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1 - The cludgie tale...
One of the founder members of The Crow Road Band, Alan McLean, claims inspiration from a celebrity encounter in his formative years.
Back in the 1960s one of the many Glasgow Folk Clubs, was held in an old, red sandstone tenement building. It was a very atmospheric venue for such a gathering being conducive to great music and friendly banter. Such clubs only really started after chucking out time (10pm in those days!), when most of the participants had drunk their fill. This fact required that toilet facilities were provided for the assembled mass, especially for the blokes (as they have such small bladders). Tenement blocks are not renowned for their provision of 'washroom' facilities and this particular block was no exception, having one single holer, outdoor 'cludgie'.
The gentlemen of the club, having drunk many 568 ml quantities of beer, could not contain themselves long enough to allow single use of the afore mentioned facilities and made several trips down the back close en masse for a communal relieving sessions in the 'cludgie'. Allegedly, during one of these friendly and occasionally urgent sessions our Mr McLean found himself shoulder to with one William Connolly, commonly known as Billy. Mr Connolly was a long haired folk banjo player with a razor sharp wit who, since that time has become quite well known in certain quarters. It is rumoured that even to this day, these 'cludgie' sessions feature prominently in his repertoire!
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