Origins: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)

Subject: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 01:27 AM

In 1981 or so I taped some folk music from WXPN in Philadelphia, including a wonderful English song about young factory workers that started, "Come on lads and bring your toolbag, keep your eyes peeled, use your head" and ended "Keep your range in decent order for the lads on shift tonight" A few years later I wrote a song to that tune, called "Turn the World Around", but I've lost the tape and only recall fragments of the original song. I was once told the tune originally went with a hymn. Anybody know the song and its history?

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: alison
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 01:42 AM

Hi,

It's in the database with the tune,

Apprentice song

can't tell you about the history though.

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 07:58 AM

A bit of history for you:

Ian Campbell wrote it in the 60s for a tv series he made. I never actualy saw any of the programmes, but I have the book from the series (somewhere - haven't seen it for a couple of years), and I used to be a regular at the Jug o'Punch in the old days. This particular song was about Gas Board apprentices, and I'm told it makes perfect sense to anyone who ever worked at a gasworks. I think the tune is from a trad song in more or less the same vein. Another of his songs along similar lines is Brummagem Jack of All Trades, which isn't on the DT; it's a Birmingham-ised (UK) version of Dublin Jack of All Trades, which is.

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Pete M
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 09:43 PM

The bits that might not be clear to non UK-ites: Footprint - a make of hand tools such as cold chisels, Merryweather - a make of pressure / flow gauges etc. "Turn her out bang on four fifty..." refers to the pre TV times when cooking the main meal of the day was timed to be ready for the men coming home from work.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 01:14 AM

G'day Mark,

Pete M mentions that 'Footprint' is a brand of tools and he is correct. In the song, I believe that anyone working in that time and place would recognise the reference as a 'Footprint spanner' ... an early variety of what we Aussies call a 'shifter' or 'shifting spanner' but is possibly known as a 'monkey wrench' in America.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 03:22 AM

Ah - couldn't be what we Limeys call a Mole wrench, could it? A locking gripping device with an adjustable opening size, looks a bit footprint-shaped if you close both eyes and squint. I come from around ten miles of Brum, and I've never heard of Footprints.

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 08:18 AM

GOOD song! Love it. Dick, how on earth do you find such a wide range of stuff? I love it.

As I read it, I thought that "turn her out bang on 450, else you'll let the housewife down" had to do with keeping the gas flow steady and reliable so a housewife could be sure her oven temperatures were accurate.

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Wolfgang
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 09:12 AM

I know it sung from The Johnstons

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 04:07 PM

G'day Steve,

I think the various old patent adjustable spanners would all have been known locally by the best-known brand, back in the days before multinational tool companies and cheap international transport. "Footprint" was an English brand, but I can't remember, offhand, the city. I have seen their tools and they have a 'rebus' (an image of the brand name ... rebus is Latin, ablative plural of 'res' = 'thing') of the outline of a footprint.

The most common of this type of old adjustable spanner that I have seen in Australia is the German brand 'Dick'. This does nor have a rebus!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Martin _Ryan
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 08:45 PM

Bob

"rebus" is brilliant! God be with the days! Mind you, I have a cold at the moment so "Uncle Remus" might be more to the point!"

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 11:33 PM

What a wonderful old attic-full of information is among us! I'm a newcomer to this site, and am thrilled that my request for song lyrics has produced a worldwide discourse on old tool trademarks!

I'd still like to find out if the tune for "Apprentice Song" was originally a hymn tune. I admit I never heard of Ian Campbell and will now try to find some of his old recordings.

If anyone is interested, I just sent my version of the lyrics (personal political empowerment, 1980's style, nothing like the original) to the Digital Tradition.

Thanks again for re-energizing a lapsed folkie!

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Pete M
Date: 28 Feb 99 - 08:17 PM

Sorry for the delay in getting back, I've had some problems with my Telecom wiring and I'm reduced to using my son's PC at irregular intervals.

Bob is also correct in that to make sense, the punctuation is "...bring your Footprint spanners, chisels,.."; but no Steve they are not refering to Mole wenches. Fitters of that era would not have used an adjustable spanner because of the potential to damage the corners of the nut/bolt head, let alone a griping thing like a mole wrench which chews them up! The only tool of that nature likely to have been seen would have been a Stilson (an adjustable spanner with a head pivoted so that it grips tighter when pressure is applied to the handle) for gripping pipes.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 03:57 AM

Pete, I'm shocked that you would think that I would ever dream of using anything other than a spanner on a nut! Unless it's a Brummagem spanner, of course!! Not to mention the good old Brummagem screwdriver. I wonder if these are common in other countries? I know an 18" Stillson is a handuy thing to have in your back pocket if you're wandering around some parts of Brum at night.

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Pete M
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 03:00 PM

Hi Steve, grovelling apologies, I didn't mean that you would use one, but there are, I'm given to understand, people under 40 who use these computer thingies, and most of them wouldn't have a clue what we are talking about. I've seen people these days using horrendous 'one size fits all' things that rely entirely on toothed jaws to give any grip because its convenient!

(I have been known to use a brummagen screwdriver on occasion though (blush))

Personally I always found Stilsons a bit bumpy to sit on, a 1«" BSP spanner is just as effective and less uncomfortable (grin)

Pete M

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: GUEST,Mark
Date: 26 May 02 - 10:54 PM

I have been on a search for the tune to "Jack of All Trades" and also whether it has Gaelic lyrics (is it old enough?).

I stumbled onto this thread.

My Dad's a plumber. I grew up learning about Stilsons and Footprints.

Footprints in Australian Plumber talk are are similar to stilsons but dont have the "loose pivot head". Footprints also have a long extension for lower jaw which allow you to add a bit of hand pressure to the grip. Stilsons rely on pure leverage and jaw pivot to get grip. Footprints are smaller (about the size of a 12" shifting spanner -monkey wrench) and are more "hand friendly" and faster to use. The jaw width adjustment is a similar mechanism in both units.

I later discovered vice grips and these replaced most uses that I had for footprints. When all those corners have disappeared from a nut there's only a few options. I am a mechanic by trade by the way. I know a ring spanner, made by a name brand (single hex if possible) provides the best grip on a nut.

Anyway...

Anyone have the tune for "Jack of all trades". What about amy Gaelic history?

Subject: RE: Lyr req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 18 Jan 03 - 12:07 AM

Refresh...two unanswered questions here:

1. (mine) Is the tune to Ian Campbell's "Apprentice Song" an old hymn tune?

2. (Guest Mark's -- not mine) Anybody know the tune for "Jack of All Trades" and are there any Gaelic lyrics?

This wonderful thread arose from my first Mudcat post...as I discovered after reading the "First Mudcat post" thread. And this makes #2314 from the middle of the Pacific.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Come on lads and bring your toolbag
From: GUEST,Sieffe
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 12:08 AM

I noted as I searched that the word for the gauge was "Fairweather", not "Merryweather" . . . .whatever .....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 07:14 AM

By some strange coincidence, just after hearing about Ian Campbell's death, the Apprentice Song, or a version of it, came to my mind yesterday. We are away at a singing weekend in the Gower, and having a lot of fun. An idea occurred to me again, which I have discussed in the past with freda underhill - wouldn't it be great if there could be an old folkie's home, where we could spend our retirement years just partying and sessioning with like-minded people! As some of us were talking about it over dinner, I remembered I had the words of a song to the tune of the Apprentice Song, called Old Folkie's Home, so I sang it last night in a session.

Not sure what Ian Campbell would think of his song being used in this way, but I also really like The Apprentice Song. I've heard it quite a bit in Sydney - in sessions etc and it was recorded by The Fagans. So I was quite surprised when I moved over here to the UK with Rob that he didn't know it, and it doesn't seem to be as well known here.

Anyway, just for the fun of it, and also to refresh this thread, I've posted the words of the Old Folkie's Home, which may or may not be elsewhere on Mudcat:

Old Folkie's Home - by Liz Merton, Mary Hubble & Ruth Birnie

(to the tune of The Apprentice Song)

Come on Folkies, bring your music,
Leave the suburbs to your kids.
Here's a home for your retirement,
You can jam all day instead.
Keep your eyes on the older folkies,
They're the ones who know their stuff.
One day you will play like they do,
If you stay here long enough!

Come on Folkies, bring your songbooks,
Just in case your memory fades.
Bring your CDs, tapes and records (& mini discs and DVDs)
And be sure they will be played.
Never mind if the volume's fading,
Hearing aids are all the rage.
We'll still party to the small ones,
Celebrate our growing age.

Wake up dear, it's time to party,
Here's the gear to change your drip.
Fill the damn thing up with whiskey
And we'll have a groovey trip.
Nearly time for this evening's ceilidh,
Are your wheelchair's brakes alright?
Don't want any nasty crashes,
No more skid marks, like last night.

Rediscover your libido
when you lose the stress and strain.
Double rooms are there for sharing,
Lots of time for fun and games.
People say 'Life begins at 40'
Here you'll see the living proof.
Practise makes your playing polished,
Let us pity callow youth.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: threelegsoman
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 07:26 AM

My version of the song can be found by following this link:

The Apprentice Song (Including lyrics and chords)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: My guru always said
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 03:17 PM

Many thanks for posting the 'old folks home' words Jenny! I was going to ask you for them at Gower but had a little too much wine & forgot....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 26 Nov 12 - 05:20 AM

Think I'd modify it to 'life begins at sixty'! 8-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 26 Nov 12 - 06:34 PM

G'day JennyO,

Well .. I've imported your posting of Liz, Mary & Ruth's Old Folkies' Home song ... to the nearest (Sydney, Australia) equivalent to its subject ... last night's Bush Music Club session, at Hut 44 of the Addison Rd Community Centre, Marrickville.

As it happened, we decided to give the energetic dance music sets practice a rest and had sing around ... the obvious place for the Old Folkies' Home song.

It went down very well ... just a little TOO wryly true ... but ...

Regard(les)s,

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: GUEST,Shelley Covey
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 11:28 PM

Mark Cohen,

I am also interested in the original tune used by Ian Campbell and by you. It certainly has the sound of an old Welsh hymn tune. I think I must have heard you sing your words to this at a San Francisco Folk Club camp out in the mid 1980's, and maybe had recorded it or just got the tune and your words indelibly in my head, then wrote it down later. I may have sung it a time or two for a Unitarian Universalist Sunday Service, and was thinking of singing it again soon. I hope this message finds its way to you eventually. Shelley Covey [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: GUEST,Peter C
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 12:32 PM

If I remember correctly, The Kipper Family had this idea to turn this underused large house in North London (UK) into an 'Old Folkies Home'with singarounds every afternoon!
Tune ABC K:D M:4/4 L:1/8 "D"A d d e|"D"f g/a/ e d|"Bm"d d B2|"G"G2 A d|"D"d4|!
"D"A d d e|"D"fg//a/ e d|"Bm"d d B2| "G"G2 A d|"D"d4|!
"G"f d g2|"D"f3 e/ d A|"D"F G A3 d/|"D"f d g f|"Em"e4|!
"D"A d d e|"D"f g/f/ (e d| "Bm"d d B2|"G"G2 A d|"D"d4||!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 02:37 PM

Haven't heard this for yonks, but had the tune and a few of the words in my head. Looking at the music notation linked to above, I disagree with the barring. I hear the second phrase of the words "Keep your eyes peeled, use your head" as two bars of 6/4 rather than three of 4/4. Or rather, better, I'd halve all the note values and make it 2/4 and 3/4.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Apprentice Song (Ian Campbell)
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 04:32 PM

Thinking further about the rhythm I'd put bar lines before "tool-bag", "eyes" and "head", and I'd give "head" half the length shown. With the present note values that makes bars of 6/4, 4/4, 6/4 and 2/4. Someone care to listen to a recording and venture an opinion?