[Note: I first wrote this in 2010 when we celebrated the Choir’s fortieth anniversary. It was updated in 2016 (not sure why!) and I have now brought it up to date.]
In the summer of 1970, a small group of teenagers approached Father Strand for permission to start a new choir in the parish. Inspired by the American protest folk singers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan as well as the British folk music movement, the Choir described itself as a “Folk Choir”. Being teenagers, the founder members were not too keen on getting up early on Sundays, so the Choir settled into a regular 5.30 pm slot.
The Choir was an immediate success and quickly attracted a large number of young parishioners. In fact, for the first ten years or so of its life, the Folk Choir was probably the most successful youth group in the parish. – it certainly helped to boost the takings of the George on Thursday and Sunday evenings!
At the same time, a similar choir had been established at St Aidan’s in Coulsdon led by an inspirational songwriter called Stephen Church and his songs – such as “So Confusing and So Very Clear” and “Come With Us” – are still among the favourites at 5.30 Mass today.
In 1974, the Parish generously sponsored the Choir to record its first album, which was entitled “We Sang Our Songs Upon a Hill”. It was recorded in one day and although it had some good moments, there were one or two ‘tuning issues’, as they say on the X Factor.
The Choir’s first leader was Charles Harvey and he was the driving force and inspiration in the early years. Chas was a folk guitarist and his style and influence can be heard very clearly on the first album. Incidentally, we still have a copy – I wonder if it’s worth something?
After Chas, I took over the leadership in about 1978. I had great support from Paul Newson who had joined the Choir a year or so earlier. Paul’s guitar playing was exceptional and he helped me to change the style of the Choir to a more folk/rock feel which was becoming popular at the time. We are delighted that Paul will be playing with us this Sunday.
This was probably the strongest period in the Choir’s history, although the current group might dispute that!. We had as many as 30 singers and five instrumentalists. In particular, we had a very loud, if at times a bit raucous, male section and three strong female harmonists.
In 1980, we decided to mark our tenth anniversary by recording our second album which we called “Decade”. We persuaded the Parish to support us even more generously, which enabled us to book two full days in a small studio in Cherry Orchard Road in Croydon. The benefit of the additional time we spent recording and mixing can still be heard in some of the songs on the record. The main problem I recall was that every time we were recording the female section, the boys went to the pub across the road so that the quality deteriorated and the volume increased as the evening wore on! Nevertheless, the album was a great success and is a lasting record of some of our best songs.
Recently, we discovered the original master tapes in our garage and arranged for them to be re-mixed and digitally remastered. The new version is still available for download on the Church website.
Older members of the Congregation will also remember, I hope with affection, the series of Christmas Concerts which the Choir produced and performed. From memory (which can be a bit foggy) there were five or six concerts in which all the Choir members performed either individually or as a group. Our regular compere is now a retired Judge!
For the next few years after my stewardship, the Choir had various different leaders including Rachel Mitchell, Annamaria Ferrando and Linda De Freitas until Sarah Butler and Marion took over about 25 years ago. Their enthusiasm and determination has kept the Choir going through some difficult times including fighting off an attempt to close the Choir down! Membership dwindled to a very small core group, but in recent years numbers have increased to its current, relatively healthy, size. Marion and Sarah have greatly increased the repertoire of the Choir, adding at least 50 new songs from a wide range of sources and giving the Choir a more communal feel to its music.
Some of our congregation will also remember our Australian friends, Sam and Emma, who lived in Beckenham for three years and whose guitar and piano playing made a huge impact on our music. They are now back in Australia with a young baby and continue to sing and play in their local Church.
When lockdown was imposed on us and the Church was closed, we were determined that our voices would still be heard so we recorded our songs at home (with remote help from past and present choir members) and these were played during the streamed services from an empty Church. In all, we recorded nearly forty songs.
The Folk Choir is now one of St Edmund’s best-loved institutions and remains a strong factor in bringing the congregation together. It has generated many strong and lasting friendships as well as directly or indirectly a number of marriages. We have enjoyed the support of a loyal congregation, many of whom have grown middle aged (or, dare I say it, old?) with us, and this has always been greatly appreciated.
Of course, if the Choir has a future it will depend on new members, so as well as a potted history this is also a plea to anyone who can sing a bit – all you have to do is commit to practice on a Thursday evening for about an hour or so and to 5.30 Mass every week. Our current group is small in number but very committed and has been working really hard over the last year to get better and better.
Finally, it is appropriate to mention that Marion is the only current member who can claim fifty five years of unbroken service since 1970 (with a minimum of interruption enforced by our children!). There is no doubt that the Choir would not still exist without her unfailing commitment.
We look forward to a great celebration at Mass this week with some old friends and hopefully some new ones in the weeks to come.
Robin Hoyles