“TIME FOR MY TEA” The Skiffle Hounds (Song Only)

TIME FOR MY TEA     -      The Skiffle Hounds

 The story behind the song, by Tim Facer

When Lou and myself adopted our ex-racing greyhound, Maya, from Greyhound Rescue Wales little did we know that she would be the inspiration for a song. From the very first day it was obvious that she was special, not particularly unique in greyhound terms but it was a real eye opener for us to learn how little she knew about living in a house, where every noise and experience was new to her.

We had had lurchers for a long time before but not an actual greyhound, it was like having a 5 year old puppy in the house, but she's smart and learned very quickly. Fast forward a year and I thought it would be an interesting idea to try and chronicle that learning curve in a song. I am a singer/songwriter anyway and after a few weeks I had the song written. A few months after that, with help from some musician friends of mine, it was recorded.

We wanted to get Maya on the recording as well, but she had different ideas. She's one of those greyhounds that doesn't bark (which is a good thing really) so barking on command was out of the question, and her ability to keep time by wagging her tail on the tambourine was, quite frankly, appalling. So her official role is 'just looking good', which she excels at.

It was always my intention to record the song for the benefit of Greyhound Rescue Wales who do such a fabulous job with re-homing not just ex-racing greyhounds, but all sighthounds.

So, what was this random bunch of musicians to be called? After much deliberation 'The Skiffle Hounds' were born.

The next thing to do was to make a video for it, not just a boring one with a bunch of musicians singing the song, but something light hearted and uplifting to reflect the story line. Many greyhound owners will already have heard of the very brilliant cartoonist, Rich Skipworth. Perhaps, I thought, we could use some of his cartoons to illustrate the song. We did a mock-up which seemed to be exactly what the song called for and permission was sought from Mr Skipworth to allow us to use his work. He gave it without hesitation.

To complete the package some publicity photos were needed, which was a challenge in itself, getting 6 musicians, a greyhound and a photographer together in the same place at the same time wasn't as straight forward as you might think. Anyway, after a few false starts it was arranged, we got permission from the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre to use their grounds and the weather was good. Everyone posed quite nicely, everyone that is except for Maya, who thought it would be a great idea not to pay attention to anybody and to go on zoomies around the grounds. They say in the media that you shouldn't work with children or animals, our poor photographer, Billy, had both (musicians are just big kids really), we are indebted to him for getting such great photos.

The song is called 'time for my tea'

The Skiffle Hounds are:-

Tim Facer: Guitars and Vocals

Louise Facer: Washboard and Percussion

Pete Mitchell: Tea Chest Bass and Bass Guitar

Gus Tussocks: Duttona Jazz Horn

Mike Cook: Melodeon

Rob Hall: Cajun Snare and Drums

Maya: Inspiration and just looking good!

Everybody involved gave their time freely; I'd like to thank all of them for their time and brilliance and for indulging me in making this somewhat personal endeavour come to life.