Farewell To The Gold - Nic Jones version

[findyourlocals]

I never heard the original of this song, so thanks for introducing me - fantastic rendition - you're an inspiring performer

[alfresco61]

Great work Sam. What tuning are you using?

[samjohncarter]

@alfresco61 Thanks, tuning is in the info above!

[hockles99]

really good version - saw nic jones when in his prime before his car accident - what great style he had and you do it very well - penguin eggs a classic - in my vinyl collection

[TheGreenDanger]

Oh I knew you must have been influenced by Elliott Smith.

[AndyHN34]

This is superb. So easy to make a mess of it, but you've got the voice, the fingers and the feeling. Well done, mate.

[murtlemcturtle]

Great Version like both the voice and excellent guitar work ,your pared back version express the sentiment of loneliness and lost dreams in the goldfields of Otago well.I wonder if Paul Metsers got the idea from "Arawata Bill" a poem by well known NZ poet Denis Glover .One of my favourite songs. Heard Paul sing it ,sing it in Wellington NZ before he headed to UK sadly our loss ,hope he heads back to Aotearoa if only for a visit.

[3Kmartin]

Superb! Right up there alongside the great Nic Jones himself. Impeccable taste.

[CMacAodhagain]

Beautiful, wonderful, excellent; really well done!

[KingofRoath]

Just beautiful. Do you have any idea how much of my future life is going to be taken up learning to play that?

[Angushelen]

wonderful rendition, song written by Paul Metzers

[Angushelen]

gees what a wonderful rendition, great song written by Paul Metsers

[curtisrunstedler]

Great cover, dude! Nic Jones would be proud. I also really like Elliott Smith poster in the background, it's too bad that he's no longer with us today.

[TimJakeGl]

I wish to apologise for the comment that is there with my handle. I have taken it back elsewhere too. It just isn't fair to Nic and his people to put his tracks on this site although I find 'You Tube' canot be compared directly with file-sharing sites i.e. here one can only enjoy the WareZ online and not download them -- AFAIK.

This cover is remarkably good.

[donnaloren7]

You provide inspiration for my (very poor) guitar playing. Excellent work!

[CMacAodhagain]

This is really fantastic, a great song, a great rendition, you should be really proud! Well done! (What tuning is it?)

[TimJakeGl]

It's unusual in the folk world for there to be such exact covers of a modern practitioner. but so good is Nic Jones. Has somebody taken off Youtube some of the songs from 'Penguin Eggs'? It is one of the all-time great folk LPs from the UK.

I am thinking of 'Little Pot Stove' for example. If somebody has the chance, could they put the songs back on please?

[samjohncarter]

@TimJakeGl True, my Nic Jones covers are primarily designed to show how Nic played his own arrangements, rather than creating arrangements of my own. You can hear my own arrangement of 'Oh Dear Rue The Day' on my website (google sam carter).

[FeynmanAdmirer]

Lovely :)

[wrongwayup]

All I can say is: Bravo!

[neohip]

I love your rendition,it is,in absence of the original,a great reference.

The original confused me,as It was the first song of Nic's I had heard,and he had softened his accent.

So because of the setting, I thought he was a fellow Kiwi.

I sought information among the grand Pooh-Bahs of my Folk Club,but they hadn't heard of him!.

[LewisDLancaster]

Very nice !

[guitarnut81]

the original makes me weep and your rendition of it does the same, so you must have done a good job! well done.

[spring74light]

Nic's version of "Teddy Bears' Picnic" can be heard on YouTube - Search for Part 7 of "Our Day Out", go to 4:06.

[Tyneside, England.]

[crlcripps]

Nice. More, please.

[widefilth]

shit man you can play.top stuff

[Kaikopere]

Technically clever guitar plucking, but the singing lacks passion. It is turned into a dirge here. I have heard the composer Paul Melzer sing it, and also Otago singer Chris Penman, and they lift the song into something powerful and beautiful.

[Legertymusic]

I think the idea was to show how Nic Jones played the song. Besides, it IS a dirge. The subject lost him dreams in the gold rush. I think the singing is lovely. In traditional singing, It is the job of the words to provide the power and beauty. Understatement is key for the singer and this is done beautifully in this version. Lovely stuff!

[neohip]

@Legertymusic .I don't know where you hail from,but as a Kiwi,The Shot Over River has claimed and continues to claim far too many lives.

In the old days,it was unwary gold prospectors,or worse their wives and children caught in the crossing. These days it seems to be the place young adventurous tourists come to die.

This song is sadly all to relevant today.

[Legertymusic]

@ neohip, Very sad but good information. However, I am a bit confused. All I commented on was Sam's lovely singing and playing. Perhaps you were responding to another poster? All the best.

[crlcripps]

Give the kid a few years, and I expect we'll see far stronger performances from him as he gets his feet under him. I thought it was good, and the only valid criticism is to do better yourself, after all.

[BillybobDylan]

Let's see your effort so we can all piss on your bonfire, eh? I thought it was very good, and certainly far, far better than I could ever do. More power to you, samjohncarter.

[slobjob13]

Lovely mate! Really enjoyed it.

[widefilth]

lovely man.love that tune cheers.

[melkor6666666]

Sweet----Have you figured out "Seven Yellow Gypsies" yet?

[seeingshapesinclouds]

hi bear,

brilliant, as usual! we've actually posted some stuff on here too now, although very amateur, its a start.

[petebeech]

Brilliant.

[fingal42]

Excellent playing! I've often wondered how NJ got that percussive sound... It seems to involve using the back of the nail on the index finger... It's a good style.

[samjohncarter]

The percussive effect is created with the middle finger. I might post a 'how to' this technique in the not-too-distant future.

[fingal42]

I hope you do! It wouldn't hurt my own playing to know more about that.... Thank you.

[sobellfanatic]

Seriously good. Really reminds me of Nic's version.

[bohemiastudios]

We never had any gold, in the fiirst place, to say farewell to! Dig as hard underground you like, for the man!

[divadnarollah]

Great Job - hard to fault. Thanks so much for taking to time to post it and giving the tuning. Saves hours!

How do you get that percussive effect at the end of each measure? Are you tapping your little finger on the body? I can't quite see your right hand. Also what is the precise picking pattern over one measure/bar? In particular what strings do you play with your thumb? And in what order? Thanks again.

[TomRAFC]

as far as the percussive effect onecadman does a great little video on how to achieve it

[spring74light]

A superb rendition! Well done! I am sure it would bring smiles of approval from both Nic and Paul.

Nic developed that amazing technique of a rock-steady metronomic right hand, over which he draped his laid-back, slightly "late entry", vocals to such great artistic effect.

[Tyneside, England.]

[ekunostid]

Brilliant. What a beautiful voice!

[martinbergin]

fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rodady]

That is better than than Nic Jones' cover version Sam, the pronunciation of place-names is more accurate and you are not dragging it out into a dirge. It is almost as good as Paul Melser's original, in which he used a dulcimer as an accompaniment when I heard him at a concert in 1982. Paul used a lot of modal tunings in his songs. But the goldfield is Cardrona, not Cardona, and in New Zealand the standard version of this song is now sung as " But it's no use complaining or Lady Luck blaming."

[Rodady]

And as Paul's tunes tend to be a bit too beautiful, here in New Zealand the final chord of the chorus is now dropped from a C to an Am, and the singing note from C to A. It is very popular here in folkclubs for its singalong chorus. But we are more likely to be singing this parody

Hungover liver, my head it is aching;

It's weeks since the daylight I've seen

I'm sitting here thinking

"This shit I've been drinking

Is rotting a hole in my spleen." etc

Google will find you the rest of the words.

[samjohncarter]

Thanks. I was quite new to playing the song at the time of recording and I'm reading the lyrics off my laptop as I go along :) Hence the mistake on 'Cardrona'.

[rogthedodger]

TBH that's an internet myth - listen to Nic's version correctly and you'll hear the pronounciations are correct.

He was mates with Paul, produced his album, so it's unlikely they'd be mangled as many say.

I can understand sticking up for your own but the accusation is unjustified.

PS it's a nice version but 'better' - no way

[samuelcrinch]

hey you play really great. i was wondering if you could do up a little tablature for this cover of yours. i'm having difficulty getting it right. really appreciate it , thanks!

[samjohncarter]

Hey. Unfortunately it's not for me to be offering tab for Nic Jones' songs on the net because of the copyright issues.

[BrendanSanFrancisco]

Much respect from California!

[thekev506]

absolutely fantastic, where did you find out what tuning he used on the song? i'd like to try more of his stuff but don't really know what nic used

[samjohncarter]

Thanks Kev, I worked it out by ear.

All of the tunings listed here are slightly sharp on the recordings. The tunings in brackets are the standard pitch equivalents of Nic's tunings:

Canadee-i-o: BbFBbFBbC (CGCGCD)

Humpback Whale: AEAEAA (CGCGCC)

Drowned Lovers, Farewell To The Gold, Barrack St, Little Pot Stove: CFCFAC (DGDGBD)

Planxty Davis: BF*BF*BC* (CGCGCD)

Flandyke Shore: CGCGCD

Hope that helps!

[samjohncarter]

And nearly forgot. Courting Is A Pleasure - EbFBbFBbC

[thekev506]

yeah that helps a lot! thanks very much. I have duke or marlborough on my videos if you want to try learning that, it's in standard tuning

[MireilleT]

Beautiful singing. You are a very talented musician. 5 stars!

[Happyvalleypondman]

I was lucky enough to see Nic Jones play live in olden days so I feel I can say with some confidence that this version is really marvellous- beautifully played and well sung. I'm very impressed. BTW, well worth tracking down is Nic's playing on "Grey Funnel Line" by Dave Burland which is on Dave's Facebook page,

All the Best

[BeareTube]

BRILLIANT! Sorry, but I simply have to use capital letters. Without any doubt this is the very, very best rendition of a Nic Jones song anywhere on youtube. I speak as a Nic Jones fanatic of 30 years!!!

ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!

[buniluvr]

Bravo! That's some tuning - I don't think I've seen that one before! You sound fantastic my friend.

cheers

[bradleycbotkin]

beautiful rendition. perfect guitar, lovely voice. Can you tell me what the tuning is?

[LiteGauge]

Beautiful!

[cujimmy92]

Cool with soul. Now play some more dude! How about Annan Water?

[tkono]

goooood!

[thejeremyarchives]

Excellent