In early March Danny Spooner died. Danny had a long and productive career as a folksinger. He was in great demand around Australia and overseas, as a performer of traditional and working class songs from England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia.
Accompanied by concertina, Danny sang of farm labourers, poachers, mariners, union martyrs and miners. He did not simply perform the songs — that would be too much like exploiting them. His aim was to help preserve them. When he introduced a song it was clear that he had great respect for the tradition in which he fitted and that he had done extensive research into the song's provenance and historical background.
Others will document Danny's career and influence. I want to say something about his philosophy, or at least small parts of it that he imparted to me. Unlike many musicians for whom music is an interesting diversion, Danny devoted his life to singing and thought long and hard about what his role entailed.
One aspect of Danny's philosophy was that who he was not important. The songs were important because of how they recorded aspects of working class life which mainstream histories might neglect. If you asked Danny how he chose which songs to perform, he would say that the songs chose him. He regarded this as a great privilege. I've acknowledged this aspect of Danny's philosophy in the song 'It Ain't the Singer'.
Danny believed the past is all around us and with us still. When I told him I had a great great great grandfather from Rotherhithe on the Thames, he said 'You could be Cockney'. He had no need to add 'like me' to make me feel proud but it was significant that he included me rather than a distant and barely known ancestor.
Danny believed that people who care about folk music are special. He said most folkies walk lightly on the earth. They live simply that others might live and care for the natural environment.
He found folkies to be egalitarian rather than elitist. They do not judge people by the size of their bank accounts but by what is in their hearts. They are open minded rather than prejudiced. They respect people of diverse cultural backgrounds. They appreciate and celebrate rather than merely tolerating differences.
Danny had a special way of calling you 'Shipmate'. This was more than a simple attribution of mateship. It reminded us that we are all shipmates and