Nostalgia may be a thing of the past - pause for comic effect - but there are plenty of opportunities to practice it on the Internet. I've just spent a joyous couple of hours on the Web looking for sites hopefully of interest to "Folk on Tap" readers, most of which was spent surfing down memory lane.
It all started when I did a search for Anne Lister, using Yahoo. I knew Anne was working on a Web site towards the end of last year, but I didn't know the URL, or Web address. I usually use the Yahoo search engine because you can specify UK sites only, to narrow down the number of URLs you are offered. Searching with Yahoo for "Anne Lister" gives 40 sites for example, whereas using AltaVista gives 1,292. Neither gave me Anne's actual address, but one of the search results took me to Trevor Gilson's Foc's'le site, which kindly offered a link to Anne.
Anne's site is highly browser friendly, using mainly text with just enough graphics for visual interest, so it is easy and quick to move around and find out all you need to know about Anne, her recordings, songs and forthcoming appearances. So full marks there for effective use of Web space.
Among the links on Anne's site there was one to Artisan. I know Jacey Bedford puts a lot of time into posting announcements of forthcoming Artisan gigs or recordings on the folk newsgroups, but this was the first time I had visited their site. It's been going for quite a while, so there is a lot of information available, but Jacey has done a fine job, making it easy to find your way around, each page ending with a Web-site navigator, so you can click to wherever you want to go on the site without returning to the home page.
But then I clicked on Jacey's link to Tom Lehrer. Ian Kitching's Lehrer section, containing the lyrics to all the songs, is basically a mirror, or copy, of a US site, the Demented Lyrics collection, which is a veritable treasure chest of humorous songs. There I found lyrics to two entire Bonzo Dog albums, 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady' and several Flanders and Swann songs. None of which has much to do with folk music of course, though I have seen someone sing 'The Gas-Man Cometh' at a festival - Whitchurch in 1991, I think it was - and no, I've never heard any of them sung by a horse.
A visit to Harvey Andrews' site set me off on another tangent. The site itself is fine, with the expected information about Harvey's comings and goings. But Harvey has been around the block a few times and made quite a few friends, so I should have been prepared for the inevitable when I clicked on his links page. Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton and Arlo Guthrie were among the heroes demanding my attention. I vaguely remember going to see Tom Paxton at the Royal Albert Hall in the mid-Sixties, but I vividly remember learning his songs at evening classes around the same time, so I was quite disappointed to find only record company information following that link. A schoolfriend once gave me a promotional copy of Ochs' 'Miranda'/'Outside of a Small Circle of Friends', so I was much happier once I had downloaded their lyrics and additional information - and 'There But For Fortune' of course - from Trent A Fisher's pages.
But Arlo Guthrie's site has to be visited to be believed - and of course I didn't leave without downloading the complete transcript of 'Alice's Restaurant'. ArloNet, as it is called, is an entire community, with chat rooms, sound and video images and information about various charitable as well as musical projects in which Arlo is involved. Though it is very much a fanzine rather than a PR exercise, it still manages to look professional, and follows all the golden rules of Web design.
It was started by Dave Downin, who wanted to use his Web space for something useful, had been a fan of Arlo since first hearing 'Alice's Restaurant' but couldn't find any info about him on the Web, so put the two interests together in 1995. Shortly afterwards he learned that Arlo was on-line. Dave says: "I let him know about the Web site and explained what it was. After a little coaching he found his way there and loved it! Arlo and the great people who work for him kept me updated on special events and concert dates and eventually, ArloNet became THE PLACE to look for any information regarding Arlo. People from all over had a place to discuss their favourite folksinger, and new friendships were born (and still continue to be)."
How Sixties can you get? I was really motoring now, and soon found the Peter, Paul and Mary site. And yes, I downloaded the lyrics and liner notes of the first two albums, and even a sound file of an extract from 'Early Morning Rain'. I must dig out those old vinyl albums when I've sent this off to Sam.
I read Sandy Satyanadhan's feature on Al Stewart in the last issue of "Folk on Tap" with great interest, as I was lucky enough to see Stewart in 1968 soon after "Bedsitter Images" was released. This was in the hallowed subterranean splendour of Soho's legendary Les Cousins. Talk about the good old days. And not only did I and my fellow audience witness the acoustic version of the heavily orchestrated debut album, but halfway through the set Stewart introduced a "friend". Dressed in a shabby raincoat and looking as inconspicuous as an ordinary human being, Paul Simon treated us to a preview of 'Save the Life of my Child' from "Bookends".
The lyrics to and information about Stewart's songs can be found on Charlie Hume's Annotated Al pages. There are even tablature versions of Al's instrumentals - although of course we worked them out ourselves ages ago. But if you'll excuse me, it's about time I had another practice.