By Jean Bechhofer
This is very much a personal reminiscence of the EFC. I have been a regular attender and singer at the club since 1975 and have chaired the committee often enough to have known better, but when Paddy (Bort) asked me to dig into my memory box and present a history of the club, I agreed. Tempting as it was, I decided not to do this in ballad form, although I did once present my chairperson's report as a Talking Blues!
The folk music 'Revival' came to prominence in Scotland over 40 years ago, although it soon became clear that Lazarus was far from dying and was indeed alive and well in most rural areas. In 2003 we prefer to speak of the Carrying Stream which acknowledges the past, present, and future of the songs and music of the folk. The roots of our music are still strong although some of the branches have, alas, died off. From a time when there were many small and larger clubs enabling musicians and singers to plan tours of up to three weeks in length, there are now far fewer clubs and indeed some of the best loved have fallen by the wayside. There was a period in the '70s when Edinburgh could boast of having four weekly clubs. The EFC, the Triangle, The Crown and The Police Folk Club (or, as it was affectionately known, The Fuzz Club), all overlapped in audience to some extent but also had their own regulars. The EFC alone has managed to survive for 30 years while overcoming various crises on the way.
Most people in the folk scene in Edinburgh have heard of The Buffs, Edinburgh’s original folk club, which was active during the early 1960s. By the early '70s, the Buffs' folk club had been closed by the police because it was operating as a club within a club! Three of the clubs mentioned above had by then been established. However, the Triangle was non-licensed, the Crown was mainly a student venue, and the Police Club membership was limited to the police (some of whom at least appreciated folk music). Independent folk concerts were also taking place from time to time. I can recall going to see the Spinners in the late 60s and the McCalmans in 1970!
Enter stage left Three Wise Folkies. Kenny Thomson was a journalist with The Record, a fan of Skiffle and a well regarded song writer. Ian Green – Sergeant Green in those days – had grown up in Kirriemuir, could sing a fine Bothy ballad and was involved with the Fuzz Club. John Barrow, although originally from Geordieland, while still a student, was already putting on folk concerts for the Yorkshire Society. There was a fourth member of this group, Sid Kidman, who moved away shortly afterwards. These founders eventually met up in Sandy Bell's, which had become the Mecca for folk musicians from far and near. John admits that it was as well he had been unable to find Sandy Bell's while he was an undergrad (because it used to be officially called the Forrest Road Bar). Touring and local artists were always looking for small venue bookings. Folk clubs were thriving in other Scottish cities. They felt Edinburgh could do with another club.
In September 1973, Edinburgh Folk Club opened up in the basement of the Chaplaincy Centre in George Square. Kenny was Chairman, and MC, John was Secretary, and Ian, Treasurer. Of course the women were not left out. Lesley Barrow and June Green were much involved. In the George Square years, sausage baps or sandwiches were available in the kitchen during the interval prepared by these willing slaves. This room achieved a certain notoriety. The Person 'on the door' (for many years, Hilda Scott) sat at the entrance to the kitchen in the corridor leading to the hall, and not in the venue, which made it difficult to hear the music. Hence the rule that the only person, committee and floor-singers included, who didn't pay entrance was the 'Door'. The other entrance to the kitchen was from the back of the hall. The cognoscenti, and the intolerant would escape from the hall into the kitchen from time to time! It was the Cool Place to be, although not exactly cool.
The club rapidly acquired a large following of floor singers and a regular crowd of members. By the time I joined the club in 1975, you had to clock in before 7.30 if you were after one of the six floor spots on offer. The hall was full to capacity with 60 people, and felt quite busy with 30. Indeed, during the summer months we often had the House Full sign up. At that time it was customary for singers to be given hospitality in the home of a willing member which frequently led to after-club partying till the wee small hours.
It would be difficult to list here individually all the established and up-and coming singers and groups who appeared at the EFC during the 70s. It includes many who are still well known, even famous and still touring, and who might worry if I missed them out! Many more Edinburgh based artists looking to develop a career in folk music were also starting to look for gigs.
The original triumvirate pulled out gradually, Kenny because of work commitments, Ian ditto, although he continued to run the Fuzz Club for like minded enthusiastic 'Boys in Blue'. John resigned in 1978 to become the first director of the Edinburgh Folk Festival. By then a committee had been set up, and a formal constitution put in place. This was necessary because the club began to look for funding for specific events from the likes of the Scottish Arts Council. The EFC promoted several concerts during the 70s and 80s, with varying degrees of success financially. Each summer the club presented major acts on the already expanding August 'Fringe', which made the club more secure financially.
During the summers of the mid-'70s the club also put on extra folk nights in the George Square venue. When the weather was good we used the garden for Singer’s Nights. I recall Jock Wetherston, a very fine Bothy Ballad singer, perched on top of a backward facing chair, which slowly toppled to the ground while he never missed a note.
By the late '70s it became apparent that the George Square venue was no longer ideal either in size or in its facilities. The Chaplaincy Centre was unlicensed, and located away from the centre of town – although rather near Sandy Bell's. The drouthier members of the audience would depart for Bell's at half time – and sometimes forget to come back! Audiences, which had often been at capacity, dropped in numbers. The committee of the time decided to take the plunge and moved the Club to the Carlton Hotel function suite. This was a good move although it meant more work for the committee to ensure larger audiences. There was a bar at the back of the function room and we tried to train staff not to be too noisy. The chairs were a lot more comfortable than those spartan basement oddities in the Chaplaincy Centre.
After an initial good spell, there was a brief period when numbers fell away again. However, by 1982 the club was flourishing once more, with an enthusiastic committee. Good presentation has always been a major feature in ensuring the club's success. The Carlton's function room had a high bandstand in one corner, which was not ideal. We had a very competent DIY member, Tim Giles, who built a 4-part folding stage, which was set up in the middle of the long wall and which we were able to store under the offending bandstand.
By the early '80s the Folk Festival had become successful in widening the presentation of folk music, and other promoters were getting in on the act both during the year and at the August Festival Fringe.
Then came the bombshell. EFC had planned a benefit evening for Nic Jones, one of England's best loved singers, who had suffered a horrendous road accident earlier in the year. At 5pm on the night, I was rung up by the Hotel management to say they had been informed by the Police that their entertainment licence was out of order. Because the club charged admission we could not go ahead that night, or indeed for some time to come, until they had sorted out their licence. We got round it that particular night by asking for ‘voluntary’ donations. However, for the next few months, we were indeed Travelling Folk personified.
The committee then researched the venues of Edinburgh. The club appeared in various places such as the Queen's Hall, Oscar's Disco (Dave Swarbrick rather enjoyed playing in a disco!), the West End Hotel, the West End Casino (or The Scottish Experience as it was known then) and, for the first time, The Pleasance, which was not at all as it is now. Our loyal members followed us round town. Keeping them informed from week to week was a major publicity headache, but the press and the BBC were very accommodating. Quite the most successful 'outing' was to Theatre Workshop for 'A Duck on His Head', a theme night presented by Bill Caddick, Pete Bond and Tim Laycock. The venue was perfect since we were able to use proper stage lights and sound for a delightful show.
When the Carlton sorted itself out we returned, but only briefly. The economics of club running require a reasonable management – not one intent on milking a regular booking. The committee decided to leave the Carlton which was due to be rebuilt anyway, and we moved back to the Scottish Experience and then eventually again to The Pleasance Bar.
As it was then, the Pleasance had one student bar with booths and a few tables. The Cabaret Bar did not exist. The rebuilding and development of the area had not yet been completed, and generally audiences were less willing to visit this side of town. Once more the Club eventually decided to up sticks and moved to the more central Osborne Hotel. This was a good venue, although it was hard work keeping the club in the public eye. By the late '80s, the club's popularity was waning and there was a decided risk that we might even close down. A determined group of regulars took over, and once again reversed this trend.
However by the time we reached the early '90s, the Osborne management like the Carlton's, thought it saw an opportunity to milk the club and tried to raise the rent beyond our means. So once again the club moved on, this time to the Café Royal, which turned out to be turned out to be an excellent venue.
The Café Royal has the best natural acoustic of any venue we have used. There was P.A. available, but it was not always necessary, allowing a wonderful intimacy with the audience – broken only by the hand-drier in the Ladies! The bar was in a separate attached room available only to our audience – and local 'musos' who crept in after half time. We were able to offer The Poozies their first gig! This was a venue which took a lot of running but which attracted good audiences and a fine roster of artists. And, of course, eventually the management became greedy, not seeing the benefit of a regular income from us once a week as opposed to an occasional Wednesday function booking, so the Club made yet another move back to the Pleasance. By now the conversion of the Cabaret bar had taken place, thanks to the popularity of Stand Up Comedy at 'The Fringe'. It had become in many ways the ideal venue for the club. For a few years the club prospered.
Fortune keeps the wheel turning however though not always for the best. By the late 90s the style of the Club changed and with this went popularity with the public. More concerning was a period of mis-management with a major loss of funds. Drastic measures were needed. Once again a determined group of old hands, encouraged by founder members, stepped in and took the Club into the new century, increasing its membership, popularity and funds to a very respectable level.
The present committee took over from them two years ago and they continue to build on the EFC's regained reputation. Indeed, at the BBC Folk Awards 2003 the Club was presented with the trophy of British 'Folk Club of the Year'. The Club’s 30th Birthday will celebrate the success which once more sees EFC as a premier Scottish folk club.
In order to remain alive, the Edinburgh club has constantly had to review its venue, presentation, booking policy and publicity. Only the committed, (and maybe they ought to be), appreciate the hard work involved in running a successful club. For instance, compering has always to be taken seriously. Ours has varied from the witty, not-to-be-taken-too-seriously-slanging style of one long term compere who led most regular acts to believe they were slipping if he didn't insult them, to the Swabian-Irish charm of our present chairman who never uses 3 words if 5 will do!
The committee looks far and wide to present as varied a programme as possible rather than waiting to see who approaches them. Their considered decisions, though not always welcomed when they herald change, are essential to ensure the Club's continued existence. Do we all know the joke about how many folkies does it take to change a light bulb? [One, but four to sing about how good the old one was!]
Singers' nights were very much part of the club’s programme until a few years ago. Theme Nights, which were also presented occasionally in the 70s and 80s, related to a particular idea such as 'Emigration', 'The Demon Drink', 'Love' or 'A Trip round Britain'. Regular floor singers chose appropriate songs. These were then linked by selected readings, poems and humorous anecdotes researched by the narrator, and the whole thing rehearsed as a mini-show. For the back-drop, Maggie Cruickshank's late brother Ian would create a superb paper sculpture which was raffled off later.
The committee some 10 years ago realised that audiences were falling away for informal Singers' nights and, after all, there were many sessions, both instrumental and for singers, available free in the pubs of the city. It was suspected that audiences felt, why should they pay for a club session? The expansion of places and pubs which encouraged ‘free’ music and session players, resulted in smaller and smaller paying audiences for such nights and reluctantly the committee decided to give them up. The exceptions are the annual Burns Night and the AGM which usually ends up with the faithful few getting down to a few rousing choruses after the business has been dealt with.
Another aspect of the club scene which has gone from Edinburgh is visits to other clubs. At the period when there were many more weekly folk clubs, inter-club visits were popular. Floor singers and musicians, and regulars would hire a bus and invade other like-minded souls’ territory if within reasonable driving distance. We were all a lot younger then and found it easier to get up the morning after. I can recall such visits to Linlithgow, Dumfries, Hawick, Perth, Melrose, Biggar, Langholm, Alloa, Peebles and Glenfarg, the only one of these clubs which has survived. The furthest afield club singers went was in 1983 when Maggie Cruickshank, and Liz Barkess (her beloved and much missed younger sister), Kay Thomson and I were booked by Shetland Folk Festival as support artists. All that is said about that particular festival is true!
I also recall taking part in my one and only football match, EFC -v- The Triangle. They won by virtue of youth on their side, at least that’s what John Barrow and I claimed. I had tried to persuade my then 11-year old son to sign up for our team but he preferred to play for his school side that day. Can't think why, he is quite musical after all. The club was keen on such social events and we usually had more success in skittles matches. There I have retained my skill, to the amazement of my grandchildren.
Other social events which came and went were the Quiz Nights, and Christmas Nights Out at a Chinese restaurant. Such gatherings had their time, and are remembered with affection.
The club’s Burns Nights have never been conventional, and have even sometimes been 'Non-Burns' nights, focusing on what Burns himself might have enjoyed rather than the more conventional celebrations from which he might well be barred were he still around. In recent years the Burns Night has attracted visitors just because of its informality and relaxed atmosphere. 'The Immortal Memory' was, on one early occasion, proposed by dear Hamish Henderson. After 30 minutes the regulars were getting restive. When, after a further 30 minutes, he finally ended a magnificent, but time-wise a rather inappropriately judged address, the punters were dying of thirst and the haggis was definitely no longer reekin’. Our Burns Nights as well as our love for Hamish, however, survived. Last year we celebrated the legacy of the 'grand old man' of the Scottish Folk Revival with the first Carrying Stream Festival.
As well as singing from the old and trusted repertoire, performers have increasingly been writing their own material, both songs and tunes. This tendency was spotted early in the Club's history when the annual Song Writing Competition was established in 1976. Every year anything up to 30 songs will be entered. Several well-known and well-respected singer-songwriters have carried off the cup. Nancy Nicolson was barred from entering again after winning three years running; she was appointed a judge instead! Three judges – a song-writer, a media person, and a member of the club committee – wrestle with the task of placing the 'best' three. Inevitably, each year there are disagreements about the judges' choice. Recognising this, the committee has provided an Audience Cup – one vote per person – but in its first year audience and judges awarded both cups to the same songwriter. Hasn't stopped the arguments however!
Another club institution is the Newsletter. More or less at the same time as they were establishing the EFC, not having enough to do with their spare time, John, Kenny and Ian set up Sandy Bell's Broadsheet. There was a need for a gig list for artists touring Scotland as well as gossip and reviews of what was going on in the folk world including the various festivals and clubs from Thurso to Newcastleton. Modern publicity methods and improvements in publishing have overtaken the old, but The Broadsheet served its purpose well. In the '70s the Club began to produce its own newsletter which was a brief resume of gigs past and gigs to come, which often served to raise the blood pressure of the unwary. By the '80s the club newsletter had become larger, including features about people and events. Nothing stands still. The editor of the day, Lynn Cooper, decided to try to go independent and expanded the newsletter to produce a folk magazine, Folk's On, with a wider distribution. In time she was unable to carry this on, and John Brown and Gill Bowman took up the task of editing The Scottish Folk Gazette, as it became. Such labours of love are very time demanding and inevitably this too folded. However we were soon all able to acclaim the success of The Living Tradition, a more commercial and wide reaching enterprise from the West, which has grown in strength over time. The EFC newsletter now takes the form of info on coming gigs, supplemented by regular e-mails for the converted.
As time has moved on, so the booking policy of the club has changed and developed. It became clear that it was not a good idea to present artists who can be heard readily and frequently for free in the growing scene of Edinburgh pub music. Looking back I note that the EFC has always responded to a changing scene. The club programme reflects the increasing quality of as well as quantity of folk music across the board – soloists, duos, groups and bands.
Over the years, the conventional format of several floor-singers before the booked artist has altered and has eventually settled on the format of a 'booked' reliable opening floor-spot with drop-in artists, if available, performing in the second half. As a result, most punters have arrived shortly after we open, between 7.30 at 8pm, instead of drittling in any time up to 8.30.
Paying audiences in the 2000s expect a high standard of music presented professionally and with good sound in a comfortable venue, preferably with cheap booze. The Club's programme today involves many more instrumentalists than even a decade ago, reflecting the preferences of many of the younger musicians. The club has always tried to present the best of Scottish music. The proportion of Scottish performers in the programme has increased greatly in recent years as a result of the extraordinary flowering of music here, which has produced a folk scene in Scotland which is much stronger than its southern neighbour's – whatever the media hype may suggest.
Over the years there have been crises, yes, but there have also been nights, events and people to remember. In the early years the club would celebrate its anniversaries with a birthday party often in fancy dress. Much ingenuity was shown by members in producing costumes illustrating a folk theme or song. To illustrate 'Green grow the rashes Oh', Liz sported a horrendous case of green measles! Not to be forgotten either is Liz's dog Scrumpie, who was very much the club mascot. Then there was the Christmas Party night when Santa Claus, inadequately disguised as Hamish Imlach, greeted bairns and punters alike with 'Ho, Bloody Ho!' Another Christmas night there was a crazy Pantomime 'Geordiella' starring Baron Roxy Aden (work it out!). We also presented a version of the Borders Galoshen Mumming play, and repeated it some years later.
In these thirty years, there have been very few of the well-known and well-regarded folk singers who have not appeared at the Club. I have two personal memories of great folk singers which I can’t resist recalling. There was the night when Archie Fisher dropped in with Stan Rogers, and we all were swept away by Stan’s wonderful irreplaceable charm. Then at long last in November 2001, I was able to listen to Tom Paxton singing in our club. After that I was prepared to give up being on the committee!
To the surprise of many, I can remember my 60th birthday, which happened on a Wednesday, and, as well as the booked artist Wizz Jones, the floor spots came from far and near. But I also remember the night (which just happened to be April 1st)) when every raffle ticket Frank drew out of the bag had the same number on it.
Times change, standards alter. Styles in folk music continue to develop and change while still retaining a firm hold on the roots of the tradition. The Carrying Stream is indeed a more accurate definition now than 'The Revival'. The Edinburgh Club has moved with the times, and our programme reflects the changes which have taken place over the years. I am sure that my reminiscences of Wednesdays nights spent at the EFC over nearly thirty years will create arguments over the fact and fiction of our beloved institution. I did begin by saying they were highly personal. I am exceedingly proud to be one of its select band of life-members. The club has featured largely in my life and hope will continue to do so. I look forward to the 40th anniversary.
This article first appeared in the joint programme of the Carrying Stream Festival / 30 Years Edinburgh Folk Club. The 2nd Carrying Stream Festival took place 7-11 November 2003
About Jean Becchofer:
Jean was born and brought up in Shetland. To her regret she had left the islands before the explosion of instrumental playing, although she did dance with Tom Anderson's show band! After sampling life in various parts of Britain, she settled in Edinburgh 38 years ago, where she and her husband Frank have been closely involved in presenting, and in her case performing folk music. Though more or less retired, she still performs occasionally in the Sheriff Courts of Scotland as an ancient Child Psychologist, though she would prefer to spend the time with her three grandsons who play French Horn, Trumpet and havoc.
