By Wendy Lowenstein
The second Port Phillip Festival was held in Melbourne over the Australia Day weekend at the Pharmacy College. More than
two hundred artists took part, of whom about half had travelled from all parts of Australia and even New Zealand for the
occasion. Folkmusic from all over the world was presented with the emphasis on folklore with an Australian setting.
Many of the songs were contemporary, written by Australians about questions of the day. In fact the Contemporary Concert,
arranged by Geoff Wills of Brisbane's Union Singers was the first to put up the House Full sign. This concert brought
forward an almost completely new group of young songwriters.
Scots-born Harry Robertson, another member of the Union Singers, was a star of the Festival, both at the Contemporary Concert,
the big Sunday night concert and at the Sea Shanties Concert where his was the only modern shanty to be sung.
Former Sydney singer Declan Affley sang Harry's songs "QueensIand Whalers", "Homeless Man" and "Antarctic Fleet" at the Sunday
night concert. "In the Antarctic" said Harry "they shout Thar she blows', but in Queensland they shout'
There goes a bloody beauty mate, so take your finger out."
Geoff Wills, who is probably the most dedicated singer of songs in the labour movement, sings songs "which remind workers of
the achievements of the unions and the dignity of labor." He said "At every strike meeting, someone at at some stage should
sing a song."
He illustrated his point by singing the Basic Wage Dream, an early Don Henderson song about the Arbitration Court Judge who
hearing that he hasn't long to live decides to make up for his unjust past by giving the workers a whacking great rise and
making it retrospective to 1907. Mayne Nickless has to send an armoured car to see the men home safely with their wages !
The Festival wasn't only full of contemporary songs. Far from it there were thirty different tally, workshops and concerts
during the weekend with up to four sessions going at a time.
There were iilustrated talks on the Blues, English Industrial Songs by Mark Gregory, and a concert for children. There was a
workshop on Australian Hillbilly songs run by bandleader Mike Hayes, and another on Instrumental Techniques by Chris Duffy.
American Country Music, Greek Music, Negro Music and the Influence of Pop and Folk on each other, were all covered in considerable
depth and before enthusiastic audiences. The Negro music concert featured many singers plus the Langford Lever, Adderley Smith and
Gut Bucket Jug bands.
But perhaps the most astonishing feature of the Festival was the number and variety of talks held. They covered a wide range of
topics in which a panel of Australia's most distinguished authorities, both academic and non academic took part.
Alan Marshall, Bill Wannan, Richard Leach and others delighted the audience in The Talkers' Workshop in a yarn swapping session
which developed into one of those rare affairs when the division between audience and speaker was quite lost.
Professor Russel Ward, of the University of New England spoke on Folksong and Ballad, Dr. David Duffty of Wagga Wagga Teachers'
College gave a fascinating talk on "Using Folklore in Teaching the Social Sciences" and Dr. Edgar Waters of the University of
Papua New Guinea spoke on the "Anglo American Background of Australian Folksongs".
Dr. Ian Turner of Monash University spoke on "Australian Children's Play Rhymes" illustrated by tapes made by the Folk Lore Society
of Victoria, and Mr. Weston Bate of Melbourne University and Mr. Ian Jones and Mr. Hugh Anderson took part in a panel discussion
with the other historians and folklorists on "Oral History, what it is and its uses for the historian".
Shirley Andrews ran an illustrated, all-join-in workshop demonstration of Australian Traditional Dancing.
One outstanding feature of the Festival was a Come-all-ye, or continuous concert. It provided all comers with an opportunity to take
part in the Festival program and featured most of the well known artists as well as the unknown. It proved most popular with audiences
too.
Perhaps the most valuable feature of the Festival was the opportunity to meet other singers, other folklorists, other collectors and
other academics all in a pleasant, if exceedingly hectic, weekend.
Many fruitful ideas for future meetings, festivals, and activities flowed from the endless cups of coffee in the cafe and the glasses
of beer at the Sarah Sands Hotel just up the road. In addition there was a wonderful party where the entire company danced wild Irish
reels and jigs to the incredibly lively, somewhat demented music of the Monaro Boys from Canberra.
I can't mention all of them, but folkwise, I think you could say "You name 'em, we had 'em" and if we didn't have 'em this time, we
certainly will next time !
Bob Michell and Mike O'Rourke from Brisbane were there, along with Margaret Kitamura, Jean Lewis, Carol and Mike Wilkinson, Colin Dryden,
Peter Parkhill, Brian Grayson, Danny Gillespie, Mike Eves, Mike McLellan, Don Henderson and lots of others from Sydney.
Jock Munro's Skillet "Lickers from Adelaide, Ron Piper from Yellourn Folk Club, people from Newcastle Folk Club, from Flinders University,
as well as Melbourne singers like Danny Spooner and Gordon Mclntyre, Shayna Karlin, Norm and Pat O'Connor, Gwenda Davey, Glenn Foster, Margaret
Roadknight, Glen Tomassetti, the Bush Band, and the most fabulous singer of all, Cyril Phillips, a farmer from Sussex, England, who, dressed in
a century old shepherd's smock, sheepskin beard and red spotted kerchief, showed everyone something about traditional folk-singing and goodfellowship.
In all, the folk festival showed the existence of a really big interest in folklore and folk music. It's grown immensely since last year
and this sort of Festival, which must spread to other states and proliferate provides a stimulus and focus for an immensely popular, broad
mass folk movement.
Notes
From the NSW Australian Newspaper The Tribune Wed 14 Feb 1968 p. 6.
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