The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)-on BBC

Subject: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: Marje
Date: 13 Aug 12 - 09:36 AM

The Bricklayer's Lament (aka The Sick Note, and Why Paddy's Not at Work Today)has been dicussed here in various threads over the years.

It was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 programme this week. This relates how Gerard Hoffnung came across the story, examines its possible origins (he didn't write it himself as I had thought), and concludes with Hoffnung telling the tale to the Oxford Union. It can be found on iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lsqk6/The_Bricklayers_Lament/ at least for UK listneners, or there is currently a direct link to it from the BBC Home Page.

Marje

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Aug 12 - 10:29 AM

tHAT WAS wonderful tks!

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Aug 12 - 10:34 AM

Everybody and his brother seem to have sung this over the years , I just wish , who ever you stole it from , that you could credit Pat Cooksey as the man who turned it into a song .

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 13 Aug 12 - 10:42 AM

Great programme. I didn't realise Hoffnung died so young.

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: GUEST,Damien.
Date: 14 Aug 12 - 06:20 AM

Hoffnung's version brilliant, after listening to this again have to admire Pat Cooksey's talent in turning the story into a nine verse song, which despite being sung by every man and his dog has certainly stood the test of time.

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 Aug 12 - 07:41 AM

Pat Cooksey did a brilliant job with it, Hoffnung didn't claim to written it, from listening to him, he seems to me to be a master of the understatement, as was Marriott Edgar.

Dave H

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Aug 12 - 11:49 AM

This thread has a comment on its origin from Pat Cooksey; 2316:

Origins: Why Paddy

Quite a few threads on this song.

Subject: RE: The Bricklayer's Lament (The Sick Note)-on BBC
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 03 Apr 24 - 06:49 AM

Not much about the bricks
but this programme will be of interest to Hoffnung fans.

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Harry Enfield on Gerard Hoffnung
BBC Radio4 - Great Lives - April 2024

His charming cartoons which often gently poked fun at musicians and conductors were printed in magazines and books. His wife Annetta said he was always on-show and even a trip to the bank could turn into an uproarious occasion.
Having caught the attention of the BBC he recorded a series of interviews with Charles Richardson, and his delivery of 'The Bricklayer's Lament' to the Oxford Union in 1958 is considered a triumph of comedic story-telling. The Hoffnung concerts which combined music and comedy sold out quicker than Liberace.

Harry Enfield discovered Hoffnung when he was looking through the records in his local library. He knows it's boring for comedians to talk about timing but Hoffnung's was brilliant, and he finds it annoying that comedy wasn't even his main job. Harry got to know the family later on and his impersonation of Gerard became the inspiration for his own character 'Sir Henry'.

Harry's joined in the studio by Gerard and Annetta's children, Emily and Benedict Hoffnung.

Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Toby Field for BBC Studios Audio

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xwrw