to leave the video in one piece rather than edit out the two songs in this one, so you get See Emily Play first, followed by another version of "Yellow Boat".

    Right at the end I got a chance to do one more which was "Mozambique"





    Related Posts with Thumbnails