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Downloads are now available! See below

Barndancing CD

Reviews for the album:

April 1999 issue:
"It must be ten years since the Spuds-I-Like released an album, the splendid Born In A Barn, still one of my favourite sets by a British outfit... There is much to enjoy here... Blue Moon Of Kentucky is wonderful... Jambalaya is delirious... The one track that, for me, sums up the Potatoes musical attitude is the standard, Hindustan. With a front-line of trombone, fiddle, accordion, vibes and guitar, it's hilarious. I defy anyone not to smile - or, better, laugh out loud, as I did - at the guys' musical inebriation. This is real Happy Hour music... They call it Soil Music. I call it Fun. Go buy." ****

Folk Roots, May 1999 issue:
"Eight-piece ceilidh band from Essex with fiddles, squeezeboxes and rock rhythm section plus occasional brass. Agreeably lively, if not reaching the 'absolutely must dance' level." F

efn (formerly Essex Folk News), June 1999 issue:
"One of the South-East's best and most popular dance bands... toe-tapping music compiled to capture the flavour of an evening's dancing with the band, complete with comprehensive liner notes containing the calling instructions for each of the dances that go with the tunes. The dances... are described very clearly, in a way that makes it possible to fit them easily to the music. So is it any good I hear you ask. Good? It's better than good, it's excellent! Although it's nearly impossible to capture the sheer energy of a live performance on any recording, this CD certainly has me and my girl bopping round the kitchen, especially on the more Cajun/Bluegrass tracks such as Choupique Two-Step and Jambalaya. The musicianship displayed throughout the CD is first rate... a particular highlight for me being the tasteful guitar soloing of Tony Littman and Charlie Skelton's exuberant fiddle playing. Great stuff! For me this CD gets the full five stars. Buy it and see!"

Rock 'n' Reel, Autumn 1999 issue:
(Rock 'n' Reel doesn't appear to be on the Net but their e-mail is rocknreel@zetnet.co.uk)
"Their latest album is a collection which - as the title suggests - showcases their well-honed and much practised skills within the barn dance / ceilidh area. The eight-piece manage, with ease, to plough through the southern-fried flavours of 'Cherokee Shuffle', with melodeon, accordion, recorder, fiddle and a cracking rhythm section driving everything before them.Throughout - as on 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky', 'Jambalaya' and closer 'Repeal Of The Licensing Laws' - they excel with a crisply executed set that improves with every listen."

See the "Songs" page for track listing and other details.

Other Famous Potatoes product

We made three other LPs, "It Was Good For My Old Mother", "The Sound Of The Ground", and "Born In A Barn", the last of which was made Record of the Month by Country Music People magazine. All of these are now available on CD. We also made three even earlier cassette-only recordings, "Get Your Skates On", "Twist With Ken" and "Dig".

Discography

As the Folk Pistols:

	1981: Get Your Skates On (cassette) Privately produced
	1982: Twist With Ken (cassette) Privately produced

CD of both of the Folk Pistols albums available as a special order - see below

As the Famous Potatoes:

	1983: Dig (cassette) Privately produced
	1984: I Like Chicken Pie (7" single) Waterfront WFS8
	1985: It Was Good For My Old Mother (LP; cassette produced 1986) Waterfront WF018 / WF018C 1987: It Was Good For My Old Mother (limited edition cassette including "I Like Chicken Pie" and "Chicken Reel Stomp" from the 7" single) Waterfront WF018C (no labelling to indicate any difference to original) 2006: It Was Good For My Old Mother (CD) Sweet Soil Music SSMCD2
	1986: The Sound Of The Ground (LP & cassette) Waterfront WF028 / WF028C 2006: The Sound Of The Ground (CD) Sweet Soil Music SSMCD3
	1989: Born In A Barn (LP & cassette) Waterfront WF046 / WF046C 2006: Born In A Barn (CD) Sweet Soil Music SSMCD4
	1998: Barndancing (CD & cassette) Sweet Soil Music SSMCD1 / SSMMC1

Appearances on compilations:

1987(?): The Southend Connection (track - Hold That Crutter Down) Waterfront LP
1990: Down By The River - The Greenhouse Album (track - Famous Potatoes) Edge EC7020
1997: Southend Rock 2 (track - Eight More Miles to Leigh-on-Sea, shown on the label as "Going Down to Leigh-on-Sea") Lunch 01702 001
2008: Moonshine, Murder, Mountains & Mudflats - Songs and Tunes from the Leigh Folk Festival 2008 (track - Snowdeer) Thames Delta Recording Co. MUD001CD

We have a very few copies of The Southend Connection (see below). Down By The River was deleted long ago. The "Southend Rock 2" CD may still be available. Leigh Folk Festival CDs (all of them from 2008 onwards) are definitely still available from the Leigh Folk Festival shop.

What to buy...
(For ordering details see "To order" just below)

Downloads - newly available from September 2010

All the Famous Potatoes (and Folk Pistols) releases are available in MP3 format.

Visit this page to download them.

In the best traditions of Radiohead, we are not charging a set price to access these downloadable files. Please decide what you think they're worth and send a cheque (payable to Paul McDowell) to Paul McDowell, 13 Marine Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 2JD. Cash (British or Euro, take normal precautions when sending through the post) and (current, unused) British postage stamps welcome! Or postal orders if these still exist. If you'd like to pay by Paypal or credit card send us an e-mail.

The downloads available are:

Get Your Skates On (Folk Pistols):
1. All The Way to Galway / Winster Galop / Rakes of Mallow; 2. Queen Victoria's / Under the Greenwood Tree / Won't Go Home; 3. Young Woodland Rebels; 4. Unemployed Sweetheart; 5. Cassette / Pig's Trotter / New Year's Day; 6. Soldier's Joy / Fairy Dance / Rose Tree; 7. Johnny Comes Marching / Runaway Trains; 8. Star Polka / 'Schottische'; 9. Bread and Butter / Tarpaulin Jacket / Bonnie Dundee; 10. Young Collins (dub)

Twist with Ken (Folk Pistols)
1. Monck's March (Folkfinger); 2. Lady in the Boat / Fiery Clockface / Blaydon Races; 3. Arkansas Traveler / Rose Tree; 4. News of Victory / Little Burnt Potato; 5. Young Woodland Revels; 6. Brighton Camps / Nutty Girls; 7. Smash the Window / Major Mackie's / Last Straw; 8. Foot in the Puddle / St Ann's Skip; 9. The Party / Shetland Boston Two-Step

Dig
1. Johnny's Down the River / Sugar In My Coffee-O; 2. Crow Black Chicken; 3. The Trout Sisters; 4. Two-Step de Bayou Teche; 5. Vandals of Hammerwich; 6. No Hell In Georgia / Rattler Treed a Possum; 7. Cold Kale in Aberdeen / Miss Forbes' Farewell; 8. Seneca Square Dance / Un, Deux, Trois; 9. Saturday Night Waltz; 10. Going Down the River; 11. I'm Gonna Leave Old Arkansas / Irish Potatoes; 12. Monk's March

Chicken Pie Single
1. I Like Chicken Pie; 2. Chicken Reel Stomp Pt. 1; 3. Chicken Reel Stomp Pt. 2

It Was Good For My Old Mother
1. Johnson Boys; 2. Mashed Potato Blues; 3. Silly Bill; 4. Jealous Hearted Me; 5. Lookin' For Money; 6. Old Time Religion; 7. I Don't Mind; 8. Peach Pickin' Time; 9. Yes Sir!;10. Honey I'm Ramblin' Away

The Sound Of The Ground
1. Are You Ready?; 2. Nothin' Shakin'; 3. Famous Potatoes; 4. Hold That Critter Down 5. (She's A) Runaround; 6. You're Pouring Water On A Drowning Man; 7. Going Down The River; 8. Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee; 9. Nightingale Stomp; 10. That's Right; 11. I Saw The Light; 12. El Sonido Del Soelo; 13. Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms; 14. Wait Till The Cows Come Home

Born In A Barn
1. The Women Go Wild Over Me; 2. Seven Nights To Rock; 3. Truck Driving Man; 4. My Heart Cracked; 5. Too Hot to Handle; 6. Jericho; 7. Uncle Pynn; 8. Who Stole The Train; 9. Cindy; 10. Bloodshot Eyes; 11. Snowdeer; 12. Crazy Arms; 13. What Kind Of Man; 14. Eight More Miles To Leigh-on-Sea

Barndancing
1. Cherokee Shuffle / Paddy Won't You Drink Some Cider; 2. Newton Grove / George Washington; 3. Choupique Two-Step; 4. All The Way To Galway / Winster Galop / The Rakes Of Mallow; 5. Rakes Of Kildare / The Railway; 6. Blue Moon Of Kentucky; 7. Thirty Pound Waltz; 8. Springfield Girl / Sourwood Mountain; 9. Viva Seguin; 10. Jambalaya; 11. Maxwell Smart; 12. Lament For The Death Of The Rev. Archie Beaton; 13. Eighth Of January / Elzic's Farewell; 14. Hindustan; 15 The Repeal Of The Licensing Laws

Bonus tracks:
Folk Pistols live at the Grand Ceilidh Club, 3 January 1980
1. Intro from Sid; 2 Om Si The Gom / Wiltshire Six-Hand Reel / Parson's Farewell; 3. Galopede / Down the Middle / Double Lead Through; 4. The Holly and the Ivy / The Day Thou Gavest / Haisburgh Light / Robinson Crusoe; 5. The Primrose
Out-takes from Barndancing
1. Riding Down the Canyon; 2. La Bastringue; 3. Seneca Square Dance / Un, Deux, Trois; 4. Duncan Gray / Hop High Ladies; 5. Danse di Limonade / Bo' Weevil; 6. Roly Poly; 7. Lonesome Moonlight Waltz; 8. Lament For The Death Of The Rev. Archie Beaton (alternate version)

CDs etc.

Barndancing
CD £8
Cassette £4

Born In A Barn
CD £8
Vinyl LP (only one copy available) £10
No cassettes currently available

The Sound Of The Ground
CD £8
Vinyl LP (only two copies available) £10
No cassettes currently available

It Was Good For My Old Mother
CD £8
Vinyl LP (only two copies available) £10
Cassette (the version including "I Like Chicken Pie" and "Chicken Reel Stomp"; only a few available) £2.50

I Like Chicken Pie
Copies of this 7" single turn up from time to time, and at the time of posting we have one available at £5.

Dig
Cassette (only one copy available) £5

Folk Pistols CD
Get Your Skates On and Twist With Ken, both on one 57-minute CD: £8

The Southend Connection LP
Featuring Hold That Critter Down by the Famous Potatoes (very few copies available): £5

T-shirts

Barndancing ones £8 (black, with red & white design)
Accordion ones £8 (white, with black and red design)

Badges

Various designs 15p each (only a few available)

To order:

Send to Paul McDowell, 13 Marine Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 2JD - phone (01702) 474255. For all orders please add 10% for postage and packing. Post free (within the UK) if the order is £15 or more. Make your cheques (drawn on a UK bank only, please) payable to Paul McDowell; allow 21 days for delivery. We also accept VISA/Mastercard credit and debit cards and Paypal (please ring or e-mail to discuss prices for delivery outside the UK).

We accept Euro but in cash only please, at the standard published bank rate. There's no easy facility in the UK to pay in cheques made out in Euro without accepting extortionate bank charges. If you have to send cash, we recommend you send only banknotes and by recorded delivery.

Also available:

Pottery mugs and any other pottery items - Famous Potatoes designs can be ordered!

Designed and hand-made to order by Richard Baxter at Old Leigh Studios (01702 470490) - prices on application, and visit the Richard Baxter home page for full details of his work.