Singing Goodnight Irene on the terraces
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Version 0 of 1. Your obituary of Ronnie Gilbert (9 June) of the Weavers mentions their chart success with Goodnight Irene. I first heard their recording as a small boy and found it vibrant and different in those dark days of the early 1950s. Imagine my delight when fans of the football team I support, Bristol Rovers, adopted the song as their signature tune. Generations of fans have sung it from the terraces through the team’s good and bad times. Most recently it was heard at Wembley on Sunday 17 May, when the Rovers beat Grimsby Town in the Vanarama Conference play-off final to rebook their place in the Football League. There have been many fine versions of the Lead Belly classic but the Weavers version was the first I heard and the best. Thank you, Ronnie.Roger DavisBisley, Gloucestershire |