About Me
I am old enough to have learned folk-songs at school, at least in their sanitised versions, but I first became aware of folk music as such when I went to college. I still remember, at probably the first concert I went to, someone singing 'I once loved a lass', his girlfriend having dumped him the day before. I also remember concerts with The Exiles, and Johnny Silvo, of whom more later. The Dubliners too were popular at that time, and so I ended up singing a lot of Scottish songs and Dubliners' songs, including 'Sam Hall'. After leaving college I married and went to live in Slade Green, just outside Dartford.
Once we had settled in we went along to the Dartford Folk Club, at that time in The Railway Hotel, with The Crayfolk as residents. I began appearing as a floor-singer, and was invited to go down to The Coach House at Farningham, the other club they ran. There I did regular floor spots at the Friday club before being asked to run a Sunday night singaround. It was at Dartford and Farningham that I heard the artists who were to have a major influence on my future singing.
I've mentioned The Crayfolk, which comprised Pete Hicks, Pete Chopin and John Barker, although the line-up varied depending on who was available, overlapping with Skinner's Rats, especially Barry Laing, and to a lesser extent with Vulcan's Hammer, with Phil and Kay Burkin. I also remember The Copper Family, Fred Jordan, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, Tony Rose, English Tapestry (the best unaccompanied group ever), and in particular, the two who influenced me most, Martyn Wyndham-Read and Dave Burland. As a result of this I decided to leave Scottish songs to the Scots, Irish songs to the Irish, and in fact anything with an accent to those who could do them properly, and concentrate on English songs and, under the influence of Martyn, some Australian variants. One song that I got from Dave Burland, though Martyn says Dave got it from him, was 'The Black Cook'.
In 1973 we moved up to Leeds, having failed to buy a house in the South. Despite assurances to the contrary we also failed to find much of a folk scene, so we had children instead, and spent the next thirty years trying to get rid of them again. Then my wife noticed that The Grove Folk Club, where she'd been a few times as a teenager, had booked Johnny Silvo, and nostalgia kicked in, along with Dr Jazz and my sister Kate. The upshot was that I decided I wanted to be back in again, I learned my songs again, hardened up my fingers, and started singing at The Grove. We went to Skipton to see Martyn and catch up on his CDs, and from there to La Jeusseliniere, his farm in France. Wanting to branch out a little further I looked on the internet to see what was happening on Mondays, and since Addingham was closer than Beverley we went to The Swan, where we met Jeff Wright, one half of Keepers Fold, and before long Iain Glover, the other half. They introduced me to The Dales clubs, to Ingleton, to Filey, and various other venues.
Finally I discovered on the internet that Skinner's Rats were still active, and selling CDs. I rang Barry Laing, said who I was, and after no more than a couple of seconds' silence he said, 'Damn your eyes, doctor, I'll skin you alive.' This was a line from 'The Black Cook', which had obviously made more of an impression than I'd realised.
