Strange Compliments

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Leadfingers
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 10:39 AM

Tim and Hamish - Both on a par with an old mate of mine who , at the end of a gig in a folk club , heard "Thank you Jon , and every body come next week for XXXX who is is REALLY good "

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: john f weldon
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 08:40 AM

Nothing to do with music, but nonetheless odd:

40 years ago I worked with a nice lady in an office. One day another woman said:

"That guy you work with... ...he's not... "normal", is he?"
My partner replied: "No, he's not."
The other said: "That's so sad. And such a good-looking boy!"

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Hamish
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 07:35 AM

Oh yes: recently I opened a festival gig. The MC said "We've got some fantastic acts tonight... but first..."

--
Hamish

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 07:20 AM

Stranger in Club: Thank you for singing that song. It really cheered me up. All the other songs were so depressing.
Me: Thanks, but are you sure you're not mixing me up with someone else. I sang Bonny George Campbell. It's about a bloke being hacked to death.
Stranger in Club: I know. My name is McDonald, by the way.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 05:56 AM

My Greek guitarist friend George :
"Roger don't sing so good but he sing with feeling"

RtS

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 12:15 AM

An Irish street comedian (he was VERY good at working a crowd) who was at Brisbane for EXPO 88 had a great one (on himslef) when he was juggling.

"Woops, Nearly dropped one", as he picked it off the ground...

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Mudlark
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 11:30 PM

From a guy I'd been teaching for free, urging to attend local jams...

Gee, too bad you weren't there last night. There was this woman with a really GOOD voice...

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: GUEST,murrbob
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 03:29 PM

The day after singing "Deportee" to my freshman biology class (we were discussing Huntington Disease/Woodie Guthrie) a young lady approached me and said, "Thanks for singing that song, Dr. Bob --- it was so funny!"
    sigh . . .

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:59 PM

"Thanks Tim,this next act is good........

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Acorn4
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:50 PM

I sing mainly comedy material and one lady came up to me after a village hall gig and said:-

"I nearly wet myself at one point!"

Too much information!

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Bert
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:43 PM

At a song circle I used to go to, A friend says to me "You don't play the guitar very well, and you don't have that good a voice....


But you are the best one here"

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Jayto
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:10 PM

Oh no no no. lol. This guy is a singer songwriter around Kentucky and Northern Tennessee. No it is not the BM we know lol. Considering the guys lyrical abilities his mother knew what she was doing when she named him lol. Not the BM on here :) I didn't even think about that when I put down his initials.

I had a guy ask me one time if my Dad was a clockmaker. When I responded no he said " I knew he wasn't I could tell by your sense of timing. If he was he'd be bankrupt." lol I fell over laughing even though I knew he was trying his best to be mean spirited. Sometimes I admire a creative bad comment more than a cliched good one. It is the unoriginal bad comments that make me mad lol. If you are going to be mean spirited at least be creative about it.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: GUEST,cannyscribbler
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 12:34 PM

One of the most bizarre must have been on the televised BBC Young Folk Awards some few years back. That arbiter of highbrow culture Alan Titchmarsh complemented one of the performances with a sentence containing the infelicitous phrase 'like a large-breasted woman.' =8~O

On many occasions (like an adult folk event perhaps) using such an analogy might be fine, this was hardly one.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: quokka
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:56 AM

Jayto, you gotta give us more info...please tell us you're not talking about the BM we know and love!!! Go Canada...











(I know ya can't be (*P*)

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Joseph P
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:35 AM

'I've never heard anything quite like it'

'You almost played that well'

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: TheSnail
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:25 AM

"I've never heard you play out of tune.... lots of wrong notes but never out of tune."

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Anne Lister
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:17 AM

I still remember "I don't usually like contemporary songs .. but that was all right" in a tone of exceeding grudge.

But last week, the best, the very best from a 5 year old child after I'd told a story: "I couldn't keep my eyes shut".

Anne

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Silas
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:13 AM

Mary Twain was my peronal favourite " Mahlers music is much better than it sounds"

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: theleveller
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 08:46 AM

I've always loved: "You have delusions of adequacy"

Or Samuel Johnson's famous:
"Your work is both good and original. Unfortunately, the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good."

Best I've ever had was (adopt Yorkshire accent): "Well, you made a right barn's arse of that."

(For those who don't talk Yorkshire, a 'barn's arse' is the same as a 'bugger's muddle'.)

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 08:28 AM

Various.

Hackney Martians.
Punter: "God that was awful."
Me: "Gee thanks, You've made me so happy!"

Patterson Jordan Dipper (CD Launch gig)
Punter (apres many many gig beers) "You were almost worth getting out of bed for"

Fraser Sisters poster.
"More talent than a bus....."

Ah humanity, can't live with it, can't live without it.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: eddie1
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:08 AM

In a review of a week-long music and drama festival, when writing about the informal evening sessions, the reviewer described me as having a voice like "a mellifluous coalman"!!!!

Eddie

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Ythanside
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 06:19 PM

Pretty hard to beat the ambiguity of 'Good wasn't the word for it.'

Still cracks me up. :-D

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Willie-O
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 05:30 PM

When I worked Internet help desk:
"You sound like Garrison Keillor".

(That's good, first thing is you have to mellow them out. That's the way it was this week in Lake Wobegon.)

W-O

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: fat B****rd
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 03:32 PM

"You sound just like Eric Burdon"

"You sound just like Bob Hite"

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 03:23 PM

MC at a Scottish miners' welfare club introducing John Cairney (who does a show based on Burns): "I didn't want to book this fellow but I was overruled by the committee".

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:56 PM

Introducing my band at Arnold WMC:-

Well I like 'em, even if no one else does......

After playing The George in Waterhouses:-

Very good! You're the second best bloke we've ever had 'ere...

Derek Brimstone when I turned to gig looking a bit deshelled and worse for wear:-

I say, could you give me the name of your tailor...?

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Jayto
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:56 PM

Oh yeah my second favorite was directed at me. I was in Rosine Kentucky (the home of Bill Monroe) at the Jerusalem Ridge bluegrass festival. I was hanging around in one of the jam sessions. A guy asked me to play Cannonball Rag. A thumbpicking tune that is regarded as the national anthem for thumbpicking guitarists. I got my thumbpick out of my pocket and proceeded to play it. After I was done everyone clapped and was telling how much they liked it and all that junk. This one guy though never had a single response. He just stood there looking at me. When everyone stopped talking and things started to resume he said "hey man.". I looked over and said yeah. He said " Man you ate that thing up." I thanked him and then he said " If I could play a guitar like that I'd play the banjo." lol I (one of the few times in my life) was speechless. Then he broke into another song before I could respond. I started laughing and missed half of the next tune.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Hamish
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:55 PM

I still use Leadfingers' quote on a previous Mudcat thread: "There are worse performers than Hamish".

--
Hamish

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Jayto
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:49 PM

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Jayto
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:47 PM

My favorite was not directed toward me but I loved it just the same (that is probably why lol). After a gig one night we all went to back to the hotel. There was a guy staying at the hotel that was a singer songwriter. Me, John Prine, and some guy I didn't know had our guitars out sitting by the pool relaxing when this singer songwriter guy decided to join us. I know the songwriters name but out of respect I won't use it. I will just call him BM. Not bowel movement that is his initials. So BM walks up and grabs a chair. Instead of a friendly relaxed jam session it became a pushy showcase of his songs. John got up and left leaving me and the other guy to suffer through this unrequested concert. A few minutes passed and John walked out heading to his car. BM yells out to him " Hey man we could use some help over here." John never broke stride when he responded "I second that!" lol. I nearly fell out of my chair. BM turned around and looked at us. He said "I knew from his songs he had a wit. He is such a joker." I was rolling laughing because I knew he wasn't kidding.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Mark Ross
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:42 PM

"Here's the man who did for folk music what Amtrak did for trains!"

Rosalie Sorrels introducing Utah Phillips.


Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:08 PM

'Your new guitar sounded nice' after I'd done a floor spot of 3 songs.;)

JM

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Escapee
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:06 PM

"you faked that lead part real good" I had thought it was real.

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: ClaireBear
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 01:03 PM

I think I've said this before, but my band were once told we had "a creative use of dissonance." (I think she meant we had an innovative harmonic style, but to this day I still wonder...

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: JedMarum
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 12:58 PM

One festival MC introduced me for the second time on a weekend and he said, "For a singer this guy's a pretty darn good guitar player, please welcome Jed Marum!"

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: Wesley S
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 12:55 PM

After a Bob Dylan concert my wife said - "That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be".

Subject: RE: Strange Compliments
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 12:42 PM

To paraphrase the late Lou Gottlieb, some consider it a complement when the audience doesn't leave in groups. As a singer, you always wonder when someone says they love your guitar work. My son said he heard an audience member tell a member of another band that, "As a musician, you make an excellent thoracic surgeon."

Subject: Strange Compliments
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 12:34 PM

Reading the Folkie Proverbs got me thinking on this one.
While it is always nice to receive compliments from members of the audience, fellow performers etc. I have encountered a few strange ones. On a couple of occasions I have been told "My friend thought you were good and he/she knows nothing about folk music". However the strangest one was many years ago at Birtley Club when a chap approached me after I had sung and said "That was a good song" naturally I thanked him to which he replied "No, not you, I'm just saying that was a good song".
Anyone else experienced similar?