Why aren't the Corries taken seriously

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Tam the man
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 03:23 PM

I like the yetties, I just wonder what happenedto them.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,punkfolrocker
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 01:44 PM

anyway.. what about 'The Yetties' ??

i have the vaguest of memories of them always being on the tv
back when i was a boy no taller than a cider barrel..


were they ever respected and taken seriou by 'real' folkies..????

is it now worth risking a few quid on a compilation CD
to hear what they sounded like..?

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Tam the man
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 12:21 PM

I wonder Colin stewart is doing now, not much

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Tam the man
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 12:36 PM

As I said if it wasn't for the corries/dubliners/spinners/clancy brothers and tommy makem you never have got Paul Brady Colin

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,andymac
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 09:57 AM

I am very much someone who was introduced to folk music by the Corries and Ewan McColl and then Dick Gaughan too: and glad of all I have learned from each of them.
I heard the Dubliners on vinyl and thought they sounded a bit plastic at the time but I've revised that as I have learned more about them and their sources.
Luke Kelly's version of "Tramps and Hawkers" is one of the best I've ever heard but then again the best, in my opinion, I ever heard was a man called Archie Frame sing it in a session in Killin one year. He put everything into it. Never heard of him? My point is just that, who needs "stars"?

Similarly, there is an oft repeated comment about commerciality abd the assumed lack of integrity it involves. I have no issue with comerciality if it leads people into folk music too- it shouldn't be a one way street; although I'm aware that it can create a distance between the "stars" and the audience. I prefer smaller gatherings with more intimacy and less of a division between those who perform and those who "just listen".

However, I would finish this meandering nonsense by pointing out one of my fondest memories of just how blurred the lines really are between the comercial singers/singer-songwriters/adaptive artists ets and what some would refer to as the "purists" (aka folk police, snobs etc...of which I have been accused of membership on more than one occasion).

Anyway.. John Watt, (if you don't know him; he's a singer from Fife-wrote the "Keltie Clippy" and "Pittenweem Jo" and is known for comic songs mostly) at the Auchtermuchty Festival a few years ago..

In a session he sang "The Kielder Hunt" and it literally (not metaphorically) made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up... I knew that John had known Willie Scott the great Border singer very well. I could hear Willie in the singing, I could hear the respect, the depth of tradition that was in the song. I defy anyone to tell me that that wasn't traditional singing in the most "purist" sense of the word...

In which case, whose definitions are these and are they that important after all? As long as we enjoy the songs/tunes and singers/instrumentalists and are as passionate about it as this thread has been.


andymac

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 08:36 AM

Floo'er O Scotlnd

need I say more?

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Tam the man
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 08:30 AM

What about the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem with their aranknits ans if they were real they would be stinking well smeely at least.

Wild rover no more

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Tam the man
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 07:20 AM

how many of the groups that you mentioned Colin have written a unoffical anthem for Scotland or Ireland I'll tell you none.

So don't rubbish the Corries, I heard Paul Brady I thought what a load of crap, if it wasn't for the corries or the dubliners or the spinners, Paul brady prberly wouldn't be in the folk music business and neither would any of the other 'folk group's' that you mentioned.

Tam

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 07 Aug 05 - 12:54 AM

The Corries were very very good, both good singers and talented instrumentalists................just a pity about the feckin awful naff clothes they wore, what was that all about ?

eric

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 Aug 05 - 12:51 AM

It is very nice to see I can start a thread that has legs.

Don

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Aug 05 - 11:28 PM

a lot or the embarrasing cringing grown up culture shite i hated back in the 60's and 70's..

i've now grown up and matured enough to seriously love and appreciate now i'm knocking on 50..

.. so is it also time for a revisionist reappraisal
of Fred Wedlock

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Aug 05 - 09:17 PM

I've just been reading all these comments and felt obliged to add my bit.
I was just looking up the chords and lyrics to some old Corries songs and came across this site.
I heard the Corries sing Shoals of Herring and Hills of Ardmorn on an old radio about an hundred years ago and haven't been able to get the sound out of my head since then. I've done a lot of searching over time and have just resorted to the internet to get the real words... I copied the ones I have by playing an old tape over and over until I caught the words. I found the chords myself. Let me just say that for me hearing the Corries' beautiful harmony's and the passion they put into their music grabbed me all those years ago and I've just never forgotten it. That's all. Eva, Bowen Island.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Folkiedave
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 07:21 PM

I lived in the Borders of Scotland in the early 70's and they came around doing the small halls - Galashiels was one. They were magic and deserve every accolade.

Dave Eyre

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 01:30 PM

Every country had their own version of the Corries (or rather of the Corrie Folk Trio).

Ireland had the Clancy Brothers, America had the Kingston Trio, England had the Spinners, and Australia had Rolf Harris.

All good stuff and all contributing to the cause ...

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Betsy
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 01:12 PM

They were - of their own time - to put Folk on the TV in the 60's they were probably required by producers etc. to project themselves in a diffrent way than they would on an ordinary stage . Selling the idea of Folk on TV must have been difficult when you had the likes of Jinmmy Shand / Andy Stewart etc.
Let 'em be , as much as I have come to dislike the song ,they carved their name in Scottish culture with Flower of Scotland - watch the next big Scottish sporting occasion - they'll all be singing it. My dislike is mostly driven by having heard it sang halfway through by inebriated Scots who either didn't know or had forgotten all the words.
There is certainly no criticism of the Writer/Performers of the song .
They have made an invaluable contribution to Scottish and to British music and don't deserve a hard time.
Release of their records - doubled the repetoire of many a floor singer.
I write as a true blooded Englishman who takes and took the Corries seriously and takes his hat off to them.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Blissfully Ignorant
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 12:06 AM

I know why they're not taken seriously in Scotland anyway- it's the Scottish cringe. We hear The Corries singing about patriotism and saying 'ken' and 'och aye' and whilst one part of us goes, 'YAY!, another parts shudders and think, ' oh for f***s sake, tartan again....'. I like them anyway! And i'm only partly ashamed to admit it.
Purism is, quite frankly, boring beyond belief. Absorb, assimilate, invent, you know? Pick up influences wherever. Doesn't matter if they're wearing tweed or safety pins, it's a matter of learning all you can from whoever you respect, and taking that knowledge and letting it evolve into something new and fresh. That doesn't mean that singing songs as they are without adding something of yourself to them (if, indeed, that is possible) can't be entertaining or valuable, even if it is just for the sake of preservation - just that there is something to be said for being more creative with them, too. That's my opinion, anyway.
And i have an objection to people saying 'you'll understand when you're older'...when i'm you're age, you'll still be older than me , and you'll still be able to say 'wait till you're my age and you'll realise.' It's an unfair advantage, man! :)

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: DonMeixner
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 04:25 PM

Ian,

Rah!

Don

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,Ian Blacklaw Richardson
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 04:01 PM

I'm just so glad that the Corries can still raise peoples' emotions after all these years. They were GREAT ENTERTAINERS! But they also inspired a lot of people to get into folk music and delve into its traditions and write in the folk idiom. It'a all a bit airy-fairy going on about whether they were really folk-artists. without the Corries most folk in Scotland would never have been exposed to the Border Ballads and Burns' love songs.
    I knew and had the good fortune to work with Roy and he was a damned fine musician and very knowledgeable about Scottish folk tradition. I also loved the Dubliners though most of the time, I think they would admit this, they were , as we say half-cut, but never did it stop them giving a good performance. It was a way of life and they thrived on it.
    In conclusion I would like us all to raise a glass and toast "The Corries, for ever!

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Flash Company
Date: 11 Apr 04 - 10:32 AM

Golly, what a lot of words!
Just a couple of things to throw in, I've always tried to respect the original words of any song I've sung, and certainly not changed words to take a song out of context. However, the words are not, and should not be, set in aspic. They evolve, it's called the folk process.
I suspect if we could go back to the days of families singing round the fire in an evening, we would find that every family had their own version of almost any traditional song you could mention, I seem to remember a collosal number of verions of Barbara Allan.

FC

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,JB
Date: 10 Apr 04 - 02:59 PM

Guest Nick, for me, you have hit it exactly on the head.

Unfortunately there are an awful lot of smart-asses out there who love to put other artists down. Much of this I believe has to do with jealousy.

Can they do it themselves and have they been successful?

I am particularly referring to Colin J Stewart who claims he became an Uslter Champion at 17 and fronted several groups on guitar and lead vocals. That might be all true, but I have never heard of you and until I do hear some of your music I shall reserve judgement. Besides this does not give you the right to make such an attack on these very respected artists.

Furthermore, I can tell you as an experienced musician of over thirty years, one never speaks about other musicians in such derogatory terms on a public forum. You sound like a snotty little brat to me and the Corries have never deserved such ill-mannered comments.If you were someone who had a proven record, I might at least try to understand where you are coming from.

JB

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 10 Apr 04 - 02:09 AM

The Corries had their faults. They weren't "purists"; altered metre, melody and sometimes lyrics to suit their own ends [taste or commerce!]They were brilliant musicians, and superb entertainers. Ilove 'em; "Sound the Pibroch" has been in my car cassette player for the past week!

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: steve in ottawa
Date: 10 Apr 04 - 01:39 AM

Until recently, thought the Cories were a one-album wonder around '80. Westerin' Home. Only time I've heard it. 'S great. Gotta dig up that vinyl.

But in North America, as Dick Gaughan says, the ex-Scots try to live as far apart from each other as they possibly can. There's no huge market for all things Scottish here. And that, I guess, is why hardly anyone's heard of the Cories. 'Course, they were probably more succesful than Dick Gaughan, who is great in concert, but of whom I heard more than one person say: he's supposed to be good? but he spends so much time talking and I can't understand him!

I wonder: why are people so proud that they don't enjoy what others find pleasant? No Clancy Brothers for me, thank you, and yes, I toss and turn all night if a pea is placed under my mattress. Goofs.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: DonMeixner
Date: 10 Apr 04 - 12:57 AM

Aussie,


AS I listen to their live recordings I wonder how two men with two instruments were able to develop so much music and so much vocal power. Had to have been ability or something like it.

And you are right I think. " When will we see their like again."

Don

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,aussie
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 10:38 PM

first heard the corries in 1976 and my whole body tingled with pride and fire this was a duo singing the songs of our land with pride and patrioism(think i spelled that wrong)i still get that feeling when i listen to them today Idon't think there will ever be another scots act who could ever sound as powerful as them (well thats only my opinion)long live folk music from the corries to dylan i love it all

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Mbo
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 12:28 PM

Well, I haven't had the time to read all these posts, but I'd just like to say that I LOVE the Corries, as well as the Clancy Brothers. If it weren't for them, I would not be here talking to you folks. The Corries' "Wild Mountain Thyme" is THE version, I don't care what anyone else thinks. And also, I ADORE "Flower of Scotland," even if some believe it to be junk. Here it comes Spaw--CORRIES RULE!!

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 12:11 PM

Jeezus Jon! Glad you went back and READ all the verbiage! My swollen record collection has lots of Corries AND Dubliners in it. Didn't mean to imply that one group was more "talented" than the others. Only that the "skills" were used in different ways. Roy was an amazingly adept technical musician and many Corries arrangements reflected this. I never saw them in person. I DID however see the Dubliners a couple of times and they were hugely entertaining...but also sloppy in their approach to tuning, playing the same chords (as each other) and on intros and endings. Lotsa off-key singing as well. I had a great time....but...I also appreciate tight singing, original arrangements, and great picking.(you're right about Barney in the Dubs though. When I saw them they weren't using a fiddler though)

Caught the Clancy Bros. at least 5 times, and to tell the truth I got totally bored with the same songs, same jokes, same intros etc. Maybe had Tommy M. stayed, they'd have learned a few new songs.

Rick

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 10:27 AM

I used to enjoy seeing the Corries,perhaps once a year for a few years in the late 60s early 70s and still enjoy their records but I was taken aback once when we saw them twice on the same tour. They did the same songs in the same order with the same introductions and jokes. It sounded very spontaneous - if you hadn't heard it before. Whereas the Spinners, whose records annoyed me by repeating many of the same songs, always seemed to vary their live content, even if you saw them twice in quick succession.
RtS

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Abby Sale
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 08:36 AM

If Beethoven or Haydn happened to write some commercial treatments for Scottish songs - and those treatments became popular, even though, for example, they changed the mood, meter, scansion of the songs & thus, say, forced new lines to be written to accomodate - and if those treatments ultimately lead many to delve into and appreciate trad Scottish material - you still wouldn't consider Beethoven or Haydn as 'folk musicians.' They, like Broadway producers or romance novelists, were just using the material to launch projects. "Oklahoma" may be a great show - vaguely based on folk - but it ain't folk.

The Corries was a commercial group and aimed its material & style on a Scottish TV-watching audience. That was intentional & successful. They were excellent at what they did but were quite clear about the difference between this and tradition.

Roy (I never knew Ronnie) was, in fact, a superb musician and very knowledgeable of Scottish (and, I believe, Irish) trad. His private playing and singing was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But The Corries, playing the same songs, bored me silly. Just a couple of guys smiling & strumming like any other commercial group. Some of these groups were talented but the style never interested me.

I'll name drop with a little story, if I may. Well, you reminded me of this! There we were at Blair fest. in 1966 or 7. All drunk, ye ken, as was fitting for the time & place. A friend introduced me Roy & I said oh, yeah - hi. Friend said He's a Corrie. What's a Corrie? says I. Says Roy, it's a kind of garbage collector.

Today, I'm not totally sure he was kidding. We got to know each other a little &, as I said, he was a fine musician. Could do a hell of a "Lark in the Morning" on pennywhistle. That was the song I'd ask people to do on their (non-pipes) instrument of choice. Not easy.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: AndyG
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 07:53 AM

SteveC,
RE: The Unpardonable Sin.
I feel that one of the things that the folk audience notices about success is the disappearance of the "famous" from normal view. That is, when a performer/band achieves fame they find themselves locked into the Recording/Major Venue/Festival circuit and their local "club" appearances stop. This "prices them out of the market" for many of the followers they had and reduces the frequency with which they are seen.
Remembering that big stages require a complete change in presentation for the performer, and filling a large venue means finding a big audience, it's a short step from "disappointment" to "sell-out" for the aggrieved original audience.

Personally I know of many widely popular performers that I would regret losing from the club circuit. I currently get to see them live in the intimate surroundings of a club venue, about once every 18 - 24 months, at a price I can afford. Should they withdraw from that I'll still have the chance to see them, at about he same frequency but for three times the price!

AndyG

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Troll
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 07:26 AM

Thanks for expressing it so well, SteveC. One thing the "more trad than thou" crowd repeatedly forgets is the debt that is owed on both sides of the Atlantic to groups like the Corries, the Dubliners and ,yes, the Kingston Trio. They opened the doors for those who followed them.

troll

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,StevenC
Date: 06 Mar 00 - 06:56 AM

Like a few other contributors, I hadn't noted that this was a revived oldish thread, but anyway...

I went to see the Corries a few times, as a kid, and in my teens and twenties I became ...ummm... snobbish about them becuase they were a bit showbizzy..

And as more than one post has rightly said, being successful and appealing to the public is a pretty unpardonable sin in some UK folk circles.

One thing to note about the Corries is that during the Sixties and Seventies, they'd fill halls throughout the UK, playing traditional folk... with guest acts like the Chieftains..

They opened a lot of doors. And despite that fact that as a Scot, I'm almost wishing that "Flower of Scotland" had never been written.. (it's not a great national anthem, really..) I'm grateful for the Corries... they taught me alot of songs and brought me to a lot of singers I'd never otherwise have encountered...

Cheers M'Dears

StevenC

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Bud Savoie
Date: 05 Mar 00 - 09:58 PM

Thanks, Don, that is exactlywhat I was looking for.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Bugsy
Date: 05 Mar 00 - 08:57 PM

I take my Corries very seriously.

Although I find the Vindaloo's a little hard to take.

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: DonMeixner
Date: 05 Mar 00 - 06:38 PM

Bud,

Go to the Corries Page, (search: Gavin Browne) Paddie Bell has some recent stuff available from Corries merchandise. Also she recorded at least one album wth Eddie and Finbar Furey years back called "I Know Where I'm Going." I think only two albums stateside with the Trio ( Ronnie Browne, Roy Williamson, Bill Smith)

There was only one album after Paddie left the group as a trio and then The Corries as a dur was formed. There is a more concise history at The Corries page.

Don Meixner

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,Bud Savoie
Date: 05 Mar 00 - 06:23 PM

Thanks for the info about Paddie Bell, Murray. I thought she was a fine singer, and provided guitar and banjo backup for the Corrie Folk Trio, as it was called in those days. And Paddie was a treat for the eyes as well. I think the group made two albums, both listenable and fun. Paddie was, in a sense, the Tommy Makem of the group. Next time you speak with her, tell her a quiet Yank fan from way back when was asking for her. Did she ever cut any other albums with/without the Corries?

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Mar 00 - 05:53 PM

Bud, In answer to your qestion, Paddie Bell is alive and well and living in Edinburgh, still singing and hosts a show in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival every year. I phone her from Florida every month to catch up with the latest gossip from Edinburgh. She is a wonderful person, and venerated by everyone in the Scottish Folk scene.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Bradypus
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 06:17 PM

One thing I like about the Mudcat is that the Corries are taken seriously, as demonstrated by this, and at least one other recent thread.

Bradypus

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: kendall
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 04:58 PM

I'm glad someone mentioned Schooner Fare. Chuck and Tom did backup on my tape, Beginners Luck. They are good friends of mine, and I hear some nrgative crap about them being too commercial also. Bollox!! they are great guys and they entertain me. Nuff said. The Corries? I have a pile of their tapes, and I dont give a rats ass who doesnt like them...I do.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Jeri
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 04:39 PM

The Clancy Brothers do a version of "51st Highland Division's Farewell to Sicily" in which the lyrics have been changed enough to alter the meaning of the song and rip the guts out - to me, at least. I don't get offended anymore, I just go look for the song the way it used to be. It's like watching a good movie, like Braveheart, which is very inaccurate from an historical point of view. You just enjoy it for what it is, and go learn the facts later. I'm not familiar with the Corries, but the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem introduced me to an awful lot of songs and I've enjoyed their music.

Regarding the snobbery issue. I've encounterd it in myself and loads of other people. We like our community small, and there's a tendency to "dis" anyone who starts selling a lot of records or gets played on commercial radio stations. We dismiss great songs, simply because everybody knows them. For some, folk music isn't what folk sing, it's what only folksingers sing.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Calach
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 03:58 PM

The Corries were the inspiration to many thousands of young folk singers in the celtic world.
Without them and people like them; Dubliners, Spinners, Robin Hall & Jimmy McGregor etc there wouldn't be as many people like me and folk like me singing folk music today.
They are simply part of the root of the tree which is Celtic folk music today.
Calach (Edinburgh Folk Singer/Songwriter)

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Metchosin
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 03:13 PM

Gee, I didn't notice that this was an old thread and Ewan hasn't posted anything since last May...too bad....

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 03:12 PM

Yes Don, have done, I don't think this was a lanuague one. It was simply caused by me trying to read a thread too quickly - scanning it to get the jist and am a little biased on this one to start of with because I often feel that insrumental musical abilites of at least the 2 I mentioned is too often ignored... Sorry

Jon

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Metchosin
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 03:04 PM

Ewan, would you also be familiar with a ditty that she sang called Wee McGregor?

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Metchosin
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 03:01 PM

Ewan, you might want to get in touch with Murray on Saltspring regarding your extra verses of Coulters Candy as well. He was very interested in the version that my grandmother brought over to Canada ca.1910, which also had no mention of "Coulter" in it. He is currently working on a book of Scottish Bairn Songs.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: DonMeixner
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 01:55 PM

Jon,

My friend , please reread everything that I said on this thread, I think you greatly misunderstand my opinion of the The Dubliners and The Corries. It could be that you, a speaker of English, and me a speaker of Americanish just have a diferent dialect to over come. :-)

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 10:33 AM

I know this is an old thread but I am curouis about what seems to be Rick and Don suggesting that the Dubliners had little musical tallent. I will agree that a lot of their music is rough and ready but IMO Barney McKenna is a fine tenor banjo player and John Sheehan is an equally good fiddler. I think that John Sheehan has also written some nice tunes. The Marino Waltz and Christchurch are 2 that I think are his.

Re the respect bit, I respect them all. In my case, it was the Clanceys and the Dubiners that got me interested in folk music. Thinking of another current thread, it could have been Dylan for somebody else. I doubt that any of us are going to like every perfomer but I think we should all apprecaite that they all got people interested in folk music and should at leat be respected for that.

Jon

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Bud Savoie
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 10:00 AM

Whatever happened to Paddie Bell?

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 04 Mar 00 - 09:53 AM

I am restarting this thread after looking through this load upon load of crap. The Corries and the Dubliners--two of the most well-known and sucsessful bands in their fields. Could that be the problem ye of little talent have with these guys? And by the way, who is it that doesn't take these guys seriously anyway? People who could get up on a stage and entertain a crowd for 2 seconds? Why don't all of you who "don't take these guys seriously" get together and pat each other on the back as you're jobbing yourself off.

Your Friend

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: Ewan McV (inactive)
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 06:09 PM

Re Coulter's Candy - it was flavoured with aniseed, and was hard enough that he could stamp his name on each piece, so it was not what Scots call tablet, and was I think a kind of hard toffee.

Re the Weekly Scotsman, Norrie Buchan drew on that for his version of CC in 101 Scots Songs, but I've not yet checked out the newspaper file direct.

Subject: RE: Why aren't the Corries taken seriously
From: The Shambles
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 01:27 PM

Could you elaborate on that for me? Is that a reference to the 'Johnny Notions' that I know of?

We lived in Eshaness, in Shetland, where at a place called Hamnavoe there was a run down 'butt and ben' with a plaque on the wall, saying that this was the birthplace of one 'Johnny Notions'. I can't remember all of it but it was to the effect that this chap was responsible for inventing cures and potions and he left the islands, and obtained some fame. Or were there 'Johnny Notions' everywhere?

Is it worth starting a new thread on the subject?