Folk For Christabel
Keith Brincorn remembers..
Saturday 7th November 1970. Leyton Senior High School
for Boys
There was definitely a sense of something drawing to a
close this evening, or at least moving into a new
phase. Tonight's concert was originally booked for a
local youth club, but was moved to the school venue at
short notice, in effect passing the reins of power on
to the new Upper 6th.
Meanwhile the musical partnership between Colin and
Terry had virtually reached the end of the line, with
tensions spilling over into the Board meetings - well
it was the year of the Beatles split! They performed
entirely separate sets this evening, with Terry
emerging from the shadows with several self-penned
compositions (Arabella, And When it's Over, As Tall as
Heaven), the classic epic Ruth (co-written with the
emerging poet and Martin-Kingsbury acolyte Alan
White), and as suggested by yours truly, Hair. This
song gave him the opportunity to announce his plans to
audition for the Amsterdam production of the rock
musical. It didn't happen, but heralded the beginning
of the temporary end of the partnership that this
website celebrates.
Other support acts this evening included two Bunjies
discoveries. Jenny Uggles (with male accompaniment)
performed traditional songs such as Once I had a
Sweetheart and Scarborough Fair. Meanwhile, Ann
McClure's choice of modern folk favourites was
particularly well chosen - Tonight will be Fine, Night
in the City, Carolina on my Mind, Mr Tambourine Man.
Al Jones bounced back after his low key performance in
March, his form enhanced by having his guest bass
player Boris to feed off. The latter's gimmick was to
play the surly, silent, stoney-faced straight man
throughout, allowing Al to let his dry and surreal
sense of humour run wild. Musically he was also
excellent with his usual mix of own songs (Earthworks,
Black Cat, Sarah of the Isle of Wight) with bluesy
renditions of Wabash Cannonball, Wanna See my Baby,
The Wild Rover and Elvis's Mess of the Blues, during
which, Boris's face actually cracked into a smile!
The profits were split 60/40 between Folk For
Christabel and the School, giving the budding folk
impresarios the princely sum of £6.00 to plough into
their future activities..