Cue Don Mclean...
--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:

> Cue Don Mclean...

There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a tent
and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most expensive
hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his set and back
to his hotel afterwards.

I sometimes play "Streets of London".

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
For forms of government let fools contest
Whate're is best administered is best - Alexander Pope

On 14/03/2024 09:16, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
> John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>> Cue Don Mclean...
>
> There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
> acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a tent
> and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most expensive
> hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his set and back
> to his hotel afterwards.
>
> I sometimes play "Streets of London".
>

Ralph McTell is a great bloke, but he won't stand any nonsense. At one
festival he was on stage, and a couple of blokes in the audience were
chatting loudly all through his song. Ralph stopped singing, and said,
"Either belt up and listen, or take it outside. I'm not singing if you
can't be bothered to listen, because others want to hear me, not you!"

The noisy blokes were booed out of the tent.

I interviewed Ralph and Wizz Jones at Beverley Folk Festival one year.
Ralph is in awe of Wizz. I asked him for advice to a young
singer/songwriter. He said, "Don't expect to make a good living out of
it. I was very lucky with Streets of London. Without that I couldn't do it!"

Tone

On 14/03/2024 09:16, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
> John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>> Cue Don Mclean...
>
> There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
> acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a tent
> and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most expensive
> hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his set and back
> to his hotel afterwards.
>
> I sometimes play "Streets of London".

Wasn't Ralph in the "Humblebums" with Billy Connoly?

John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Cue Don Mclean...

Also my grandson’s birthday (which makes it very easy to remember).

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 10:41:13 +0000, Soup <cheez2011@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Wasn't Ralph in the "Humblebums" with Billy Connoly?

As I recall, it was Gerry Rafferty.

The original name was the "Stumblebums", which looking at
their alchohol consumption was a fittig title. They soon changed it
to the "Humblebums" accordin to one of Billy Connoly's many
autobiographies.

--
"Their (Microsoft's) products have no spirit to them, sort of no
spirit of enlightenment to them. They are very pedestrian." -
Steve Jobs 1995 TV interview

On 14/03/2024 11:34, Julian Macassey wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 10:41:13 +0000, Soup <cheez2011@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Wasn't Ralph in the "Humblebums" with Billy Connoly?
>
> As I recall, it was Gerry Rafferty.

Yup.
One of his many biographies talks about him being in the HBs with gerry
, and in the next sentance he (BC)'talks' about walking through london
with Ralph Mactell and Ralph was lost then BC 'says' I'm with the man
who wrote "streets of London".
I think thats were my confusion stems from

Ahem A Rivet's Shot said:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
> John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>> Cue Don Mclean...
>
> There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
> acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a tent
> and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most expensive
> hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his set and back
> to his hotel afterwards.
>
> I sometimes play "Streets of London".

"But what does it /mean/ ?"
"It means I'll never have to jbex again"

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote in
news:20240314091637.3f6e0615bf969bcf1cb86777@eircom.net:

> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
> John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>> Cue Don Mclean...
>
> There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
> acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a
> tent and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most
> expensive hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his
> set and back to his hotel afterwards.
>

I was there that year. Was it 1977?

On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:41:33 -0000 (UTC)
"Mark P. Nelson" <markpnelson@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote in
> news:20240314091637.3f6e0615bf969bcf1cb86777@eircom.net:
>
> > On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:45:51 +0000
> > John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Cue Don Mclean...
> >
> > There was a year when the Cambridge folk festival had two headline
> > acts Don Mclean and Ralph McTell. One of them turned up early with a
> > tent and enjoyed the festival, the other insisted on a room in the most
> > expensive hotel in town and a car to drive him to the festival for his
> > set and back to his hotel afterwards.
> >
>
> I was there that year. Was it 1977?

It was - did you catch the Dave Bromberg Band ?

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
For forms of government let fools contest
Whate're is best administered is best - Alexander Pope

On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:41:33 -0000 (UTC)
"Mark P. Nelson" <markpnelson@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I was there that year. Was it 1977?

I've just been nostalgically looking at the posters and noticing
that in 1977 it was £5 for the weekend or £3 for one day but in 2024 it is
an eye watering £230 for a "standard" ticket. There hasn't been *that* much
inflation - just checked on an inflation site £5 in 1977 translates to £39
today, those tickets are overpriced by nearly £200!

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
For forms of government let fools contest
Whate're is best administered is best - Alexander Pope

American pi? Is that any different from Greek pi.

I somehow have problems in believing that Americans can be obsessed
about the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its
circumference.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

On 15/03/2024 in message <5BgRIUAX558lFAIA@salmiron.com> Nicholas D.
Richards wrote:

>
>American pi? Is that any different from Greek pi.
>
>I somehow have problems in believing that Americans can be obsessed
>about the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its
>circumference.

They are pretty well the only country to use mm dd yyyy for dates so
yesterday was 3-14.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Every day is a good day for chicken, unless you're a chicken.

Nicholas D. Richards <nicholas@salmiron.com> wrote:
>
> American pi? Is that any different from Greek pi.
>
> I somehow have problems in believing that Americans can be obsessed
> about the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its
> circumference.

Oh but they were. They even tried to pass a law about the value of pi in
Indiana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_pi_bill

Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls

In article <1745816142.732182905.678891.timdownieuk-yahoo.co.youkay@news
..individual.net>, Tim+ <timdownieuk@yahoo.co.youkay> on Fri, 15 Mar
2024 at 08:11:42 awoke Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>Nicholas D. Richards <nicholas@salmiron.com> wrote:
>>
>> American pi? Is that any different from Greek pi.
>>
>> I somehow have problems in believing that Americans can be obsessed
>> about the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its
>> circumference.
>
>Oh but they were. They even tried to pass a law about the value of pi in
>Indiana.
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_pi_bill
>
I was disappointed to see that the bill was not proposed by a certain
Mr H Simpson.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote in
news:20240314180610.8592d403ad3533c113104a18@eircom.net:

>> I was there that year. Was it 1977?
>
> It was - did you catch the Dave Bromberg Band ?
>

I did; they were terrific.

I remember sitting round a fire late at night and someone lighting a joint; when he passed it
to his neighbour with shaggy hair and a sheepskin vest the fellow stood up and said, "You're
busted". Strange times.

On Mon, 25 Mar 2024 16:13:01 -0000 (UTC)
"Mark P. Nelson" <markpnelson@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote in
> news:20240314180610.8592d403ad3533c113104a18@eircom.net:
>
> >> I was there that year. Was it 1977?
> >
> > It was - did you catch the Dave Bromberg Band ?
> >
>
> I did; they were terrific.

Weren't they just. They'd turned up the previous year unannounced
and booked a slot in the club tent, nobody else got a slot after they came
on the crowd would not let them off the stage (<peeved> missed catching
that). In 1977 they played at least twice each day but sometimes it was as
Dick Fegy so as not to be too obvious in the program.

Not sure if it was that year (they blur) that I was walking the
fences at night when I heard the unmistakable sound of a jazz band redolent
with assorted brass instruments a stand up bass and drums coming from the
club tent - not exactly usual fare for the folk festival. Well I was headed
that way walking between the palings and there was a spot from which I
could see inside, when I got there I was surprised to see several people
standing in front of microphones completely bereft of instruments! It was
entirely vocal yet every instrument was distinct and sounding just like the
real thing (one of them was slapping his stomach while his mouth went
through contortions).

> I remember sitting round a fire late at night and someone lighting a
> joint; when he passed it to his neighbour with shaggy hair and a
> sheepskin vest the fellow stood up and said, "You're busted". Strange
> times.

The Cambridge police were frequently nefrubyrf, there was one year
they went too far and got royally roasted in the letters column of the
Cambridge Evening Nuisance (local politicians, business owners, CU
professors ...), they took a stroll through the tents, any that were
emitting interesting smelling smoke they slashed open and arrested the
occupants.

Another year I was working the main gate (steward) and in exactly
the wrong place as I spotted trouble approaching in the shape of a very
large biker type with no entrance badge and an air of violence about him.
Knowing that I had backup in sight I plonked myself in front of him and
asked to see his badge - so he pulled out his police ID. I let him pass,
told someone I was going for a cvff and followed him tapping people on the
shoulder as I passed, pointing to his back and saying some variant of
"undercover cop" to each.

The thing is the police were supplied tickets precisely so that they
didn't have to show ID - which means that this one or his boss had sold his
ticket.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
For forms of government let fools contest
Whate're is best administered is best - Alexander Pope

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:

[...]
> The Cambridge police were frequently nefrubyrf, there was one year
> they went too far and got royally roasted in the letters column of the
> Cambridge Evening Nuisance (local politicians, business owners, CU
> professors ...), they took a stroll through the tents, any that were
> emitting interesting smelling smoke they slashed open and arrested the
> occupants.
[...]

Heard on an old News Quiz on the Home Service wireless:
"The aroma of Benson and Hendrix."

--
^Ï^. Sn!pe, PA, FIBS - Professional Crastinator

My pet rock Gordon has full confidence in our political masters.