Outside in September - Lovely

Tuesday September 1st

Many people say that September is the start of Autumn.     -- Not me.   I say that it is still summer, and autumn doesn't begin till October.   Especially here in the lovely county of East Sussex.       In fact, my own theory is that  October and November are Autumn, December and January are winter, February and March are Spring, which then gives us SIX months of Summer, from the start of April, through to the end of September.    It's true!

So, at the moment the weather has been good enough for us to be able to have our music nights outdoors in The Six Bells garden.   It's was great to be able to reconvene after the Lockdown, on July 21st, the first time since March 3rd, and lovely to meet up with each other  again ( with distance).     The evenings have been run without the usual host, but we have still had a volunteer Blog writer.    My turn tonight.       I apologize in advance for any mistakes or omissions with song details etc.      I think we all know how tricky it is to get everything right.

Very punctually, Simon Watt took his seat, and in his friendly way, gave us 'You got a friend in me', a Randy Newman composition, followed by 'The Brexit song', a Simon Watt composition.      Manhattan  Transfer's 'Operator' was next on the line, and then we heard Simon's take on 'Bring it on Home'.
         
I expect Chris Martin eats his Five a Day, but tonight he sang 'Unwanted Fruit', and then told us that he was not going to sing 'Summertime', ( would he ever)?  The song 'Ghosts'  came before 'Insomniac's Dream', followed by 'Sanity'.   I think if I'd eaten unwanted fruit in the summertime, and seen ghosts, I wouldn't sleep, and I would question my sanity.      These were Chris's own songs.  ( Except 'Summertime').

Now that Heather Curry and Chris are in a' Bubble', Heather took to the floor sharing Chris's microphone pop cover, and set sail with 'The Owl and the Pussycat'.      
 The Seekers sang 'The Carnival is Over' in 1965, and  Heather sang it tonight.    This year, the Sussex Carnivals are Over before they even start.      She gave us 'Let it grow', before doing her own song, 'Weald and Sea', a song about Sussex, with a Scottish flavour.

Next in line was  Manus McDaid, holding the 'Key to the Highway', and then his Jazz version of ' Little Sister', a number done many years ago by someone called Elvis Presley.   'Pole in the Ground', one of Manus's own compositions, was followed by
'Alright Now' by the band 'Free'.

Lance  Maleski played us four of his own songs.  First, he dived into 'The Old River',  a nostalgic story, then we were told to 'Pick up your own Dog Shit' ( I haven't got a dog).
We heard about 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' , and then 'Black Lives Matter'.

Just like Deana Carter, Ella Moonbridge was asking 'Did I shave my legs for this?'   Ella went on to give us Mary Gauthier's 'Mercy Now', and Iris Diment's 'God may forgive You'.    The song 'Truth', came as Ella's fourth one.  Written by Patti Griffin,this was also done  by the band formerly known as The Dixie Chicks, but who now have to be known as The Chicks.     That's the truth.

I put myself next on the list, and began with Bob Dylan's 'Love Minus Zero', then a song that I have liked hearing  on the radio this year, 'Someone out there Loves You', by Rae Morris.    Trini Lopez died in August, so I did a tribute to him with 'If I had a Hammer', written by Pete Seeger.   Trini Lopez was well known for a number of songs in the 1960s, and he also designed guitars for Gibson.     I finished with the Canned Heat song 'Let's work Together', written by a man with a marvelous first name: Wilbert Harrison.

Derek Walmsley came in at number nine, with the  refreshing 'Two Pina Coladas',before 'The Master's Call' by Marty Robbins.   'This Little Bird', by John D Loudermilk, was done by Marianne Faithfull, and tonight we heard Derek's version.   Then we were invited to 'Save the Last dance for me'.

 Helga Dittmar began with 'Take Heart', sung in German with an English translation included.  Keith Willson joined her with guitar accompaniment for her next offerings,and they were both joined by the star attraction of the evening  -- HULOT --  the singing DOG!       Someone sitting in the 'audience' had this little dog with him.   Whenever there was a high note, the dog joined in with an even higher note!      If the birds had still been singing, we could have had -- Woofers and Tweeters!

Helga over-ran her time, so  Keith Willson who was going to play us out, was only able to fit in one number.     Sorry Keith!      We must put a time limit on players to keep them from straying.         We must let Keith go on earlier next time.

                                                         ---- Next time ---   

Will we be outside again?     The pub has a plan for another marquee  in the garden which could be heated, so hopefully we can still carry on outside whatever the weather.       September is still Summer!
 Thanks to everyone involved tonight.

 Clive Woodman

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