Grow Fins

Grow Fins

Now here ya come baby
With yer tail draggin' the gravy
Y' know yer P's 'n Q's
What ya don't know baby
Is you givin' me the blues
Ya got juice on your chin
Eggs on the drain-board
Pie on the wall
Dirt on the rug
I come home late
'N I stumbled 'n swore
Ya won't even give me a hug
Ya had my things all laid out by the door
I'm leavin'
I'm gonna take up with ah mermaid
'N leave you land lubbin' women alone
'N leave you land-lubbin' women alone
Ya said ya had it together once
Now yer head's around the bend
I'm tellin' ya woman
Ya better get it bach together again
I'm gonna grow fins
'N go back in the water again
If ya don't leave me alone
I'm gonna take up with ah mermaid
'N leave you land-lubbin' women alone
'N leave you land-lubbin' women alone
Now here ya come baby
With yer tail draggin' the gravy
Ya know yer P's 'n Q's
What ya don't know woman
Is yer givin' me the blues

Captain Beefheart = Don Van Vliet

Big Eyed Beans From Venus

Big Eyed Beans From Venus

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.

First Run Through

I decided to do a rough run through of my provisional set list yesterday and we certainly learned a lot from the process, so I'll try to capture some insights here.

Timing

The timings showed that it's just about possible to do the core songs if an allotted time of 35 minutes occurs. That's without much banter at all. So the standby songs are unlikely to make it in realistically.

Tuning

The schedule requires moving a capo on the 12string mid set, which can mean not being perfectly in tune for the same old rock, so I don't enjoy playing it so much. A rethink might help.

Songs

On that performance, Highway Blues and Truro Agericultural Show can be ditched. Ha, no need to carry the chinese lute for one song.

San Francisco could be added in

Need Work:

Time for the music, Onions, Gernika.

Quiet Wednesday at Havering Folk Club

It was a Qquiet Wednesday evening this week at Havering Folk Club. I think some of the regulars were absent through illness, or else there was a secret party going on somewhere else! So it was nice to be able to have some quite songs performed and time for most people to do a turn in the second set as well. Three banjos but no ukuleles, as it happens.

I played two songs I haven't done at Havering before, Cat Steven's Wilid World and Steve Tilston's One Man Band. Then another version of the Truro Agericultural Show

A Day in the Life

I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, i just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the house of lords

I saw a film today oh, boy
The english army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But i just had to look
Having read the book
I love to turn you on.

Woke up, got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, i noticed i was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
Somebody spoke and i went into a dream
Ah

I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in blackburn, lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall
I'd love to turn you on

Eleanor Rigby

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?

Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

Irene Goodnight - Leadbelly

Irene good night Irene good night
Good night Irene Good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Last Saturday night I got married
Me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife have parted
I'm gonna take a little stroll downtown

Irene good night Irene good night
Good night Irene Good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Some times I live in the country
Some times I live in town
Some times I take a great notion
To jump in the river and drown

Irene good night Irene good night
Good night Irene Good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Quit your rambling quit your gambling
Stop staying out late at night
Stay home with your wife and family
And stay by the fireside of right

Irene good night Irene good night
Good night Irene Good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams
Irene good night Irene good night
Good night Irene Good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Bob Marley Redemption Song at Havering Folk Club sung by Andy Roberts

Here's the video by Linda of Bob Marley's Redemption Song performed last Wednesday at Havering Folk Club sung and played by Andy Roberts on the unidentified 12 string guitar

Singers Nights at Havering Folk Club

Havering Folk Club Singers Nights

Singers Nights or Open Sessions Havering Folk Club are every Wednesday unless there is a Guest Artist ( 4 times a year ) or members special night such as Andy Roberts Night at Havering Folk Club

These Singers Nights at are getting better all the time with more new singers and performers, new faces in the audience and a general increase in both quality and variety. People who have been coming along for months, before my time even, are clearly taking the weekly opportunity seriously and upping the style, delivery and material. Folk from other clubs are starting to turn up, whether to advertise their own venue, plug a gig somewhere or pitch for a guest spot. It all makes for a highly entertaining night out on a Wednesday with a friendly buzz for very little outlay in terms of transport and admission.

Getting to The Golden Lion

Transport to the Golden Lion where Havering Folk Club takes place is good. I catch the train to Romford from Manor Park which costs £3.50 return and takes less than twenty minutes plus a four minute walk. It would be a little bit more from Liverpool Street Station I suppose. There are also plenty buses and a car park at the back of the pub in Angel Way, or you can park in the Market Square.

Andy Roberts Songs

Last night I played The Nutmeg Tree, which previously had an outing on July 24th when I played for the first time at Havering Folk Club and then Bob Marley's Redemption Song.

The Wreckers Prayer at Andy Roberts Bandcamp

By uploading The Wreckers Prayer to Andy Roberts Bandcamp it enables high quality free downloads, better than the mp3 or video versions available elsewhere.

Pete Grassby night at Havering Folk Club

It was a Pete Grassby guest night at Havering Folk Club last night and we were treated to some delightful music and singing, including a few tunes on a large hammered dulcimer, melodeon and guitar. It was a quiet night, but pleasantly entertaining, with less floor spots than usual.

I played Winter in Andalucia and Blue

The Wreckers Prayer

The Wreckers Prayer is one of the songs I wrote during a road trip around the north of Spain after my travelling companion let me down. It harks back to an inscription vaguely remembered from a church wall on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly and the notorious Cornish Wreckers of old, but then also gells with the news stories from Branscombe beach in Devon. Anyway, I explained some that in the introduction which is captured on this video from Walthamstow Folk Club last Sunday.



So that's the live version but there's also a recorded track of The Wreckers Prayer with two voices and two guitars.

Steve Tilston at Walthamstow Folk Club

Last night was the long awaited Steve Tilston guest night at Walthamstow Folk Club, which is every Sunday at The Plough Inn, Walthamstow.

I've been a fan of Steve Tilston's songwriting ever since his second album "Collection" came out and I then went and got the first album as well, but that was decades ago and since then he's been through a few incarnations and is still going strong. Two great sets from him last night at Walthamstow Folk Club which I enjoyed immensely.

It was also my own first appearance, after having been once as a non performer two weeks ago to see Wizz Jones. I was on in the second half, just before Steve Tilston came back on and I played my own song The Wreckers' Prayer. Perhaps it was because I did an introduction or just the composition of teh audience but this was the first time I've done that song and they've 'got it'. Linda says some of them were Cornish, well I donlt know about that but she did manage to capture the performance on video so I think I'll post that as a seperate entry here.