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28 Apr 05 - 06:19 AM (#1473015) Subject: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: rich-joy Just found an old LP record entitled "Folk Concert Down Under" circa 1965/66 on HMV - showcasing EnZed Folkies. I found it in an Op-Shop (i.e. Charity / Thrift Shop) in Perth, Western Australia (yes, a few miles from NZ!). Performers are : Val Murphy, Rod MacKinnon, Don Toms, Don King, Dave Whaley, Dave Corn, The Festival Singers : Arthur Toms/Mike Burch/Helen Macky/Bill Cater, John, Geoff & Linda : John Lander/Geoff Hargreaves/Linda Sacklin. It seems that the artists usually performed at Wellington's "Monde Marie" coffee house. The 18 tracks are : I'll Build Me A Road / Brown Bread / New Zealand Whales / The Nightingale / By the Banks of the Roses / Three Jolly Rogues / Freedom Calling / The Last Thing on My Mind / Hard Rain / Sail Away Ladies / Turn Turn Turn / Flash Jack from Gundagai / Shanties By the Way / Mighty Day / Van Dieman's Land / The Bonny Labouring Boy / Erev Shel Schoshanim / There's a Meetin' Here Tonight /// Haven't had a chance to listen yet ... wonderfully dated photos! Little Robyn or other Kiwi Catters : are any of these chaps still around the traps???!!! Cheers! R-J |
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28 Apr 05 - 07:23 AM (#1473025) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Hi R-J The only one still in the folk scene is Arthur Toms and he doesn't perform very often. His dad, Don, died years ago. We tried to coax Val and Rod to come to last years Wellington Folk Festival (the 40th anniversary) but they didn't show. They haven't performed publicly for years. Don King turned up but didn't sing anything. I think Dave Corn and Dave Whaley went overseas and I haven't a clue where the others got to. The Monde Marie used to be owned by Mary Seddon, granddaughter of 'King Dick' Richard Seddon, who was NZ's prime minister about 100 years ago, but the Monde was closed in the early 70s and Mary died a few years back. I believe the recording was made at a concert in 1965 but many of the singers were also on a TV programme called 'There is a meeting here tonight' the following year. I wonder how the record got to Perth? Mike Stanley shifted there about 20 - 25 years ago. Maybe he took a copy with him? Do you know Mike? He's a great shanty man! Cheers, Robyn |
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28 Apr 05 - 07:49 AM (#1473039) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: matai Actually Rod has. He's been in a jazz/blues/originals band in Auckland until quite recently. Maybe he still is. I saw them a few times at the Gables in the late nineties. |
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28 Apr 05 - 09:13 AM (#1473097) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: rich-joy No Robyn, I don't know Mike - I was only back in Perth to visit Rellies (I'm a Quoinslander now!). Is he in "Fo'c'sle Firkins" ?? (I've met a few of them!) or maybe he's a member of the International Shanty & Seasong Association that I just heard about, run from W.A. ?? My new record has the name of (maybe) "N. Humphrey" written on it ... Cheers! R-J |
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28 Apr 05 - 03:45 PM (#1473502) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn I don't know what Mike has done since leaving here - he may have joined those groups or he may have moved on - someone said he returned to Britain tho' that might have just been a holiday. We've been trying to place anyone named N.Humphrey but there was no-one of that name in our circle of singers/friends. There were lots of students in the Wellington Folk scene back then and crowds at the concerts. The records were sold throughout the country as well so it could have been bought anywhere. Matai, I'm pleased to hear that Rod is still performing, even if it's not folk. I haven't seen him since the mid 60s. Robyn |
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28 Apr 05 - 08:20 PM (#1473796) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Bob Bolton G'day rich-joy, Last year I bought a book + CD set An Ordinary Bloke, songs of Kiwi singer/songwriter Peter Cape ... and this includes his song about the Monde Marie coffee shop in the '50s/'60s. If the thought survives past the great phase change of leaving work and going home ... I'll remember to scan in the words and post them in this thread ... just to sketch in a bit more background. Regards, Bob |
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28 Apr 05 - 09:56 PM (#1473840) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: jacko@nz Gidday Robyn, I'm sure it's your Dave Whaley that's alive, well and still singing the odd song here in Hamilton Cheers Jack |
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29 Apr 05 - 03:37 AM (#1473995) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn I hope so Jack. Now where did David James get to? Cheers, Robyn |
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30 Apr 05 - 04:48 AM (#1474821) Subject: Lyr Add: THE MONDE MARIE (Peter Cape, New Zealand) From: Bob Bolton G'day again, I said I would post the words to Peter Cape's song Monde Marie - about the coffee shop mentioned in Little Robyn's post of 28 Apr 05 - 07:23 AM ... so here they are: Monde Marie Words & Music: Peter Cape The gramophone's playing lieder; The radio's blaring jazz. There's a brass band outside with its valves open wide In a hell of a razzamatazz. In the flat down below there's a 'cello; Above there's a whole symphony, So I'm off for a night Of the music I like Down at the Monde Marie. You can blow 'til you've cracks in your cornet; You can boomph your bassoon 'til it busts. You can saw at your Strad 'til the catgut goes bad And your manuscript moulders to dust. But don't think I'm a sucker for silence; There's no scrap of the Trappist in me. Far better than quiet to me is a diet Of song à la Monde Marie. So keep your violas di Gamba Your clavichords, rebecks and lutes. Likewise your saxophones, bongos and slide-trombones, Flageolets, fipples and flutes. What I want is the sound of Segovia, An Ives or a Clauson-to-be And to hear them, my choice is the guitars and the voices I find at the Monde Marie. From An Ordinary Joker - the life and songs of Peter Cape, Roger Steele, Steele Roberts, Aotearoa New Zealand. Sung on the accompanying CD, of the same name, by Arthur Toms. Regards., Bob |
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30 Apr 05 - 05:15 AM (#1474832) Subject: Lyr Add: COFFEE BAR BLUES (Peter Cape, New Zealand From: Bob Bolton Hmmm... Come to think of it, I should also add another of Peter Cape's songs that may well have been penned in (or about) Monde Marie (this one sung by Peter, himself): Coffee-bar Blues Words & Music: Peter Cape I sit and watch my baby work a coffee machine Drinkin' café negro 'til my face turns green I want to hold my baby but the counter's in between I got the low-light coffee-bar blues Cappuccino, café negro - all the whole night through Cappuccino, café negro - What's a man to do? My baby sells me coffee But that's all she'll do Last night I saw my baby in a lovely dream Stretch her tender arms out through a cloud of steam Reaching for the handle of her café creme! I got the low-light coffee-bar blues Cappuccino, café negro - all the whole night through Cappuccino, café negro - What's a man to do? My baby sells me coffee But that's all she'll do My baby puts her apron on at half past ten Pulls espressos until two, and then takes it off again Is it love that keeps me wakeful, or just caffeine? I got the low-light coffee-bar blues Cappuccino, café negro - all the whole night through Cappuccino, café negro - What's a man to do? My baby sells me coffee But that's all she'll do I been looking at my baby now for half a year The coffee I've been drinking's got me feeling queer If baby doesn't love me soon I'll switch to beer I got those low-light coffee-bar blues Cappuccino, café negro, café latté, and more With chocolate, and cinnamon, and froth to the floor Long black, short black, two flat whites I got the low-light coffee-bar blues From An Ordinary Joker - the life and songs of Peter Cape, Roger Steele, Steele Roberts, Aotearoa New Zealand. Sung on the accompanying CD, of the same name, by Peter Cape. Regard(les)s, Bob |
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30 Apr 05 - 09:05 AM (#1474927) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn We think the coffee bar in the Coffee Bar Blues was actually the Green Parrot which was situated on the corner of Wakefield Street and Taranaki Street. The Monde was up Roxburgh Street, just off Majoribanks Street, about half a kilometer away. But neither of them exist today. Robyn |
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05 May 05 - 07:09 PM (#1479014) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,Ricky Hi Robyn, I have just "stumbled" over your discussion (and the Mudcat site) and thought I'd respond. I would say that Peter Capes song could be about any coffee shop/cafe in Wellington other than the Monde Marie or (it's competitor across the road) theChez Paree. I say this because I for a number of years not only attended both places during the early folk-scene but worked there ... and the coffee was made using the Cona systems. Peter's song about short-black, flat-white, steam, espresso machine, etc simply did not exist at these two coffee houses. Re the folk scene, it is amazing after all these years to read about the many friends and names I remember from those times. I'm not sure if I was one of the founding signataries of the Wellington Folk Club but for a time served as its magazine editor, and managed some of the first "folk festivals". I wonder who now owns my Epiphone guitar? Rod McKinnon used it for his stage and recording appearances. Suddenly, I feel very old ... ha ha ha. Please feel free to respond to my e-mail address as I'm not sure I can find my way back to this discussion forum. Regards, Ricky Berg (ricky_nz@compuserve.com) |
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07 May 05 - 02:24 AM (#1479865) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,arthur It's nice to be remebered, Robyn, and I'm glad somebody noticed the Monde Marie song... actually it's not Pere Cape's tune; it just seemed to me to fit the "Eton Boating Song" both in structure and heneral pomposity (albeit tongue-in-chek) so I put it to that. Cheers Arthur |
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07 May 05 - 04:40 AM (#1479899) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Hi Arthur, Do you remember anyone named N. Humphrey? Have you met up with Dave Whaley in recent times? And do you have any idea where David James or Mike Stanley are these days? Mitch says 'Hi!" Robyn |
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08 May 05 - 02:55 AM (#1480380) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,arthur I believe Mike Stanley wound up singing shanties for very comfortable amounts of money in California, after a stay in Australia. David James I last heard of at Northland Polytech (I last saw Jean in Nelson, independently), but that was some years ago. And Dave Whaley became a school inspector, which puts it a few years back, and I believe he was based in Hamilton. Could be wrong, mind you... N Humphrey doesn't ring too many bells, but there's a faint tinkle that suggests Nola or something. I was fairly sure there weren't as many typos in my last posting when it left me, but it wound up looking a bit incoherent! And HI! from Greymouth to both you and Mitch (and anybody else reading this!)- my new partner Christine and I have made very pleasant contact with Read and Kay Hudson and are working on getting some music together. Cheers Arthur |
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19 Jul 07 - 07:35 PM (#2107232) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,George Had to reply :-) Dave Whaley is in Hamilton and retired. The Green Parrot was more a restaurant than a coffee bar and frequented by taxi drivers. It's where they put rank and taxi together :-) There is a list somewhere of the guests and organisers at the first Wellington folk Festival. That will take us all back. |
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03 May 10 - 04:25 AM (#2899004) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,Murray Kilpatrick Hi Robyn, Mitch and Authur. It seems silly going this round about way to pass on info. Jean James I believe lives on the Kapiti Coast, when she is not traveling to far off lands, helping people less fortunate than ourselves. Helen Dury ( Aviss) is in close contact with her. We are hoping she will come to our PKB club some time soon. I heard David James talking on the national radio about a year ago. Hard to mistake his voice. I've heard that he is just up country a little way. Had a meal with Mike and Ellie about for years ago, at one of their friend's homes in Paramata Wellington. I think My sister Jenny has visited them since then in Perth. He is working and singing on a tall ship over there. Not within the folk scene though. Are you guys going to the Monde Marie reunion? |
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03 May 10 - 07:40 AM (#2899067) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Hi Murray and Julie, Not sure about the Monde, tho' we'd like to go. It depends on a few things. Robyn |
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10 Jun 10 - 04:24 PM (#2924911) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn The Monde Marie Reunion is this weekend!!! Mitch is packing the car and I'm finishing breakfast. We'll be away for a few days, catching up with family and friends and singing all the old songs. The Monde Marie site is there. Have a look around some of the ancient photos - and the newer versions of the now ancient folkies. See you when we get back. Bye, Robyn |
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11 Jun 10 - 07:27 AM (#2925342) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Mr Red Still sing the Peter Cape song - Tamaranui in UK folk clubs. Met his son Chris (actor & singer). Nice to see the Wellington Festival is still going, I was on the committee for one year - Martin Carthy was on the bill, was that 1987?. Thanks Murray for "Bright Fine Gold" - I still sing it when appropriate in clubs. ANZAC day or I hear an accent from GodZone. |
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13 Jun 10 - 03:26 AM (#2926615) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn We've just arrived home and it was a wonderful weekend, meeting up with people we haven't seen for about 40 years. Some of them were barely recognisable, until they started singing! And Mitch sang a couple of his songs from back then (with a little help from me). Now back to reality. Robyn |
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20 Jun 10 - 08:59 PM (#2931723) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,Julie Does anyone have the chords to COffee Bar Blues? |
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12 Oct 10 - 12:31 PM (#3005283) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST Hi I am Linda Sacklin of John Geoff and Linda..is there anybody out there |
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12 Oct 10 - 12:46 PM (#3005296) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: maeve Welcome to Mudcat, Linda. I expect some of the original posters to this thread will wander by soon. Maeve |
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12 Oct 10 - 02:47 PM (#3005383) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Hi Linda, welcome to Mudcat. A few of us are still around from those days. I was in the Training Col folk club when Geoff was there and we saw him again recently - at the Monde Marie reunion. There are some photos if you click here. If you check out the Kiwifolk site you'll find some of us and we keep in touch via email. We've recently lost two singers from the early days - Joan Prior died last month and then Jim Delahunty a couple of weeks back. Joan was at the Monde reunion and there are some photos of her there. Mitch, my husband, played his guitar for her to sing because her hands were too stiff. You may remember Mitch Park, or Steve Robinson - he hasn't changed much but several of the other young blokes from the 60s are much larger than they had been and their hair was missing. And several have moved to Australia. Where do you live now and are you still singing? Your post was about 2 hours back so either you're a very early riser or you're in some other part of the world. I have to get ready for work now so call again later. Robyn |
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13 Oct 10 - 02:39 PM (#3006234) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Helloooo Linda. Yooo hoooo. We're over here. Where aaaare yoooou? There's a folk festival in Wellington in just over a week if you're anywhere near. Have a look here. Cheers, Robyn |
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14 Oct 10 - 02:57 PM (#3007026) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Little Robyn Refresh |
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26 Feb 11 - 08:24 PM (#3103316) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,Lynne Bob, I have a "funny feeling" that at one stage Monde Marie was otherwise named Chez Marie? Yes? No? |
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26 Feb 11 - 08:33 PM (#3103319) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,Lynne Nope! Monde Marie AND Chez Paree! And Thanks, Bob, for Coffee Bar Blues lyrics - been dribinf offsping nuts for years,on;y able to sing ad their nauseum the choris! |
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26 Feb 11 - 08:37 PM (#3103321) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: GUEST,correction (hard to read fine text box font) ... been driving offspring nuts for years,only able ... |
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13 Apr 11 - 08:57 PM (#3134750) Subject: RE: Early New Zealand Folk Recording From: Bob Bolton G'day GUEST,Lynne, I'm glad you enjoyed the words I scanned from An Ordinary Joker - the life and songs of Peter Cape. There are great resonances between New Zealand and Australian songs and traditions. I noted, back when I was compiling my Singabout - Selected Reprints books, some years back that the social notes in the Bush Music Club (Sydney) Singabout magazine, back in the late 1950s / early 1960s, often listed "record nights" at the home of some member or other ... and a "Peter Cape Night" turned up more than once! I suppose that his song most widely copied / re-worked / carried off into the bush of Australia was She'll Be Right (indeed, I have composed a stanza of that myself ... commemorating odd happenings related to BMC group "busking" back in the late 1970s!) Over the years, I seem to remember at least 3 or 4 various parody / rewrite / blatant rip-off songs that unapologetically lifted most of Peter's tune / structure / general format. Regards, Bob |