Parking was a piece of cake this time around. There was an open space right across from the front door of the Press Room when we arrived at 3:29 pm.

There was already a small pack of Mudcatters holding down the tables in the corner, underneath the huge blow-up mural of the New York Times proclaiming The End of Prohibition! Everyone likes the corner as a place to sing from.

CET, Bat Goddess, Curmudgeon, Brían, Jeri, Barry, and myself were all there as Mudcatters. Other regulars included Ramona, Erin, Barbara, Bruce, and I'm blanking on at least 3 others. My wife Judy put in an appearance, after plundering the neighboring shops, with a spirited rendition of "Willie Went to Sea," slowing it down to half speed so that its breathless chorus could be better assimulated, and the crowd rose to the challenge. Brían's doing fine with his ballads, picking the right key to bring them to life with his rich baritone voice. It was nice to hear the C. Fox Smith song of the "Race with the Robin Adair" developing so nicely as sung by Bat Goddess. And Jeri and Barbara did another fine redition of the haunting "Molymauk." Erin did a fast-paced singing of "Barret's Privateers" which I came close to sabotaging with a plastic bottle of ketchup when it came to the line "Barret was smashed like a bowl of eggs" but I managed to resist smashing it to the table top...barely. Tom did my favorite version of "Paddy West" but, alas, the was no bucket within reach when that crucial verse came round. Linn also did a classic version of "Doodle Let Me Go (Yeller Gals)," another of my favorite songs. Bruce favored us with the comic song "Bold Fisherman" with all the wonderful patter in between the verses. Rachel(?) lead "Young Edmund of the Lowlands Low" which is another dark song about the landlord's daughter's returning sailor lover who is done in by her cruel father. Who was it who was singing the calypso songs? Was it Barry who first led "Blood Red Roses"? I sang "Alabama John Cherokee" as learned from Brett, and the chorus was pretty much well-behaved. Tom wound everything up with "Leave Her, Johney, Leave Her" which made its way round the table with traditional and a few untraditional verses.

You know in four hours, you get to sing and hear a lot of songs. I think we had at least six revolutions of the song circle. I was able to dredge up several songs that I ordinarily don't get a chance to sing, and launch a couple of new ones.

Mark, I'm gonna miss you in August, being off at the Lunenburg Folk Harbor Festival, but I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome, and a deep appreciation for your traditional nautical repertoire.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble