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01 Jan 10 - 06:58 AM (#2800695) Subject: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley A question primarily for British folkies ''''of a certain age''''. Recently I've been listening to the 1960s BBC radio comedy series Round The Horne. One of its recurring & most popular characters was a '''folk singer''' rejoicing in the name of Rambling Syd Rumpo. Each week he would sing a parodic folk song, usually based on a well-known tune but with new lyrics that both parodied folky conventions & revelled in innuendo. I've often wondered how this comedy was received at the time by those involved in folk. Was anyone offended ? Was it irrelevant ? Did it show how much folk had mainstream recognition (because you can't parody the really obscure in a mainstream show) ? Was anyone in particular on the folk scene being targeted ? The songs are hilarious to me now (and I guess I ought to dig up a link for anyone curious but unfamiliar - give me a few minutes) but, as Mudcat sometimes shows, folky folk can be thin-skinned at-times. Folky folk can also, of course, have the grace and good=temperedness to laugh at themselves. Any thoughts/recollections/observations received with interest. |
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01 Jan 10 - 07:06 AM (#2800698) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Three vintage slices of Rambling Syd...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAx6QSotyg8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJUhjF8A-ME&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFtHzqyd4cg&feature=related |
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01 Jan 10 - 08:00 AM (#2800713) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Acorn4 Rambling Sid seems to be going through a bit of a revival at the moment -I've heard several of his songs done at singarounds recently. |
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01 Jan 10 - 10:51 AM (#2800776) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: The Sandman I imagine kenneth WilLiams [RAMBING SYD] knew of traditional singers because of the radio ballads,The name probably stems from Rambling Jack Elliot. |
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01 Jan 10 - 10:54 AM (#2800778) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: John MacKenzie It was fun, and we enjoyed it. Remember,that was back in the days, when taking offence at the merest imagination of a slight, or a non PC remark, had yet to become a growth industry. We could laugh at ourselves then, and if we were offended we made allowances, and didn't rely on others to complain on our behalf, either! |
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01 Jan 10 - 11:47 AM (#2800807) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Interesting thoughts - thank you. I have to confess that even now, if I hear a floridly earnest gent going full-tilt at a ballad or somesuch, I silently think 'he;s a bit Rambling Syd'...... |
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01 Jan 10 - 11:55 AM (#2800809) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Murray MacLeod Rambling Sid Rumpo was based directly on A.L.Lloyd |
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01 Jan 10 - 11:59 AM (#2800811) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley The plot thickens! Was that admitted by the writers, or guessed by Lloyd, or just widely known ? |
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01 Jan 10 - 12:00 PM (#2800812) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley |
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01 Jan 10 - 12:08 PM (#2800817) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Murray MacLeod It was widely known at the time. Lloyd and McColl were the only two singers in the genre to make any kind of public impact at the time, (they both worked for the BBC on and off) |
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01 Jan 10 - 12:51 PM (#2800842) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: alanabit The late Rick Fielding, who was much loved himself around here, was also a fan. It was Kenneth Williams at his best. |
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01 Jan 10 - 02:21 PM (#2800895) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Bat Goddess A Mudcat Secret Santa from a few years ago sent me a double cassette tape set (a BBC radio collection). It's WONDERFUL! Thank you for reminding me I need to listen to it more often. And, because it's tape and not CD, I have to PLAN to listen to it somewhere when I have a tape player close at hand. Linn |
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01 Jan 10 - 06:50 PM (#2801074) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Don(Wyziwyg)T I have Rambling Sid's original LP, now preserved in protective packaging, but copied to CD which I still listen to regularly. I don't think anybody ever resented being gently parodied by Kenneth Williams. It was a sign that one had arrived at the "Big Time". Don T. |
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01 Jan 10 - 07:13 PM (#2801088) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smokey. The songs were written by Marty Feldman and Barry Took, and there is an unbelievably cheap CD available here. Essential listening for discerning afficionados of English folk music. |
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01 Jan 10 - 11:36 PM (#2801195) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Jim Dixon This is not BS. |
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02 Jan 10 - 02:32 AM (#2801238) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Well I did wonder about that - but I was concerned about musical purists (not that there are ANY of those in here.........) complaining if I listed it as a music thread. I'd be perfectly happy if it was re-classified. |
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02 Jan 10 - 02:51 AM (#2801242) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Shanghaiceltic During the quiet hours (middle and morning watches) when we were on patrol the skipper sometimes allowed Round the Horn and the Goon Show to be piped to the after compartments. many of us at the time could quote the scripts verbatim. This was in the 70's and the RN supplied tapes for each boat when we went on patrol. |
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02 Jan 10 - 03:11 AM (#2801244) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Seamus Kennedy Kenneth Williams' guitar player was brilliant on the radio shows. For a time I thought it was Kennethe W himself playing, until Rick Fielding told me otherwise. "And now, my dearios, it's time for a rollicking sea-shanty..." |
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02 Jan 10 - 04:10 AM (#2801262) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Mavis Enderby Being a resident of famous Lincoln town I've always had a liking for the Song of the Bogle Clencher. Much the same goes on now but the prices have gone up.... Pete. |
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02 Jan 10 - 04:14 AM (#2801266) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: VirginiaTam Though I am a relatively new folkie and prone to be thin-skinned about this new found affinity, I found this delightful. |
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02 Jan 10 - 06:08 AM (#2801311) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Ruth Archer I've loved Rambling Syd for many years. I even asked for a CD for Christmas a couple of years ago. The thing that makes the character so priceless is that Marty Feldman and Barry Took were conversant enough with traditional music to make the parodies quite accurate - it wasn't the typical, lazy "finger in the ear and Arran jumpers" sneeriness that folk often receives from the mainstream media - it was very sharply observed. Maybe the audiences loved it just because of the innuendo in the songs and the funny accent - after all, they loved Julian and Sandy without having to know all that much about the Soho gay sub-culture and polare. But I also think that part of their enjoyment came from the fact that folk music was much more mainstream at the time because of the kinds of programmes MacColl and Lloyd (and Bob Copper) were producing for the radio - the audiences probably got a lot more of the "folk jokes" than a contemporary mainstream audience would. |
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02 Jan 10 - 06:57 AM (#2801334) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: GUEST In it's day it was a huge romp. So over the top we took it as a hoot. The show's inuendo was at many levels, not all of it obvious, which is what made it so universal. But the Ramblin Syd Rumpo did coincide with Ramblin Jack Elliot's time in London (if my memory holds) and it did not detract from his image. I enjoyed both at the level they presented. I was not a folkie then because I was so young at the time (he says) and family weren't either. |
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02 Jan 10 - 07:00 AM (#2801337) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: GUEST,PeterC With a regular folk spot on the TV Tonight programme I think there was a far more widespread, if low level, understanding of the genre than there is now. At the age I was then Julian and Sandy were just two men doing funny voices, it was great to rediscover them when I was older. |
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02 Jan 10 - 09:33 AM (#2801430) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Yes, I think the 'profile' of folk was such that the humour was recognisable. And it's good to hear that nobody (that we've heard from so far) bristled & got grumpy. I wonder if the same would happen today. |
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02 Jan 10 - 03:42 PM (#2801763) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Bert ...It was Kenneth Williams at his best... Kenneth Williams was such an all round genius that everything he did was the best. Did you ever hear him speaking gibberish, he went on and on in different languages, you could understand which language he was speaking without understanding a word that he was saying. |
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02 Jan 10 - 06:08 PM (#2801862) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Liz the Squeak Thank you for this - I downloaded the Rambling Syd Rumpo from Amazon's UK site, and it's cheered up what has been a day of very mixed emotions. LTS |
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03 Jan 10 - 09:48 AM (#2802099) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: bubblyrat I just posted on a thread about genealogy,where I mentioned that some of my boring forebears were "Cord Wanglers", as KW aka RSR used to say ! I'd quite forgotten about the Bogle Clenchers ! |
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03 Jan 10 - 09:56 AM (#2802104) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: The Sandman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dct_VJNLvAk I posted this last march,in case you missed it, and was accused of being a humourless pedant. |
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03 Jan 10 - 10:24 AM (#2802121) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Well yar boo sucks to those who called you that. (I hadn't discovered the joys of Mudcat then, or at least I don't think I had.) The consensus this time round seems to be notably pro-Rumpo. |
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03 Jan 10 - 10:50 AM (#2802141) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: MGM·Lion Agree with Smedley. Can't see anything the remotest bit either humourless or pedantic about Dick's post. Those who made such accusations were guilty of infamy, infamy... |
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03 Jan 10 - 11:15 AM (#2802154) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Dave Roberts I think I'm right in saying (and I'm sure I'll be shot down in true Mudcat style if I'm not) that the guitarist on the original Rambling Syd 'Round The Horne' recordings was none other than Bert Weedon of 'Play With Yourself In a Day' fame. Rambling Syd is a folk icon and anyone who disagrees is 'irony impaired', to use a phrase coined in another thread. |
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03 Jan 10 - 11:43 AM (#2802175) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Peter K (Fionn) As alanabit observed, this has been discussed before (without the BS prefix). On that occasion Rumpo's creation was ascribed to Marty Feldman's dislike of folk music. Rambling Syd Rumpo. |
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03 Jan 10 - 01:36 PM (#2802281) Subject: RE: BS: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley Many thanks for the link to the earlier thread - interesting stuff. And if anyone wants more info on Polari, ask away! |
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03 Jan 10 - 07:14 PM (#2802543) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Snuffy And another Rambling Syd thread |
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03 Jan 10 - 09:59 PM (#2802621) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: EnglishFolkfan I don't know if this linking is allowed on here but for those with a Spotify (online music site) account (either free with ads or paid ad free) you will find: The Very Best of Rambling Sid Rumpo Kenneth Williams 24 tracks http://open.spotify.com/album/7DdWCH7BIhDcdRvpAHI8EI Sadly I don't think Spotify is available in the US yet. On there you will find lots of the BBC musical stuff ~ oh and also Bert Weedon, Marty Feldman and lots more Kenneth Willams I grew up in a family where listening to BBC radio, especially the comedy shows (it was how I learnt about different kinds of humour) was part of our daily routine, Sunday teatime was 'Sing Something Simple' with the Cliff Adams Singers ...... and when we finally got a TV there was Robin Hall and Jimmy Mcgregor singing folk songs which was accepted by everyone we knew as 'normal', sometimes we kids would try singing them in the playground the next day. Right I''m off to brush up on some more black & white nostalgia ...... |
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04 Jan 10 - 03:34 AM (#2802764) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Dave Roberts EnglishFolkfan, I was interested in your mention of Robin Hall and Jimmy Mcgregor. You're right, they used to appear on the 'Tonight' programme presented by Cliff Michelmore ('the next Tonight will be tomorrow night...') and enjoyed by all. Most people of my generation will cite The Spinners and their ilk as their first introduction to folk music, but RH and JM were there first. Also on the same programme was Cy Grant, performing topical calypsos, an art form taken up a little later by Lance Percival. |
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04 Jan 10 - 04:29 AM (#2802782) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Hamish There's a lot of Syd (Rumpo) in Sid (Kipper). I have been known to sing the one about the Cordwangler. But not often. |
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04 Jan 10 - 05:25 AM (#2802806) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Bryn Pugh At risk of (slight ?) thread drift, how KW and Hugh Paddick got away with some of the Palare comments is beyond me. Still, I s'pose Palare wasn't generally well known - if known at all - outside the "gay demi-monde", so that "doing the dishes" would be lost on anyone not familiar with Palare. Interesting, I think, that 'goolis' is the polite word for 'em, in Romani. |
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04 Jan 10 - 06:15 AM (#2802826) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Smedley The most outrageous Polari gag they got away with was one about how well they could perform on a 'cottage upright'. |
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04 Jan 10 - 06:21 AM (#2802831) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Tim Leaning I know its been said but That man Williams was a genius and The world is better for having had him in it. |
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04 Jan 10 - 07:16 AM (#2802861) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Nigel Parsons Polari = The queens' english'! Cheers nigel |
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04 Jan 10 - 08:16 AM (#2802894) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Bryn Pugh Nigel - LOL ! |
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05 Jan 10 - 07:27 AM (#2803820) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: GUEST,Jon Dudley I think Ruth is partly right about Rambling Syd being a comment on material being produced with a trad. music base...although at that time although Bob Copper was involved in broadcasts he never made programmes per se. unlike MacColl, Kennedy, Lloyd and co. Bob always said that it was a lot to do with the BBCs inspired decision to instigate the collecting programme with himself, Peter Kennedy, Seamus Ennis and others and their being in and around BH and meeting regularly to present their latest 'finds'. There were many 'smell of the country' and much imaginary scraping of boots jokes by the likes of Gilbert Harding whenever the 'collectors' walked into one of the BBC pubs like The George or The Stag - so it was well discussed around the Corporation. This was rich material for people like the writer Barry Took and too good to miss for a regular slot on 'Round the Horne'. Polari too would have been quite common currency for those in the know at that time in London. |
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05 Jan 10 - 04:21 PM (#2804258) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: GUEST,Ebor.Fiddler And we sang the stuff in '60's Folk Clubs - I have at least one tape, for sale to any potential blackmailees of certain parishes! (See me after the lesson, boy!) |
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05 Jan 10 - 04:25 PM (#2804263) Subject: RE: Rambling Syd Rumpo From: Stringsinger Ramblin' Sandy Pinckney from the Mighty Wind. |