The long-awaited return of master song-writer John Richards to Nuneaton Folk Club finally came around last night. Having previously appeared at both NFC venues,this timehe was back up in The Queen's Hall. John brought along the latest incarnation of The John Richards Band. He goes into The Folkies Hall of Fame for "Shine On" alone in my humble opinion,quite apart from the other masterpieces which have continued to flow from his pen.This time, a four piece format saw John,his bass player Jim Sutton,and the addition of his daughter Emma on vocals and instrumentalist Julia Disney as a change to last years line-up.
After a turbulent and busy few weeks following our appearance in Warwick (yes..Warwick..) Nunc had thinned down to two and nearly did not make it at all. (Hence leaving them off the poster. Nonetheless,after no sound check or warm up at all, we opened proceedings with three favourites to get the tonsils aired. "Di Di The Ice Cream Man," "Jolly Boys" and "Albert Balls." As hoped,they warmed up the audience up by making them chuckle,and they sang the choruses enthusiastically.
Not that anyone needed warming up. It was a warm night and how fortunate we are as a folk club to possess our very own air conditioning. In fact,if you look in the photographs,you can see it looming over the stage like a giant mother ship out of "Close Encounters." Either that or Steve Bentley's Tuba has escaped?
My word processing package had been experiencing a field day beforehand with the auto correct going rogue on some of the pre-gig promotional material. On the first posters for example I had proudly announced "Craig Sullivan(!!)" and Ellie Rogers as part of the support package. Not true. The anticipated debut of Ellie Rogers (real name Ellie Gowers) (sorry Ellie) did not materialise. We just assumed she was stuck on the ring road or perhaps had ended up stalled at customs. perhaps detained trying to cross from South Warwickshire into the Northern Zone. But here she is,anyway. See what you missed?
In her absence we had to reshuffle the running order and drag up the other end of the spectrum, the slightly older but still winsomely handsome Bob Brooker. Bob started with an instrumental and the title song from his album "Our Home is By The Sea." He concluded with yet another song about Whitby ostensibly about Herring but really about Whitby. Bob likes Whitby-although bless him,he chose to be with us last night,instead of following the annual migration of the bearded folkies Oop North for the annual week-long jamboree there. So the NFC crowd finally got to hear his "Herring for a Tanner" song. This is a recent piece he is rightly proud of and which has been receiving rave reviews wherever he has performed it. A song featuring old money references...now where else did we hear that last night?
Adam Wilson was up next. He knows he has no choice but to do "Old Man" whenever he comes to NFC. He knows I wont let him into the building unless he performs it. Without having Neil Young in Town it's the next best thing. What a range, After fulfilling that particular obligation Adam called up Nigel Ward to join him, and a new collaboration was born. For me,it really worked.
It seemed fitting to have Craig Sunderland aka Sutherland aka Summerland aka Summerfield etc preceding JRB's first set.The typo thing became a running gag during the evening. Craig is a good sport and always enjoys a joke, (Like me getting his name wrong). Craig is a delightful young man,with a great guitar style, a great voice and a real talent for identifying a great song before putting his own stamp on it. "John Barleycorn" and "Little Pot Stove" had probably been done to death over time in Folk venues,but he has injected new life into both. Craig Darlington and Neville Word. They'll go far. Good call, boys.
And then we were finally treated to a first helping of some old and new material from by JR and company. of the new came a selection from a forthcoming new album. Some of us have long chided John for taking his time over a new recording so hearing a previewof such a project came as welcome news. Though I wont say I didn't miss "Polly" "Don't Despise the Deserter" "Roaring Water Bay" and "The Foundryman's Daughter," the new stuff was equally sublime.
After the break JK and I revived the audience with "Knocking on Heavens Door" which as always, they sang along to beautifully. Bob Brooker the man who never wins raffles, won again. He was seen carrying off a whole clutch of strong beers as his plunder. Thanks to the generosity of NFC supporters we had another high quality set of prizes. No Lambrini here. Prosecco and Pinot Grigio,plus a carry out litre and a half of Rose. I was surprised to see The Dubliners album finally go-but poor Barbara Dixon got left behind again-always the bridegroom. Paul Monks won a magnificent Nunc-style beach shirt donated by John Richards himself.( I look forward to seeing Paul wearing this on the circuit from now on). My thanks to Maggie,one of the forgotten heroes of NFC who works so hard selling tickets,folding them.encouraging people to draw them out and and then calling out the winners while we just loon about on stage enjoying ourselves.
Second half from JRB we weren't totally deprived of some of the old material. They finished their second set with "If you can walk you can dance," and as a rip-roaring encore (thank goodness!) "Shine On " was duly delivered. l'm not sure JR would have got out of the hall in one piece without doing it. It's a talented line-up with a sublime sound. Jim enigmatically plucks his double bass,coaxing out some deceptively good solos. And then he.takes to the keyboard,adding another string to his bow. Emma has a bluesy,gutsy voice which provides a good counter to John's fine vocals and Julia's harmonies. Julia herself took the lead once or twice. Her fiddle playing was excellent and she accompanied herself on guitar with a poignant song about the Morecambe Bay disaster.
Thanks to Max Wright Maggie Veasey Ray Buckler and JK for the photos. And a round of applause for our young Sound Crew,beavering away all night,doing their best to please everyone!
Thanks to Max Wright Maggie Veasey Ray Buckler and JK for the photos. And a round of applause for our young Sound Crew,beavering away all night,doing their best to please everyone!
There were (apparently!) counter attractions elsewhere at Cropredy and Whitby which may have tempted some of the grizzled old Folkies away from home turf last night And I think there was a thousandth re-run of "Vera" on ITV 3. But it was lovely to see so many of you all turn out anyway and so humbling to see so many musicians in there as well as all the regulars. Next month our Featured Guest is another guitarist's guitarist Si Barron and a bit of a coup also ,a floor spot debit from another ace guitarist,Tony Portlock. Hope to see you there.
