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Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 19 Jan 21 - 01:22 AM I came across this recording whilst researching Kokoda for my upcoming song posts in this thread. David is a Melbourne singer-songwriter and who wrote this poignant song in 2007, after watching the film, KOKODA. WAR David Mooney Why do we have to fight; there’s no good in war All of our children, and many to go on before, Speaking out loud, in one mouth, telling the truth to closed doors Is there anyone listening, anyone listening at all? But it’s quiet tonight, when I close my eyes, it’s quiet all around Will I wake up at light, will I open my eyes Will I be in safer ground? When you fall, some will die, tell me there’s some good in war Yet the battle’s not over and we gather the wounded and dying, I have a family, so does he, we should be home very soon I keep sending those letters, but it’s never the same without you. But it’s quiet tonight, when I close my eyes, it’s quiet all around Will I wake up at light, will I open my eyes Will I be in safer ground? They say it’s over, we can go home, how can a dead man be free? And the ones that return have their memories burn in their mind. But it’s so quiet tonight, when I close my eyes, it’s quiet all around Will I wake up at light, will I open my eyes Will I be in safer ground? And it’s quiet tonight, when I close my eyes, it’s so quiet all around Will I wake up at light, will I open my eyes Will I be in safer ground? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTnr6qkoEi8&t=4s David Mooney KOKODA – the movie – (aka KOKODA : 39th Battalion) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokoda_(film) Here is a trailer for the acclaimed 2006 Aussie film, which was filmed in Qld’s Gold Coast rainforest hinterland, around Mt Tamborine, (which is nearby to the Army’s (still active) jungle warfare training grounds at Canungra) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTGQeZscLBY R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Jan 21 - 04:53 AM when I visited the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway some years back, I understood why John wrote "fought disease and the Japanese" as the deaths from tropical diseases far outweighed the battle deaths. Approximately 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda Trail and over 1,600 were wounded. Casualties due to sickness exceeded 4,000. google maps photos of Kokoda Park memorial walkway unfortunately I can't see a photo of the panel showing casualty counts sandra of course, everyone (posting here!) knows I mean John Dengate's Lanes of Woolloomooloo, normally a powerful poem. Once I heard a sweet-voiced soprano singing it (it did not work) but as Jason & Chloe have also put a tune to it, I can post it! |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Jan 21 - 05:06 AM LANES OF WOOLLOOMOOLOO by John Dengate Oh, then who's your mate, my Johnny lad, so drunk he can hardly stand With his eyeballs staring so wildly and his violently shaking hand? His name is not for the naming, but his story I'll tell you true; He's a child of the great depression from the lanes of Woolloomooloo. Reared on bread and dripping and on dollops of dole plum jam, He dodged the police and his father's boot and his fare on the city tram. Mustered in the militia on the wharves of Woolloomooloo, Fought disease and the Japanese in the summer of '42. Never you mind his shaking hand or his strangely twisted mouth; He was cut off at Templeton's Crossing when the Japs came swarming south, He wept and prayed in the jungle and God to his prayers was deaf: Chocko! Retreat on your bleeding feet, and where was the A.I.F.? You'll find him now in Bell's Hotel or round by the Domain; You'll find him under a Moreton Bay, sleeping it off in the rain, You'll find him wandering William Street without any work to do, He's a child of the great depression from the lanes of Woolloomooloo. He's a hollow, dirty derelict, abandoned by the fates; His soul's at Templeton's Crossing with his dead militia mates, White lady is his mistress, they fornicate and woo, Spawning blind oblivion in the lanes of Woolloomooloo. John's notes give: Templeton's Crossing: New Guinea battlefield Chocko: Chocolate soldier – derisive term for militiaman (An Australian soldier who had not volunteered for the A.I.F) White Lady: Methylated spirits and lemonade. To which I probably should add: A.I.F. : Australian Imperial Force – the regular army units. Dole: Unemployment payments, and some food issues, made during the great depression (1929/39) Domain: Public park area to the east of Sydney, frequented by the homeless Methylated spirits: Denatured alcohol – originally made poisonous with methyl alcohol but now rendered nauseating with turpentine. The cheapest possible alcohol. Moreton Bay: The Moreton Bay Fig – a wide-spreading tree with large leaves planted widely in Sydney's inner city parks. William Street: Major street of Kings Cross – inner eastern suburb of Sydney Woolloomooloo: East Sydney harbourside suburb – once slums, but these are being 'gentrified' as their value rises. Published in My Shout! Songs and Poems by John Dengate, Bush Music Club, Sydney, 1982 originally posted by Bob Bolton in 2001 video Jason reciting, backed by Chloe & Jason Roweth Band. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 19 Jan 21 - 08:04 AM SONGS OF THE KOKODA TRAIL (and those Ragged Bloody Heroes) After WWI’s Gallipoli, the story of WWII’s 3-year Kokoda is probably the next most acclaimed. Precious few of the servicemen and women are still alive, but stories of the campaigns have gradually come to light, with many docos, films, and books now produced. Kokoda’s results were hard-won – battling Malaria, Dengue Fever, Dysentery, on top of Humidity, Leeches, Crocodiles, Mosquitos, Mountains, Mud et al – on top of being under-equipped (in both weapons and clothing), under-trained, under-fed – on top of being VASTLY outnumbered – against the ferocious, unrelenting, battle-hardened Japanese who had swept through Asia and the Pacific and were now invading the tropical jungles of the very mountainous Papua New Guinea region from the North. While Australia’s defense of these Mandated Territories was left to relatively inexperienced Militias (like the CMF) and in the case of the 53rd Battalion, 100 of the young men had been literally Shanghaied-Pressganged (in good military tradition - but this was, after all, the 20th century!!!!) from Sydney all in one day - and not told their destination nor permitted to inform relatives and friends, nor given training and equipment. Of course, their resentment festered..….. Meanwhile, once the Japanese conquered Port Moresby, it was just a short hop across the Coral Sea to FNQ (Far North Qld) : Oh so very close to Australia, which was, of course, their intended target (and they had already been making air raids down both the West and East Coasts). Some more background to the Kokoda songs : Kokoda, the bloody track: “Documentary made for the 50th annivesary of the Kokoda campaign. Features on camera interviews with Australian and Japanese veterans of the campaign intercut with archival footage.” AWM (Austn War Museum) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbSXJsG90hQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ6oS0v59Ig ABC’s Chris Masters’ excellent doco for “4Corners” using Damien Parer’s 1942 footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3i_W90EqnA – aerial view of the 8-day 96km trek you can do, along the famous Trail. “The Kokoda Track is a single file, very rough, tropical jungle path that connects villages over the Owen Stanley Range. It crosses rivers and creeks as it crosses over six mountain ranges, covered in mud. The vegetation changes along the way and so does the track, but one thing remains constant, it is rough, narrow and requires concentration to avoid slips, trips and falls.” And finally : KOKODA – is it Track or Trail?! : both have been used, but “trail” has the edge (and not due to any American usage!) : https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-kokoda-track-or-trail David Campbell’s poem “Men in Green”; a school favourite for me - first published in The Bulletin in 1943 (I’m surprised not to have found a musical setting though)……. https://ninglun.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/friday-australian-poem-12-david-campbell-men-in-green/ RUGGED 'N' BUGGERED David Nipperess This song is directly inspired by Peter Brune’s book ‘Those Ragged Bloody Heroes’. The lyrics reflect the language of spoken accounts included therein. Apologies for any instances of historical inaccuracy - put it down to artistic license. - David Nipperess. I was working for my father On a dairy farm out on Otway When one day that thrice-poxed postie With a conscription notice came John Curtin said “boy you’re the one To protect our dear home from the rising sun” ‘Cos the volunteers were fighting for England Only the rugged and the buggered remained So they placed me in a Choco battalion 39th AMF was its name And they sent us on off to New Guinea Even though we were only half-trained I remember turning twenty quite well ‘Cos the very next day was when Singapore fell And as the panic spread to Port Moresby Only the rugged and the buggered remained So we marched on up to Kokoda And the track it was sheer muddy hell And they told us to hold this great ridgeline boys Before the Japs could get there as well But they took us at about six to one When the best thing we had was an old Lewis gun And the cry went back to Port Moresby Only the rugged and the buggered remained Well we fought them off with our rifles With our spades and our boots and our knives And we gave those sons of the Emperor The bloodiest fight of our lives But we knew we hadn’t a hope As we paid with our youth to retreat down the slope And as the veterans sailed for Port Moresby Only the rugged and the buggered remained We were on our last bloody legs at Isurava We were sick, we were starved, we were worn Then the veterans came to fill out our line Just when we thought we were gone Well we staggered away from the front Our clothes were old rags and our guns rusted up And as I looked out amongst my companions Only the rugged and the buggered remained LISTEN HERE : https://miguelheatwole.bandcamp.com/track/rugged-n-buggered Thanks to GerryM for knowledge of this one. KOKODA TRACK A.E. Brooks & Slim Dusty (aka David Kirkpatrick) With no shouldered arms or bayonet fixed, they march on Anzac Day The measured tramp of steel-shod heels a memory away Veterans of a jungle war who went to hell and back Those Ragged Bloody Heroes of that grim Kokoda Track. So dig your reversed rifles in the mire of memory The swirling mists of time have healed the scars You climbed that golden stairway to keep our country free Where the jungle hid your nightmare from the stars. When sullen days brought no relief from blood and muck and mire And death was ever striding at your back You trod that hallowed path to be baptized in hellfire The Ragged Bloody Heroes of that grim Kokoda Track. Oh the devil took the hindmost and the snipers took the fore With no quarter asked or given in that muddy, bloody war With black angels there to guide them, the salvos by their side Those Ragged Bloody Heroes simply marched and fought and died. Astride a broken mountain top you stood defiantly As the devil took your comrades one by one He taunted you and beckoned you to face eternity You saluted with a burning Thompson gun. His hand was on your shoulder like a burning grip of steel But you turned him and you fought off his attack You broke the devil’s squadrons and you brought him to your heel The Ragged Bloody Heroes of that grim Kokoda Track. Oh the devil took the hindmost and the snipers took the fore With no quarter asked or given in that muddy bloody war While politicians pondered and great generals swelled with pride Those Ragged Bloody Heroes simply marched and fought and died. With no shouldered arms or bayonet fixed they march on Anzac Day With the memory of white crosses and the mounds of fresh- turned clay Of green fields and a bugle call and a solemn requiem [spoken] "And at the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them." Those Ragged Bloody Heroes of that grim Kokoda Track. Those Ragged Bloody Heroes of that grim Kokoda Track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RydSdjW5zi4&t=131s Slim Dusty sings. From his album: "Natural High" ONLY THE BRAVE ONES Lee Kernaghan, Garth Porter, Colin Buchanan Storm cloud blacks the sky, the rain comes pouring down This God-forsaken place will bring you to your knees We sweltered through each day in sweat and desperation Diggers on the march on the Kokoda Track. Step by muddy step, tortured hour by hour Some prayed, some swore with fear, but you'd never show your mates The kid beside me dropped, shot right between the eyes Death waits in the jungle under Kokoda skies. And it's only the brave ones, afraid, but keep on going One step moving forward, the next step slipping back Scared bloody stiff; still you keep on going It's only the brave ones out on the Kokoda Track. From the land of the rising sun, they came screaming through the darkness And a few Militia boys, they held the buggers back The wounded carried down by fuzzy wuzzy angels*** Heroes’ blood was spilt on the Kokoda Track. Yes, it's only the brave ones, afraid, but keep on going One step moving forward, the next step slipping back Scared bloody stiff; still you keep on going It's only the brave ones out on the Kokoda Track. Private Kingsbury fought beside his mates in Isurava When it seemed that all was lost, alone he rushed the line Well they finally cut him down but his courage turned the battle He laid down his life on the Kokoda Track. Yes, it's only the brave ones, afraid, but keep on going One step moving forward, the next step slipping back Scared bloody stiff; still you keep on going It's only the brave ones out on the Kokoda Track. Yes, it's only the brave ones out on the Kokoda Track. ***Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels was the name given by Australian soldiers to Papua New Guinean war carriers who, during World War II, were recruited to bring supplies up to the front and carry injured Australian troops down the Kokoda trail during the Kokoda Campaign…… Despite the great fatigue often experienced by the Carriers, no known injured soldier that was still alive was ever abandoned by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, even during heavy combat….. “The care they give to the patient is magnificent” (WIKI) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG0M3GNM4TQ&t=11s sung by John Schumann (Redgum), Lee Kernaghan, Garth Porter. THE KOKODA ANTHEM (BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIA) Frank Gallagher Our Anzacs left for over there When darkness fell on Leicester Square In freedom's name for liberty They fought and died for you and me Poland's gone, France has fell Pearl Harbor blown to hell Prison camps, millions dead Europe's burning, newsreel said Australian sons of the Southern Cross It's time to stand against the odds The Kokoda Trail and the Rising Sun And fight with God 'til the battle's won The Kokoda Trail the track to hell Where soldier sons and angels fell That mountain range of death and pain Where young blood flowed like jungle rain The Kokoda Trail the track from hell Where Fuzzy Wuzzy angels dwell Heroic souls to guide us on And safely bring our wounded home Australian sons of the Southern Cross Victorious against the odds The Kokoda Trail and the Rising Sun They took them on and fought and won Australian sons of the Southern Cross Victorious against the odds The Kokoda Trail and the Rising Sun They took them on and fought and won They took them on and fought and won https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWN8BJ4Jp6w Sung by Adam Harvey & Gina Jeffreys Sorry, didn’t have the energy to transcribe these last two! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wasceChoMfw Kokoda - Hamish Wyatt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I73WZPJ4fmo The Ballad of Kokoda - Lance Birrell N.B. and of course, I know it wasn’t JUST the Australians - the Papuans and the Americans were also involved in this PNG war!! And I’m aware that I may have left out important detail, but the story is just too big for one post, which anyway, is mostly about the songs :) Just found this Mudcat thread!! which discusses Kokoda and things pertaining (including songs of course) : /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40206,40206 In it, Catter Bruce D noted in a 15May2009 post : “Going back to the subject there are a number of song about Kokoda including "The Kododa Trail" Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels" - other songs from the era include "the Yanks Back Home", "The A25 Song", Bungin 'Em In, Blowing 'Em out", The Infanteer" and "Information Please" I got these songs on a very old cassette called "Australians at War" by Barry Collerson and the Reedy River Bushmen.” R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 19 Jan 21 - 08:15 AM Correction : Of course I meant to write in Para 2 : "Meanwhile, HAD the Japanese conquered Port Moresby ...." (long posts are dangerous late at night :) Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Jan 21 - 09:04 AM rich-joy wrote ... Catter Bruce D noted in a 15May2009 post : “Going back to the subject there are a number of song about Kokoda including "The Kododa Trail" Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels" - other songs from the era include "the Yanks Back Home", "The A25 Song", Bungin 'Em In, Blowing 'Em out", The Infanteer" and "Information Please" I got these songs on a very old cassette called "Australians at War" by Barry Collerson and the Reedy River Bushmen - photos 5 & 6 .” Strangely enough, I emailed my friend Ralph earlier tonight as he was a Reedy River Bushman & I believe has digitised all their music. I asked him for the words of those songs. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 19 Jan 21 - 10:21 PM The wonderful Kath Tait in a reflective autobiographical mood: CHILDLESS MOTHER (Kath Tait) I was born way down in a valley I was born in a valley so small Far away from civilisation Hardly knew the wide world at all When I was a child I played by the river Played by the river so wild I grew up to be a childless mother Childless mother and a motherless child The raging waters of Waitaki Sing your song to me I’ll come back when I’m old and cranky Come back when I’m ninety-three Come back to drown in the river Float down over mossy stones I’ll be a spirit of the water The river it will guide my bones Ancestors are all dead and buried Ancestors are dead and gone It’s generations since they travelled Far from their Scottish home History has been forgotten Got no stories, got no songs They lost touch with where they came from I know where I belong Repeat stanza 2 I grew up to be a childless mother Lived a life so free and wild Years went by and as it happens I became a motherless child I got no roots, I got no branches Got no ties to keep me here When I’m gone there’ll be nothing left Just a ripple in the atmosphere Instrumental break I was born way down in a valley I was born in a valley so small Far away from civilisation Hardly knew the wide world at all When I was a child I played in the hills I roamed the hills so wild I grew up to be a childless mother Childless mother and a motherless child The rugged hills of North Otago Are the hills that made me wild Where the wind sings like a ghostly spirit To the young and undefiled I’ll go back to die in the hills And lie down in the rocks and stones I’ll be a spirit of the land The hills will guide my bones The above is my transcription of the YT clip. I was unable to find the lyrics on the Net. Corrections welcomed. Youtube clip Here is an article about Kath from an old issue of 'Living Tradition': Diva of the Dysfunctional --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 20 Jan 21 - 05:43 PM THE MEEKATHARRA GOLD MINER Robert Pyper / trad I’ve wandered all over this country, prospecting and digging for gold I’ve tunneled, hydraulic’d and cradled And I have been frequently sold, And I have been frequently sold Yes, I have lost all of my gold I’ve tunneled, hydraulic’d and cradled, And I have been frequently sold. For those that get riches by mining, there’s thousands go out the back door But this time I hit the gold lining It set me for life, that’s for sure, It set me for life, that’s for sure (for sure, right!) It set me for life, that’s for sure This time I hit the gold lining, It set me for life, that’s for sure. I got onto the prospect in Meeka, “The Pharlap” goldmine was its name The old guy that sold it’s a seeker With sixty-odd years at the game, With sixty-odd years at the game Yes, sixty-odd years full of shame The old guy that sold it’s a seeker, With sixty-odd years at the game. He showed me the lode on the Sunday, six weights in the dish in the sun But after some beers on the Monday Three ounces or more could be won, Three ounces or more could be won (that’s the grog for you!) Three ounces or more could be won But after some beers on the Monday, Three ounces or more could be won. He wanted ten grand for an option, three weights in the ton from gold won Another ten grand on adoption I signed with a loud cry of DONE! I signed with a loud cry of DONE! (done, all right!) I signed with a loud cry of DONE! Another ten grand on adoption, Well I signed with a loud cry of DONE! I took the shaft down to twelve-fifty, and crosscut and drove miles around Till I tumbled that he was a swiftee The old guy had salted the ground, The old guy had salted the ground He’d spread bloody gold dust around! I tumbled that he was a swiftee, The old guy had salted the ground. No longer the slave of ambition, a sucker for sharks and the shames I savour my happy condition Surrounded by my barren claims, Surrounded by my barren claims Surrounded by my barren claims I savour my happy condition, Surrounded by my barren claims. (spoken) And they’re as free of gold as a frog is from feathers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8DG-be6rgM Tune : “Acres of Clams” - also used for the well-known song “The Catalpa”. Another song from one of Australia’s “Singing Geologists”, Robert Pyper. He is a recorded singer of classical songs, but includes a CD of Australian Ballads and is also an author of 4 novels : www.robertpyper.com.au “To the tune Acres of Clams the song describes the pitfalls that await the new chum when he moves from panning alluvial gold to mining the hardrock. Set in Meekatharra in WA during the gold boom of the 1930's we are back in the days of pennyweights rather than grams. There are 20 dwt as against 31 grams to the ounce of gold. Providing you were still in the weathered zone, the panning-off dish was used to estimate grade by crushing a sample of gold rock and then panning off the light rock to leave a tail of gold, the grade of which could be estimated almost as well as a formal assay. It is a feature of gold mining that the longer you are away from a prospect the better you remember it. Adjourning to the bar to talk about it can hasten the remembering greatly, which is what happens here. There were many ways to salt a mine -- witness Busang in the 1990's, which was the biggest gold deposit ever discovered yet it contained no gold. There wasn't much in the Pharlap gold mine either, but I made up the tongue in cheek words in memory of a great prospector I knew. The Pharlap was later mined out in a huge open cut.” https://www.mindat.org/loc-240068.html History of The Pharlap (orig Gwalia) Gold Mine. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 21 Jan 21 - 04:34 AM CONVICTED TO FREMANTLE Wendy Evans / trad Ch. Lock the gate and turn the key Farewell, liberty! Massive walls close in on me Convicted to Fremantle. But I’ve got a Ticket-of-Leave, man, I go to build the state To work for West Australia, to work to make her great I’ll go to bridge the rivers and to carve the highways straight A second chance, or I will dance the rope that still awaits. But I’ve got a Ticket-of-Leave, man, I’ll go to work the land To build West Australia, to work to make her grand I’ll fence the open paddocks and I’ll build her wells and gates And if I slip, I’ll feel the whip that in Fremantle waits. But I’ve got a Ticket-of-Leave, man, to go to build a town To show West Australia’s The Colony to crown I’ll earn my right to pardon, I’ll work to walk here free For if I fail, I know the gaol that I built will claim me. But I’ve got a Ticket-of-Leave, man, I’ve suffered for my crime I’ve seen the hell of transport ships and bowed ’neath cat o’ nine I’ve earned the right to freedom and a new life I can find And I will earn the right to spurn the gaol I’ve left behind. Lock the gate and turn the key Good day, liberty! Massive walls now set me free It’s Farewell to Fremantle. Another song from the 1979 Bi-Centenary recording project “Bound for Western Australia” by poet, Wendy Evans and musicians, The Settlers (Alan S. Ferguson & Sean Roche). I have not found this track online and just hope that one day, someone will upload the whole excellent LP to the internet. My maternal Great Grandfather, George Sidney, was one who was “Convicted to Fremantle” and he arrived as a young man in 1866 on the Corona. He gained his “Ticket-of-Leave” in 1868 and worked around the Colony, gaining his freedom in 1871 – but, battled the ‘demon drink’ in his family life. His eldest ‘Currency Lass’ daughter, Annie, also spent time in prison as a young woman - she was apparently too independently-minded for her own good (which, let’s be honest here, is not a trait that’s fully approved of, even in these ‘enlightened’ times!! :) West Aussie only received convicts from 1850 (as transportation was winding down in the rest of Australia), until 1868 – the Landed Gentry had pleaded for free labour for the public works necessary in the new Colony. It was agreed that only “quality” convicts would be sent (with NO women and NO politicos), but before too long, the British Govt (which, by this time, had nowhere else in the world to shunt their riff-raff), were clearing their prisons of rapists and murderers and other violent offenders. Plus, after almost 10, 000 convicts sent, they included 62 Fenians on the very last ship!*** I should stress here, that my literate Brummie rellie was merely a two-time burglar (but with no violence)!! Though I am quite chuffed to “have a Convict in the Family”, prior to my generation, this was still considered “a stain” and was hidden and never discussed….. though unusually, my Mum (another independently-minded woman) really loved the idea! So as sung about in the above song, here are some clips about Freo Prison (aka “The Convict Establishment”) built by convicts in the 1850s with myriad 4ft x 7ft cells ….. and now World Heritage-listed!! The walls of this penitentiary are still be-set with broken glass (plus razor wire), and it was modelled on the famous Pentonville in London. It was in continual use until 1991 – and with very few improvements to the living conditions!! So I can understand why there was a massive riot and fire in 1988! Take a squizz with these short clips : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl6EDuTs6ow WAWeekender show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsn5koA_0Z0 We don’t get enough Blues music on this Folk & Blues Forum (IMHO :), so the score for this clip is the magnificent CHAIN (lead vocals, Matt Taylor), with “Black & Blue” – ENJOY! BLACK & BLUE Barry Harvey, Phil Manning, Barry Sullivan and Matt Taylor (CHAIN) You work me so hard that my back’s near broke (we’re groaning) My brow is wet and my throat’s a-choke (we’re groaning) You sent me here for ten long years (we’re groaning) And I miss my whiskey and I miss my beers (we’re groaning) Ain't seen a girl since I don’t know when (we’re groaning) And the way you treat me won’t see one again (we’re groaning Your water stinks ’cause it comes from a bog (we’re groaning) And that slop you feed us ain't fit for a dog (we’re groaning) You can beat me and try to break me but still I’ll spit at you You’ll never break my spirit even when my body's Black and Blue Well in my arm there’s a dreadful pain (we’re groaning) It’s hard digging ditches with a ball and chain (we’re groaning) You send me here for ten long years (we’re groaning) I miss my whisky and I miss my beers (we’re groaning) You broke my head cause I spat on a guard (we’re groaning) It don’t make me no better, it just makes me hard (we’re groaning) You can beat me and try to break me but still I’ll spit at you You’ll never break my spirit even when my body's Black and Blue R-J *** Eventually most were pardoned except for six “military’ Fenians – but they escaped on The Catalpa in 1876 - [see the song “The Catalpa” on 27Sept in this thread] |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 22 Jan 21 - 08:51 PM BOTTLE-O (Banjo Paterson) I ain't the kind of bloke as takes to any steady job; I drives me bottle cart around the town; A bloke what keeps 'is eyes about can always make a bob -- I couldn't bear to graft for every brown. There's lots of handy things about in everybody's yard, There's cocks and hens a-runnin' to an' fro, And little dogs what comes and barks -- we take 'em off their guard And we puts 'em with the Empty Bottle-o! Chorus So it's any "Empty bottles! Any empty bottles-o!" You can hear us round for a half a mile or so. And you'll see the women rushing To take in the Monday's washing When they 'ear us crying, "Empty Bottle-o!" I'm drivin' down by Wexford-street and up a winder goes, A girl sticks out 'er 'ead and looks at me, An all-right tart with ginger 'air, and freckles on 'er nose; I stops the cart and walks across to see. "There ain't no bottles 'ere," says she, "since father took the pledge;" "No bottles 'ere," says I, "I'd like to know What right you 'ave to stick your 'ead outside the winder ledge, If you 'aven't got no Empty Bottle-o!" Chorus I sometimes gives the 'orse a spell, and then the push and me We takes a little trip to Chowder Bay. Oh! ain't it nice the 'ole day long a-gazin' at the sea And a-hidin' of the tanglefoot away. But when the booze gits 'old of us, and fellows starts to "scrap", There's some what likes blue-metal for to throw: But as for me, I always says for layin' out a "trap" There's nothin' like an Empty Bottle-o Chorus Wallis and Matilda Nicholas Reefman --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Jan 21 - 12:27 AM FESTIVAL OF LIGHT Words & music Judy Small - words from Judy Small Songbook, 1986. Verse 1: I am a member of the Festival of Light And I know what's wrong and I know what's Right Right is right and you're gonna be left If you don't agree with me Mary Whitehouse is our guru And we believe that we can cure you Of every social sin and ill From the Swan to Circular Quay CHORUS: So come on in and close your mind You can leave it at the door behind you Come on in, sit right down We make the blind to see With our hands upon the Bible We commit all kinds of libel So raise your hands up to your hearts And repeat after me "I hate Reds and I hate Women Homosexuals are sinnin' child molesters, And the Lord knows that it just ain't right I stand for good clean wholesome family livin' All my sins have been forgiven I'm pure as snow as I do-si-do With the Festival of Light Verse 2: We follow the lead of moral giants: Freda Brown and Anita Bryant The media's behind us We're committed to our cause Women's place is in their houses Looking after kids and spouses Except for Anita, Mary, and Freda – They go by different laws CHORUS Verse 3: There's topless bathing down at Bondi Nakedness at Lady Jane Oh, perverts on the rampage On the shores of Thompson's Bay Moral outrage and indignation Sweep across this Christian nation If the Lord had meant us to bathe like that We would've been born that way Final CHORUS repeats last 2 lines I'm pure as snow as I do-si-do With the Festival of Light video Anita Bryant, Mary Whitehouse, Freda Brown - I haven't seen those names for a long time ... |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Jan 21 - 01:30 AM I mentioned on the “Convicted to Fremantle” post about the dearth of Blues (acoustic and electric) on Mudcat these days and I posted “Black and Blue” by “Matt Taylor’s Chain”. I couldn’t resist this top little number as well :) I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS YOUNG Matthew Taylor Well I remember when I was young, the world had just begun and I was happy I used to wonder about the earth and how it moved around the sun so snappy Imagination goin’ wild makes a very backward child, they told me So back at school I’d sit around just waitin' for the sound so I could go home. Sometimes I think about it, it happens every day I should think of the present, ‘cause the present’s now Well I remember when I was young, how one-and-thruppence got ya to the movies To look tough we'd light a smoke and very nearly choke, but we had a real good time Growin’ older meant you get to fly a Saber Jet and fight a few wars So I’d just sit there all day and let my mind decay somethin' awful. Sometimes I think about it, it happens every day I should think of the present, ‘cause the present’s now Well I remember when I was young, I had a secret love who never knew it Well I’d do tricks upon my bike that never turned out right; I always blew it And the day we had to part, I had a broken heart but couldn’t let on So I spent my holidays just thinkin' of the ways I musta gone wrong. Sometimes I think about it, it happens every day I should think of the present, ‘cause the present’s now Well I remember when I was young the Beatles turned me on, I really blew my mind And we'd carry Jack and Pam, we'd go and watch a band and have a real good time Then I heard the black man’s blues; they really blew a fuse inside my head So with some friends we made a stand and formed our first Blues Band; it was a real good thing. Sometimes I think about it, it happens every day I should think of the present, ‘cause the present’s now Well I remember when I was Young, I remember when I was Young, I surely do Well I remember when I was Young, I remember when I was Young, I surely do Matt is a Blues-lovin’ Briso-born boy, who resides in Perth and is arguably best known for his work with top blues band, CHAIN. However, this solo song (c.1973) is an all-time favourite of a great many music fans Down Under. This is from his 1973 album “Straight As A Die” re-released 1997 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7-NlqJei7c Here is a rockin’ Live version with CHAIN (Matt Taylor, Phil Manning, Barry “Big Goose” Sullivan, Barry “Little Goose” Harvey) at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl concert for Mushroom Records, in 1982 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTvzzgk_jEY R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Jan 21 - 01:51 AM SONGS OF THE HUTT RIVER PROVINCE (aka PRINCIPALITY OF HUTT RIVER) – a Micronation within Western Australia - In the very early 1970s, Perth folk band “The Ranting Lads” released an EP record entitled “BROKEN SERENITY” which included the story in song of the beginnings of Australia’s first (white) Micronation at Hutt River, almost 520kms north of Perth in Western Australia, and declared by secession on 21st April, 1970. It wasn’t a joke; the West Australian wheat farmer (and his neighbours) were being shafted by the Fraser Govt over wheat quotas, which was to end in bankruptcy for them and so, Leonard Casley decided to take a stand - with the Govt getting more than it had bargained for. The clever Prince Leonard Casley was “not so green as he's cabbage-looking” as the saying goes, and his Principality lasted 50-odd years!!! It had, of course, its own flag, anthem (see below), stamps, currency, passports and so on – and became a very popular tourist destination and O/S merch provider! [I still have my old Oz passport with the Hutt River Province visa stamp!] The Principality’s motto with its coat of arms was “While I Breathe, I Hope”. Well, Prince Leonard died in 2019 at the grand age of 93, owing a small fortune in taxation to the Aust'n Govt - but with his point made, and so, his son (Prince Graeme) ended the protest his father had begun those long years before and ceded their property back to its place in the Commonwealth of Australia, on 3rd August, 2020. Worth watching is the PHR’s Media Liaison Officer, Naomi Brockwell, explaining the interesting history of this secession in more detail : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBEqFQ3IHUU And here is a very short travelogue from 2016 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tQuUTMsktc The PHR Anthem is being sung here by the late Jon English & the Foster Brothers and which clip also includes a map of the locality : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZCaoWMhWI IT’S A HARD LAND (aka PHR Anthem) Keith Kerwin, 1984 It’s a hard land, but it’s our own land Built with love and dedication Self assured is our small nation One man’s dream of independence. God bless the Prince of Hutt River Province God bless the man whose dream has come true God bless this land where dreams can come true. ”….. He was an adherent of hermeticism, a subject on which he privately published a number of research papers and books……” / ”….. But he says the point of the secession is not about power but about principle: that a small man can stand up to a bully and prosper…… “ The Pandora Archive of the PHR website : http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/ and the WIKI page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River Below are the lyrics of the original song - which, though I still have my EP record, I can’t find uploaded to the internet yet :( BROKEN SERENITY (aka THE BALLAD OF HUTT RIVER) R. M. Müller (aka Mrs Rita Pope) & Dobe Newton / RANTING LADS 1. Well I’ll tell you a tale of a farmer’s long fight A man who could not rest until he’d won his right : To work on his land and to live a good life With his four strapping sons, his three daughters, and the wife. Chorus: Tis of the rebel Casley a story will be told A man who valued freedom more than any sum of gold He settled in Hutt River, it was his chosen land Was there the rebel farmers will fight and make a stand. 2. Well the government decreed with one wave of its hand : We don’t want your wheat, but we will take your land “Never!” cried the farmer “This action is unjust You have betrayed the honest folk; you’ve broken your trust.” 3. “Well listen, my family, to what I have to say : Under this tyranny, our land it will decay Our own separate land for us will be the need We’ll wait thirty days – and then we’ll secede.” 4. Well the politicians muttered. He did what he meant. “We’ll raise your wheat quota twelve hundred percent!” “Too late” said the farmer “Too long you did lag It’s Hutt River Province – we’ve raised up our flag.” 5. Well the tale of his battle, it was spread far and wide He would not be beaten nor run off and hide Let others take example of this courageous man They said we can’t make it. We showed them we can. In case you think this is/was Australia’s only Micronation, check this out : https://www.monsterchildren.com/meet-emperor-smallest-country-in-australia/ Empire of ATLANTEUM (in NSW) Apparently, Australia has one of the largest number of Micronations in the world : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-06/hutt-river-commonwealth-micronations-in-australia/12521668 Perhaps it could be argued that prior to colonisation (aka invasion) by the British, the continent was always comprised of Micronations? Checkout this map : https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia And there have been numerous proposals for new Australian States since colonial times : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_states_of_Australia And also a number of proposals for West Australian secession! : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secessionism_in_Western_Australia CRIKEY!!! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:03 AM THREE KIDS ON A HORSE Dave de Hugard Well, did you see them pass today, Billy, Kate, and Robin? All astride upon the back of old grey Dobbin, Jig and Jog and off to school, down the dusty track Oh what must Dobbin think of it, with three upon his back. And Robin’s at the bridle rein, and in the middle, Kate Little Billy hanging on behind, with his legs out straight. And see them coming back from school, jig-jog-jig And see them at the corner where the gums grow big, And Dobbin flicking off the flies and blinking at the sun He thinks three kids upon his back is real good fun. And Robin’s at the bridle rein, and in the middle, Kate Little Billy hanging on behind, with his legs out straight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJIqjv0CQ8I Dave de Hugard (and I am presuming he wrote this song!) Contributed by National Library of Australia: Folklorist and performer Dave de Hugard grew up in rural Queensland on a tobacco farm. Both of his parents were musical, his father played the piano by ear and encouraged his son to learn by ear at an early age. His mother listened to a wide variety of popular music. De Hugard became involved in folk music while at university in Brisbane where he completed a pharmacy degree. In 1963 he was inspired by seeing American folk singer Pete Seeger in concert to approach music more seriously. He began performing traditional and contemporary songs and tunes on the concertina and button (bush) accordion, fiddle, piano accordion, banjo and guitar. De Hugard's interest in folk song lead him to the writings of Australian folklorist and performer Bill Scott and he became aware of Australian bush music and folk traditions. He built up a large repertoire of Australian old-time and bush dance tunes and yarns and released numerous recordings including Songs of the Wallaby Track and Magpie Morning and performed regularly at folk festivals and clubs in Australia. De Hugard's interest in Australian folk and bush music lead him to complete a degree in social anthropology at Macquarie University and work as a folklore collector and researcher. The Dave de Hugard Folklore Collection is housed at the National Library of Australia in the Oral History Collection. WIKI (Discography) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_de_Hugard Thanks to GerryM for alerting me to this little treasure of a song! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:08 AM way back in the 70s I had a friend who ha been at High School with Jon English - my brush with fame ... |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:55 AM Ah Sandra, I'm sure you've met a million famous people since then - in the Folk World at least!! It seems we'd missed this "warhorse" : THE LIME JUICE TUB trad When shearing comes lay down your drums Step on the board you brand new chums With a ra-dum ra-dum rub-a-dub-dub Send him home in a lime juice tub Chorus (optional) Here we are in New South Wales Shearing the sheep as big as whales With leather necks and daggy tails And hides as tough as rusty nails Now you have crossed the briny deep You fancy you can shear a sheep With a ra-dum ra-dum rub-a-dub-dub We'll send you home in lime juice tub There's brand new chums and cockies sons They fancy that they are great guns They fancy they can shear the wool But the buggers can only tear and pull They tar the sheep till they're nearly black Roll up roll up and get the sack Once more we're away on the Wallaby Track Once more to look for the shearing oh The very next job they undertake Is to press the wool but they make a mistake They press the wool without any bales Shearing's hell in New South Wales And when they meet upon the road From off their backs throw down their load And at the sun they'll take a look Saying I reckon it's time to breast the cook We camp in huts without any doors Sleep upon the muddy floors With a pannikin of flour and a sheet of bark To wallop up a damper in the dark Its home its home I'd like to be Not humping my drum in this country Its sixteen thousand mile I've come To march along with the blanket drum “From the singing of A.L.Lloyd. An early and very complete version appeared in the Bulletin 1898 where it was called 'The Whaler's Rhyme'. John Meredith collected a version from Cyril Ticehurst who had been a butcher in Grenfell, and who chanted rather than sang it. Lime Juice Tub is slang for a British ship. A.L.Lloyd heard it while working on the Lachlan River in the early 1930's. He writes: "This song was much sung in the woolsheds while the men were actually shearing". Lyrics and Notes taken from Mark Gregory’s excellent Union Songs website : http://folk.unionsong.com/055.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V_WYIZ1TY Gary Shearston (with Richard Brooks on harmonica and Les Miller on banjo) “The food on English sailing ships was mostly pretty poor. To prevent the scurvy which was a likely result of a regular diet of pickled meat and ship's biscuit, a ration of lime juice was doled out. So American sailors, who were mostly better fed, contemptuously called English sailors 'Limies'. And so in this song the shearers contemptuously suggest that the unskillful English new chums should be sent home in a lime-juice ship. This version of the song comes from A. L. Lloyd, who says that it was very popular with shearers along the Lachlan thirty or so years ago. He also says that it was one of the few songs that the shearers sang while they were at work. drums - swags, of the same kind as the bluey mentioned in The Murrumbidgee Shearer. board - the floor of be shearing shed. brand new chums - migrants just newly arrived in Australia. cockies' sons - sons of small farmers (who were looked down upon by bush workers in the pastoral industries ). great guns - really good shearers. they tar the sheep till they're nearly black - they cut the sheep so much in shearing them that the sheep end up almost covered with the tar applied as an antiseptic. on the wallaby track - travelling on foot from one station to another, looking for work. press the wool - wool is packed for transport from the shearing sheds in a machine which compresses the wool into sacks. reckon it's time to breast the cook - think it is time to approach the station cook for food. At sundown, the cook would distribute a ration of uncooked food to unemployed ,'travellers' who happened to reach the station homestead at about that hour of the day. huts - stations also provided huts in which such unemployed 'travellers', could sleep overnight. damper - the usual bushman's bread, made with baking soda for leavening. with daggy tails - with lumps of excrement adhering to the wool of the tail.” Notes by Edgar Waters on Gary Shearston’s 1965 LP “The Springtime It Brings on The Shearing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFaWjnr9C7o Here’s another version, performed by a group called “Reel Matilda”, ( http://www.prideaux-e.com/australiana/reel_matilda.htm ) but the clip has a swag of Oz pictures for you – of “Sydney AND The Bush”!! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 25 Jan 21 - 07:11 PM Hey you Catters into Oz & Kiwi songs - this thread is getting perilously close to falling off the edge! We need more posts!! Cheers, R-J :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 25 Jan 21 - 07:38 PM oops |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 25 Jan 21 - 07:42 PM Here's another poem about pioneers. This one is by Banjo Paterson - Wallis and Matilda suppled a tune. PIONEERS (Banjo Paterson) They came of bold and roving stock that would not fixed abide They were the sons of field and flock since e'er they learnt to ride We may not hope to see such men in these degenerate years As those explorers of the bush -- the brave old pioneers 'Twas they who rode the trackless bush in heat and storm and drought 'Twas they who heard the master-word that called them farther out 'Twas they who followed up the trail the mountain cattle made And pressed across the mighty range where now their bones are laid But now the times are dull and slow, the brave old days are dead When hardy bushmen started out, and forced their way ahead By tangled scrub and forests grim towards the unknown west And spied the far-off promised land from off the range's crest Oh ye that sleep in lonely graves by far-off ridge and plain We drink to you in silence now as Christmas comes again To you who fought the wilderness through rough unsettled years The founders of our nation's life, the brave old pioneers Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 25 Jan 21 - 08:15 PM NORTHERN GULF Sean Byrne / Ewan MacColl Come all you gallant fishermen That plough the stormy seas The whole year round On the fishing grounds, Chorus: In the northern Gulf In the Wessel Isles In the banks of the bays On the northern shore Where the prawning shoals are found. It's there you find the northern lads And the men from Mornington; There's Burly Blue And the men from Groote Chorus: In the.....etc From Albatross to Old Fog Bay From Weipa to Karumba town The fleet's away At the break of day Chorus: To the northern Gulf To the Wessel Isles To the banks of the bays On the northern shore Where the prawning shoals are found. They take their whole catch ashore Which they try to sell; There's shark and squid And tons of grubs Chorus: In the..... etc Thanks to Peter Bate for retrieving Sean’s lyrics from the early 1980s! Tune : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7wJxRl2n0s NORTH SEA HOLES - Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger (from 1983 x LP “Freeborn Man”) (I've yet to find, then digitise, a cassette tape with Tropical Ear's singing of this!) TROPICAL EAR Darwin’s Troppos were much of the backbone of the Top End folk music scene in the 1980s. Apparently starting in 1983 with 5 potential members, they quickly coalesced into a trio of multi instrumentalists who all sang both lead and harmony, and with a large and popular repertoire. Regular performers at the TEFC’s famous Gun Turret venue and around festivals and events, they were : Peter Bate / Sean Byrne / Leonie Carville. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 26 Jan 21 - 09:21 AM Two bushranging songs from Western Australia about one John Bolitho Johns: MOONDYNE JOE [1] Jenny Gaunt, c.2018 Joseph Johns (or “Moondyne Joe”) came on the ‘Pyrenees’ From Wales to West Australia in 1853 10 years for stealing food, his hungry mouth to feed The judge was tough who sentenced him: “A lesson to his breed” . CHORUS : Said Moondyne Joe: “You may be the boss, my friend, but you’re not the boss of me” ‘Cos all men want to be free. Joseph worked hard on the land with good behaviour true ‘Cos when you do that, they will hand a ticket of leave to you ‘Ticket of leave!’ he cried aloud, ‘I’m free again’ he sang ‘I’ll head inland to Toodyay and work as a bushman’. CH : Said Moondyne Joe …… Being good can be difficult when opportunity calls And unmarked cattle would be tempting to you all Arrested time and time again, the governor declared ‘If Joe escapes this gaol again, I swear he will be spared!’ CH : Said Moondyne Joe …… To be free of shackles, to live at liberty; Said all men want to be free Locked in Freo Gaol again, he just unscrewed the door And stole the judge’s thoroughbred, by god that man was sore Two years on the run and captured at an inn The promise stood and Joe was soon escaping once again. CH : Said Moondyne Joe …… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok_ReCWZar4 Jenny Gaunt A Perth, WA, singer-songwriter, Jenny is joined here by musicians Ash Wheeler (double bass, piano accordian), Alex Kent (percussion), Dan Walsh (banjo). MOONDYNE JOE [2] Roger Montgomery, c.1980 Come all you convicts bold and true and listen to my tale, Of a transportee who did refuse to stay in Fremantle Gaol Ten years was his sentence long, for the stealing he was taken, Of two cheeses and two loaves of bread and a piece of old chewed bacon. For serving ten years Joe was freed and he moved out of town, But only to be harmed by them who try to drag us down Arrested and then gaoled on suspicion of bush ranging, Joe says “Me boys, I’ll not stay here for another ten year’s caging”. CHORUS : “Away, Away, Moondyne Joe’s Away!” – the convicts smile, the screws they roar, “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” The traps they then took after Joe and brought him back to town, Sentenced him to full three years : “We’ll keep this bastard down!” But no evidence of bush ranging could those police find to charge him, Three years was the lesson, me boys, for trying to escape them. Again Joe served his time then left the gaol, the bars, and locks, Once again bold Joe was caught for the stealing of an ox Ten more years they sentenced him, he swore he would not stay, Four months later, hear the cry : “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” CH: “Away, Away, Moondyne Joe’s Away!” – the convicts smile, the screws they roar, “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” Again those traps they follow Joe; he’s got to finish time, Eleven years in gaol and one in irons, that magistrate did sign Moondyne Joe wrote out his case, pleading false arrest, That judge agreed, took off four years, but made him serve the rest. They built a special cell for him with a ring set in the floor, Ten bars upon the window, ten bolts upon the door Joe tried to escape again : “We’ll have him till he dies!”, He dug a hole just like a mole – and once again they cried : CH: “Away, Away, Moondyne Joe’s Away!” – the convicts smile, the screws they roar, “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” This time Joe took to bush ranging and “Bail Up!” was his call, For two short months he rode the bush until the traps did pall The bullets flew, a man went down, the police were armed too well, Once again bold Joe was caught and thrown back into gaol. He took a job in prison, lads, in the carpenter’s workshop, The warders caught him making a key for the front door lock Six more months in irons he got, in his special prison cell, In solitary confinement there, but his spirits never fell. An averter it was written out in Moondyne Joe’s own hand, Delivered to the Governor, seated in his house so grand Joe tells his own story and owned the law’s delay, The Governor’s written a pardon and it’s “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” CH: “Away, Away, Moondyne Joe’s Away!” – the convicts smile, the screws they roar, “Moondyne Joe’s Away!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mjq9dbT0hQ MUCKY DUCK BUSH BAND, 1980 [from “At Last! The Mucky Duck Album” The lineup at that time was : Davey Browne / Roger Montgomery (Composer) / Butch Hooper / Rob Kay / Jerry Everard] I note that the “Moondyne Joe” song and its Reprise, both written by Roger Montgomery (Music Roy Abbott), for the 1982 Perth musical-play of the same name, are not the same as that above. (I also note that a copy of the musical’s program/libretto is currently going on EBay for close to US$70 - Well, I still have my copy!!!) There are more songs about Moondyne Joe on YT by, for instance, Russell Morris, Johnny Ashcroft, Renegade, Ashlea Reale, et al. Plus there are some anonymous historical verses on some websites. e.g. Anonymous – sung by the public at the time of his 1867 escape[15] WIKI : The Governor's son has got the pip, The Governor's got the measles. For Moondyne Joe has give 'em the slip, Pop goes the weasel. See the history (and photo) of WA’s bushranger and escapeologist, John Bolitho Johns, 1826 – 1900 - aka “Moondyne Joe” : https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/the-convict-era/characters/moondyne-joe/ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moondyne_Joe_-_A_Picturesque_Outlaw - by Charles William Ferguson, 1928 Plus lots more stuff online…….. R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 26 Jan 21 - 08:09 PM Great stuff, R-J. You have been busy. I am fond of this one by Joe Daly. See Sandra's post with comments and links re Joe Daly on 30 October last year. I GUESS YOU HAVE (Joe Daly) I guess you've sat down in a strange pub in town And the locals are holdin' the floor The barman walks up with a ‘How are ya mate? I've never seen you here before Are you just travelling through, what work do you do?’ He takes in all what you can give, ‘Have you come very far, are you driving your car What's the name of the town where you live?’ As you drink the first glass he'll be certain to ask The highway or track that you took He heard on the news that there's thousands of roos And he tells me the potholes are crook The questions come strong, ‘Are you stayin' for long Are you married or just on the court Have you been to the war, what's that scar on your jaw?’ Then he asks of the team you support When the questions have rolled and your life story's told A new barman arrives on the shift You think it's all rosy but he's just as nosey And starts on the same lousy drift I head you know where for a breath of fresh air But find a new menace and strife, The bloke there beside me starts in how to guide me Away from the pitfalls of life So if ever in town and just looking around For a friend then there's likely as not Just slip into the pub, give the elbow a rub Of the barman, he'll tell you the lot Wherever you travel the barman unravels Your history in town or the scrub Some barmen need trimmin’, they talk worse than women Most rumours are born in the pub Oh, I guess you've sat down in a strange pub in town And the locals are holdin' the floor The barman walks up with a ‘How are ya mate? I've never seen you here before Are you just travelling through, what work do you do?" He takes in all what you can give Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 26 Jan 21 - 09:02 PM More Moondyne Joe songs! In 1969 the Bush Music Club received 2 songsheets from a West Wustralian member Moondyne Joe and other Sandgroper Ballads (1969) by L.G. Montgomery see images 9a & 9b for the lyrics & tune ... a variant of Johnny goes down to Hilo - I loved this shanty tune - above all others - as a boy out on Blackadder Creek, in Moondyne country. I remember singing 'the bathing beauty with the seaboots on' ... I contacted friends in WA but no-one knew Sandgroper, & he was not related to Roger, who wasn't aware of his songs when Mucky Duck sang about Moondyne Joe. sandra |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 01:55 AM The F-111 by Lyell Sayer, Traditional (Johnny Lad) Now, Mr Robert Menzies was walking down the street, And thinking of our airforce which was mostly obsolete; "Our Canberra bombers are getting old as hell, I'd better call up Uncle Sam and see what he can sell." Chorus: Oh, the F-one-double one it is a lovely plane, It flies at twice the speed of sound and scatters bombs like rain, It's wings go back and forward, it's the latest thing around, It's a pity that it isn't safe to take it off the ground. He said to Uncle Sammy, "We want to buy a plane To save our lovely country from going down the drain; We want to scare some Asians, so see what you can do." The answer was, "Bob, buddy, we've got just the thing for you." Bob said, "We'll take two dozen." The plane they had to make, And soon they had one ready, its first flight for to take, It whistled down the runway with a dreadful roaring sound, And then broke up in little bits and fell back on the ground. They sent six off to Vietnam, the country to defend, To wipe out all the Viet Cong and cause the war to end, But Ho Chi Min said, "Comrades, don't waste our precious shells, These brand-new planes the Yankees have all fall down by themselves." Now years have come and years have gone, and we all still depend On our nice old Canberra bombers our country to defend; The plane's prices double every time one takes a spill, And if Sir Robert was still here, we'd make him pay the bill. And when they are all ready, and we have paid the fee, Our Generous Uncle Sammy will make delivery, But I doubt if it will be much good to him or you or I, At the present rate of accidents we've got a week's supply. notes - The General Dynamics F-111C was a controversial aircraft purchased by the Royal Australian Air Force in 1963. Problems began with a 10-year delay in delivery. For more, see Wikipedia video bio of Lyell Sayer - with pic of Martyn Wyndham Reed! with Collette & JohnH in the background, probably taken at the 2016 Bush Traditions Gathering the year Lyell also attended. I have a photo of a bloke who could be Lyell, for my own satisfaction I'll ask a friend who knew him in his younger days. extract from Warren Fahey's website re 60's revival - Lyell Sayer started singing and playing in public after attending the Emerald Hill concerts, and consciously patterned his style after Martyn Wyndham-Read. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:06 AM THE TWO-STAR HOTEL Geoff Francis & Peter Hicks ©2006 "Dark as the dungeon" they sing in the song Where the miners alone know what really goes on On that day the earth shook and the mighty rocks fell One brave man was taken, two trapped there in hell. Above ground the families they wait and they wait In fear and in hope for some news of their fate The five longest days and nights ever passed by Till a voice shouted out, "Todd and Brant they're alive!" For day after day, they kept calm and stayed cool With jokes and bold laughter, oft playing the fool Two bravest of miners in that holiest of hell Union men bunkered in the "Two Star Hotel". Their rescuers ne'er faltered by day and by night Their own lives they risked with just one goal in sight The rocks that they fought were the hardest on earth All as one put their comrades before their own worth. There was no room to move, trapped down there in their cage Where each day that passed it seemed more like an age, Then an air hole gave food, a few comforts as well Country songs and Foo Fighters rang out in their cell. There's no flat screen TV there or in-house video And there's no satin sheets in that pit down below But you never could buy what they had in that cell That's the guts and mateship of the "Two Star Hotel". Seemed the Earth was determined to not let them go But these Tasmanian men had a few tricks to show The rescuers held firm, would not yield from their task And each one he gave more than could ever be asked. At the end of two weeks they stepped out and walked tall With a wave they clocked off, into lovin' arms to fall And to pay their respects to their comrade who fell So rejoice for the tenants of the "Two Star Hotel" Yes rejoice for the heroes of the "Two Star Hotel". There's no flat screen TV there or in-house video And there's no satin sheets in that pit down below But you never could buy what they had in that cell That's the guts and mateship of the "Two Star Hotel" That's the guts and mateship of the "Two Star Hotel". http://unionsong.com/u363.html audio link and lyrics from Mark Gregory’s excellent “Union Songs” website. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaconsfield_Mine_collapse details of the 2006 Tasmanian goldmine disaster, 40kms NW of Launceston, and a kilometre below the surface, caused by an earthquake-induced rockfall. ABC reports of Beaconsfield mining rescue “8 May - Late at night, a test probe is sent through the last metre of rock separating the men from their rescuers. The men say they can see the probe, and workers begin the final push. 9 May - 4:47am AEST - rescue workers use a hydraulic rock splitter, and finally break through to the two trapped men. They are brought to a crib at the 375-metre mark, where they prepare to reach the surface. At 6:00am AEST, Brant Webb and Todd Russell walk out of the mine and move their miners' tags to the 'safe' side of the board after their two-week ordeal.” R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:39 AM Green Bans Forever, A song by Mick Fowler ©1979 Mick Fowler, Tune: Waltzing Matilda Once some jolly squatters camped in Victoria Street There they lived for months on end They fought and struggled for the own community The rights of the tenants to defend Green Bans forever Green Bans Forever Green Bans forever in Victoria Street We sang as we hopped from chimney top to chimney top Green Bans forever in Victoria Street Down come the coppers mounted on their rescue vans Up come the thugs vans one two three We laughed as we struggled down behind the barricades You'll never drive us away said we Out come the squatters carried by the constables Into the wagon one two three The thugs with their crow bars smashed all the premises They cost 'em dough but the coppers come free Up jumped a squatter high into the chimney pot You'll have some trouble to get me said he His voice could be heard as the moon shone on the chimney top Green Bans forever in Victoria Street People of Sydney fighting for Victoria Street Should keep a watch by the Sycamore trees (spoken: they are Sycamores you know folks) And the Green Bans will stay on Bellows and their property Green Bans forever in Victoria Street ... Kings Cross the top of William Victoria Street forever hooray! Notes - This song was released as side 2 of a 45rpm 7" record in 1979 With Mick Fowler on vocals and a jazz band called Green Ban'd. Mick was a jazz musician and member of the SUA (Seamen's Union of Australia) who lived in Victoria Street Sydney. He was the last tenant to leave in 1979. correction - he left in 1976, & died in 1979 Mick Fowler monument, Butler Stairs, Victoria St inscription - Memorial plaque to Mick Flower Seaman, Musician & Green Ban Activist For his gallant stand against demolition of workers homes with the Builders Labourers Federation Green Bans They were hard old days, they were battling days, they were cruel times - but then In spite of it all Victoria Street will see low income housing for workers again. From his friends. I haven't walked down Victoria St for a few years, but when I did, I always smiled at that last line - low income housing didn't last in Victoria St or the Potts Point/Kings Cross area. There is a fair bit down the bottom of Butler Stairs in Wooloomooloo but it is mainly richer folk in the wider area. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:46 AM Right That Time, A song by Maurie Mulheron ©1998 They speak about it proudly, it's now union folklore How wharfies wouldn't load any pig-iron for war Japan was a threat so they walked off the job They wouldn't help the fascists for old Pig-iron Bob Chorus: They were right that time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods Indonesia's young and fighting to be free But the Dutch had different plans for their former colony When the people rose up with freedom on their lips The wharfies stopped loading any Dutch bound ships Chorus: They were right that time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods Korea was in trouble, overrun by the Yanks Wharfies told to load rifles, guns and tanks Why get involved in this bloody civil war? We're not gonna ship any weapons anymore! Chorus: They were right that time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods Pig-iron Bob's back, says we're off to Vietnam Tugging his forelocks for good old Uncle Sam The seamen wouldn't work on the war ship 'Boonaroo' And the wharfies held the line when they sacked the ship's crew Chorus: They were right that time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods The struggle's moved on, mass sackings overnight The union's survival is the heart of the fight We'll defy your threats, your thugs and court We're standing united, no wharfie can be bought! Chorus: They were right that time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods History's on our side, we'll see this battle through There's too much at stake for the profits of the few Our fathers, before us, stood on every picket line Keep their mem'ries alive and we'll win every time. Last Chorus: They've been right ev'ry time and they're right again now But the strength of one isn't much of a power So united they stand against all odds Fighting for us all against the little tin gods Notes Maurie Mullheron emailed this song as the Wharfies were mobilising for a battle to defend their right to organise. Today (Feb 9th 1998), the attempt by the National Farmers Federation and its Federal Government backers to set up a non union wharf at Web Dock in Melbourne is the main front of the battle. Maurie's song is a timely reminder of how far back the battle extends. Maurie sings this song on the MUA Centenary CD "With These Arms" which I have, & there are lots of good songs on it. Audio |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:50 AM The Pig-Iron Song, a song by Clem Parkinson ©1964 aka Pig Iron Bob on MUA Centenary CD "With These Arms" Did you ever stop to wonder why the fellows on the job Refer to Robert Menzies by the nickname Pig-Iron Bob? It's a fascinating tale though it happened long ago It's a part of our tradition every worker ought to know Chorus We wouldn't load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan Despite intimidation we refused to lift the ban With democracy at stake the struggle must be won We had to beat the menace of the fascist Rising Sun It was 1937 and aggressive Japanese Attacked the Chinese people tried to bring them to their knees Poorly armed and ill equipped the peasants bravely fought While Australian water siders rallied round to lend support Attorney General Menzies said the ship would have to sail "If the men refuse to load it we will throw them into jail" But our unity was strong - we were solid to a man And we wouldn't load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan For the Judas politicians we would pay a heavy price The jungles of New Guinea saw a costly sacrifice There's a lesson to be learned that we've got to understand Peace can only be secured when the people lend a hand Notes Many thanks to Clem Parkinson for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection. Clem sings the song on the MUA Centenary CD "With These Arms" Audio |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:54 AM Bucket O’ Rust © John Hospodaryk 2002 Well hey ho you landlubbers here’s a tale of a ship of shame A leaky tub that’s manned by slaves and the Bucket O’ Rust is her name Bucket O’ Rust is her name The flag of convenience she flies the Jolly Roger of today With laundered money contraband and drugs and a crew that gets no pay A crew that gets no pay Well the Bucket O’ Rust is a grimy heap it’s a wonder that she can float And if she sinks you can’t escape you can’t launch the safety boats Launch her safety boats Her urinals are full of slime and scum but what’s even worse than that Is the rancid food in the galley must be shared with the roach and the rat You got to share it with the roach and the rat Well the Bucket O’ Rust is a great success she’s welcome in our ports She undercuts our local ships with her cheapness and her rorts Cheapness and her rorts Deregulated industry is her blood her life line You can be substandard and be a sweatshop and the government don’t mind No the government don’t mind Well sad to say the Bucket O’ Rust could this have been God’s will? On the Great Barrier Reef she ran aground with two crew members killed Two crew members killed And it took them twelve days to blast her away and free her from the reef And all through the time the oil she spilled it brought the sea to grief You know it brought the sea to grief It’s hard to believe that this story ends well and this great heap of shit The Minister of Transport saved the day when he issued a new permit (Spoken) – John Anderson was his name it’s a true story Our shipping must be competitive he said in the world economy So the Bucket O’ Rust continues to crawl like a coffin on the sea A coffin on the sea Yeah the Bucket O’ Rust continues to crawl Upon the grimy the sea Notes Many thanks to John Hospodaryk for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection. This song won first prize in the 2002 MUA song competition. It is on the MUA centenary CD "With These Arms" Audio |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 27 Jan 21 - 04:00 AM another of the late John Hospodaryk's excellent songs Black Armband, a song by John Hospodaryk ©2002 Hey there Johnny this song it is for you It's not behind the razor wire hidden from our view That's why I'm wearing a black armband A black armband to demonstrate my stand White picket financial security Leafy suburban nuclear family The benifits of a growing economy Middle class utopia where the market's so free But I got a better term for all this inequity It's not incentivation Menzies nor prosperity Not back to the future to 1953 It's myopia which means that you can barely see Balacava guards rottweillers and alsatians Such is the face of your industrial relations Anti-union tyranny right across the nation On the waterfront and down the mines you're proud of your creation You've got the gall to call it reforms in the workplace When waging war on workers is a retrograde disgrace You want us cap in hand to crawl you're smug and mean and base You want our rights and hard earned gains to sink without a trace And hey now Peter this song's aiming at you too You're mean of spirit you and all your crew And that's why I'm wearing a black armband A black armband to demonstrate my stand A hundred and twenty years of public education Is being destroyed by your discrimination In favour of the rich or some denomination You call that a fair go it's an abomination There's now freedom of choice in our schooling so you say Who do you think you are fooling when most of us can't pay Then if funding the elite with our taxes is OK Then this nation will fall like a dingo stricken prey And hey there Johnny this song it is for you I see rack and ruin in all the things you do You can tell 'cause I'm wearing a black arm band For all those stolen generations you can't understand Well here's your report card you dont get many marks On greenhouse emissions and logging national parks At reconciliation you've chained up all our hearts You score a zero just a naught you get a buggery of arts Of liberty equality fraternity I didn't know Ownership of shares is democracy the way to go But on a privatised planet I guess it must be so Where any soul is bought and sold your marks are very low Well I know what you stand for will shrivel up and die We'll throw it overboard and that wont be a lie But until that day I wear a black armband In mourning for what you are doing right across the land But until that day I wear a black armband In mourning for what you are doing right across this right across this right across this right across this land Notes Thanks to John Hospodaryk for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection. Black Armband was one of nearly 100 songs entered in Wobbly Radio's 2002 union song competition and is on the MayDay MayDay CD John writes: "This is my homage to John Howard. When you said selling Telstra would make Australia the "world’s greatest share-owning democracy", you disenfranchised a large section of the population. When you set about to replace unions with Opposition of showing "the politics of envy" in its frankly lily-livered criticism of your nation-destroying education policy, you insulted the 70% of parents who send their children to public schools. When you criticised those historians (myself included) as having a "black armband view" because we choose to explore the oppression of the Aboriginal people, you offended the suffering of those people. This song, then, is an attempt to throw your remark right back in your face" (1) "Razor wire": type of wire used to surround detention centres for asylum seekers. (2) "Black armband": First coined by historian Geoffrey Blainey, and adopted by John Howard, this is a criticism of those historians who mention events and conditions like impoverishment, oppression and genocide as having occurred at some stage in Australia's past. Things that are just not nice. Things that fail to mention the achievements of great men. Things that fail to paint a rosy picture of life under conservative governments. To Howard, the "black armband" view of history is very ungrateful because conservatives , after all, were born to rule and know what is good for us. (3) "White picket financial security/Nuclear suburban nuclear family": Metaphoric reference to an 80s Federal election campaign by the Liberals which included a poster depicting a white middle class family standing in front of a prestigious heritage home...as if that was the typical Australian family! (4) "Incentivation": Campaign catchphrase used by John Howard in a federal election back in the 80s. You won't find the word in a dictionary, either! (5) "Peter": Howard's Treasurer, Peter Costello. It could just as easily be the disgraced former Defence Minister and Industrial Relations Minister, Peter Reith. (6) "you've chained up all our hearts": reference to Howard's use of Joe Cocker's song "Unchain My Heart" as a taxpayer-funded propaganda weapon to sell the GST to the electorate. (7) "I didn't know/Ownership of shares is democracy": When he suggested he would sell off Telstra, Howard asserted that it would make Australia "the greatest share-owning democracy in the world", thus disenfranchising, at least in spirit, not only any citizen who doesn't own shares, but also any citizen whose shares really don't add up to much. This is real pocket borough mentality! (8) "We'll throw it overboard and that won't be a lie": reference to the "children overboard" lie. John sings the song on the MUA Centenary CD "With These Arms" Audio I really do need to other things, but it's great fun mining "With These Arms" & Mark Gregory's Union songs. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 27 Jan 21 - 04:50 AM As well as being a songwriter par excellence, John Hospodaryk was a really nice bloke. I have his CD of railway songs. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 27 Jan 21 - 07:02 PM ALTERED DAYS (w. John Barr attrib/m. Anon) When to New Zealand first I cam’ Poor and duddy, poor and duddy It was a happy day, sirs For I was fed on parritch thin My taes they stickit thro’ my shoon I ruggit at the pouken pin But could’ mak’ it pay, sirs Baith nicht and day upon the board Ruggin’ at it, tuggin’ at it I strived to please a paper lord Wha once had been a weaver But he got up and I got down I wandered idly thro’ the town A tattered bonnet on my croon And wasna worth a steever Nae mair the laird comes for his rent For his rent, for his rent When I hae nocht to pay, sirs Nae mair he’ll take me aff the loom Wi’ hangin’ lip and pouches toom To touch my hat and boo to him The like was never kent, sirs But now it’s altered days, I trow A weel a wat, a weel a wat The beef is tumblin’ in the pat And I’m baith fat and fu’, sirs At my door cheeks there’s bread and cheese I work or no’ just as I please I’m fairly settled at my ease And that’s the way o’t noo, sirs Youtube clip Scots in NZ --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 28 Jan 21 - 06:47 PM THE NEVER NEVER LAND (H.Lawson/I.MacDougall) By homestead, hut, and shearing-shed, By railroad, coach, and track — By lonely graves of our brave dead, Up-Country and Out-Back: To where 'neath glorious the clustered stars The dreamy plains expand — My home lies wide a thousand miles In the Never-Never Land. It lies beyond the farming belt, Wide wastes of scrub and plain, A blazing desert in the drought, A lake-land after rain; To the sky-line sweeps the waving grass, Or whirls the scorching sand — A phantom land, a mystic land! The Never-Never Land. Where lone Mount Desolation lies, Mounts Dreadful and Despair — 'Tis lost beneath the rainless skies In hopeless deserts there; It spreads nor'-west by No-Man's-Land — Where clouds are seldom seen — To where the cattle-stations lie Three hundred miles between. The drovers of the Great Stock Routes The strange Gulf country know — Where, travelling from the southern drought The big lean bullocks go; And camped by night where plains lie wide, Like some old ocean's bed, The watchmen in the starlight ride Round fifteen hundred head. And west of named and numbered days The shearers walk and ride — Jack Cornstalk and the Ne'er-do-well And the grey-beard side by side; They veil their eyes — from moon and stars, And slumber on the sand — Sad memories steep as years go round In Never-Never Land. By lonely huts north-west of Bourke, Through years of flood and drought, The best of English black-sheep work Their own salvation out: Wild fresh-faced boys grown gaunt and brown — Stiff-lipped and haggard-eyed — They live the Dead Past grimly down! Where boundary-riders ride. The College Wreck who sank beneath, Then rose above his shame, Tramps west in mateship with the man Who cannot write his name. 'Tis there where on the barren track No last half-crust's begrudged — Where saint and sinner, side by side, Judge not, and are not judged. Oh rebels to society! The Outcasts of the West — Oh hopeless eyes that smile for me, And broken hearts that jest! The pluck to face a thousand miles — The grit to see it through! The communion perfected! — And — I am proud of you! The Arab to true desert sand, The Finn to fields of snow, The Flax-stick turns to Maoriland, While the seasons come and go; And this old fact comes home to me — And will not let me rest — However barren it may be, Your own land is the best! And, lest at ease I should forget True mateship after all, My water-bag and billy yet Are hanging on the wall; And if my fate should show the sign I'd tramp to sunsets grand With gaunt and stern-eyed mates of mine In the Never-Never Land. The above is the complete poem as published in 1901 with the title 'The Never-Never Country'. Loaded Dog recorded an edited version with a tune by Ian MacDougall on their 'dusty gravel road' album. You can listen to it on this page: Click Another edited version with MacDougall tune: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 29 Jan 21 - 06:43 PM A kiwi kids' song: RAILWAY BILL (Anon) Way down the line At any time Who is sittin' on the railway line Why there is poor old Bill Chorus Railway Bill, oh Railway Bill He won't work and he never will They'll fire old railway Bill We'll bang and strike This steel spike Nobody works like good old Mike But never poor old Bill Chorus Go toot the peeper Go press the beeper Bill, he's a railway sleeper Go wake up poor old Bill Youtube clip Neil Colquhoun commented: I don't know who Railway Bill was, but to us kids he seemed some kind of hero , defying foremen, inspectors and perhaps even holding up the express to remain sitting on the line. 'Song of a young country' p57. For the joy that's in it, here is a fine rendition of a version of the traditional song from which the song derives. Beaut! Railrosd Bill --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 30 Jan 21 - 12:29 AM BOB THE KELPIE Don Spencer/Allan Caswell CHORUS Sheep are cute, sheep are beaut, sheep are soft and curly. But when I take them into town, I have to start off early, ‘Cause they never go the way I want, so I need someone to help me - I just give a whistle, and I call for Bob the Kelpie. Bob the Kelpie he’s my dog, and though he’s not too pretty. He’s worth more than all those fancy dogs up in the city. He works hard in the yard to show the sheep who’s boss, I guess they’ve learned by now it doesn’t pay to make Bob cross. CHORUS X 2 Bob the Kelpie he’s my mate, he never lets me down. He loves to ride in the back of the Ute when we go into town. And we never have to lock it up, with Bob there for protection, ‘Cause he will bark at anything that comes in his direction. CHORUS X 2 Yes I just give a whistle… I just give a whistle, And I call for Bob the Kelpie. Recording by Don Spencer here. ------------------------------------------------------------- Trivia: Don Spencer is Russell Crowe's father-in-law. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 30 Jan 21 - 12:40 AM Wife to a Cocky Farmer Richard Keam I am the one who has carried the can since time before time began, Or that's the way that it's often seemed since I married a dairying man. We've had our times, and we've had our strife. It's a good but an awful hard, hard life, And the one thing sure is you'll pay the price when you're wed to a cocky farmer. I was the one got the bookwork done when the kids were in bed at night, And up every morn before the dawn when the winter frosts would bite, And I swapped me good clothes long ago for gum boots and an overcoat, And a lifetime bailing a sinking boat for the sake of a cocky farmer, And the sound of the scenes in me very dreams is the sound of the milk can lids, And I never knew how we'd get through but we managed to raise four kids, And the time that we spent away from here was less than a month in twenty years. Now the kids have gone but they shed no tears for the life of a cocky farmer. And the price we get never keeps in step with the prices that we pay, But you can't tell cows that they're out on strike. You're a slave to them night and day, And we've seen the neighbours all around toss it in and move to the local town, But you talk of this and he only frowns. He'll die a cocky farmer, And they used to say that i wore the pants in the days when they said such things, But I was a one when I was young for a bit of a wild old fling. Saturday nights at the Shire Hall dance, stars in me eyes and a head for a romance, And sometimes I think that I'm still young Nance, not the wife of a cocky farmer. Sometimes in me dreams I'm still young Nance, not the wife of a cocky farmer. Recorded by Judy Small. Also by Margaret Walters, but I don't think Marg's recording is online. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 30 Jan 21 - 12:51 AM The Drover's Sweetheart Lawson, Henry (1867 - 1922) An hour before the sun goes down Behind the ragged boughs, I go across the little run To bring the dusty cows; And once I used to sit and rest Beneath the fading dome, For there was one that I loved best Who'd bring the cattle home. Our yard is fixed with double bails, Round one the grass is green, The bush is growing through the rails, The spike is rusted in; It was from there his freckled face Would turn and smile at me -- For he'd milk seven in a race While I was milking three. He kissed me twice and once again And rode across the hill, The pint-pots and the hobble-chain I hear them jingling still; About the hut the sunlight fails the fire shines through the cracks, I climb the broken stockyard rails And watch the bridle-tracks. And he is coming back again, He wrote from Evatt's Rock A flood was in the Darling then -- And foot-rot in the flock The sheep were falling thick and fast, A hundred miles from town, And when he reached the line at last He trucked the remnant down. And so he'll have to stand the cost, His luck was always bad, Instead of making more, he lost The money that he had; And how he'll manage, heaven knows (My eyes are getting dim) He says -- he says -- he don't -- suppose I'll want -- to -- marry -- him. As if I wouldn't take his hand Without a golden glove; Oh! Jack -- you men won't understand How much a girl can love. I long to see his face once more -- Jack's dog! thank God, it's Jack! -- (I never thought I'd faint before) He's coming -- up -- the track. x2 Notes drover: someone who herds droves of livestock. run: "range of pasture- or grazing-land; a sheep station", pastoral holding (OED "run" n1, 22; courtesy of Eric Sharpham). dome: the firmament (the sky's concave vault). bails: stakes, fence-posts. pint-pots: bells, shaped like small beer pots. the hobble-chain: a small loose chain around the hind fetlocks, preventing cattle from running. Darling-River: the longest river in Australia, flowing from Queensland to join the Murray River at Wentworth in New South Wales and continuing on through South Australia to empty into the Great Australian Bight (courtesy of Eric Sharpham). bankers: full up to their banks. Bourke: in the centre of the Australian outback, once the largest inland port on the Darling River. Set to music and recorded by Priscilla Herdman. The lyrics given here match what she sings, which is a modification of what Lawson wrote. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 30 Jan 21 - 12:59 AM Since Then Henry Lawson, 1895 I met Jack Ellis in town to-day — Jack Ellis — my old mate, Jack — Ten years ago, from the Castlereagh, We carried our swags together away To the Never-Again, Out Back. But times have altered since those old days, And the times have changed the men. Ah, well! there's little to blame or praise — Jack Ellis and I have tramped long ways On different tracks since then. His hat was battered, his coat was green, The toes of his boots were through, But the pride was his! It was I felt mean — I wished that my collar was not so clean, Nor the clothes I wore so new. He saw me first, and he knew 'twas I — The holiday swell he met. Why have we no faith in each other? Ah, why? — He made as though he would pass me by, For he thought that I might forget. He ought to have known me better than that, By the tracks we tramped far out — The sweltering scrub and the blazing flat, When the heat came down through each old felt hat In the hell-born western drought. The cheques we made and the shanty sprees, The camps in the great blind scrub, The long wet tramps when the plains were seas, And the oracles worked in days like these For rum and tobacco and grub. Could I forget how we struck 'the same Old tale' in the nearer West, When the first great test of our friendship came — But — well, there's little to praise or blame If our mateship stood the test. 'Heads!' he laughed (but his face was stern) — 'Tails!' and a friendly oath; We loved her fair, we had much to learn — And each was stabbed to the heart in turn By the girl who — loved us both. Or the last day lost on the lignum plain, When I staggered, half-blind, half-dead, With a burning throat and a tortured brain; And the tank when we came to the track again Was seventeen miles ahead. Then life seemed finished — then death began As down in the dust I sank, But he stuck to his mate as a bushman can, Till I heard him saying, 'Bear up, old man!' In the shade by the mulga tank. He took my hand in a distant way (I thought how we parted last), And we seemed like men who have nought to say And who meet — 'Good-day', and who part — 'Good-day', Who never have shared the past. I asked him in for a drink with me — Jack Ellis — my old mate, Jack — But his manner no longer was careless and free, He followed, but not with the grin that he Wore always in days Out Back. I tried to live in the past once more — Or the present and past combine, But the days between I could not ignore — I couldn't help notice the clothes he wore, And he couldn't but notice mine. He placed his glass on the polished bar, And he wouldn't fill up again; For he is prouder than most men are — Jack Ellis and I have tramped too far On different tracks since then. He said that he had a mate to meet, And 'I'll see you again,' said he, Then he hurried away through the crowded street And the rattle of buses and scrape of feet Seemed suddenly loud to me. And I almost wished that the time were come When less will be left to Fate — When boys will start on the track from home With equal chances, and no old chum Have more or less than his mate. ------------------------------------------------------- Above, the full 16 verses. Slim Dusty set it to music and recorded it, but he only sang seven verses: 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, and a mash-up over stanzas 14 and 15. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 30 Jan 21 - 01:07 AM The years 1915 to 1919 saw a huge explosion of working class militancy in response to the First World War which brought Britain almost to the brink of revolution. One of the most important centres of struggle was Glasgow and the Clyde. 'Red Clydeside', a CD written and performed by Alistair Hulett, celebrates its foremost protagonist, John Maclean, and the men and women who contributed to this often neglected period of our history. The song Don’t Sign Up For War’ is based on one of John McLean’s famous quotes during the lead up to the First World War when he encouraged young men to defer from signing up. Don't Sign Up For War Alsitair Hulett See thon Arthur Henderson, heid bummer o' the workin, men (1) When war broke oot he pressed his suit an' ran tae catch the train He signed a deal in London, nae mair strikes until the fightin's done In Glesga toon the word went roon'. Tak tent o' John Maclean. (2) He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. When they turned him oot o' Langside Hall, John stood up at the fountain Whit he said was tailor-made tae magnify the friction Ye patriots can roar and bawl, it's nought but braggarts fiction The only war worth fightin' for is war against oppression. He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. The polis wheeched him oot o' there and doon tae Queens Park station (3) They telt him plain offend again an' we'll mak' ye rue the day, son (4) But Johnny didnae turn a hair, he ca'd for a demonstration A mighty thrang ten thoosan strang turned oot against conscription (5) He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. The next time that they came for him, John kent they meant the business (6) He didnae plea for mercy, he said gi'e me British justice (7) The justice that he ca'd for stunned many intae silence (8) When oot o' hell the hammer fell, three years was the sentence. He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. The clamour tae release Maclean reached fever pitch and mair, man (9) In a year an a' hauf they they ca'd it aff, but Christ it taxed him sair man (10) He came back auld afore his time, but he didnae seem tae care. Man Dae a' ye can, I'm still the wan wha'll cause ye tae beware, man. He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. The last time that they jailed Maclean he came gey close tae scunnert (11) Wi' a rubber hose pit up his nose they kept him swap suppert (12) Let him oot or keep him in, Red Clyde was ower blaistert (13) Ilk wey they turnt the Government was weel and brawly gouthart. (14) (15) He said a bayonet, that's a weapon wi' a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don't sign up for war my friend Don't sign up for war. Notes: 1) heid bummer = leader 2) tak tent o' = pay heed to 3) wheeched = rushed 4) telt = told 5) thrang ten thoosan strang = crowd ten thousand strong 6) kent = knew 7) gi'e = give 8) ca'd = called 9) mair = more 10) sair = sore 11) gey close tae scunnert = to the brink of collapse 12) swap suppert = forcibly fed 13) ower blaistart = in an uproar 14) Ilk wey = whichever way 15) weel an' brawly gouthart = in a quandary ---------------------------------------------------------- Recorded by Alistair Hulett and Dave Swarbrick. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 30 Jan 21 - 03:07 AM Gerry, my ukulele group does Bob the Kelpie......living in a rural area as we do, it's always popular and fun. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 30 Jan 21 - 10:25 PM A song of a digger leaving the west coast of New Zealand for the Palmer River gold rush in North Queensland. THE DIGGER'S FAREWELL (Anon) Well it's just as you say sir, I'm off once more To the Palmer River, that's my way I landed here in sixty-four That's ten years' struggle along the Grey Ten long years since I landed here In a trackless land of wet and cold Some of our lives were pretty severe But who lacks hardship looking for gold? Latterly gold has been hard to find I've enough to carry me, none to spend I'm going away and leaving behind Not one deserving the name of friend Now the gold was pretty near tuckered out When Bill - that's me mate - he says to me There's gold on the Palmer beyond all doubt So here's for sailing out over the sea There's the whistle - a drink before we part 'A step to the corner', I hear you say? My last on the coast - with all my heart A brandy straight and then I'm away Here's a long farewell to the old West Coast With a heart prepared for whatever I find 'Success to the Palmer' - is that your toast? Mine's 'here's to the land I leave behind!' The above version is as recorded by Phil Garland: Youtube clip Alan Musgrave recorded a slightly different version on his 'Behind The Times' album. Ron Edwards collected a short song of this title from Frank Evans of North Queensland. In that one, the miner is leaving Bendigo. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 31 Jan 21 - 08:09 PM I love love love this performance/interpretation by Chlo? and Jason!!!! :) THE WATCH ON THE KERB Henry Lawson, 1888 / Chloe & Jason Roweth, 2017 Night-lights are falling; Girl of the street, Go to your calling If you would eat. Lamplight and starlight And moonlight superb, Bright hope is a farlight, So watch on the kerb. Watch on the kerb, Watch on the kerb; Hope is a farlight; Then watch on the kerb. Comes a man: call him — Gone! he is vext; Curses befall him, Wait for the next! Fair world and bright world, Life still is sweet — Girl of the night-world, Watch on the street. Dreary the watch is: Moon sinks from sight, Gas only blotches Darkness with light; Never, Oh, never Let courage go down; Keep from the river, Oh, Girl of the Town! The Bulletin, 19 April 1888 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQfUhhVs5YA 'The Watch on the Kerb' (1888) Words: Henry Lawson, Music: Chloe & Jason Roweth (2017). ['The Day Before I Die' (1907) Words: Henry Lawson. ] Chloe Roweth: Voice, Tenor Banjo / Jason Roweth: Voice, Guitar / Liz Frencham: Bass [ Music recorded live at Silver Hill, Cygnet, Tasmania - Jan 16, 2018. / Video recorded at Silver Hill - Jan 19, 2018. / Music and film recorded, mixed and edited by Michael Gissing. ] “The Soul of The Poet : Songs and Poems of Henry Lawson (2018)” CD “Chloë and Jason Roweth mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henry Lawson with a selection of his finest poems in song and spoken word. Their work includes original musical settings, and evocative use of dance music from Lawson’s (and the Roweths') home country - central-west NSW. The Roweths have found great inspiration in Henry's words, learning his poetry, and setting many lesser known poems to music. The poems that resonate with Chloe and Jason are those of a more complex and personal nature; verses that reveal Henry Lawson as a flawed genius, a creative artist, a revolutionary and a humanist.” "I can love him because he stands above us all. Because his fun and friendship, his troubled, tragic spirit, his rugged ways, the vision that he never lost, the hopes that were broken, his kindness and despair, his heart and soul poured out, everything he thought and everything he wrote for our great heritage, were as much a part of him as his drinking. And I am like him, and I understand." : From Henry Lawson’s daughter, Bertha Lawson [Jago], unpublished notes. As reprinted in ‘A Wife’s Heart - The Untold Story of Bertha and Henry Lawson’ by Kerrie Davies, first published 2017 by University of Queensland Press. https://www.rowethmusic.com.au/the-soul-of-a-poet R-J PS Down Under it is already Feb 1st (and our last month of Summer) - but UP NORF it is St Brigid’s Day and that means IMBOLC and Spring - and the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. “Brigid encompasses the stories of two women, Brigid the saint who is considered a patron saint of Ireland and the goddess Brigid a powerful woman and the patroness of healing, arts, fertility, poetry/music, prophecy and agriculture. Her feast day on the 1st February marks the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere and it is the season when we CELEBRATE HOPE and new life on earth” https://www.thereisadayforthat.com/holidays/ireland/imbolc So Happy Bridie’s Day to you all :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 31 Jan 21 - 08:18 PM Sorry for that question mark in Chloe's name! Mudcat obviously didn't like my attempts at an "umlaut" (or whatever it is called in this case .....) St Brigid will forgive me! :) R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 31 Jan 21 - 08:38 PM AS THE BLACK BILLY BOILS (Anon) As the black billy boils At the end of the whare I remember the time When I lived in a hurry With my hand on a line Tied to a bundle of money And I was a very young new chum As the black billy boils At the end of the whare I look back on the days And how they seem so very funny Now i've mended my ways And I never have a worry And it's thanks to the kauri gum Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Feb 21 - 12:10 AM THE DYING SPRAGGER (Anon) A handsome young spragger lay dying With a miner supporting his head When he raised himself up on his elbow And then to his workmates he said Wrap me up with my pit lamp and tallow And stow my poor body below Where the ? and the blowflies can’t find me In some dark and cool tunnel below Take my old crib can and bottle Place one at my head and my toe Then scratch out my name at the pay box And tell them I’m sleeping below There’s some tea in the black dixie ? tin Line your dip tins up in a row And let’s drink to our next joyful meeting In the sky where all good workers go I can hear the big wheel on the popper And the cage as it moves down the toe For it sounds the death knell of a spragger Goodbye my good friends I must go Pay the piper to pipe me a solo Ask the union to sing me a song Have the priests ring out the old church bell So the whole town will know that I’m gone Oh if I had the wings of a bell bird Right over the town I would fly And I’d fly to the home of my loved ones But alas, my dear cobbers, I die Wrap me up with my pit lamp and tallow And stow my poor body below Where the ? and the blowflies can’t find me In some dark and cool tunnel below This coal mining parody of 'The Dying Stockman' is from Alan Musgrove and His Watsaname Band's 'Behind the Times' CD - no label or number but available via Trad&Now. A beaut album. There is no lyric booklet with the CD - the above transcription is mine. I was unable to decipher the insect (or whatever) accompanying blowflies in the third line of the repeated stanza. It sounds like 'pie-whys'. There is a piwi gene in some insects, but I doubt that is it. I also couldn't make sense of the reference to a dixie mess tin because it sounds like 'black dixie fountain'. I hope someone can supply the correct words. Note by Alan Musgrove: It was learnt from the singing of Bill Crossdale who in turn learnt it from Jack Marsden, a miner at Bellbird Colliery in the Hunter Valley of NSW. In coal mining parlance a spragger is a worker who stops coal skips by inserting a piece of timber (a sprig) between the wheel spokes as the skips have no braking system of their own. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 02 Feb 21 - 01:50 AM In the very early days of the Bush Music Club (est.Oct 1954), one of the first bush bands was the Spraggers, based in Lithgow - minutes Oct 54-March 55 The names of the first 4 bush bands established during these months are written on the front cover. Bushwhackers Spraggers Rousers (Rouseabouts) Drovers Bill Crossdale interview, Rob & Olya Willis folklore collection |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 02 Feb 21 - 08:43 AM THE LOVE I LEAVE BEHIND Allan Caswell & Drew McAlister The worth of the man isn’t measured in minutes, it’s a journey that’s measured in years And it doesn’t matter where you begin, as long as it brings you here You learn more from getting it wrong than you ever do getting it right And you tell your life story with the love you leave behind, Before my time comes I’m gonna leave some sign that I was here Won’t be what I own, a fancy home, a car, or my career If I’ve lived and loved too hard and made good use of my time I’ll make the world a better place with the love I leave behind. The worth of a man isn’t measured in things, it’s secret and silent and strong It’s in the pride you take in your name and the children who carry it on You can live on this planet for eighty-odd years but it’s only a moment in time And you tell your life story with the love you leave behind, Before my time comes I’m gonna leave some sign that I was here Won’t be what I own, a fancy home, a car, or my career If I’ve lived and loved too hard and made good use of my time I’ll make the world a better place with the love I leave behind. Before my time comes I’m gonna leave some sign that I was here Won’t be what I own, a fancy home, a car, or my career If I’ve lived and loved too hard and made good use of my time I’ll make the world a better place, I’ll make this world a better place With the love I leave behind. Graeme Connors : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYdFkbsPsOs Co-written by country performer, Alan Caswell - who is apparently “…… Australia’s most recorded songwriter, with well over 750 of his songs being released around the world by artists of high calibre, like …… “ http://www.allancaswell.com/ R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Feb 21 - 07:11 PM LENTILS (Kath Tait) Life was cheap, our thoughts were deep We did not wash for forty weeks We ate the brown rice and the lentils We thought we were so existential We did not weep, we took a leap To the bottom of the social heap The view was clearer than from the top Our wisdom flourished, our wealth did not The social ladder it was too steep We watched our friends climb up so high And we watched them wave bye bye Disappearing in the sky We smoked a pipe, we grew a beard The neighbours thought that we were weird Yes, we were weird but we were not glum Our youth was too much fun We were not dense, we lived in tents To cut down on bills and rent Under umbrellas, we ate the lentils We thought that we were so environmental We did not mope, we bought the dope With the money that we saved on soap We made our choices and there was time So when things went wrong we could change our mind The social ladder it was too steep We watched our friends climb up so high And we watched them wave bye bye Disappearing in the sky We smoked a pipe, we grew a beard The neighbours thought that we were weird Yes, we were weird but we were not glum Our youth was too much fun Was it uncouth to spend our youth Throwing parties on the roof Our new friends were not respectable Our old friends became aloof We wrote a poem like Leonard Cohen About not knowing where we were going So we stumbled through the years Chasing a stream of peculiar ideas While the mice, the ticks and lice The weevils thrived in the brown rice The days went round, our lives did go The price of lentils stayed reasonably low And we’ve no regrets about the debts Or the savings we did not collect We’ll spend our old age eating lentils With no spare cash for non-essentials There’ll be no trips on luxury ships No new false teeth or plastic hips And as for choices they’ve nothing left But to become Buddhist nuns, I guess Another good'un from the wonderful Kath Tait. The above is my transcription from the video. I have no idea of the original stanza structure. Corrections welcomed. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Feb 21 - 05:50 PM SCRUB AND BLACKBERRY (Paul Bond) Refrain. Here's to the home I've left so long Far in the back country Hidden in the rushes, the scrub and the blackberry Muddy paths and potholes Tractor tracks and postholes Mossy battens dangling there on the wire And the open fire Six-inch nails and hay bales Warratahs and sliprails Dogs and children yapping away in your ear And the air so clear Refrain Days of chipping thistles Curses and dog whistles Crutching in the yard with a flash of the shears As the evening nears, Talking round the table Loud guffaws and babble Families now split up and splintered like kindling wood But the life was good Refrain Youtube clip This song was the winner of the NZ Folk Federation songwriting competition in 1981. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 04 Feb 21 - 07:09 AM Really appreciate all the EnZed songs you've posted, Stewie! As I think I've said before, I don't know much past Phil Garland and Martin Curtis and I own only one CD from Kiwi land!! Sure wish I had been there; seems a bit too late now ..... (this is despite my Lancashire GG-Grandfather rearing his family on the various South Island goldfields from 1860s to 1900s, so I must have distant rellies there somewhere!!) Anyways, I came across a coupla tracks by Chris Priestley and Mike Harding - "Buddy Breathing" and "Rainbird in the Teatree" - and a medley from their 2011 Kiwi Songcatchers Tour on YT - there's obviously some really great material I've missed out on!!! Do you have stuff from them??? Cheers, R-J |
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