Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice (Archie Fisher)

Subject: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Toots
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 09:59 AM

Does anyone have the words for this? I have it on vinyl,but can`t get it onto anything so as I can retrieve the words. Thanks in advance

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:07 AM

Well, I'd also like to see what this one looks like.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: nutty
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:15 AM

Apparently it was written by Ray's brother Archie and is also known as the Fairfield Crane
^^
The lyrics can be found here The Fairfield Crane

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: MMario
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:35 AM

it is also known as Fairfield Crane

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:58 AM

Good work!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 01:09 PM

It's also printed in Ewan McVicar's book 'One Singer One Song' and the music was written by the late Bobby Campbell, a fine fiddler.
Jim Mclean

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: Steve-o
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 01:19 PM

This song was done beautifully by Norman Blake not long ago. I believe it's the CD he made with Tony Rice- readily available.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,toots
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 02:12 PM

Thanks, Nutty, that`s what I like, a simple answer to a simple question, for simple folk!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 05:33 PM

Please be careful about authorship on this one. I printed in the book what Archie told me, that he and Norman Buchan worked on the song together, but Archie sang only the verses he alone made. However, Janey Buchan is rather incandescent about this statement, though she seems to blame me rather than Archie about it. She feelsw Norman should get an equal credit.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 07:31 PM

I absolutely agree with her, Ewan, (NOT about blaming you!) which is why I put Norman's name alongside the others' with Archie's version on 'My Songbook' (see nutty's link above). I think you did too, in your book? IIRR, every other version I've heard follows Archie's, but they still credit Norman. Seems to be just fair as failing memories, not to mention death, make Archie's claim hard to verify after such a long time.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Billy
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 01:05 AM

Not on this subject, but on Achie Fisher who was due to do some US appearances in an upcoming tour, some with Garnet Rogers. The US Immigration people, in a 4-page denial ... "Could find no good reason for allowing this man (Fisher) access to the USA". I guess he must be carrying something more dangerous than an instrument in that guitar case - could it be truth?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 03:39 AM

I ran into exactly the same problem with another song in the book. One person claimed to have written it all, the other to have written most of it, and neither had ever got any of the considerable royalties it earned. They both thought the singer who made it famous had got all the cash. In fact it stuck to the fingers of the publisher. One of the co-writers fell out badly with me about what I wrote in the book, but relented when I managed to get both of them some hundreds of pounds of the earnings, and sorted out a secure base for future earnings. Mind you, neither of them gave me a penny or a bottle of booze in return.
As regards Norman, I dedicated the whole book to him, acknowledged his involvement in the song, reported what Archie said, and printed only what PRS / MCPS said was the correct credit. Failing memories might be involved, but the PRS / MCPS credit has been that way for many years, since about the second time the song was recorded.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 04:13 PM

It's a hard life, Ewan ... Still, take pride in the fact that nobody else has yet presented such a great collection of Glasgow songs and characters! (I think I heard your other story from the singer who made it famous just before he died - but of course, his may not have been a unique experience!)

Billy - could it be that Archie is banned from the US for carrying a conscience?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Big Jock
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 06:14 PM

Archie Fisher banned from America? He never had a political thought in his head!! How about the truth?
Big Jock

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: nutty
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 02:05 AM

Could Archie be proving that the pen is mightier than the sword????

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Big Jock
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 01:47 PM

What did he write that upset the Americans?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: nutty
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 01:51 PM

Can you think of any other reason that he might be refused entry ?? .... I certainly can't.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 02:50 PM

I don't know who 'Big Jock' and how intimately he has known Archie, is so I don't know what level of trust to put in his assessment of the political commitment of someone I've known since he was 20 years old. He has in that time to my certain knowledge had several political thoughts, though not always ones I would agree with. Big Jock is so good at having strong opinions I think his given first name might be Gordon?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Big Jock
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 04:30 PM

Come, come Ewan, you're not seriously saying that Archie has said or written anything which might bar him from the USA? Maybe it was his stance during the anti Polaris movement?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice- Archie Fisher
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 06:00 PM

Sorry, I cannot cope with talking through a veil to someone I may or may not know. I can't be bothered with cuteness.
Plus, I'm about to be away from my computer for a week, so cannot properly develop a debate.
However, Archie's stance during the Holy Loch protests was itself I think a political statement - not however one that would then have barred him from the US, any more than my actions of the time would have barred me, by the way.
The collaborative work he did with John MacGrath more recently, and some comments he made to me at that time, were political statements that would be considered less welcome in the current US climate.
And both of us had / have various other friendships, and have been involved in various collaborative stances, that would tag our US files as 'suspect, better refuse'.

Subject: ADD Over Yonder Banks (Graeme Miles)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jul 13 - 03:05 AM

My friend Fred sang this today at song circle. I thought it should be posted.

On his album, Sunsets I've Galloped Into, Archie Fisher sings "Shipyard Apprentice" and "Over Yonder Banks" together. I'm assuming Archie Fisher wrote "Yonder Banks" - is that correct?

YONDER BANKS
(Graeme Miles)

We lived over yonder banks
Where those tall cranes touch the sky;
Down beside the dockyard wall
Where those terraced houses lie.
And I think we lived at number 4, or was it number 6?
It was such a long, long time ago,
I can't remember which.
We lived over yonder banks, over there.

We played tag on yonder tip
When the watchman was away;
Up and down we used to run
A hundred times a day.
And when the shipyard sirens blew,
We'd chase each other home.
That was quite some time ago,
Some thirty years or so.
We lived over yonder banks, over there.

Well, I'm at the station now,
Waiting for the evening train,
Wondering if by some small chance,
I might pass this way again;
Though I left the town where I was born,
Deep inside I know,
A little will remain with me,
No matter where I go.
Oh, we lived over yonder banks, over there.

THE SHIPYARD APPRENTICE (The Fairfield Crane^^^)

And I was born in the shadow of a Fairfield Crane,
Where the blast of a freighter's horn
Was the very first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I was born.
I lay and I listened to the shipyard sounds
Coming out of the great unknown,
And was sung to sleep by the 'mother tongue'
That was to be my own.

But before I grew to one year old
I heard the sirens scream;
As a city watched in the blacked-out night,
A wandering searchlight beam.
And then at last I awoke and rose
To my first day of peace,
But I've learned the battle to stay alive
Was never going to cease.

I sat and I listened to my father tell
Of the days that he once knew,
When you either sweated for a measly wage,
Or you joined the parish queue.
As times grew harder day by day
Along the riverside,
I oftimes heard my mother say,
"It was tears that made the Clyde."

Now, I've sat in the school frae nine to four,
I've dreamed of the world outside,
Where the riveter and the plater watch
Their ships slip to the Clyde.
I've served my time behind shipyard gates,
And I sometimes mourn my lot;
But if any man tries to mess me about,
I'll fight like my father fought.

We lived over yonder banks, over there.
from http://www.lyrics.com/yonder-banksthe-shipyard-apprentice-lyrics-archie-fisher.html (corrected)

---

THE FAIRFIELD CRANE (from the Digital Tradition)
(Archie Fisher / Norman Buchan / Bobby Campbell)

I was born in the shadow of the Fairfield crane
Where the blast of a freighter's horn
Was the very first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I was born
I lay and I listened to the shipyard sound
Coming out of the great unknown
And was sung to sleep by the mother tongue
That was to be my own

But before I grew to be one year old
I heard the sirens scream
As a city watched in the blacked-out night
A wandering searchlight's beam
And then at last I awoke and rose
To my first day of peace
For I'd learned that the battle to stay alive
Was never going to cease

I sat and I listened to my father tell
Of the days that he once knew
When you either sweated for a measly wage
Or you joined the parish queue
As times grew harder day by day
Along the riverside
I oft-times heard my mother say
It was tears that made the Clyde

Now I've sat in the school from nine till four
And I've dreamed of the world outside
Where the riveter and the plater watch
Their ships slip to the Clyde
I've served my time behind shipyard gates
And I sometimes mourned my lot
But if any man tries to mess me about
I'll fight like my father fought

(As sung by Archie Fisher)

---

Ray Fisher singing "Over Yonder Banks": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh87kWbrOWc

Click here for a photo of the Fairfield Crane in Glasgow.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice (Archie Fisher)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jul 13 - 07:08 AM

thanks for posting the words, Joe, I love that song. And further thanks for the link to the pic of the Fairfield crane.

This is my local hammerhead crane which is in danger of being demolished - Garden Island crane drain divides public Heritage doesn't count when money is concerned.

I've taken a lot of photos of it.

sandra

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice (Archie Fisher)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 15 Jul 13 - 08:17 AM

Splendid recording of Shipyard Apprentice by Alistair Hulett on the compilation CD Union is Strength, put together in 1996 by Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shipyard Apprentice (Archie Fisher)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 16 Jul 13 - 04:01 AM

Joe, as you've actually posted, Over Yonder Banks was written by the recently deceased Graeme Miles, not Archie Fisher. It will presumably be about shipbuilding on the River TEES, the area where Graeme lived for many years.
Ray Fisher (one of Archie Fisher's sisters) lived in the area of the River TYNE, another great shipbuilding area in N East England, after she married.
And yes, the Fairfield Crane is on the River Clyde, Glasgow.