Folk Club in November – frosty winter weather
Although temperatures outside are still mild, November is
definitely a time to expect cold weather. Several of the evening's performances
took up the theme of ‘frost’.
John Harrison opened the evening with songs that, while not directly about snow and ice, still gave listeners a slight chill. The good old blues that John loves so much mainly deals with the big and small disasters of human togetherness (or separation). Around 100 years ago, the old master Robert Johnson wrote a number of songs on this theme, three of which John presented, and not for the first time. ‘Love In Vain’ describes saying goodbye to a lover on a train platform. In ‘Come On In My Kitchen’, a lady is offered a place in the warm kitchen. Ultimately, it's about broken love, betrayal and theft. The song ‘Rambling On My Mind’ is also about the pain of love. The narrator complains that the woman he loves treats him badly, and he can only get away from her in tears – not a pleasant situation either.
Kai Hofstetter interprets the blues in his own way with songs about fates and events in his Lower Franconian homeland and in his Lower Franconian dialect. ‘Des Büchle’ is about coldness and hardship. It is about the diary of a village schoolteacher, in which many rather unpleasant events in his environment are noted, including the fact that every now and then a child disappeared. However, at the end of the day, the book burned down with the school. And so some of those mentioned in it no longer need to worry. ‘Derrennt’ (run over to death) deals with recklessness on the road, which ultimately leads to accidents involving a great deal of suffering – here, too, ‘pure chills’ in view of four young men who died in fatal accidents in quick succession. Finally, ‘Der Fluss’ (The River) is about Kai's father, who wanted to be buried in the Main River without ‘all the fuss and hypocritical speeches’. Although it was not permitted, thanks to Franconian cunning, his wish was ultimately fulfilled. Thank you, Kai, for your always exciting stories.
When Holger Riedel sits down at the piano – theme or no theme – at least your court reporter feels a slight chill. What weird melody will we hear this time? But Holger's contribution from his series ‘Holger learns piano’ wasn't bad at all: "The melody of “Child In Time” by Deep Purple is a classic with high recognition value and causes a rather pleasant tingling sensation.
Hans Ihnen had prepared a small tribute to an old master who recently celebrated his 80th birthday. It's incredible that Neil Young had already earned so much money by the age of 25 that he was able to buy a ranch for the then (1970) considerable sum of $350,000. The ranch's manager at the time, an elderly man, agreed, and Young dedicated the song ‘Old Man’ to him. Now Young himself is an old man, but his songs are still young. The song ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’ was very fitting for the theme of ‘frost’, not because of the temperatures, but because of its content, which gives you goosebumps. ‘Heart Of Gold’ is simply an immortal classic, and its simplicity makes you wonder why this song was and still is so incredibly successful. Many thanks to Hans, and much applause for the little birthday serenade for the birthday boy Neil Young.
After all the minor keys about love and suffering, Saico Balde and Moustafa Osh lifted the mood with rhythmic songs that got everyone involved. Saico started with a little drumming exercise, allowing the audience to make up for their missed morning exercises – good for tense shoulders and arms. Saico wrote ‘Mamma Africa’ himself. The lyrics aren't really relevant; it's all about the rhythm and joining in (‘Mama eeeh’). The song ‘Mustafa’ alludes to the name of Saico's colleague. However, the piece was not written by Saico but by the Egyptian Bob Azzam. Leo Leandros, Vicky Leandros' father, made a cover version in German, with which he enjoyed success in Germany in the early 1960s – that's how international the Folk Club is!
With Peter Bachmann, the programme returned to autumn colours and minor keys. Peter had actually wanted to present his songs in October, but the Folk Club was already fully booked. ‘Feinslieb’, a composition by songwriter Hans-Eckardt Wenzel, draws a parallel between the year coming to an end and a love that fails to ignite. ‘Autumn Leaves’ does something similar, associating autumn with the leaves falling from the trees and a loved one who has gone away. However, the English version is merely a cover version of the French original ‘Les Feuilles mortes’, which was composed in 1945 by Joseph Kosma based on an existing poem by Jacques Prévert (1900–1977). The song was sung by Yves Montand in the film ‘Les Portes de la nuit’ (Gates of the Night), but soon developed a lively life of its own and eventually even became a jazz standard. Peter also brought along one of his own compositions. He had written the song ‘Erster Frost’ (First Frost) especially for this evening, fittingly in keeping with the theme. He accompanied his song with beautiful fingerpicking, summarising his thoughts on the first really cold days at the end of autumn and the year. As is so often the case with this theme, autumn in this song represents an allegory for the end of our lives – very moving.
When the featured artist falls ill shortly before the folk club evening, the organising team's hearts start to race. That's what happened this time, because the duo Stereo Naked was actually scheduled to perform. But good connections pay off, and Pete Coutts, a Scotsman from Aberdeen who now lives in Remagen with his girlfriend, child and house, stepped in at short notice. After the performance, some people asked themselves: why has this fantastic singer, guitarist and songwriter never been here before? It shows time and again that the supply of good musicians in our area is virtually inexhaustible. Pete opened his performance with a slightly reworked song by the Englishman George Butterworth. The original is called ‘Come My Own One’, and Pete calls his version ‘The Saucy Sailor’. Both versions are about a sailor who returns from a long sea voyage and wants a woman. However, the woman he adores initially rejects him because of his shabby clothes and strong smell. But when he tells her that he is rich, she quickly changes her mind. Now, however, it is he who withdraws and tells her that other mothers have beautiful daughters too. ‘Breathe’ is an original composition in which Pete sings about his new life on the Rhine – very romantic! However, the song also has a comical element, because at the time it was written, Pete did not know that it would become ‘the soundtrack to the rest of his life’. The piece ‘The Crow In The Sun’ by Irish-American composer and violinist Liz Carroll is a very soulful instrumental. According to other sources, it is by Dáithí Sproule, an Irish musician who has also worked with Liz Carroll. The piece is a reel, a Scottish folk dance. In short: fantastically played, it gives you goose bumps! ‘Silver’ is the title of a song by Pete, which is based on the title ‘The Silver City’ of his hometown Aberdeen, which is built of granite. ‘Singing about today's problems and no one is listening’ is Pete's subtitle for the song. The song ‘Casting The Peat’ describes a day in the life of his grandfather – cutting peat. The lyrics are in the local dialect of the area where the family lived at the time. Please don't ask for a summary! But I suspect it's about a lot of hard work and a lot of whisky. Pete's song ‘Sail And Oar’ is about fishing. Fishing and fish processing were once the most important economic factors in Aberdeen. Today, almost nothing remains of that.
Pete then reached into the songbook of protest songs by other folk artists for the pieces ‘Paths Of Victory’ (Bob Dylan), ‘I Didn't Try Hard Enough’ and ‘Beads and Feathers’ by Kris Drever, a Scottish folk musician. He then returned to Nobel Prize winner Robert Zimmermann (Bob Dylan) with ‘The Times Are A-Changing’, a prophetic song that sends shivers down your spine. He concluded his set with the English folk song ‘Billy Tailor (Was A Sailor)’, a sailor's song.
But wait! I have summarised Pete's performances before and
after the interval. In between, there were other performances that were also worth
listening to.
John contributed a poem whose author's name at least has
something to do with today's theme: ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost. The
poem is about how every decision we make means leaving another path untrodden.
The hero chooses the path that has apparently been less well travelled by, and that
makes all the difference.
Stephan Weidt and Ulrike Hund (alias Zwei von Zwei) are already old acquaintances at the Folk Club. Stephan writes delicate, poetic and thoughtful songs. He is also a wonderful guitarist and singer. His wife Ulrike accompanies him on her flute. ‘Ich schreib Dir ein Gedicht’ (I'll write you a poem) is a sensitive love song about a situation in which everything seems grey and dreary. The song ‘Busbahnhof’ (Bus Station) is about consolation. According to Stephan, he has never played it in front of an audience before – so this is a premiere. The song is only marginally about a bus stop. The real focus is on the advertising posters promoting sweet treats and thus promising comfort. However, our singer quickly realises that this kind of comfort is not sustainable. Many of us are familiar with this. The only thing that is sustainable are the extra pounds. In keeping with the theme, Ulrike then takes us to colder eastern climes, where frost plays a much greater role than it does here. Oi, moros, moros (Russian Ой, моро́з, моро́з, [English: Oh Frost, Frost]) is a Ukrainian-Russian folk song that probably originated in the 19th century and became widely known in the Soviet Union and its successor states in a version by Marija Morosowa-Uwarowa from 1956. Ulrike encouraged the audience to sing along and was met with much amusement. Thanks to the song sheets that were handed out and a little language lesson, it worked – at least for the chorus ‘Oh Frost, Oh Frost’. It was a lovely idea, dear Ulrike, to introduce a Ukrainian/Russian song. The audience loves treats like that.
Who else did we have? Yes, dear folks, another highlight was the performance of the fabulous duo Grün und Hut, consisting of Ursula Hoffmann and Stephanie Huthmacher. Stephanie and Ursula met at school in Bonn and have been making music together ever since – for around 50 years – they are like an old married couple, so to speak. According to their website, they are even married – but not to each other. Ursula has a husband, Stephanie once had one. But take a look at their website, there's a lot to discover.
The two never fail to delight with their funny and witty songs about all-too-human problems, minor everyday disasters, but also beautiful events and amusing oddities. ‘Die Elemente’ (The Elements) appeals to the chemists among us. Anyone who can recite the periodic table of elements already knows the lyrics. Hats off to the two of them for not losing their footing when listing the elements. They obviously had a good chemistry teacher. There was a special reference to your court reporter when the song ‘Geldern’ was announced. It's one of my favourite songs by the two of them, and I had actually requested it. It's quite a special moment of revelation when you learn that the girlfriend who is moving ‘far away’ ultimately ends up in Geldern. ‘There have been songs about Anchorage ... but what is Anchorage, when you now live in Geldern,’ goes the chorus – delightful! But seriously, Anchorage may be about ten times the size of Geldern, but it's probably not much more exciting. If anyone has any other information, please let me know. ‘Es geht halt nicht’ (It just doesn't work) reports on the incompatibility of a couple who are attracted to each other despite their differences in taste. She likes Sauerbraten, he prefers salad; she likes the sun, he likes snow; he likes the mountains, she likes the sea. And so it goes on. But if it works out for the two of them despite their different preferences, then everything is fine.
In any case, everything was fine again at the Folk Club that
evening. The programme was highly entertaining, varied, funny and of a high
musical and poetic standard. In addition, Dotty's catering team provided a good
supply of food and drinks. As always, the evening ended with a musical tribute
to Jock Stewart, the patron of the Folk Club.
See you on 5 December with Simon Kempston from Edinburgh, who this time is bringing along Paul Tasker, another musician from Scotland. The two will mainly be performing instrumental pieces from their new album ‘Tangled Strings’ under the theme ‘Songs Without Words’. As always, let yourself be surprised.
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