72 - Devon Folk

ReviewsCATCH ME IF YOU CANSongsfrom CornishTravellersVT119CDI'veknown my old friend Vic Legg for many years andIhave often wondered upon the source of his manygreat songs. Well, Ican tell you now that quite afewcame from the singers featuring on this latest VeteranCD or to put it another way, from his very ownfamily. Songs, some of which have been passed downthrough generations of travelling people as alivingtradition have been included and then there are alsoless ancient items that the family have added to theirrepertoire in more recent times.Betsy Renals, Charlotte Renals and Sophie Legg wererecorded by Pete Coe in 1978 when respectively, theywere 78, 77 and 60 years old. Many of the 28 trackshave appeared previously on Veteran cassettes butaccording to the notes, there are seven that have neverpreviously been released.Gipsy songs sung without musical instruments are noteveryone's cup of tea but no one could deny that thesingers put their hearts into each of their songs andthe clarity of the words was the first thing that struckme. The ladies voices are less harsh than some of theGipsy singers that Ihave heard in the past -morefront room than campfire and it makes for pleasantlistening. They sing each song individually withoutany harmonies or unnecessary embellishments, atradition must have protected the quality of the tunesand as the CD progresses the individual characteristicsof the singer's voices become apparent.If you are interested in the songs of the travellingpeople and especially those of South West England,then you should buy this CD. The production isexcellent when you consider that the recordings weremade in 1978 and the accompanying booklet of notes,compiled by Pete Coe and Mike Yates is of greatinterest.Bill Murray.NIGEL STURE CONCERTINASThe albums reviewed below are from twopeople who have been the greatest influencein my enjoyment &participation in folksong; Gwilym Davies for passing on hisenthusiasm for traditional song at CardiffUniversity and Harry Mousdell for removingany inhibitions I might have had inbelting out songs in apres-morris pubsessions !Colin AndrewsAN EVENING WITH OLD HARRYRecorded live at Horsham Folk club December2002 by Dick Streeter and edited andmastered by Harry's son William Mousdell.Old Harry was apparantly unaware thatthis recording was being made!The ladies are apart of the Orchard family so wellknown in our area and it was no surprise to me to findthat some of the lengthy family ballads had beenincluded on the CD. The responsibility of singing theancient ballads, such as The Farmer from Leicester,The Dark Eyed Sailor and aversion of The OutlandishKnight, has been entrusted to Charlotte. The morerecent songs that include the Bonny Bunch of Roses,Van Diemans Land and Sophie's version of Jim theCarter Lad (not sung to the usual tune), have beenshared almost equally between the three singers ashave the music hall ditties with Betsy singing JustBeginning to Sprout and Charlotte singing Oh Where,Oh Where has My Little dog Gone?some years ago. Well what of the35Who is Old Harry? Well, ask any folk singeror dancer in almost any part of Sussex andthey will know him. He has been aroundSussex since 1958 and has been calling fordances and singing in folk clubs and pubsever since. He has also danced the Morriswith Chanctonbury Ring Morris and theBroadwood Morris men. Akeen cyclist andwalker he has toured the world since retiringrecord?No sanitized recording is this. It is agutsywarts and all recording at Horsham folkclub. Harry belts out his songs in an unsophisticatedmanner, tells anecdotes, danceshis jig doll and even calls adance to create adelightful atmosphere at the club. It is (and Iam being controversial here) perhaps whatfolk music is really about. Ilove these variedPDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com