daibhidc | Dick Gaughan and Iain McGillivray

Given the complete lack of response to these reports, I get the distinct impression that nobody really cares how much I enjoyed a folk concert. Well, tough 8-).

This was a big moment in Inverness folk history; the reunion of Dick Gaughan and Iain McGillivray, whose last concert together was 40 years ago; so long ago, it was before Mum went to the folk club.

It was at Bogbain Farm, a heritage and activity centre outside Inverness (as Mum says, one of the great things about the folk scene is that people like Dick Gaughin, who is genuinely famous and who filled Eden Court theatre in his last gig here, are quite happy performing to a hundred people sitting on plastic seats in a tearoom-slash-accordian-museum [yes, really]). According to Mum, the atmosphere was a lot like the folk club at its height - perhaps unsurprising, since most of the audience was at the folk club at its height.

They started off solo: Iain, who "doesn't do cheerful" sang about unemployment, Afghanistan and failing to find gold in Australia. Dick, who rarely does cheerful, but comes across as more angry than depressed, sang about prejudice, potential apocalypse, and people shooting birds (Burns's "Westlin Winds") (He also mentioned the advice he, as a young folk singer, got from Alex Campbell - "Start with two songs you know").

In the second act they sang together. They said they couldn't remember any of the songs they did at the time ("Except one - and we're not going to do it"[1]), so they'd start off with one they might have done at the time, and move on to ones they would have sung together, if they'd still been singing together. The one they might have sung together was Rab Noakes' "Without Me, Just With You", which Mum remembers Iain singing after folk club concerts, when they'd all meet back up at someone's house. This was followed up by Michael Martin Murphy's "Geronimo's Cadillac". Then they did Allan Taylor's "Land of the North Wind", described by Dick as "a love song to Scotland by a man from Brighton"[2].

Then they did Adam McNaughton's "Remember Thomas Muir of Huntershill", and were joined by Bruce Macgregor (Blazin' Fiddles) for Hank Williams' "So Lonesome I Could Cry". I did mention they don't do cheerful, right[3]?

Then Iain had another solo bit, where he did Allan Taylor's "Standing At The Door", and Lindisfarne's "Winter Song", which Dick said was a song he loved, but couldn't sing, so he'd suggested Iain did it. Then they did Richard Thompson's "Down Where The Drunkards Roll".

I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting (another one they thought they probably had done at the folk club?), but I do remember they finished off with another Allan Taylor song (and why not?) "It's Good To See You" (a great "everyone join in the chourus" one). Of course, that wasn't it over[4] and for their encore they were rejoined by Bruce Macgregor for The Band's "Cripple Creek" (If there's such a thing as reincarnation, Dick Gaughin wants to come back as Levon Helm[5]).

A great night out.

[1]According to a piece in the Courier, this was "The Battle of Otterburn".

[2]It turns out Dick and Allan used to duet on this, something that took Mum aback a bit, since they have very different styles...

[3]While they don't do cheerful songs, they make up for it with the banter between them. A typical exchange:
Iain: If you see a look of relief pass over one of our faces...
Dick: ...It means we've worked out what the other one's playing.

[4]Prior to "It's Good To See You", Iain (who lost a leg to illness, and almost lost the other one recently) said that if we were mad enough to shout "More!" that was fine, but he was buggered if he was leaving the stage and returning...

[5]Something else that amused Mum; the guy who's seen by Traditional Folkies as a shining example of Proper Scottish Folk Music wants to be one of the guys who persuaded Dylan to go electric!