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Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection

DigiTrad:
ALICE WHITE
BREAD AND FISHES
FAIR STOOD THE WIND
WHEN FIRST WE MET
WINDMILL


Related threads:
Lyr/Chords: So Here's to You (Alan Bell) (28)
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Joe Offer 29 Jun 20 - 12:19 PM
Joe Offer 30 Jun 22 - 06:47 PM
Joe Offer 30 Jun 22 - 08:54 PM
Joe Offer 30 Jun 22 - 10:34 PM
Joe Offer 30 Jun 22 - 11:38 PM
Harry Rivers 01 Jul 22 - 12:51 AM
Joe Offer 01 Jul 22 - 01:16 AM
Joe Offer 01 Jul 22 - 01:17 AM
r.padgett 01 Jul 22 - 02:06 AM
Dave the Gnome 01 Jul 22 - 04:05 AM
Harry Rivers 01 Jul 22 - 05:20 AM
Harry Rivers 01 Jul 22 - 07:06 AM
Ross Campbell 02 Jul 22 - 09:33 AM
GUEST,henryp 04 Jul 22 - 01:06 AM
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Subject: ADD: Songs of Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Jun 20 - 12:19 PM

I've decided to study some albums I've been meaning to listen to. One of my favorites is Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection, but I really haven't taken the time to listen to all the songs.

You can listen to the entire album at Soundcloud (click) or YouTube

Here's the track listing. I'll make clickable links for songs that are not posted below.
  1. The Lakeland Fiddler
  2. Windmills
  3. The Minstrel
  4. Alice White
  5. Fair Stood The Wind
  6. The Band in The Park
  7. Song For Mardale
  8. The Ballad of The Working Man (Ballad of A Working Man??)
  9. The Dark Island
  10. Letters From Wilfred
  11. The Jacinta
  12. Spring Song
  13. A Sailor’s Sky
  14. Bread and Fishes
  15. In My Homeland
  16. So Here’s To You


Here's the blurb about the album from the Greentrax Website:
    On this album Alan, director of the Fylde Folk Festival, returns to his roots as a singer and, to meet many requests from around the world, Alan and his friends have re-recorded the most popular and requested songs written in his forty-year career as a songwriter.

    Alan Bell was born and bred on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire and started singing in a church school at the age of four years


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Subject: Lyr Add: The Lakeland Fiddler (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 22 - 06:47 PM

This was posted by Stu in a thread titled William Irwin, Lake District fiddler, but there were parts of Stu's transcription that I didn't agree with. This is what I hear. Please post any corrections, and I'll incorporate them here.

THE LAKELAND FIDDLER
(Alan Bell)

Well, I am a Lakeland fiddler
Bill Irwin is my name
And I live in Elterwater
Close by the Langdale lane
Ten hours a day I hew and toil
To earn my daily bread
But when my work time's over
I'll play my fiddle instead

CHORUS
So come all you dancing masters
Who call to the fiddler's tunes
Come lift your feet to the dancing beat
and step right round the room
And come all you lads and lasses
Throw all your cares away
Come sing a song as you pass along
And we'll dance the night away

When supper's on the table
with tattie pot to spare
The good brown ale keeps flowing
and banishes all care
And when the huntsmen gather
the choruses abound
They call on me to play a tune
And to help the jug go round

CHORUS

From Gosforth up to Keswick
From Keswick back to Shap
I've walked the lanes of Lakeland
With my fiddle and my cap
From Merry nights to dances
And balls at Christmas time
I'll play for happy couples
When wedding bells do chime

CHORUS

Well, I've heard the songs of Ireland
And the lilting harp of Wales
I've heard the English singers
Travelling through our dales
But the music of old Westmorland
Is the music I love best
So set to your partner form a square
And I will do the rest.

Alan A Bell
July 1986



Alan Bell recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lonVQUZGVkg

From Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection

Is "Lakeland" capitalized? How's my spelling on the other place names?


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Subject: ADD: The Minstrel (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 22 - 08:54 PM

From the Website of Tom Lewis https://www.tomlewis.net/lyrics/minstrel.htm

The Minstrel Song
Words & Music by Alan Bell - Tamlyn Music Limited
(Recorded by Tom Lewis on Demand Performance)

When I was a young lad and eager
For the footlights and fortune and fame,
I met an old trouper -- his name it was Sam --
And he taught me the rules of the game.
He showed me the ways of the theatre,
How always the show must go on.
I learned how to enter, to stand, take a bow,
Whenever I sang his song:

(Chorus:) Goodbye and adieu and farewell.
I've loved you but now I must leave you
With a smile and a song as we part.
The show's over. It's time to be gone.
But perhaps I will see you next year,
When I'll have some more tales to amuse you,
And many more tunes you will hear.
I'm a minstrel, a peddler of songs.

I've worked all the small country theatres,
And toured round the old music halls.
I've died in the first house on a wet Monday night,
But I've lived to take six curtain calls.
I've starved like a beggar on Broadway
And been broke down the Champs-Elysée.
But when the show's over and the curtain came down,
I could always smile and say: (Chorus)

*I've courted the girls in the chorus,
And lingered in many a late bar.
I've gazed up in awe at my name in bright lights.
To think I had become a star!
I once loved a beauty named Nancy
Whose loving was so sweet and strong,
But she wanted a house and some kids and a dog
So sadly I sang my song: (Chorus)

So I've spent all my life entertaining
And lived by the stage door routine.
I've had many chances, and missed quite a few.
I'm not yearning for what might have been.
Now many long years lie behind me,
And I hope there are still some to come,
When I stand on the stage with the house lights turned down,
As the audience sings my song: (Chorus)

*this verse is not on the Alan Bell recording.
Here's my transcription of the Alan Bell recording, which is just a bit different from the way Tom Lewis sings it.

THE MINSTREL
(Alan Bell)

When I was a young boy and eager
For the footlights and fortune and fame,
I met an old trouper -- his name it was Sam --
And he taught me the rules of the game.
Yes, he taught me the ways of the theatre,
How always the show must go on.
I learned how to enter, to stand, take a bow,
Whenever I sang his song:

CHORUS:
Goodbye and adieu and farewell.
I've loved you and now I must leave you
With a smile and a song as we part.
The show's over, it's time to be gone.
But perhaps I will see you next year,
And I'll have a new tale to amuse you,
And many more tunes you will hear.
I'm a minstrel, a peddler of songs.

I worked all the small country theatres,
And toured 'round the old music halls.
I died in the first house on a wet Monday night,
But lived to take six curtain calls.
I've starved like a beggar on Broadway
And rode broke down the Champs-Elysée.
But when the show closed and the curtain came down,
I could always smile and say: (Chorus)

So I've spent all my life entertaining
And lived by the stage door routine.
Though I've had many chances, and missed quite a few.
I'm not yearning for what might have been.
Now many long nights lie behind me,
And I hope there are still some to come,
When I stand on a stage with the house lights turned up,
As the audience sing my song: (Chorus)

Alan Bell Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpR3vyiu7sk


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Subject: DT Correction: Fair Stood the Wind (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 22 - 10:34 PM

I'm guessing the lyrics in the Digital Tradition come from the sing of Geoff Kaufman. I listened to the Alan Bell Recording and made the corrections shown in bold on the right side.

FAIR STOOD THE WIND (DT Lyrics)
(Alan Bell)

Now that the fishing is over
Now that the boats are all gone
Now that the quays are deserted
There's talk as to what can be done
For once we had herring aplenty
Once we had cod by the score
Once we had fish landings daily
ust as in the fisherman's song

cho: Fair stood the wind, for the old fishing ground
As we hoisted our sails once more outward bound
To hunt for the herring wherever they be
And take what we could from the bountiful sea
And home, once again with the swift flowing tide
With the harbor lights burning all on the port side
Our catch in the hold, our day's ;labor through
A share for the skipper, the boat and the crew

Farewell to the shoals of herring
Farewell to the long busy day
Farewell to the ones who remember
How to fish in the old fashioned way
For nowadays men of all nations
All gather to catch the seas dry
And they don't care about conservation
As they stand back and watch the seas die


Farewell to the far distant waters
Farewell to the nights and the storm
Farewell to the nights in the Minches
We're ashore and we'll never return
For now that the fishing is over
Now that the boats are all gone
Now that the quays are deserted
There's only the echoing sound
FAIR STOOD THE WIND (Bell Recording)
(Alan Bell)

Now that the fishing has ended
Now that the boats have all gone
And now that the quay is deserted
There's talk as to what can be done
For once we had fishing aplenty
Once we had cod by the score
Once we had fish landings daily
Just as in the fisherman's song

    CHORUS:
    Fair stood the wind, for the old fishing ground
    As we hoisted our sails once more outward bound
    To hunt for the herring wherever they be
    And take all we could from the plentiful sea
    Then home once again on the swift-flowing tide
    The harbor lights shining way on the port side
    Our catch in the hold, our day's labor through
    A share for the skipper, the boat and the crew

Gone are the shoals of herring,
Gone are those long busy days;
Gone are the men who remember
How to fish in the old fashioned ways
For fishermen now of all nations
All(?) gathered to fish the seas dry
For they don't care about conservation
As they did in the days long gone by.

Farewell to those far distant waters
Farewell to the ice and the storms
Farewell to the nights in the Minches (manches???)
We're ashore and we'll never return
For now that the fishing has ended
And now that the boats have all gone
And now that the quay is deserted
There is only the echoing song.



recorded on Geoff Kaufman's album Fair Stood the Wind
@sailor @fishing @sea
filename[ FRSTDWIND
SGL
APR99

Alan Bell recording from The Definitive Collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4hX25fVKyk


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Subject: ADD: The Band in the Park (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 22 - 11:38 PM

THE BAND IN THE PARK
(Alan Bell)

A young lad went courting one bright afternoon
So smart as he stepped into town;
His boots shone like glass and they creaked as he walked,
And he wore his flat (?) cap like a crown.
In a row of terraced (?) houses, each one swept so clean,
A young lass peeped through curtain lace;
When he turned 'round the corner, she reached for her coat,
A welcoming smile on her face.

CHORUS
For the band in the park played an old-fashioned waltz,
As they strolled through the gate hand in hand;
And they laughed and they chatted to the people they knew,
To the strains of their favorite brass band.
While the kids were so noisy as they swung on the swings,
Men played so quietly at balls;
Old ladies looked on, or just dozed in the sun,
As the band played an old-fashioned waltz.

When they were married, they soon settled down
To a life that suited them both well,
Though times were so hard, and money was scarce,
He did best as he could (with the world???).
Then came all the children, two boys and a girl,
He said they were the light of his life;
And for a treat on a Sunday, if the weather was fine,
He'd step out once more with his wife.
CHORUS - For the band...

Then came the war, he was soon called away
To fight for his country and king;
He fought through the desert, and Italy's rain (?),
And learnt as a soldier to sing.
Of "Lili Marlene" and "The White Cliffs of Dover,"
And all of his mates, "Bless 'Em All";
But when he was lonely, with the letters from home,
There was only one time he'd recall.
CHORUS - When the band...

When it was finished, he laid down his gun,
Six years of his life had passed by;
His kids didn't know him, a stranger to them,
But his wife was so happy she cried.
He soon set about him (?) to build a new life,
For that's what he'd fought for and won;
To watch o'er his children and give them a chance,
Yet as soon they had grown up and gone.
Now, too, he has passed on and his wife lives alone,
In the house where it started, so cold (?)
His boots shine like glass, for she cleans them (at stone??)
And his cap hangs behind the front door.
Her grandchildren cheer her whenever they call,
And she's happy to join in their games;
She keeps herself busy with the old people's club,
But somehow it's not quite the same.
CHORUS - When the band...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65t6a879NXE

If you can help me with corrections for these lyrics, please post in this thread (click)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Harry Rivers
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 12:51 AM

Joe,

I have a copy of "The Alan Bell Song Book", published by Tamlyn Music in 1970.

I don't have the time right now to transcribe all the songs but DM me if I can help with individual ones.

Harry


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Subject: Lyr Add: Song for Mardale (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 01:16 AM

Hi, Harry - That would be very helpful. I think I have only two songs left to do - "Song For Mardale" and "In My Homeland." I don't think I'll get to them tonight. It would be very helpful if you could check the lyrics I've posted and suggest any corrections that might be needed.
Here's "Song for Mardale, a work in progress.

SONG FOR MARDALE
(Alan Bell)

In the gold of the summer, when the sky was so blue,
I heard a few whispers, and I knew they were true;
Of waters receding, of rivers run dry,
Of an old dog returning to halt passers-by.
So, I walked into Mardale, that sad, lonely place,
As the wind from the mountain blew dust in my face.
After years in the dark and deep fathoms below,
The sun dried you out, oh, then put you on show.

CHORUS
Oh, Mardale, oh Mardale, you lie quiet and still,
Close in the shadows of high Lakeland hills;
You're lost in Haweswater, you're drowned in that dale,
You're only a ghost in a North Country tale.
Well, I stood on the bridge and I looked all around,
The dry walls still guarding the fields, bare and brown;
And close by the lane winding unto the bream (??)
The bones of the old club (?) could clearly be seen.

Was this the place that Joe (Baldwin???) once stood
And called to his hounds away in Meadow wood (??)
And was this the door where he'd sounded his horn,
To summon the hunt on a fine winter's morn? CHORUS

Well, the church was a ruin, a jungle of stone,
A jumble of timber and rock marked the homes;
The people once lived and worked all of their days,
The time long since past, and now washed clean away.

Well, I know all your stories, and I feel your shame,
And I look to the dark clouds and the soft (Boreton ??) rain;
And as the lake rises to a silvery sheen,
You'll disappear like you never have been. CHORUS


< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF4EVlmKF6Y

Mardale is a glacial valley in the Lake District, in northern England. The valley used to have a hamlet at its head, called Mardale Green, but this village was submerged in the late 1930s when the water level of the valley's lake, Haweswater, was raised to form Haweswater Reservoir by Manchester Corporation.

Need some help on this one. Post corrections below, I'll incorporate them into my transcription and then delete the message.


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Subject: ADD: In My Homeland (Alan Bell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 01:17 AM

This space is for "In My Homeland." If there are other Alan Bell songs people would like to post in this thread, please feel free to post them.
I'm really enjoying this project.

-Joe-


IN MY HOMELAND
(Alan Bell)

From the gold and sandy shore, to the wild and lonely morn (?)
Where standing stones are pointing to the sky;
By a clear and pleasant stream, I paused to drink and dream,
Of good days in my homeland, by and by.

CHORUS
In my homeland, you've walked with me,
You have seen how we have lived through history;
In my homeland, I've talked with you,
Of our hopes and all our fears, of the happiness and tears,
We have shared them all the years, as people do.

The farmer knows the worth of the ploughed and turning earth,
For he sowed (??) and reaped to bring the harvest home;
While the shepherd in the hills, with his dogs close by his heels,
Tends sheep as they wander and they roam. CHORUS

Through the valleys o'er the plain, the river flushed with rain,
Goes on the meet the surging sea and tide;
Where the fishing boats and men put out to hunt again,
To catch the fish and feed the nation wide. CHORUS

You have listened to my tales, so we'll share some good, real ale,
We have reminisced to share a joke and smile;
Now I'll never feel forlorn in this place where I was born,
I'll be happy in my homeland all the while. CHORUS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lNKAa-PA8o


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: r.padgett
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 02:06 AM

Alan did write a song regarding the Morecambe bay cockle fishers who died

Ray


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 04:05 AM

As an aside I was at Fylde Festival one year when there was a big celebration for Alan. Possibly a significant birthday but I can't recall which. Anyway, lots of artists performed his own songs for him. Stanley Accrington, in his inimitable style, did a parody of "Bread and Fishes" but the only bit I remember was "We have chips and fishes and a glass of Vimto, to share on our journey wherever we go". I do remember Alan, who I was sat near, was crying laughing at the end :-)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Harry Rivers
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 05:20 AM

First, a correction to my post above:

Alan Bell Song Book was published in 1989 (NOT 1970!)

A Song for Mardale

2nd verse:

So, I stood on the bridge and I looked all around,
The dry walls still guarded, the fields bare and brown,
And close by the lane wandering on through the green,
The bones of the Dun Bull could clearly be seen.

Was this the place that Joe Bowman once stood
And called to his hounds away in Naddle Wood
Was this the door where he'd sounded his horn,
To summon the Hunt on a fine winter's morn?

3rd Verse:

The church was a ruin of dirty grey stone,
A jumble of timber and rock marked the homes;
Where the people once lived and worked all of their days,
The time long since passed, and now washed clean away.

Well, I know all your stories, and I feel your shame,
So I look to the dark clouds and the soft Autumn rain;
And as the lake rises to a silvery sheen,
You'll disappear like you never had been.


In his introduction, Alan Bell writes:

"The Lakeland valley of Mardale was flooded in 1939-1940, to become a reservoir called Haweswater. All the buildings, including several farms, the church, and the Old Dun Bull Hotel, were raised (sic) to the ground. However, the bridge over the beck was left standing, as were the dry stone walls dividing the fields. In the Summer of 1984, the waters receded and the hot sun dried out the mud to reveal the bridge and the dry stone walls intact. Grey piles of stones marked the church and the Dun Bull Hotel. armed with maps and photographs of what the valley of Mardale looked like, I wandered the valley. A sad place full of ghosts and a time lost"


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Harry Rivers
Date: 01 Jul 22 - 07:06 AM

Here's a list of the songs in the Alan Bell Song Book:

Alice White
Ballad of a Working Man
Band in the Park, The
Boy and the Dream, The
Bread & Fishes
Christian Man, The
Christina's Songs
Concertina Man, The
Fair Stood the Wind
Gypsy Lad, The
Isle of Iona
Key Above the Door, The
Lakeland Fiddler, The
Marching
Song for Mardale, A
Minstrel, The
Morning Sun
Sailor's Hymn, A
Sailor's Sky, A
So Here's to You
Spring Song
Trade Winds
Two Thousand Years Ago
Weavers Song, The
Windmills


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 02 Jul 22 - 09:33 AM

Re Mardale huntsman - as Harry Rivers pointed out above, the man in question was Joe Bowman. More references here -

http://lakelandhuntingmemories.com/MardaleSongsNew.html

Ross


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Alan Bell: The Definitive Collection
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 04 Jul 22 - 01:06 AM

Corrections; IN MY HOMELAND (Alan Bell)

From the gold and sandy shore, to the wild and lonely MOOR
Where standing stones are pointing to the sky;
By a clear and pleasant stream, I paused to drink and dream,
Of good days in my homeland, by and by.

CHORUS
In my homeland, you've walked with me,
You have seen how we have lived through history;
In my homeland, I've talked with you,
Of our hopes and all our fears, of the happiness and tears,
We have shared them all the years, as people do.

The farmer knows the worth of the PLOUGHMAN turning earth,
For HE'LL SOW AND REAP to bring the harvest home;
While the shepherd in the hills, with his dogs close by his heels,
Tends sheep as they wander and they roam. CHORUS

Through the valleys o'er the plain, the river flushed with rain,
ROLLS on to meet the surging sea and tide;
Where the fishing boats and men put out to hunt again,
To catch the fish and feed the nation wide. CHORUS

You have listened to my tales, so we'll share some good real ale,
We have reminisced to share a joke and smile;
Now I'll never feel forlorn in this place where I was born,
I'll be happy in my homeland all the while. CHORUS

Noted from Alan Bell The Definitive Collection

Corrections THE BAND IN THE PARK (Alan Bell)

A young lad went courting one bright afternoon
So smart as he stepped into town;
His boots shone like glass and they creaked as he walked,
And he wore his flat cap like a crown.
In a row of terraced houses, each FRONT STEP so clean,
A young lass peeped through curtain lace;
When he turned 'round the corner, she reached for her coat,
A welcoming smile on her face.

CHORUS
For the band in the park played an old-fashioned waltz,
As they strolled through the GATES hand in hand;
And they laughed and they chatted TO the people they knew,
To the strains of their favoUrite brass band.
While the kids were so noisy as they swung on the swings,
Men played so quietly at BOWLS;
Old ladies looked on, or just dozed in the sun,
As the band played an old-fashioned waltz.

When they were married, they soon settled down
To a life that suited them both well,
Though times were so hard, and money was scarce,
He did best as he could with A WILL.
Then came all the children, two boys and a girl,
He said they were the light of his life;
And for a treat on a Sunday, if the weather was fine,
He'd step out once more with his wife.
CHORUS - For the band...

Then came the war, he was soon called away
To fight for his country and king;
He fought through the desert, and Italy's rain,
And learnt as a soldier to sing.
Of "Lili Marlene" and "The White Cliffs of Dover,"
And all of his mates, "Bless 'Em All";
But when he was lonely, with the letters from home,
There was only one time he'd recall.
CHORUS - When the band...

When it was finished, he laid down his gun,
Six years of his life had passed by;
His kids didn't know him, a stranger to them,
But his wife was so happy she cried.
He soon set about him to build a new life,
For that's what he'd fought for and won;
To watch o'er his children and give them a chance,
Yet as soon they had grown up and gone.
Now, too, he has passed on and his wife lives alone,
In the house where THEY'D started so POOR
His boots shine like glass, for she cleans them UP STILL
And his cap hangs behind the front door.
Her grandchildren cheer her whenever they call,
FOR she's happy to join in their games;
She keeps herself busy with the old people's club,
But somehow it's not quite the same.
CHORUS - When the band...

Noted from Alan Bell The Definitive Collection
Alan Bell The Minstrel has slightly different words


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