Amazing comments from general punters

Subject: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Johnny J
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 07:08 AM

I thought this might make an interesting thread.... I'd like to hear some examples of when you may have heard some quite unbelievable comments from "non folkies". This could be in the media, press, concert, or even at an informal session....

I'll start.

This morning, I was listening to the radio and the topic was about well known songs etc.   "Streets of London" was mentioned and neither the presenter nor the woman who phoned in could tell us who wrote and recorded same(They checked later).

What really amused(and irritated me in equal measure) was when the woman caller said something along the lines of "I can't remember who it was but it's probably because it was the only thing he's ever done"

Of course, it's Ralph's most famous song but he's got such an extensive back catalouge and repertoire as we know. Also, as we know, "hits" aren't everything in our kind of music.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,JeffB
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 05:14 PM

Some years ago our folk group was invited to sing local folk songs at a community street fair. Shortly after our set there was an announcement on the PA. "The children's Community Dance Group are going to perform in a few minutes time near the information tent. They have put in a lot of rehearsals for this so please come and watch them." A couple of us strolled down to the information tent where the kids were ready to go, but no-one else appeared. After five more minutes there was another announcement. "Look, some of the folk people have turned up to watch the kids dance, so why can't some of you normal people come along too."

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 02:42 AM

Roots by Show of Hands

And a minister said his vision of hell
Is three folk singers in a pub near Wells
Well, I've got a vision of urban sprawl
There's pubs where no one ever sings at all

"Roots" was written by Steve Knightley; according to Emma Hartley writing in the Daily Telegraph blog of January 11, 2009, its inspiration was "a daft remark made by Kim Howells MP in 2001, while he was a culture minister, that listening to three folk singers in a pub in Somerset was his idea of hell." Songfacts

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Helen
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 03:15 AM

This thread makes me think of the Australian National Folk Festival which has been held since 1967. It has evolved over the decades especially by expanding the reach towards the diverse cultures in Australian society.

I heard that there was a bit of a detour in 2021 when a well-known, non-folkie singer whose genres include opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance but not folk was appointed as festival director and wanted to turn it into something completely different, based I think on the WOMADelaide festival concept, i.e. a full-on World Music festival which is important in its own right.

I also heard she was disrespecting folk music as we know it - and the part which I think is essential - the DIY (do-it-yourself) aspect of people of all abilities having a chance to play music and play with it in group learning workshops etc. I also heard she was very disrespectful of the Folk Festival's historical focus on Celtic music over the decades.

I only have this information from hearsay but I do know that there was a parting of the ways and the non-folkie singer is no longer the festival director.

[I'm happy to be corrected if my information is wrong or off-base.]

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Nick Dow
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 03:51 AM

I think the best I ever heard was from John Reilly's Granddaughter Trish, who said her grandfather was not booked at a Dublin venue in the 1960s because they didn't like unaccompanied singing and only booked Folk singers.
Martin Carthy told me he was invited to see some singers at a club in the early 1960s by an acquaintance who told him there was a great folk singer and guitarist on but for some reason they had booked some old man with no teeth. His name was Sam Larner.
A certain well known singer entertainer told me in all sincerity that the first performers to sing in an English accent were 'The Beatles'.
Another contemporary singer upon hearing the cylinder recordings of Joseph Taylor announced 'Well some anorak will want them'.
I'm off to take two of my red pills and have a lie down in a darkened room.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,JoeG
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 06:10 AM

A couple of days ago on a York What's On forum on Facebook someone was asking whether there was any music on on Friday night in the city. Someone mentioned the folk session in the Three Legged Mare (aka the Wonky Donkey) and the enquirer responded 'I'm not that old!'

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 07:27 PM

I should start off by saying that my dad is not keen on folk music (loves jazz and show tunes), but would attend concerts because Mom and I enjoyed it so much.

Back in the 90's I did an opening set for Lou and Peter Berryman at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mom and Dad both came along to support me. After listening to 4-5 songs from Lou and Peter, Dad turned to me and said, "I don't consider this to be real folk music. This is really good!"

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 10:28 PM

I remember seeing a track of Martin Carthy on a juke box, when i put it on some pool players,in the same room said "whats that"and another one said "oh its that jazz singer"

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 03 Nov 24 - 04:22 AM

For the o/p - “…….. perhaps it was the only thing he’s ever done.” On asking whether he ever got tired of singing it, many years ago, Ralph told me that he often started concerts with it because it was the only thing many people in the audience knew he sang. Once he got it out of the way they would settle down and listen to the rest.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Johnny J
Date: 03 Nov 24 - 06:24 AM

Thanks Ray,

I recall he didn't sing it at all during the late seventies but revived it again circa 1980.

These days, it's usually somewhere in the middle of the set.... Just another song.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 05:06 AM

I think sadly this is quite common: mainstream musicians, DJs and promoters are quick to categorise performers as one hit wonders (or even novelty acts), without realising those people often go on to have a long and distinguished career in music, with a loyal army of fans, but out of the popular music limelight. All of which has says a lot more about the fickle attitude of the popular music business than the integrity of the roots music scene, of course.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: mayomick
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 08:14 AM

Ralph McTell hasn't had any "hits" since Streets of London so to describe the song as a one hit wonder would not be inaccurate. I doubt if McTell was aiming at slot on Top Of The Pops when he wrote the song - was it ever released as a single ?

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 08:25 AM

Twice by Ralph - 1974 and as a CD single in 2017…

Wikipedia Entry for ‘Streets of London’

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: meself
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 11:43 AM

"to describe the song as a one hit wonder would not be inaccurate" .... To my understanding, and in my experience, the term "one hit wonder" is applied to the creator of the "hit", rather than to the hit itself, and is dismissive in a disparaging, sarcastic way.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Johnny J
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 12:30 PM

Ralph's second best known song "From Clare to Here" was widely covered recorded by other artists. It also received a lot of air play ..even Ralph's version in the seventies.

I had always assumed it was a minor hit for him but I couldn't find confirmation of that today when I "googled". So, maybe not.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 12:32 PM

….. but it did get him an invite to join Planxty!

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Neil D
Date: 09 Nov 24 - 09:34 AM

When my wife and I go away for the weekend we usually go to Pittsburg, Pa about two hours away. There is a band we try to catch when we go. They are called Corn Beef and Curry because they play Irish music but their fiddle/ mandolin player, Bob Banajee, is of Indian ethnicity. He's actually quite good and was a past member of Gaelic Storm. He told me a story about playing at the Pittsburg Irish Festival. They play 99% Irish music but would sometimes throw out a non-Irish song. In this instance it was "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees. The festival organizers banned them for life for that indiscretion, presumably because one of the four Monkees was an Englishman.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Rain Dog
Date: 09 Nov 24 - 10:33 AM

The comments are not really that amazing are they?
What is amazing is assuming that everyone has as much interest in a subject as oneself. Some people have just heard and enjoyed a particular song. They do not feel the need to either listen to all of the output from a performer of to investigate the history of a song.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Feb 25 - 09:14 AM

The one that really gets up my nose, especially when playing Morris tunes, is "I love this Irish stuff..."

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Feb 25 - 10:12 AM

The one that really gets up my nose, is when someone says you are a lovely country and western singer

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 05 Feb 25 - 10:32 AM

I was once booked to play for country dancing at a wedding. During the sound check the bride wandered in and announced that she didn't want any of that Irish stuff. I said we would only play English tunes but after the first dance she complained that we were still playing Irish music (we weren't). We didn't play long as it happens because the bride's father paid us off as the groom and best man had started a brawl on the dance floor.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Sol
Date: 05 Feb 25 - 01:42 PM

I remember that awkward moment on TV when Ann Nightingale asked (the then famous) Paul Simon during a one-to-one interview, "So, who writes the songs?". The look on Simon's face was priceless.
Poor Annie, she didn't know.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 10:30 AM

About 40 years ago someone started a club in a small village near me. They advertised it as a "music club" because they didn't want to put constraints on what was performed, but they came from the local folk scene and on the first night the audience was largely folkies from other nearby clubs.

The exception was a pair of well-dressed middle-aged women. When the first singer got up with a guitar one of them exclaimed "Oh my God, it's a folk club!" and they both got up and left.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 10:41 AM

Howard, would that have been Margaretting?

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Acorn4
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 11:19 AM

We go to an afternoon session at a hotel in the West Midlands -it is held in the library and casual punters are in there as well and sometimes stay to listen.

One session a group of four stayed until half time and seemingly enjoyed it - their parting words:-

"Really enjoyed that - I always wondered where all those old hippies went"

There was a folk club in Nottingham which unfortunately is no more as the pub didn't reopen after lockdown. The barmaid was very loud, seemingly permanently expecting, but did often tune in to the music when she wasn't serving.

One night we had a group of bellringers doing a support slot. We used to go round to the other bar to get served to avoid interrupting the singing.

I went round to but drinks
-
The barmaid was talking to the punters in the other bar imitating the bellringers hand movements:-

"Yeah, they're doing folk music in there and they're ringing these bells like someone uddering a cow".

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 11:31 AM

Though I'm really enjoying this thread, I must say that I've always recoiled from the word "punters" for non-participants or just the pub customers. It carries quite a few negatives from the past, to do with gambling or prostitution, for my liking. Whenever a fellow musician has used the term it's always seemed to carry a slight pejorative. Still, that's just me. Carry on!

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 12:10 PM

"do you know the wild rover"
Reply, yes i met him this morning and he was hungover

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 06 Feb 25 - 03:30 PM

A friend's 50th birthday party (a few years back for both of us now!)
I asked if she'd like a song for her birthday? (could have written one especially for her.) "Don't want any of that finger-in-the-ear stuff around here" she said.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: meself
Date: 07 Feb 25 - 12:40 AM

I played at a "Seniors" facility yesterday. An old gal came up to me after, beaming, telling me how much she had enjoyed it - then added: "You were almost like a professional!"

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Howard Jones
Date: 09 Feb 25 - 04:43 PM

Sandman you're right, it was Margaretting. There was a proper folk club there but I can't now recall whether that emerged from the music club or was a separate endeavour. That one nearly got closed down when a jobsworth from the Performing Rights Society pissed off the landlord by demanding a far higher licence fee than the economics of the club could justify, but that's another story.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Feb 25 - 04:51 PM

PRS Get alerted generally speaking by songwriters sending in forms for live prs royalties people who sing trad material do not generally bother

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: Acorn4
Date: 10 Feb 25 - 04:43 AM

You can't really claim PRS on traditional songs anyway as you didn't write them - you have to say that you wrote the song when you register it with PRS.

Subject: RE: Amazing comments from general punters
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 10 Feb 25 - 11:43 AM

You can legitimately claim royalties for an arrangement of a traditional song, but it has to be a proper arrangement, just adding guitar chords doesn't count. Also, there is a fee to join PRS as a composer, so you have to be performing your material fairly regularly for it to be worthwhile.

The club was grassed up by a visiting performer. However they were fully entitled to put in a claim, and the pub should have had a PRS licence, so no complaints there. However the rate the PRS tried to charge was based on the full capacity of the room and an optimistic assumption of what the audience might pay. The pub landlord, who was responsible for the licence but otherwise had no involvement with the folk club and who simply hoped to sell more beer, was unhappy with this, but even more unhappy with the PRS representative's attitude. Somehow it got smoothed over and the club carried on, but it was a near thing.