Description
Merry Music-Hall Mayhem, for the musically minded maniac of motley melodies.
This is CD one of a two CD set. featuring the popular musical-hall/comedy/Tear jerking “folk Songs” from a century ago. I learned them as a child, from my parent’s music, their “78” collection, Pantomimes, the local pub when friday night included old Jim on the piano and a bar full of singers, 1960s/70’s folk clubs, and during the last 25 years as a professional entertainer as “Dr Burt- the one-man band”.
As a West country Englishman who is proud of his ethnic folk heritage, i know i am standing on the shoulders of these famous writers and entertainers as i perform these pieces.
These are some of the great songs of their -and our- Sing along , and enjoy!
Dan Burt – A Little Bit of Cucumber
Review by John Williams
A mighty, marvelous, mirthful, musical masterpiece made mainly by a mustachioed musician in Macclesfi eld. Dan Burt is an Englishman now residing in Australia. He has compiled a two-CD set of English music hall classics, most of them from around a century ago. Dan opens the CD with the old classic “Little Bit of Cucumber”. It’s hard to believe this tune predates the First World War. We know some of the tracks well as they were part of the British sixties pop revival. Songs such as “What a Mouth” and “I’m Henery the Eighth I Am” were big hits then. Dan also includes well known sing-a-long songs such as “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts”, “I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside”, “The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo”, “Hello, Hello, Who’s Your Lady Friend?” and “Ship Ahoy”. I loved joining in on these tracks. If you like to sing I am sure you will too. Dan also plays two beaut barn dance tunes, “Woodland Flowers” and “Uncle Jim’s”. They make you want to get up and ‘trip the light fantastic’. The comedy songs are what make this CD. Included in this genre are “What I Want Is a Proper Cup Of Coffee”, with its tongue twisting chorus and “The Spaniard That Blighted My Life” about a chap hunting down a Spanish bullfi ghter who stole his girlfriend while he went to get something to eat. The funniest track was “So I Put on My Coat and Went Home” which deals with pugilism, dairying, spiritualism and the theatre. “It’s a Great Big Shame” is about a man lamenting the detrimental effect that marriage has had on his mate. Not very PC but it was written over a century ago. Some sentimental Victorian tracks such as “The Pretty Little Girl from Nowhere” and ‘The Old Rustic Bridge By The Mill” are interesting and round-out the CD nicely. As a person who is interested in musical history I really enjoyed this CD. If you like the old time music hall genre of music you should consider purchasing this CD. I can recommend it. It is full of memories and takes you back to a bygone age. Even if you know nothing of this type of music you could do a lot worse than looking back to a simpler time before mass entertainment in all its forms, when live music and community singing was one of the few things that brightened up your day. NOTE: This is part of a two-CD set but I was only sent the fi rst one to review. Now I shall never know what is in Part 2 “The Hole in the Elephant’s Bottom”. Maybe I should be grateful!
