Ah, how I remember...! One May evening in 1969 a nervous seventeen-year-old (me!) took his guitar and his girlfriend and his best friend and his girlfriend (for moral suport) to the Songsmiths' Folk Club at the Fitter's Arms in Walsall. I sang "I love you"* by the Goons, and followed it with "Draft-dodger Rag" by Phil Ochs (with a ready-made introductory story - Phil's first gig when he came to the UK was at the Songsmiths'). After a couple of bars, it was obvious I couldn't sing out in the key I'd pitched it at (C, probably), and I started again in G, transposing the chords as I went along. I climbed down from the stage a nervous wreck - but I was hooked!

And I learned a valuable lesson: always practice loud!

*The words:
I love you,
Oh yes I do.
I love your brother,
And your sister Sue. I love your Pa,
And your dear cousin Lou,
But most of all my darling,
I love ... your brother!