The Gaels

 The Gaels

The Gaels 1969—Midland Sound Recording MID 1350 LP

The GAELS

c 1968 - First Coventry based Irish band in the folk revival. a traditional Celtic folk group, founded in 1966 as The Phoenix Folk Group.

Line up:  

Sean Cannon (later with The Dubliners 1982). 

Bill Hartnett
Seán Cannon
Brian Patten
Ian (Skid) Rennie

The Gaels 1969

Track list

Whisky In The Jar
Poc Ar Buile
Lark In The Morning
Rothesay-O
Kishmul's Gallery
Medley
The Galway Shawl
Barnyards Of Delgaty
Blow Ye Winds
Lock The Door Lariston
Sliabh Na Mban
The Maid Of The Sweet Brown Knowe
Red Haired Mary
Banks Of Marble
Farewell To Ireland
Sweet Thames Flow Softly

From https://www.discogs.com/The-Gaels-The-Gaels/release/6100658

From the sleeve notes of the album

 In February 1968, the GAELS opened an upstairs room at the Denbigh Arms, Monks Kirby in Warwickshire, and another such Folk Club was born. The group, originally started by two of its members in 1966 as the Phoenix Folk Group, has four members, who between them play a wide range of instruments. The club soon earned a reputation for good music, talent and entertainment and the membership now stands somewhere over the 2,000 mark.

 Many national and international guest artistes and floor singers have appeared at the club and much has been written about the group themselves in Folk circles. John Foreman wrote “an outstanding group, playing a variety of instruments between them. I agree with many others in rating them very highly", Thus the Denbigh Arms Folk Club, Monks Kirby—almost in the middle of nowhere—earned its name for a “good Saturday evening's entertainment!

 In addition to the clubs in the Midlands the group has made several visits to Ireland, and is perhaps as well known in parts of Ireland as over here.

 Three members of the group hail from the “Shamrock Isle". Brian Patten is a native of Donegal on the borders of Northern Ireland—Sean Cannon was born and raised in Galway City and Bill Hartnett, their acknowledged leader, comes from County Limerick. The fourth member Ian (Skid) Rennie is an exiled Scot from the Burns county of Ayrshire and completes the Celtic circle.

 It is hardly surprising that the GAELS possess by virtue of their inheritance, a richness of fine traditional material. Their style is not, however, confined to the traditional, for with their natural talent and instrumental versatility, they are able to produce a varied sound and style to suit all folk enthusiasts.

 Finally, by popular demand, this record has been produced. It is dedicated to all club members and friends for their encouragement, enthusiasm and support, and is the GAELS own contribution to the furtherance of good Folk Music to Folk lovers everywhere.

Seán Cannon 

Born: November 29, 1940

Dubliners' member: 1982-

Following from - http://itsthedubliners.com/sc_01.htm

Born and reared in Galway, but spent most of his adult life in England. His interest in folk music started in 1962 in Germany where he lived for a short while. For several years he moved throughout Europe living in Germany, Switzerland and Spain and eventually settling in England in the late 60's. He first appeared with the Dubliners, when he played support in two concerts in the 70's at Coventry and Redcar. He has also toured extensively with Planxty throughout Britain and Europe.

For the last dozen years he has played in practically every folk club from John O'Groats to Land's End. Sean is married and based in Yorkshire and is likely to remain there as most of the Dubliners' work is throughout Europe and Britain.

source: 25th Anniversary - Tour Program

Seán was born in Galway but has spent a good deal of his adult life in England. His wanderings began in the early 60's when he moved to Germany for a year with a view to developing his linguistic ability- During his time there he became interested in folk music. His next move was to Switzerland where he appeared on several radio and television stations as well as acquiring an excellent command of the French language. With rucksack and guitar in tow, Seán then moved to Spain where he taught both German and French, acquiring in the process fluent Spanish to add to his already established multilingual repertoire. Eventually, he was to settle in England in the late 60s and went on to become a renowned solo artiste, playing the many folk clubs that had mushroomed during these folk revival years. Seán had been a dose friend of The Dubliners for many years and appeared with them as a guest artist on a number of occasions before accepting an invitation to join them in the Autumn of 1982. As a solo artist, Seán has toured extensively with Planxty and Moving Hearts throughout Britain and Europe and has appeared at almost every folk club and festival between John O'Groats and Lands End. These days, because of his commitments with the band, his folk club appearances are a rarity, though his popular "One Man Show" concerts are to be seen at quite a number of Arts Centres and theatres throughout the country. Seán is an experienced cook, specialising in Indian cuisine. He once did the entire catering for a Moving Hearts' tour, providing a change of menu each day in addition to catering for the vegetarian needs of some of the road crew. His "Cannon Catering Trailer" was also a popular site at many festivals during this period where he, and his wife Pam, provided a healthy and balanced alternative to fast food catering. His main hobby, however, is languages and, as a result of his travels and natural ability in this area, he now speaks German, French and Spanish fluently and, of course his native Gaelic. He can also manage some Russian and has surprised many an audience (and indeed the group) in Iceland, Hungary and Yugoslavia by introducing songs in their respective languages. On tour he's usually to be found with his head buried in a dictionary. Sometimes he catches the rest of the group by surprise when he lapses into English.

(Above shows the Gael's playing a Music Marathon November 1969 at the Coventry Arts

umbrella Club. 18, Queen Victoria Road with Last Fair Deal (an offshoot of Wandering John).

ANOTHER PIECE ON SEAN CANNON ON HOBO - COVENTRY FOLKCLUB SCENE

https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2013/04/sean-cannon.html

Torqwood

 Torqwood

Torqwood were a Coventry area folk outfit in 1970's with Ron Ablewhite (Guit / Vocals) - now an artist in the Lake district. I think percussionist Roy Brewster was in this group - both joined Ron joined Trilogy in 1973. An acoustic trio with Al Hatton also on guitar and vocals. Al was an early member of Indian Summer and for a short while in 1972, part of Al Docker's Coventry supergroup Runestaff with Roy Butterfield, Bill Jackson, Ron Lawrence.

Although I saw Torqwood several times and Roy Brewster played percussion on my floor spot set at a folk club in Coventry one time I can't say much about them. If anyone has any further information then get in touch.

Ron Ablewhite's biography is on his artist site "

Ron Ablewhite - Artist Biography

"Ron Ablewhite spent many years in commerce and advertising in the Coventry area,

painting on a part-time basis, before moving to Cumbria in 1993 when he became a professional artist. He created and developed the “Collectables Range”, a unique portfolio of over 60 limited edition prints of scenes in Cumbria and the Lake District. These images capture moments in time, which are reflected in the atmosphere, unique light conditions, buildings and livestock that make Cumbrian images so universally popular."

https://www.cachetuk.com/acatalog/Ron_Ablewhite.html

Known dates from my 1971 diary.

January 22nd 1971 Torqwood played the folk club at Coventry Tech college

April 4th 1971 Torqwood played at the City Arms folk club in Coventry

City Arms Folk Club (Earlsdon)

City Arms Folk Club (Earlsdon)

by Pete Clemons

The City Arms, for the last 20 years a part of the Wetherspoons chain, has been a popular pub in Earlsdon for over 150 years. The current building has stood since 1930 but a 'City Arms' has been on the site since the mid 1800s.

 50 years ago the City Arms Folk Club, which attracted some of the country’s most talented musicians to Coventry as well as entertaining a generation of fans, staged its final event. The club first sprang up in 1966 and was initially hosted by Paddy Roberts.

By 1967 it was in the hands of popular musicians Rob Armstrong and Rod Felton who successfully ran this popular club for a good number of years. The pair had already become popular guests at the venue.

 The British folk scene of the 1960s and 1970s has a fascinating history. The highs including the discovery of some genuinely wonderful singer songwriters. The lows must have been the endless financial difficulties, that the clubs seemed to be in, required for keeping them going.

 The following quotes I collected while researching the Earlsdon club. My apologies for not remembering from where and who:

 'Been going to the folk clubs since 1963. First to Coventry - Barry Skinner, The Kerry's, Rod etc – and then Earlsdon. Since 1971 I went to Bedworth and other clubs before they all closed. These included Barwell, Brinklow and Nuneaton. I remember Roddy, Dave Bennett, Barry Skinner, The Gaels, Sneaks Noise, too many to remember'.

 'I remember when the Gaels had Owen on fiddle before Brian Patten, do you remember Geoff Smedley and Bennie Christie who were residents at the City Arms?.  Benita could down a pint in less than 3 seconds!. And Barry at the Binley Oak, that was the first club I went to, with Roger Bullen who I used to work with'.

 'Rod was always involved with the City Arms, his lovely Mum May used to actually 'run' the club, but she did it in Rods name. More or less, Rod and Rob Armstrong were both the residents before they formed the Grunt Band, as was Gentle Touch (Geoff and Benita) and June Tabor was a regular singer there too'.

'There were some top acts at the Earlsdon club. I don't know who actually booked them, but May, Rod's Mother, saw to the financial side of things'.

Finally a very brief history of some of those who appeared the City Arms Folk Club. These were in addition to the local artists who put in an appearance. Regarding the above quote, which mentions the booking of artists, I cant help but think that Rob Armstrong did a lot of the leg work in that department:

1966 – Initially it appeared to be a monthly club. But things soon stepped up and the club became a weekly event. Guests included: Dicken Reed, The Arden Folk, Rod Felton, The Embers, Sandy Denny

1967 – The Hibernian's Folk Group, The Kiandra Group, The Folklores, Mick Stuart

1968 – New Modern Idiot Grunt Band, Sneaks Noise, Mike Chapman, Alex Campbell, Martyn Wyndham Reed

1969 – Martin Windsor, Gilly Darbey, Jasper Carrot, Robin Dransfield, Hamish Imlach

1970 – Shelagh McDonald, Diz Disley, Don Partridge, Colin Scott

1971 - Gothic Horizon, Roger Williamson, Dave Turner, April,

The final club night appears to be when Dando Shaft appeared during September 1971.

Beverley Kutner (Martyn)

A Song for Hazel Lester Film 1984

Thanks to Nigel ward, Pete Willow and CVfolk for uploading this treasure of a tribute Coventry folkie Hazel Lester from 1984. I had fled Coventry by then but it's great to see this footage of those I knew back then - Derek Brimstone, Pete Willow, Dave Ragtime Bennett, Margo Buchanan Smith, Martin and Ray Jenkins etc.  It's a great tribute to Hazel and a great time capsule of the Coventry folk scene and camaraderie therein.

Below is a video with all the musical audio from the above film featuring Derek Brimstone, Dave Bennett, Pete Willow, Mick Cullen, Dennis Clark, Mick Stuart.

Hazel Lester

Derek Brimstone

Dave Bennett

Mick Cullen with Dave Bennett

Hazel Lester at the Folk Club

Kev Dempsey of Dando Shaft

Pete Willow and Dennis Clark.

Folk Fights Back - Coventry's CVfolk Inaugural Live Event in bid for City of Culture Status.

Folk Fights Back - Coventry's CVfolk Inaugural Live Event in bid for City of Culture Status.

By Pete Clemons

This article is the blog for Pete Clemons articles - ie another of the Hobo Coventry Music Websites - HERE 

At a time when young Teesside folk acts like Megson, Cattle and Cane, The Younguns are reinventing what folk music can be, filling venues around the country, and getting write ups in the Guardian and Independent, the Coventry folkscene is fighting back and celebrating its own historic and dynamic folk culture that has attracted the likes of Joe O'Donnell, Dave Swarbrick and many others to the City and boasts a range of singer songwriters giggling around the country. With Selecter star Pauline Black as patron, Pete Willow is working hard to put Coventry folk on the map!

Pete Clemons reports from CVfolks inaugural Live event..

CVFOLK'S OWN WEBSITE IS HERE

http://www.cvfolk.com/

Go take a look and give the project some support.

Whippersnapper

Whippersnapper

"Whippersnapper was an English folk band formed in 1984, consisting of Dave Swarbrick (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Kevin Dempsey (guitar, vocals) and Martin Jenkins (mando-cello, flute, vocals).

Swarbrick left the group in 1989, and the band continued as a trio until 1993, with the only album recorded that line-up being Stories. During that time, Dempsey and Leslie released an album called Always With You as a duo. The band split when Jenkins left the group in 1993.

Following Swarbrick's recovery from illness, Whippersnapper toured again as a full four piece in both 2008 and 2009. Martin Jenkins (born 17 July 1946, London, England) died on 17 May 2011, in Sofia, Bulgaria, from a heart attack."

This folk outfit consisted of two members of Coventry progressive folk band Dando Shaft - Martin Jenkins and Kevin Demsey and from the 80's, I think, Dave Swarbrick - formerly of Fairport Convention, has lived in Coventry.

From here - https://www.allmusic.com/artist/whippersnapper-mn0000247625

"Whippersnapper were a four-piece acoustic band formed by Dave Swarbrick, Chris Leslie,

Kevin Dempsey, and Martin Jenkins in Northamptonshire during 1983. Although none of the others could quite compare with Swarbrick's long experience or near-legendary status, each of the others brought something substantial to the table at the outset of the group's history -- Chris Leslie was a musical instrument maker as well as an experienced violinist (who had Swarbrick's playing as a model); guitarist, singer, and percussionist Kevin Dempsey had played in Dando Shaft, and had experience with Latin music as well as Celtic and English folk repertory; and multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins had played with Matthews Southern Comfort and was also an ex-member of Dando Shaft, as well as a Bert Jansch alumnus. As a result, the group's work was highly anticipated by folk enthusiasts, as a unique all-acoustic supergroup. The group made its debut in January of 1984 at the Burnt Post in Coventry and subsequently played the Cambridge Folk Festival, a performance that was captured on video as well.

Their music was a deceptively complex brand of progressive folk, driven by the presence of four full-fledged virtuoso players. Whippersnapper spent most of their first year honing their sound and repertory, which started out fully formed, drawing on the songbags of all four members. As a result, their debut album, when it came time to do it -- recorded for their own Whippersnapper label -- came together very quickly. The Promises long-player was recorded in December of 1984 and in stores just about eight weeks later, and well received by fans and critics. A second LP, Tsubo, didn't appear until 1987, and it was similar in form and structure to the first. A third studio album was intended, but in the interim the quartet issued These Foolish Strings, a compilation of four years' worth of live recordings. The fourth album, Fortune, was released in early 1990, and also marked the end of Swarbrick's involvement with the group. The group continued as a trio of Leslie, Dempsey, and Jenkins, and Leslie and Dempsey recorded the LP Always with You, released in 1996. Dempsey eventually teamed up with Swarbrick anew, while Leslie joined one of the latter-day lineups of Fairport Convention."


View a recent Pete Clemons article on Dave Swarbrick for the Coventry Telegraph here Hobo - Coventry Gigs http://coventrygigs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/dave-swarbrick-fiddler-from-fairport.html

ANOTHER MARTIN JENKINS BAND - QUIET RIOT

Photos by Tony Mojo Morgan at the The Freemason's Inn in Coventry

With Rod Felton

Geoff Smedley - Coventry folk singer

Geoff Smedley 

"Geoff Smedley, whose clear, gentle voice and warm humourous personality has brought pleasure to uncounted numbers of people. I hope this LP will help him achieve some acclaim, Geoff is not - does not pretend to be - a superstar - but he IS worth listening to." Rosemary Hardman from the back cover of his LP Love is Mine 1972

I don't know a lot about Geoff Smedley but he was a member of The Idiot Grunt Band (Coventry) in 1967. Becoming The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band (Dando Shaft, Rob Armstrong, Rod Felton) and breaking in 1972 (Armstrong forming "The Music Box").

Geoff was a contemporary of Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong on the Coventry Folk Scene in 1965, and when the Coventry Mummers visited Germany to perform, Rod Rob and Geoff went over too, playing solo or together as The Gentle Idea and it seems Geoff played sometimes with The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band.

In 1972 Geoff Smedley made a limit edition (200 pressings) folk album Love is Mine on the Westwood label.

Tracklist

A1 Baby you've been on my Mind
A2 Susan's Song
A3 Andrew
A4 The Water is Wide
A5 Have Faith in Me
B1 Alberta
B2 Willie Moore
B3 Bushes and Briars
B4 Lady for Today
B5 Hedgehog's Song

Rosemary Hardman plays guitar on "Lady for Today"

https://www.discogs.com/de/Geoff-Smedley-Love-Is-Mine/release/9185747

Love is Mine - Geoff Smedley

GEOFF SMEDLEY

From the back cover of his album

It has become increasingly obvious in the last two years that the whole music world - including the folk scene - has declared the 70's the age of the superstar. Names like - Steeleye Span, Ralph McTell and America's James Taylor, receive the acclaim that up to this time was only accorded to pop artists. There seems little doubt that the possibility of achieving that sort of acclaim - and the resultant ego-trip has affected the overall standard of folk music in this country. But whilst artists like Steeleye Span pack the concert halls and what the public's appetite for bigger and better things - it is still in the local folkclub that the average folk fans seek their music. These clubs rely to a great extent on the talents of semi-professional singers and it seems that many of these never receive an acclaim in proportion to the great contribution they make to the scene. Such an artist is Geoff Smedley, whose clear gentle voice and warm, humourous personality have brought pleasure to uncounted numbers of people. I hope this LP will help him achieve some of that acclaim. Geoff is not and does not pretend to be a Superstar - but he is worth listening to.


Rosemary Hardiman.