Hoot,
Not heard the story of Ewan's fight with Davenport at the Horshoes, but I have a wonderful recording of the one at The John Snow some time in the mid-sixties - I wonder if this is the one the Cap'n is referring to. Perhaps the two are not unrelated.
Ewan and Bert had organised an open forum on the state of the clubs in Britain; Bert, Alex Campbell and Bob Davenport were asked to give short assessments of their experiences and opinions, then the discussion would be thrown open to the floor; MacColl made no statement but was to chair the proceedings.
Bert gave a historical analysis of folksong and the revival, a little scholarly and middle-of-the-road, but that was Bert.
Campbell, a little the worse for wear, opened with how he "loved the auld folk" and complained bitterly about "young singers who hadn't been on the scene five minutes" being booked in preference to him at equal, and even higher fees.
Davenport, it seemed to me, set out to prove that folk song didn't exist and went on at length about how working people's music was art with a small 'a' and not Art with a capital 'A'.
There followed a fairly lively discussion which was interrupted continuously by Davenport cutting across the speakers from the floor, despite Ewan's (fairly restrained, I thought) attempts to shut him up.
Ewan, as chairman, then began to sum up what had been said, constantly and increasingly interrupted by Davenport's attempts to talk him down.
It becomes a little difficult to hear the last five minutes of the proceedings, but at one point Davenport shouted "Jeannie Robertson's a terrible singer", followed by loud protests, sounds of scuffling and furniture being moved! I understand that Ewan and Davenport went for each other - I wasn't there but, as I said, I do have the recording.
I make the point about Davenport in relation to accusations that Ewan was "unapproachable and aloof" - I never found him anything but friendly, helpful and ready to listen, (a little reticent with subjects out of his comfort zone perhaps).
On the other hand I found Davenport, one of Ewan's bitterest critics, ill mannered, aggressive and unhelpful.
Our last encounter with him was at the Musical Traditions club in London about a dozen years ago when we had gone along to hear two Irish women singers. One, an Irish speaker from the Aran Isles, made a point of giving brief translations of her Gaelic songs, during which Davenport, sitting in the row behind us, spoke loudly and pointedly across what she was saying, until it reached the point where Pat turned around and asked him to shut up.
His reply; "I thought we'd left this shite behind us in the sixties; I came here to listen to singing, not talk".
Several people came over and thanked Pat for her intervention, at the end of the evening.
"And Jim: lighten up..."
Sorry Mike - that was me being 'light' I'm afraid. I'm far more interested in why Brian chose not to pass on his song than I was the 4d.
Despite the shit heaped on them, I never saw either Ewan or Peggy refuse to pass on one of their songs.
I was hoping somebody would take up Vic's story of the Elliots; far nearer what Ewan was about than hot-blooded youthful fistcuffs IMO.
Jim Carroll