Jon says “So here we are. Song 365. It’s possibly not the most appropriate farewell song given the sting in the tale. Over the years there were a fair few regulars who got themselves barred from the Half Moon – I always think of them when I sing this! But it is goodbye from me. It’s been a real pleasure singing to you all this last year. I’d like to thank a few people who have been doing the really hard work – Andy Bell who has done the bulk of the recording and mixing, Ben Bowdler at Proper who has done all the technical web stuff, including manually uploading each individual podcast. A particular thanks to Simon Holland who has been your host on this site – writing introductions to all the songs and keeping an eye on all your comments. It’s been great for me to read Simon’s intros every day and then read all the various ensuing postings. I’d like to thank Steve Kersley at Proper who encouraged me to make what was a fairly mad idea, into a reality. I’d like to thank EFDSS for all their support and encouragement. Lastly but most importantly I’d like to thank you all for listening and commenting on the site. I’m hoping that A Folk Song A Day may continue in some form so I look forward to joining in the conversation with someone else doing the singing! See you around. All the best, Jon.”
I’ll add my thanks to Jon for an inspiring and extraordinary journey into the world of folk song. This is a massive achievement that I feel privileged and proud to have been a part of. I’ve certainly learnt a lot, but there’s so much more to discover. Thanks to everyone for your contributions, opinions, comments and for putting me right where needed. For once I genuinely feel at a loss for words, although this bittersweet song seems a perfect end. I must just give you a final link to Mainly Norfolk and offer special thanks to Reinhard in particular, for his outstanding resource that has more often than not been my first call in researching these songs. I’ll see some of you at Cecil Sharp House and promise to enjoy the evening on behalf of those that can’t make it. Thank you all, Simon.
YouTube – When Fortune Turns The Wheel
Tags: guitar, traditional songs
The Captain brings the ship into harbour and walks away……….
Thanks for the voyage.
Thank you so much . It has been a wonderful journey.
Well, it’s been our fortune to be part of this project for the turning of a whole year!
On the basis that (generally) one cannot unknow what one knows or unlearn what one has learnt, I for one have a better basis for future folk discoveries and enjoyment. Thanks again to every contributor for making this possible.
I might have preferred a more cheerful, upbeat finishing song, Jon… I expect you will have all those at the concert tomorrow!
Skyman, special thanks for all your kind administrations. Steady if you are going to enjoy yourself for all of us who can’t be there! Reminds me of a song I once heard Rosie Hardman sing at the Topic Folk Club in Bradford which went like this:
‘She’s a big lass, she’s a bonny lass
And she likes her beer
And they call her Cushy Butterworth
And I wish she were here.”
I wish I were there too, but have a fabulous evening! (She also used to say, ‘Rosie sits on people who don’t join in with her choruses… and in a crowded room, I can do a table at a time.’ You have been warned! Hahahaha!)
Thank you so much for introducing me to so many songs I had never heard before.
A lovely way to end this part of the journey. Thanks to Jon, and to Simon and all the others who did so much to bring these wonderful songs to us each day.
Now, Jon, how about A Fiddle Tune a Day next?
Thank you so very much, Jon. And Simon, and also Andy and Ben. It really has been a wonderful experience to visit the site each day and find a new song. I have learned a new appreciation of both Peter Bellamy and Rudyard Kipling’s works through your efforts – never having really given either of them a proper (no pun intended) consideration before. Really a mighty achievement, all in all.
I have also enjoyed the comments from other visitors to the site – Jane R, Muzza, Phil, Reinhard, et al – and learned from them also. All the very best to everyone!
Oh yes, lovely song, “Fortune Turns the Wheel” – I’ve got it somewhere on a High Level Ranters lp. Jon does an absolutely beautiful version.
Ah, all done! THANK YOU.
Many thanks for a year of wonderful songs.
A beautiful song to end, and again one that I hadn’t heard before.
Huge thanks to Jon, and all the team involved in this fantastic project. I’m going to miss my daily fix so much. What am I going to do in the mornings now? Arrive at work early?
Jon, this has been amazing to download your podcast each day. It has expanded my repertoire and knowledge of folk music immensely. I loved seeing the live version in Hereford too, and the singing in the bar afterwards!
Thank you very much for some really heartwarming, interesting and thought-provoking choices, I can’t say which was my favourite, but I absolutely loved the songs in the run up to Christmas!
Here’s looking towards the next project (‘cos these things always have a sequel, right?)!
A big Thank You to Jon and his team for this past year., I’ve really enjoyed it.
For me it has been a real learning experience of the folk scene, with some great music to listen to, and super comments to read.
My wife Jane and I will be there tonight for what promises to be a great concert
What a wonderful year of songs. It has been a real pleasure each morning to listen to a new instalment, sung in a way that has inspired me and others to extend our repertoire, whether singing in the shower or in the club. Thanks Jon, the songs will go on as fortune turns the wheel. And thanks to the team for getting it out to so many of us in an accessible way.
Many thanks to Jon and everyone else for taking on such a mammoth task. It has been really enjoyable, and I have learned so much from it.
What a beautiful song to end with – and so beautifully sung – very moving!
Thank you so very much for a wonderful year of song. And congratulations to all those involved in the hard work. So many of us out here have more appreciation of this than these few words can convey.
Hopefully someone else will take up the baton fairly soon – so the withdrawal symptoms are not too great.
Thank you again.
Go well all.
Great song to end with. Thanks again. Starting to listen all over again tomorrow.
Oh, I might have got a little something in my eye there. What a beautiful way to end.
Thank you so much Jon, it’s been a wonderful year.
Many Thanks Jon for an enjoyable and educational year.You have certainly achieved your objectives in setting up the project and more when you consider the ripple in the pool effect.
Quite apart from the entertainment you have introduced some new songs to my repertoire, encouraged me to sing more often and provided examples of different types of delivery. Hopefully those who hear me will benefit and appreciate!
Thanks also to the unsung (oh dear!) heroes who have been involved in the delivery of our daily fix.
Brad
This has been quite an expensive year with all the CDs Jon suggested us to buy 😉 but it has been fun to listen and to learn. So thank you very much to Jon, Fay, Simon and all the other participants. And let the wheel of Fortune roll on for a few more years…
Thanks everyone enjoyed them all great twelve months.
Well 365 songs sailed on by, can’t believe it’s all over. I’ve enjoyed it so much.
Thank you Jon for a wonderful project,Hope you may be able to dream up something again.
A fitting song to close with; well sung Jon!
Congratulations to everybody who worked so hard to complete the project – a true labour of love?! How did Jon manage to do this every day AND fit in new CDs from Bellowhead and S + Boden, not to mention various other projects and tours, in the same timespan? I notice he said very little at the BBC Folk Awards; saving his voice for AFSAD, good lad!!! Well done also to all the contributors who put in hours of research; special mention to Simon H and the LOVELY Jane ‘Ted’ Ramsden for incredible ‘legwork’ – you will now have time to research that family tree at last Teddo, hahaha!
The day is doubly tinged with sadness due to the passing of Mike Waterson; Mike Harding’s announcement of it on his show brought a tear to my eye. RIP Mike W, your songs live on.
PS. As one of the exiled Northerners who cannot attend, I hope the lucky ones have a great time tonight at Cecil Sharp House!
Thank you, Jon , for a wonderful year of song. It’s over too soon.
Many thanks, Jon.
I have wondered how you managed to prepare and record everything as well as ‘normal’ life. It was great to hear Mike Waterson celebrated on Radio 3 by Steve Raffety[I think] last night.Enjoy the concert everyone and Jon enjoy the knowledge of a good job done well.
I was delighted to be able to hear you each day when in Seattle for the past 3 weeks, courtesy of modern technology. It took me a while to realise why there were no comments when I first listened in.
Could we persuade people to do a month at a time,… too much to organise?
Judith
Thanks so much to Jon, and all those involved in bringing us this invaluable project over the past year. Long may you run! Looking fwd to a good sing around this evening. Cheers.
Wow, a gorgeous song to go out on, beautifully performed (and recorded beautifully too!). This was an ambitious and generous project and though I’ve been a lurker, I’ve really appreciated the range of offerings. All the best to you from North Carolina.
Farewell AFSAD, I will miss my daily folky fix.
Thanks Jon and all who helped to put this project together.
Ditto to everything above. Nothing much to add but more thanks to all concerned.
Thanks, I’ve loved it.
What a fantastic, historic achievement! Many thanks and congratulations. May the awards flow your way!
A beautiful song to end an amazing project! Congratulations to all involved, there’s going to be a song-shaped hole in our lives for a while I suspect.
Thanks for a mighty body of work.
Bittersweet but an amazing year. I think my favorite period was over Christmas with all the carols. But I appreciate Bellamy and the vinyl of his songs of Kipling is still treasured. I like the idea of a fiddle tune a day and hope this effort can evolve shortly with other singers and musicians. It is a great boost to the genre and English music.
Thanks Jon et al. from Maryland.
What else can I add? A fantastic project that will give hours of listening pleasure. Thanks for your expertise and the songs….. hopefully more to come..?
See you, Jon in Nettlebed later this year.
Music Mike
🙂
Well, Jon/Simon/Andy/Ben.thank you for the songs and laughs and companionship through the year. Every day…I’d fire up the Quattro to see what you had to offer us.
Blimey…some of your choices were bizarre…and I never did get my old school folk songs…….soooo…I’m gonna have to do them myself on Youtube.
My aim is to remind people of a song + tune and they can do a proper version, for themselves, to sing in the bath. I have lots to get through from my song collection before I fall off my perch!
I suppose ‘that Jane’ will be leaving jolly/blousy comments and I can keep track of ‘that Shelley’ via the Baily Sisters…….and Reinhard…the fount of all knowledge!…and the rest of the regulars…fellow folkies every one….you have made an old man happy……….here’s one I made earlier…wait till you hear my “Mistletoe Bough”………Ohhhhhhhh!
Many thanks for all your hard work with this. Old songs, new songs, nearly folk songs, and according to my itunes account, 364 songs!!!!
Philip
Forgot to say that my “S.E.England ” didn’t tempt one single soul to put a clue as to which country/area they were from ……..with the exception of the Mill Girls from oop North!
From Reinhard’s Carmina Burana hint I’d thought you were going to finish with a second rendition of “Pleasant and delightful”, but this is even better. A magnificent end to a fantastic project.
Thanks to all the posters for your kind messages and the ones who simply listen and read, without you this would just be a website. I’m off up town for the gig tonight, but please stay in the loop as this is where the follow on will be. Cheers for now
Muzza, thank you for your praise but I feel more like a busy beaver who puts together what he finds in his record collection and in the vast knowledge of the unsung heroes of Mudcat participants. Jon’s project was a fine motivation to be just a little bit more busy. And thank you, Simon, for allowing me occasional peeks into the future to stay current with my website.
Sad that all good things have to come to their inevitable end, but what a treasure is left to explore again and again and who knows what discoveries are still in store. Many thanks to all involved.
I’m extremely sad that this has ended. I’m 14 years old and hadn’t even heard of folk music before discovering Jon and Bellowhead in the December of last year, so i have not heard of all the songs in this project yet. At least the journey continues for me a bit longer. So Jon if you see this i just want to say you are an absolute legend and thank you so much for helping me fall in love with English folk music. You have really inspired me.
Congratulations Jon, a greatly enjoyable project. Thanks also to the excellent supporting cast (Simon, Reinhard etc).
Thank you so much for this year Jon. I’ve downloaded every song and have learned so much. THANKS!
I think Brittany’s comment sums up the benefit of this project. I was 12 when I first heard Steeleye, Robin & Barry Dransfield, and then the Watersons; we are transient the music endures. Thanks Jon.
Stephen Jeffreys what a fantastic sentiment. I couldn’t have put it better. How about a onca a month Sunday . JD lifts the rafters. or Lazy Sunday [with a nice glass of wine. mmmm]
Stephen Jeffreys what a fantastic sentiment. I couldn’t have put it better. How about a onca a month Sunday . JD lifts the rafters. or Lazy Sunday [with a nice glass of wine. mmmm]
Thank you for a great year, for increasing my folk song knowledge and for filling up my ipod!
Thank you also for the “behind the scenes men” for all your hard work in keeping this running.
What a surprise the last song is! I expected something like “Pleasant and delightful “.
Well sung Jon, it works brilliantly. Going to miss this site. Maybe I will just have a look tomorrow morning, after all there may be a bonus track…
Thankyou to everyone on the project, it’s been inspiring.
My favourite month was December. The songs were just wonderful.
Thanks very much to all involved in this fantastic project. It has been a real treat. I have even played songs every now and again to my Spanish secondary students and got a positive reaction. The best website ever!