5th May 2020 - May Be, May Be Not (For Sue)

Here's a beautiful mountain dulcimer instrumental from Tony Gillam, which he has dedicated to his wife, Sue: https://soundcloud.com/fracture-zone/may-be-may-be-not-for-sue

I asked Tony to tell me about his composition:

"Like most of my songs and tunes, the main themes emerged from me just playing around with ideas on the instrument. I wanted to keep an element of looseness and improvisation to the whole thing, so it's half-improvised with a couple of recurring motifs that are a little more fixed.

I've been listening to a lot of Seckou Keita's music lately, (the amazing Senegalese kora player) and also to the Austrian percussionist and handpan player Manu Delago, and I think their wandering, looping compositions are influencing my own approach to music-making.


May Be, May Be Not is played on my McSpadden 4FHCC with its built-in LR Baggs pick-up, through my trusty Laney AFresco acoustic amp (with a splash of reverb and a drizzle of chorus). I simply recorded it live into my laptop (via my Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser mic) using Audacity - the recording software, that is, not the attitude (although, in my book, a bit of unrestrained impudence never goes amiss!).

And then, in uploading it to SoundCloud, it occurred to me to dedicate the tune to my beloved wife Sue. The May theme is appropriate because Sue and I actually got married in the merry month of May, thirty-four years ago this year. Sue, sadly, is rather poorly at the moment. She has never been a great fan of my music (preferring instead a good power ballad or something you can dance to) but, as she was quietly resting in bed the other evening, I played her May Be, May Be Not from the next room and it seemed to become a lullaby.  She said she liked it, which is good enough for me." 

4th May 2020 - Following the Old Oss

Brian Hunt is a proper folksinger from South Shields. None of your guitars, bouzoukis, mandolins or bodhrans for him. He can tell a great story with just his unaccompanied singing. And he's been to Padstow, got the t-shirt.

Brian is singing a wonderful song by Tony Deane about the Padstow Mayday tradition, more of which in a later blog in this series.However there are a couple of points to note:

Merv and Charlie are Mervyn Vincent and Charlie Bate - more of Charlie in another blog.

The Red Horse (and a crate of beer) traditionally made up the May day procession. However, some years back, the blue horse was introduced in an attempt to moderate the proceedings, although it was unsuccessful in doing this. There are now two horses and two sets of followers.

Over to Brian: Following the Old Oss

Here's adieu to Winter wailing
From now on it's plain sailing
For the summer is a-come unto day 
As we welcome the First of May.

Chorus (after each verse): 
When we're following the Old Oss through the town 
When we're following the Old Oss, Padstow round
All on a bright May morning
All on the First of May

And we rise in the morning early 
And remember Merv and Charlie, 
By the Golden Lion we'll stand to greet 
The Old Oss on to the street.

And there'll be no cries nor cribbin'
We'll not wear the Blue Ribbon
It's the Old Red Oss and a crate of beer 
That'll bring us our good cheer

And we'll sing from morn till night time 
For one song it's the right time
Only in Padstow will you hear 
The Day Song loud and clear

So good men, don't ignore us
Join in the May Day chorus
Dance with the Old Oss, it's no sin 
To watch the Summer come in

Oss Oss, wee Oss

3rd May 2020 - When Spring Comes In

There are several great folk-music dynasties. Locally, in the North-East of England, we have the Elliots of Birtley, the Doonans from Hebburn and the Wilsons from Teeside. Further afield are the Watersons and Carthys and, of course, the Copper Family - famously lampooned by the Kipper Family.

From Wilkipedia: The Copper Family have a tradition of the unaccompanied singing of traditional local songs that has been passed down through several generations. In 1898, they came to the attention of  Kate Lee (d.1904), one of the founders of the Folk Song Society (later the EFDSS). Vic Gammon notes, in the leaflet accompanying the society's archive CD Come Write Me Down, that both the collecting of songs and their unaccompanied singing were less common than is often imagined at this time and that Lee, a singer herself, knew she had found something special when she encountered the Coppers.

There's much more on the Coppers in Wikipedia and on the family's own website: http://www.thecopperfamily.com/  but let's return May and an interpretation by our very own Stephen Fry of Hexham of the Copper's "When Spring Comes In". Take it away Steve.....

https://youtu.be/89zdgiwqB0E


When Spring comes in the birds do sing,
The lambs do skip and the bells do ring
While we enjoy their glorious charm so noble and so gay.

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
The primrose blooms and the cowslip too,
The violets in their sweet retire, the roses shining through the briar,
And the daffadown-dillies which we admire will die and fade away.

Young men and maidens will be seen
On mountains high and meadows green,
They will talk of love and sport and play
While these young lambs do skip away.
At night they homeward wend their way
When evening stars appear.

The dairymaid to milking goes her, blooming cheeks as red as a rose,
She carries her pail all on her arm so cheerful and so gay,
She milks, she sings, and the valleys ring.
The small birds on the branches there sit listening to this lovely fair.
She is her master's trust and care, she is the ploughman's joy.

And here's a video of the Coppers with the same song: https://youtu.be/ZT_vcDq6zUM

2nd May 2020 - The First Of May

Following the Bee Gees, yesterday, here's another First Of May ...... and I have a feeling it may not be the last. This one has been written and recorded by my good friend, Vic Gammon, with his Whole Hog Band.

Vic tells me that his song was written in the late 1990s, with some help from his friends Steve Harrison and Annie Dearman (as were most songs he wrote around then). Optimism can make you feel good, even if it proves to be not well-founded.

Vic Gammon and the Whole Hog Band are:

Vic Gammon – voice and tenor banjo
Geordie Wildboar – whistle
Sam Robson – piano
Cecilia Winterbottom – bass
Fred Hogshead – percussion and chorus
Sheila Gammon - chorus

Recording completed 20 April 2020 . Dawn chorus recordings made in Vic and Sheila's back garden in Hexham, Northumberland, mid-April 2020.

https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14036165


The First of May                                     (Words and Music by Vic Gammon)  

Though the frost still nips the morning, there’s a fresh smell in the air,
And the green leaves show that summer’s on its way;
The long dark night is over and the rose will bloom again,
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.

The first of May;
The first of May;
We’ll proclaim a new beginning with a song of life reborn,
And we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.

We survived the coldest journey, though the road was dark and long,
There were times when hope seemed lost and far away,
We came through the dreary winter with its bitter chilling winds,
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.

Chorus

But it’s only a beginning, soon cold winter will return,
And the golden days of summer will not stay.
We must build against the harsh times, take the chances summer brings
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.

Chorus 

1st May 2020 - The Bee Gees

I said right from setting up this group that I love May songs and one of the first I remember hearing was a pop song from the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees had a string of great singles in the late 1960's and early 1970's, including To Love Somebody, Massachusetts, Words, I Started A Joke, and I Gotta Get A Message To You. Their first single in the UK was New York Mining Disaster 1941, which, to my ears, was modern-day folk-song.

Known for their very melodic songs and super-tight harmonies, the Bee Gees were often accompanied with lush string arrangements. One of their last successful singles of this period caused a split in the group. Robin Gibb was expecting Limelight to be the A-side but it was flipped and First Of May, sung by Barry, headlined.

The First Of May was the birthday of Barry's dog, Barnaby.

Robin had a hit with Saved By The Bell and a successful album, but rejoined the Bee Gees after a year outside the group.

Here are two youtube videos of First Of May - the first with photos of the Bee Gees through the years; the second a remastered Top Of The Pops appearence.

"When I was small and Christmas trees were tall".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s88TOcjU_z4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqB2UXmMZHs

Good Morning Lords and Ladies

No, it's not the First of May yet, but it soon will be!

I am looking forward to our first week of May Songs, starting this Friday.

In no particular order, the first week will feature Vic Gammon's new First of May; The Bee Gees classic take on the same title; a mountain dulcimer instrumental by Tony Gillam; Jim Wigfield's study of the life of the Mayfly; Brian Hunt revisiting Padstow; a Copper Family song played and sung by Steve Fry; and those pesky Ultra-Ray Violets attacking the North Bedfordshire May Song.

And that's just the first week. There are more songs and tunes in the can from Phil Harley, William Duddy, Stuart Raistrick, The Spectacles, Ro Johnson, Steve Smith and Ant Wilson - with a promise of even more to come.

I can't wait to get started!

The songs will be released daily on the Facebook Group "CMLE Play (Songs For May)" together with additional notes, links and lyrics on this Blog. Please support our musical community by sharing on social media whenever you can.

The Summer is icumen in.

Message From CMLE Play HQ

I have gone all hi-tech with this planning board to schedule our May songs. Thanks for the contributions and promises of contributions received so far. It looks as if I will have enough material to release a song a day for the first 3 weeks in May, so if you have any more or know of anyone else who might like to post a song do get in touch.

As I was a-walking........