Old Folksinger's Pick
2022

A note from Bob

December 2022

I love this shot. Amer Alhamwe, a photographer for AP, took it in the wake of a Syrian (or maybe Russian) air strike in then rebel-held Northern Syria. I saw the picture in the Guardian in early 2019 and have thought of it often since: watching the collapse of the COP 27 talks; hearing news stories from the refugee camps; seeing democracies falter. Whatever. The children must be entertained. Puppet shows must go on.

Here in Canada, the last few years have seen unprecedented heat waves, fires and floods. And of course Covid. Our children, we know, will have it worse. Most of us oppose the reckless reliance on oil and gas that fuels the calamities, but we cannot seem to stop it. Thousands march, but the pipeline gets built; millions demand lower emissions but they keep on rising. Canada is one of the world’s worst offenders.

So we do what we can. Make puppet shows, play music, work long nursing shifts. If there is hope - and I am not very hopeful, in fact I think hope is over-rated – it lies with the children, Greta’s generation. “Once we old fuckers get out of the way,” as Greg Brown put it. From Greg’s lips to God’s ear.

This kind of feeling is nothing new, of course. I felt it about my “sixties” generation, and indeed, we got some of the job done. As Rabbi Tarfon said some 2000 years ago, “You are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”

Amen. Herewith some music I like. I hope it helps you keep fighting.

bb

PS. Thanks once again to Skel Jopko for getting Old Folksinger’s Pick on-line and to Mike Norris, whose weekly folk music shows from Cecil Sharp House in London have introduced me to many a fine singer and song. https://www.efdss.org/about-us/folk-player/listen-classic-folk.

I’d love to hear from you.

A few notes on the songs:

You can easily find more about these singers and songs by googling. That said, here are a few further notes.

05 and 20: I recently lost a pal of nearly 50 years. Bob Wyche was a sailor and a boat builder who loved a good shanty. I once crewed for him, sailing to Port Townsend WA. That evening, we sat in the cockpit and unwound with a few shanties – OK, we were a little drunk. After awhile some of the neighbouring yachtsmen came by and politely requested we shut the hell up and get some sleep. Fair enough.

We will be holding a (first annual?) Bob Wyche Memorial Shanty Sing here on Gabriola come summer.

06: The Riley Boys was written by Carol Denney who graciously allowed me to re-purpose it for my memorial video to Gus and Gail Lund.

I once sang The Riley Boys a capella, over the phone to Pete Seeger. When I finished there was a brief silence, then Pete said, “Well I’ll be darned.”

07: I Can’t Find Brummagen is a music-hall song from the 1820s. It was written by James Dobbs, and lovingly updated by John Wilts. Brummagen is local slang for Birmingham.

08, 12 and 13 are all written by Pete Sutherland. So is Aunt Sue in last year’s compilation. Pete died in December (2022). Though we saw each other rarely - Pete lived in Vermont, a long way from Gabriola - I’ve always thought of him as a good friend and comrade.

10: Must Be Santa began its life as a German drinking song. Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks gave it its English, Christmastime lyric. It was first recorded by “Sing-along-with” Mitch Miller in 1960. I assume that this version is one of the reasons Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize.

11: Baby, It’s Cold Outside was written by Frank Loesser in 1944.

15: Barry Coope died late last year. He was a pillar of the British folk scene for many years.

19: Archie Fisher is joined by James Keelaghan and Jez Lowe. It must have been quite the show.