The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119805   Message #3034968
Posted By: Mike Yates
18-Nov-10 - 05:30 AM
Thread Name: Singers and songs which stunned me .
Subject: RE: Singers and songs which stunned me .
Two singing memories stand out for me. The first was being taken by Fred Jordan to a pub in Ludlow to hear the gypsy singer May Bradley. It was a busy Saturday night, with a lot of singing, but then May was asked to sing and she gave us "The Leaves of Life". Talk about a spine-tingling moment! It was incredible. The second was also in a pub, this time in Suffolk. Again, there was quite a bit of singing going on and, during a lull, Fred Whiting began to sing his poaching song "Who Owns the Game?". To say that I was knocked out is, if anything, an understatement.

One final memory. This time from a singer, though not about singing. I was in Virginia at a place called Fancy Gap and was talking to the singer Dan Tate. Dan started talking about "the war" and people he knew who had fought there. I thought that he was talking about the 1st World War, but then he mentioned the battle of Shiloh and I realised that Dan was talking about people he had known who had fought in the American Civil War.I just could not believe that I was talking to a man who had known people who had fought in that war. I still shake my head in wonderment when I recall that conversation!