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For many years now I have been writing
songs and tunes, sometimes completely my own work,
and sometimes adding verses or tunes to things I have found.
I have now recorded my songs to 2 CDs - click the links to hear how they
start.
I don't claim to be the best singer in
the world but I do think they have merit as songs,
and I'd be delighted if anyone else wanted to contact
me with a view to them recording something of mine.
I will sell you the CDs for £8 each
- or £12 for the full set of two (including postage).
If you prefer, I can email any combination of the songs and tunes in mp3
format - 50p each.
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Atlantic
Fisherman's Song (DADGAD)
Everything I know about fishing as discovered at the local chip
shop! I wrote this in the 1970s and I think the rise and fall
of the melody mirrors the rise and fall of the sea.
Binney's
Leap
A True Harlequin Tale. Linda Greatorix ran the Harlequin pub
on Johnson St, Sheffield for many years and was a true patron
of acoustic music in the city. She and Mike Wild were talking
about putting together songs and stories about the pub (now
long demolished as part of the Ring Road development) and told
the tale developed here. Mike gets credit for 'promot-i-on'
in the final verse. The song is almost entirely true - except
that I don't know that Martin Binney was 'portly'.
Bloody
Orkney Standard
One thing I like to do is find
a song and develop it. This one had about 2 verses in the original,
so verses 3 and 4 are mine, along with the arrangement. If you
get bored - count the swear words
Cindy's
Song Open G capo 4
When I was lecturing at Sheffield University in the 1970's,
Cindy was one of our American exchange students. I believe she
went on to set up a commune.
Curly
Williams DADGAD
Again I found this with a couple of verses, wrote some more
and devised the tune.
Dale
Dyke Dam Disaster
Still in the Guiness Book of Records as the worst dam disaster
in England, the Dale Dyke Dam burst its banks on the night of
March 11th 1864 and produced the first Sheffield Flood. I used
to take children on a Flood Walk when I was teaching and used
this song as the basis for their school work.
While I was recording this at Yellow Arch Studios, the engineer
(Robin) said he remembered recording it before, when he worked
at Red Tape Studios! If you are the couple who recorded it then,
or you know them, please get in touch.
Dot
Com Millionaire (Open C)
My lad Sam joined a computer software company and was convinced
they were going to get bought out and so make his fortune -
we are still waiting. This song wrote itself following our conversations.
End
of the World (Open C)
A happy little song of mine - reminds me of the sandwich board
purveyors of doom you used to see frequently in town on a Saturday.
I
Like Bananas (Open C)
Think Bonzo Dog Band and go back a bit to Spike Jones' City
Slickers, but back even further and you get the Hoosier Hot
Shots (try them on You Tube). This song of theirs is another
for which I have added extra verses. Credit to Dave Young for
the last line of verse two.
In
Praise of the Landlord
Written in the early 1970s but this doesn't really excuse the
sexism! The name of the pub landlord should be substituted for
'Alphonse' wherever this is sung.
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Measuring
Man
Another happy little song that wrote
itself a while ago - the instrument here is a Busson lap-organ built
in Paris in about 1870 and which I bought about a century later
for £15 from a little junk shop at the end of South Road,
Walkley.
Measuring
the Baby
The words are from a Victorian poem
by Emma Alice Browne - I found them in a book on a guest house book
shelf in Cleethorpes in the 1960's and wrote the tune.
Poacher's
Revenge
Not my song at all - but I cannot find the author. I suspect this
started life as a pub joke. I learned it the 'proper' way - by ear
- from Dave Young during many sessions at the Red House pub on Solly
Street when it was run by Linda Greatorix.
Rawtenstall
Annual Fair
This song I knew from Mike Wild's singing and then I found the words
in a Mike Harding book - but all the verses were about women. So
I added the ones about men.
Rest
of the Day (DADGAD)
Another song to which I have added some words and the tune.
Scholar's
Lament
This one is semi-autobiographical and if you know me well you will
be able to work out which bits are true.
Spaniard's
Tale
A ballad which the tune Jerusalem fits quite well.
Universal
Grinder
I got the idea for this song (1970s again) partly when driving up
Totley Road and looking at the spread of semi-detached houses there,
and partly from a notice which used to greet passengers at Midland
station - for a Universal Grinding machine in some steelworks or
other. Some people read extra things into some of the verses! Ed
Gabanni gets credit for suggesting the chorus.
Whitby
Whalers (DADGAD)
We spend quite a few short breaks in the Whitby area and this song
wrote itself during one of them - the end of a successful trip. |
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