Butter And Cheese And All

2015
02.12

Another from Sam Larner by way of Peter Bellamy and Jon grabs this one by the horns saying, “Always a good opener – particularly if no one has in fact called on you to sing.”

This is also known as The Cooks Choice in the Copper family collection, and was collected by Bob Copper from a John Johnson and although there are minor lyrical variations the basics are very much the same. Harry Cox also had this one in his repertoire and called it The Greasy Cook on his Harry Cox Sings The English Love Songs LP. It shares the same notes on Mainly Norfolk with The German Musicianer,  bracketed as another bawdy number and has that music hall crossover feel to it. I couldn’t find much extra on Mudact either, but have a look here for lyrics and so forth.

You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.

Bonus track: Butter And Cheese And All (Live at Cheltenham Folk Festival, 11th Feb 2011)

For more details on the AFSAD Tour and the after-show singing sessions, visit the AFSAD Live page.

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33 Responses to “Butter And Cheese And All”

  1. Sol says:

    Another one that’s loose in the wild in Newfoundland. Jean Hewson sings a lovely version, sort of simpler and more rounded, and none of that bit with the Devil. At the moment it’s up on a CBC webpage from a recent concert, http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20101113hewsn (track 2).

  2. Heather Patey says:

    Beat me to it, Sol! I’ll add that it was collected by Kenneth Peacock in Newfoundland in 1959, and Jeanie’s version is very close to what he wrote down. It’s the first folksong I ever sang from memory in public.

  3. Shelley says:

    A new one to me, but I very much enjoyed joining in with it at Cheltenham last night. Thanks Jon!

  4. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Shelley Rainey, Jon Boden. Jon Boden said: Latest Post: Butter And Cheese And All http://www.afolksongaday.com/2011/02/12/butter-and-cheese-and-all/ […]

  5. Jane Ramsden says:

    What sauce! A new culinary allusion to add to the recipe of risquéness, like meat and two veg! Not one I’ve heard before and I will never think of cheese and butter in the same light again!

    You can certainly project a music hall melody out with some resonance and double entendre, Jon.

    I am Jealous Jane, since no live gigs in Yorkshire, but I appreciate you can’t get everywhere every time. Glad so many AFSADDERS are getting there though and joining in the live recordings. What a great project this is!

  6. StephenH says:

    This seems an appropriate moment to once again thank Jon and Simon and all others who have kept this project going. I haven’t liked all the songs Jon has chosen to sing, but my overall appreciation for AFSAD has never wavered. Now to see that Jon has chosen to take this out on the road and follow up on his mandate of encouraging social singing by actually affording people the opportunity to participate is nothing short of admirable. Where he gets the energy for all his endeavours, I don’t know. Evidently, the global energy crisis might well be solved by wiring Mr. Boden in some fashion that would allow him to power several large turbines.
    So, thanks very much to all and all the best to everyone. Keep singing!

  7. John Burton says:

    StephenH, I agree that not totally everything has been 100% to my liking.
    Look at it this way though, “How many Albumn’s, Tapes, Cd,s etc.” which you purchased have you liked ALL of the tracks. This project is equivalent to something over 20 CD’s, so mathematically no one will probably like them all.
    Heck I don’t think I could come up with 365 songs without doing some I wasn’t too fond of myself, maybe Jon even has the same problem?
    I agree with your other points too, a totally magnificent project.
    JohnB

  8. Alan Rosevear says:

    I think Cheltenham got a better community song than Bridgwater- Cooks Choice is now on my menu to sing with a chuckle

  9. Muzza(NW Surrey.UK) says:

    @Jane……….oh Jane….Where art thou….I hope that you are not snagged in a cat trap in this cold weather!…….
    having heard this song from Jon….looking back…I seem to have got off lightly with my “one sock ” escapade.

  10. Diana says:

    Another cheeky song but prefer the solo.

    Hey Muzza dear you have not replied to my question from the other day. Just checking to see if my geography skills are up to date. Some of the counties’ borders were moved some years ago and I know that Saddleworth was originally in the West Riding of Yorkshire before being moved into Lancs.

    Have you been hit by the snow again (2 queries now). Watching some of the Rugby saw that Italy has had snow and France has a frozen pitch. So we all suffer together.

  11. Muzza(NW Surrey.UK) says:

    @Diana…sorry D…yes………Runnymede 11 miles east from me up the old M3.
    I was there the other day……..Overheard a couple of American tourists…
    the fella said “look at that……Magna Carta signed 1215″…
    the lady replied..”Drat it’s 12:45 now…we missed it!”

  12. Muzza(NW Surrey.UK) says:

    @Diana…yep.overnight snow thursday (4″) but roads clear..still cold but pockets of snow hanging in there….

  13. Diana says:

    Thanks Muzza for prompt reply. Loved the joke! You had a fair amount of snow then. It is still hanging about here but the roads are gritted and ok. Very cold thought. If my memory seves me well the Magna Carta spot is in the middle of a field.

  14. Diana says:

    Gee the Ja/Jo/Di but strikes yet again. I should look at the keyboard more often it would help.

  15. D says:

    @Muzza: Jane is not caught in a cat trap but she is not a happy bunny at present. Have told her to reassure you as you were concerned.

  16. Jane Ramsden says:

    @ Muzza: Diana knows the following from my FB page, Ted is somewhat stressed! I’ve had 2 paras (oh-er, Matron!) & a bar of Cadbury’s ‘frut & nut’ 4 the top-to-toe aches and pains starting with the toothache.. but that’s OK, ‘cos only when eat certain foods. The fingers are arthritic.. but that’s OK as not all, all the time, save the one that locks.. but that’s OK ‘cos doesn’t hurt, just feels weird. The back & legs are still sciatic.. but that’s OK as distracted by the sprained ankle from slipping on the doormat.. but that’s OK as balanced out by bruise on shin where hit bottom of door frame. At least the hair don’t hurt!

    However, all is really OK ‘cos I am flushed with catly success! Foxy, Tabby & Bono are all fine after The Big Fix, but I have also managed to catch The Wild Noodle! This is how I ‘jizzicked’ the ankle. I slipped holding 2 tin dishes of cat fodder. No hands to catch sen, cud not put dishes down as she wud eat fodder afore I got the cat trap. cud not drop as clatter wud scare her off! Struggled up and in, hobbled 4 trap, set up with bait, went inside to groan, came out again & result! Am I good or what? Cat now speyed, absess on tail from ratting tom bite treated, & recuperating in dog cage.

    Now I just wish I could deal with my ever-moaning neighbour in a like manner! We will not go there… good job we have Jon and his music hall songs to cheer us all up! Of course, that effect will be doubled when I get my Valentine’s Day card from thee, Muzza! A box of chocs won’t go amiss either, as I’ve eaten all the ‘frut & nut!’

    PS I’ve got you a spare sock…

  17. Diana says:

    Hi Jane I hope you did not mind me sending comment to Muzza but you had such an awful time recently so I thought he should know that you had not deserted him. I will forgive you for all the Ja/Jo/Di spelling mistakes under the circumstances.

  18. Jane Ramsden says:

    @ Diana: What speeling mistakles? Other then the obvius? Hahahahaha! I have found a couple…

    Muzza, where art thou? Courting for Pleasure, no doubt, amongst the merry glambos and gay divertees of your locality in time for Val’s Day! My box of chocs had better be big! Butter And Cheese And All just won’t cut it!

  19. Diana says:

    Speeling mistakes by blowed. Well Muzza had been busy since last week making cards so hoping for one myself. It is going to cost him a fortune in stamps if he posts them cos he said there was a deluge to make.

  20. Muzza(NW Surrey.UK) says:

    @Jane……….ref your absolute determination to “Keep calm and carry on”………
    lesser ladies would have given up!
    you could be the sister of the knight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
    Thought of you whilst watching the “Trapping of feral cats” on the One Show Mon13th.
    I hope that you heal soon……jizzed ankles are very painful.

  21. Jane Ramsden says:

    @ Muzza: Well, I am about half-way through my set tom-cat target. None of them about tonight though, which suits the jizzicked-but-slowly-getting-better ankle just fine! How did you know ‘keep calm and carry on regardless’ is my motto? I do not like to be beaten… Take that how you will… hahahahaha!

  22. Diana says:

    @ Jane: what colour sock is it – not PINK I hope.

  23. Jane Ramsden says:

    I am reliably informed that a gentleman only ever wears three-quarter black or grey socks, so there is no possibility of inappropriate colour showing below the trouser or, worse, a portion of male leg flesh! *Shudders at thought as in lady knee-trembler!* HAHAHAHAHA!

    However, I got Muzza a rainbow-striped sock, given I did not know the colour of the one he lost! That should match anything, everything and nothing! Very Morris methought… or go down well in the bank robbery!

  24. Muzza(NW Surrey.UK) says:

    @Jane……I WILL NOT rise to the bait…….ooer….line 3 of comment above sooooo tempting!

  25. Daina says:

    @Jane: Glad you were not tempted to send a pink sock or else we may have gone back to the pink vests as well. Still I think you might have got him a pair, matching ones as well.

    Surprise, surprise Muzza – not rising to the bait! Always the gentleman then.

  26. Muzza (NW Surrey-UK) says:

    Cor Blimey……………….Lucy and R will be squirming with all the above irrelevent chit chat that we indulged in (in which we indulged)…….
    I’m listening to Jon singinging as I type..
    what a predicament to be in- up the chimney….
    I have hung out of a bathroom window by my finger tips in my mis spent youth…….would have been the chimney had the lady not had central heating
    (but hiding behind a hot radiator is just not an inspiration for a folk song.)

  27. Jane Ramsden says:

    A jolly tune on a day of sad loss to folk. RIP Fisherman’s Friends singer Trevor Grills and their manager Paul McMullen in an awful accident:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/12/fishermans-friends-trevor-grills-dies

    We could do with a mournful sea shanty, which Trevor often took the lead on. Here’s The Last Leviathan, which Jon did on here not so long ago. Absolutely fitting…

  28. Linda says:

    Heard Trevor sing The Last Leviathan at Port Issac so moving on a cold night and with the sea in the back ground. Such a sad time for both Trevor and Paul’s family and close friends including the rest of Fisherman’s Friends and also members of Bellowhead maybe the music will help. RIP

  29. Diana says:

    Another cheeky song.

  30. Jane Ramsden says:

    The Mudcat link for this song, mentioned in Simon’s note above, mentions another song called ‘Compliments Returned’ with a similar opener:

    “Well now you’ve called on me to sing and I’ll see what I can do,
    But I don’t know what to sing about unless it be one of you.”

    Sung & recorded by Tony Rose, it has more cryptic &, IMHO, less entertaining lyrics than ‘Butter And Cheese And All.’ See here at Mainly Norfolk:

    http://mainlynorfolk.info/tony.rose/songs/complimentsreturned.html

  31. Rahere says:

    Must be one of the American traditionalists, Magna Carter…

  32. OldMuzza(NWSurrey UK) says:

    Blimey…..you’d have to be desperate to scramble up a chimney with a fire beneath!

  33. Jane Ramsden says:

    Well, still a belter… both song and singer.
    And I am still cat-fettling. About to take a newly-neutered tom to the vet for a jab and the said same feral female, now an old lady, has just attempted to eat, screamed and run off, so requires a(n expensive!) dental. It never ends, and she is nearly as feral, so will be a game to get to vets with the even more broken body than when AFSAD began! (Think major car crash a year ago on top of the previous cauda equina. It is a wonder I can still walk, and for a while, I certainly couldn’t… twice! Many thanks, Jon, for sending good wishes after my crash before your Remnant Kings’ concert in Leeds, which I missed as in hospital. Much appreciated. )

    But enough of that! Thank you, Jon and Simon, for bringing us this project. Its power rolls on. I may not have your strength of voice, Jon, but I have now sung before my own folk club, The Topic, both in a music hall duo (The Boy I Love Is Up In The Gallery) and solo (All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor and The Connemara Cradle Song.) I was not pulled off stage with a shepherd’s crook round the neck and indeed, was asked to sing again another time. Community singing result!

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