A Coelacanth walks into a bar ( slides, flaps, rolls whatever)
In North Queensland,
The barman says.
"What would you like to drink?"
The Coelacanth says,
"I'll have a schooner of XXXX thankyou."
The barman pulls the beer,
and while the beer is settling on the drip tray,
He picks up the coelacanth's $20 note and says,
"That'll be $7.30 please"
He turns around from the cash register after closing it and says
"We don't get many Coelacanths in here"
The Coelacanth replies
Marklar- slip of the pen there.. the line is Mind me harp' not Hat.
A drop of the Hard Stuff was from a Peter Sellers recording late fifties called 'Suddenly it's Folk Song' It consisted of three examples of Folk with Peter doing all the voices. The first was a song from the Brewer's Elbow in Somerset (lots of Arrrg Jim Lad type voices) singing 'I upped and I showed her the way' with the usual double meanings of course. The second one was an example of the Scottish Mouth Music which was 'quote' sung on the mouth by Hamish McPuke who only gave his best by been allowed to perform on the corner of Sauciehall Street in Glasgow, complete with traffic noises. After much 'Brawbritmoonlitnit' type singing he was hit by a bus. Finally there was Pat O'Shaunessy and his Men of Shamrock.. Incidentally it was never found out the name of Ceili band used in the recording. The jig of course was the first two parts of 'Tell her I am' and at the time there were many Irish, musicians and non musicians, who didn't see the joke and hated the way that the jig was messed up. I kid you not.
Loved it! I was always a big Peter Sellers fan, from his work at Ealing Studios, "Dr. Strangelove" (one of the best movies ever, as far as I'm concerned), yes also the "Pink Panther" series -- even have a few Goon Show episodes on cassette (no, didn't record them myself; they were specially issued some years back).
Perhaps my favorite Sellers anecdote was how, when he first applied to the BBC he was rejected. So he called up the department to which he had applied, and mimicking the voice of the man who had interviewed him for the job, told them that Sellers had been hired for the position. Apparently by the time the truth came out he had already ingratiated himself enough so he didn't get fired.
Later on in his life, he gave an interview in which he claimed that, because he had used so many different voices throughout his career, he could no longer remember what his "real" voice sounded like.
This Sellers clip, though, raises a longstanding issue about Irish traditional music, and to some degree, folk/acoustic music in general. Namely, that those of us who play it are often so dedicated to preserving, maintaining, passing it along we forget to have fun with it -- to step back and laugh a little at ourselves and what we do.
That's why I've been grateful for the presence of people who can bring a spot-on but affectionate satirical perspective to folk music: e.g Les Barker, the Arrogant Worms, Roaring Jelly (Guernsey Pete may remember them), Fred Wedlock and so on.
At one of the local Celtic music festivals here in Boston, the organizers felt strongly that there should be more of a sense of fun, so they arranged for singers to appear between acts and do silly, stupid, goofy, idiotic songs to change things up a bit. They turned out to be one of the more popular elements of the festival.
Ah, yes, I remember Roaring Jelly.
They have, in fact, reformed, with a different bass-player, under the name The Omega Three, as they need their vitamin supplements these days.
The main reason for their original retirement was the encroaching deafness of the leading performer, but modern technology has given him a new lease of life.
He also claims to have taught Bill Bailey everything he knows about stage design, which, as he says, shows why Bill is such a fine comic.
"As Oi were out walking Oi spied a lass there
With a rowdi-dum dowdi-dum dowdi-dum di...
She axed Oi the right way to Muckbottom Fair -
So Oi upped and Oi showed her the way.
Now all you young maidens, beware of the fair,
For if you ain't careful you'll find Oi right there;
For the 'appiest times of my life Oi dare say
'As been - showing young maidens the way!
Oi upp'n Oi upp'n Oi upp'n Oi upp'n
Oi upp'n I show them the way...!
The Peter Sellers English folk song was the above, or reasonably close. The tune goes thus (second verse):
I remember Roaring Jelly: yes, they were troupers. But I've forgotten what they actually did, possibly because the responsible brain cells were being battered severely by McEwan's 80/- at the time.
But for sending up village folk singing etc., The Kipper Family took the biscuit - obviously deriving their name from the Copper family of Sussex.
I refer the gentleman above to "Roaring Jelly's Golden Grates", probably still available on Amazon or ebay.
Surely, just as an example, 'Lord Randal', in broad northern accents shouting at one another, 'Reggae Bozanquet', or 'Christmas in Australia' ?
The Kippers, yes they are in another league, but sadly Dad has retired, leaving Sid Kipper to soldier on alone.
Oh, how could I have forgotten the Kippers? Absolutely brilliant. Again, the best kind of parody and satire: informed and affectionate.
Re Roaring Jelly: They did things like "Cajun Gumbo," which involved them singing "Ques c'se(sp?)/le Cajun Gumbo/le Cajun Gumbo" over and over again, and then the chorus, which basically was "Sing the, sing the, sing the words" in French. I think probably one of their best known numbers was "You Can't Get Many Pimples On a Pound of Pickled Pork."
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
I keep hearing rumour of a Peter Sellers sketch based around a session and a wrong note, any clues?
# Posted on July 26th 2008 by packbacker
Re: Peter Sellers
Yeah, it was posted here before. Quite funny. I managed to track it down on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6k1lml4AvE&feature=related
# Posted on July 26th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Peter Sellers
Mind me hat!!!
ROFL, I'd forgotten how funny that was
# Posted on July 26th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Peter Sellers
"was that a bum note I heard ya playin there"
spot on
# Posted on July 26th 2008 by pavlf
Re: Peter Sellers
Ceolachan. Gold!.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: Peter Sellers
A Coelacanth walks into a bar ( slides, flaps, rolls whatever)
In North Queensland,
The barman says.
"What would you like to drink?"
The Coelacanth says,
"I'll have a schooner of XXXX thankyou."
The barman pulls the beer,
and while the beer is settling on the drip tray,
He picks up the coelacanth's $20 note and says,
"That'll be $7.30 please"
He turns around from the cash register after closing it and says
"We don't get many Coelacanths in here"
The Coelacanth replies
"I'm not surprised at $7.30 a schooner."
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: Peter Sellers
Whoops , wrong thread!
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: Peter Sellers
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Peter Sellers
In retrospect , definitely.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: Peter Sellers
Marklar- slip of the pen there.. the line is Mind me harp' not Hat.
A drop of the Hard Stuff was from a Peter Sellers recording late fifties called 'Suddenly it's Folk Song' It consisted of three examples of Folk with Peter doing all the voices. The first was a song from the Brewer's Elbow in Somerset (lots of Arrrg Jim Lad type voices) singing 'I upped and I showed her the way' with the usual double meanings of course. The second one was an example of the Scottish Mouth Music which was 'quote' sung on the mouth by Hamish McPuke who only gave his best by been allowed to perform on the corner of Sauciehall Street in Glasgow, complete with traffic noises. After much 'Brawbritmoonlitnit' type singing he was hit by a bus. Finally there was Pat O'Shaunessy and his Men of Shamrock.. Incidentally it was never found out the name of Ceili band used in the recording. The jig of course was the first two parts of 'Tell her I am' and at the time there were many Irish, musicians and non musicians, who didn't see the joke and hated the way that the jig was messed up. I kid you not.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Peter Sellers
Loved it! I was always a big Peter Sellers fan, from his work at Ealing Studios, "Dr. Strangelove" (one of the best movies ever, as far as I'm concerned), yes also the "Pink Panther" series -- even have a few Goon Show episodes on cassette (no, didn't record them myself; they were specially issued some years back).
Perhaps my favorite Sellers anecdote was how, when he first applied to the BBC he was rejected. So he called up the department to which he had applied, and mimicking the voice of the man who had interviewed him for the job, told them that Sellers had been hired for the position. Apparently by the time the truth came out he had already ingratiated himself enough so he didn't get fired.
Later on in his life, he gave an interview in which he claimed that, because he had used so many different voices throughout his career, he could no longer remember what his "real" voice sounded like.
This Sellers clip, though, raises a longstanding issue about Irish traditional music, and to some degree, folk/acoustic music in general. Namely, that those of us who play it are often so dedicated to preserving, maintaining, passing it along we forget to have fun with it -- to step back and laugh a little at ourselves and what we do.
That's why I've been grateful for the presence of people who can bring a spot-on but affectionate satirical perspective to folk music: e.g Les Barker, the Arrogant Worms, Roaring Jelly (Guernsey Pete may remember them), Fred Wedlock and so on.
At one of the local Celtic music festivals here in Boston, the organizers felt strongly that there should be more of a sense of fun, so they arranged for singers to appear between acts and do silly, stupid, goofy, idiotic songs to change things up a bit. They turned out to be one of the more popular elements of the festival.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by sts
Re: Peter Sellers
Ah, yes, I remember Roaring Jelly.
They have, in fact, reformed, with a different bass-player, under the name The Omega Three, as they need their vitamin supplements these days.
The main reason for their original retirement was the encroaching deafness of the leading performer, but modern technology has given him a new lease of life.
He also claims to have taught Bill Bailey everything he knows about stage design, which, as he says, shows why Bill is such a fine comic.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Peter Sellers
PS; I also remember Peter Sellers from the first time. LOL
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Peter Sellers
Good, but I still think that one of Tommy Tiernan's was hard to beat:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H3q4y6-pp1M
Sadly, as you will see, it's been deleted!
Does anyone happen to know if it is on one of his DVDs?
Cheers
Ptarmigan
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by Ptarmigan
Re: Peter Sellers
"As Oi were out walking Oi spied a lass there
With a rowdi-dum dowdi-dum dowdi-dum di...
She axed Oi the right way to Muckbottom Fair -
So Oi upped and Oi showed her the way.
Now all you young maidens, beware of the fair,
For if you ain't careful you'll find Oi right there;
For the 'appiest times of my life Oi dare say
'As been - showing young maidens the way!
Oi upp'n Oi upp'n Oi upp'n Oi upp'n
Oi upp'n I show them the way...!
The Peter Sellers English folk song was the above, or reasonably close. The tune goes thus (second verse):
Key - G (for ease of annotation).
Time - 3/4
D2 || G2 G2 G2 | B2 B2 B2 | E2 E2 E2 | A4 GG| F2 F2 F2 | F2 E2 F2 | A2 G2 E2 | D4 DD | G2 G2 G2 | B2 B2 B2 | E2 E2 E2 | A4 GG | F2 F2 F2 | F2 E2 F2 | G6 | G4 D2 | G2 G2 G2 | B2 B2 B2 | E2 E2 E2 | A4 GG| F2 E2 D2 | c2 B2 A2 | G6 | G4 ||
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Peter Sellers
I remember Roaring Jelly: yes, they were troupers. But I've forgotten what they actually did, possibly because the responsible brain cells were being battered severely by McEwan's 80/- at the time.
But for sending up village folk singing etc., The Kipper Family took the biscuit - obviously deriving their name from the Copper family of Sussex.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Peter Sellers
I refer the gentleman above to "Roaring Jelly's Golden Grates", probably still available on Amazon or ebay.
Surely, just as an example, 'Lord Randal', in broad northern accents shouting at one another, 'Reggae Bozanquet', or 'Christmas in Australia' ?
The Kippers, yes they are in another league, but sadly Dad has retired, leaving Sid Kipper to soldier on alone.
# Posted on July 27th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Peter Sellers
Oh, how could I have forgotten the Kippers? Absolutely brilliant. Again, the best kind of parody and satire: informed and affectionate.
Re Roaring Jelly: They did things like "Cajun Gumbo," which involved them singing "Ques c'se(sp?)/le Cajun Gumbo/le Cajun Gumbo" over and over again, and then the chorus, which basically was "Sing the, sing the, sing the words" in French. I think probably one of their best known numbers was "You Can't Get Many Pimples On a Pound of Pickled Pork."
# Posted on July 28th 2008 by sts