Thought Blue Mountain John and other Aussies on
the list might enjoy this - from Dave Swarbrick - in the
Carthy Birthday Concert programme -
~~~~
"...so, in deepest Oz, we got the gig - a long, narrow
shearing-shed with stage at one end, entrance at the
other. On the door was Helmut, our strapping Germanic
host, covered in wounds and plasters after his brush
with poisonous caterpillars and his estranged wife's
parrot, and fuming with ill-will after brush with said wife.
Right from the start of our set, we were heckled by a
rangy, red-headed swell, demanding the latest chart-
toppers, and generally enjoying himself at our expense.
Martin could take no more: stopping me in mid-bow-stroke,
he strode to front-of-stage and fixed the miscreant with
that terrrible glare.
"Excuse me", he says, "You there; where do you work?
"Why do you want to know?", came the reply.
"Because", said Martin, "I want to go where YOU work
and shout at YOU for a change."
Suddenly, Helmut appeared behind the swell, grabbed
him by the scruff-of-neck and seat-of-pants, ran him right
through the hall and threw him out of the door; he landed
amidst a cloud of red dust.
As Helmut turned back into the gig, a voice was heard
loud and clear from the red dust outside....
"strewth....you take your folk music a bit serious, don' ya?"
~~~~
PaulC
PS. And yes, John - 'Black Muddy River' with Norma
and Eliza singing harmonies was probably my favourite
of the whole night. Martin told the story of how they first
heard it - apparently they get sent loads and loads of
tapes all the time, and one day he was off on the road
somewhere on his own and when he phoned home,
Norma said that she'd been going through the pile of
tapes in their living room and had come across one 90
minute cassette, unmarked, with just one song on it.
She hadn't a clue what it was, so she sang it to Martin
over the phone - he didn't know either.
Some time later they had a call from a friend in America
who said "You're not talking about Gerry Garcia's song
'Black Muddy River', are you?" - Norma again sang it
over the phone and he said "That's the one!". Martin then
mentioned how he was jealous that Garcia had had an ice
cream named after him - Ben & Jerry's "Cherry Garcia".
