Touchstone by Brigid O'Neill.

Thursday morning, and the sound of Touchstone by Brigid O’Neill is filling my kitchen. It is my new CD which arrived yesterday. I am on my third listen now and I must say it is a most enjoyable album indeed. I did not know anything about Brigid or her music until a few nights ago when I saw on Facebook ‘Brigid O’Neill is live now’. I thought I would watch for a few minutes and ended up watching until the end of her set. I thought she was great. Irish, (which is always a good start!), a nice personality, and a beautiful mellifluous voice. I loved her own songs, and it was her version of an Emmylou Harris song which finally did it for me. I decided to order an album because I think musicians should be rewarded for their efforts. They have really suffered during this pandemic. We would not expect a plumber to work for nothing just because we are in lockdown, so why should musicians. In the absence of live gigs, watching live sessions on the internet by the likes of Christy Moore, Richard Thompson, Cara Dillon, Ger Wolfe, Brigid and many others has helped enormously in getting through the last year. That is why we should support them if we can.

This CD is very attractively packaged with all the lyrics and information you might need. There is quite an ensemble of musicians on this album. Gareth Dunlop gets special thanks for his important input into the album. I love the opening song little Birds. When I heard the words birds sitting on a wire it reminded me of a famous song by Leonard Cohen, but this is nothing like Leonard, it is just Brigid’s crystal-clear voice accompanied by uillean pipes. I think the birds might be a metaphor for children. Turn And Face The Sun is an optimistic, cheerful, catchy song.The line 'The Best Is Yet To Come' reminded me of   Someone Like You by Van Morrison. Refugees is a much more serious song, and I think might be inspired by the war in Syria. Iron In Your Fire has a more jazzy bluesy feel to it, written with Gareth Dunlop and Dean Stevens and recorded in Nashville. Brigid was inspired to write Rumours after reading Hello magazine at the hairdressers. Breathe Slow is possibly my favourite track, dreamy and atmospheric. Running Back To You is co-written with Matt McGinn and inspired by the musical TV series Nashville. I love the background harmonies on Misunderstanding. They All Said has very clever lyrics which seem to be inspired by the sky at night, with mention of a lunar eclipse, meteorites, shooting stars, and the Milky Way. The title song Touchstone brings the album to a close in fine style. It was written in Nashville but seems to suggest someone missing home.

I have enjoyed hearing this wonderful album the last two days, although I think I have arrived late on the scene as the album came out in 2017.  I have shared a video Turn And Face The Sun to this blog site for you to enjoy..

Brigid has her own website if you want to find out more.

https://www.brigidoneill.com/

And Facebook page. Brigid O'Neill Music.

Brigid O'Neill Turn and Face the Sun

Paint, Plants & Posh.

 

Spring In The Air!

Considering that I did not set foot outside the front door yesterday, a lot seemed to happen. Firstly, although it was very windy, I thought I ought to make the effort to make some progress on painting that wall. I managed to do an hour’s work, but then the clouds grew dark and I stopped for fear of rain. I did not feel that I had achieved much, so I got some trays and little plastic cups from the world’s smallest shed and potted out some delphiniums, foxgloves, busy lizzies, and sunflowers. They are now happily germinating inside the kitchen window. While I was doing that I was listening to Jackie by Jackie DeShannon. What a wonderful soulful voice she has. I have shared a video of Jackie singing a Van Morrison song to this blog page.

Then there was a knock at the door and a man delivered a book from Amazon. A friend who reads my blog page saw that I mentioned The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck. I said that I did not think I needed to read it, but she thought I should, and sent it to me which is extremely kind. There are two other books which I have started, but not finished, The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle and A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. I am going to have to set some time aside every day for reading. Although we are in lockdown there seems to be an awful lot to do. Last night I heard the news that Lawrence Ferlinghetti had died. He was just short of reaching the age of 102. What a great man and what a great life. I also heard that Tiger Woods was involved in a serious car crash. He is one of the greatest sports people of all time, so I hope he makes a full recovery. The other big news was that my team Peterborough United won again last night. Their fifth victory in a row and are now sitting pretty on top of League One. It is looking good for Posh.

Today, I managed to do another hour of painting the wall. I stopped because there were a few spots of rain. As soon as I put the paint away and washed my brushes it stopped raining. I’m not starting again now. It has had its chance for today. I got a new CD in the post today which I have played once. I will tell you all about it tomorrow when I have had a few more listens.

"Sweet Sixteen” Jackie DeShannon & Van Morrison

R.I.P. Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Jack Kerouac & Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I am very sorry to hear that Lawrence Ferlinghetti , poet & publisher has passed away aged 101. I think it is quite touching that he has died on the 200th anniversary of John Keats. As a tribute to him I thought I would repeat this little piece I wrote about him for his 100th birthday in 2019.........

The thing I want to say today is to wish a belated happy 100^th birthday to Lawrence Ferlinghetti who reached that remarkable milestone yesterday. He was born on March 24^th, 1919 in New York. He was a poet first and foremost. You may recall him reciting one of his poems in the film of The Last Waltz. I have always liked his poems because they are very easy to understand, not high-brow stuff at all. With some so-called great poets you need a master’s degree in English literature to even begin to understand what they are talking about. Lawrence believes that poetry should be for the people and accessible. There is also a lot of humour in his work which I like.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti & Allen Ginsberg.

He also has a reputation as a painter, but I don’t feel qualified to talk about that aspect of his career. One of the main things I like about him is his friendship with the Beat Generation writers, especially Jack Kerouac. Lawrence was instrumental in the creation of Jack Kerouac Alley in San Francisco. Jack referred to him as Lorenzo Monsanto in his book Big Sur.  He created City Lights Bookshop which is one of the worlds most famous bookshops. City Lights also published many authors that nobody else would touch. He was even arrested for publishing Howl by Allen Ginsberg.

Lawrence at Jack Kerouac's grave.

My Van Morrison fan buddies will know there are links between Lawrence and Van. Lawrence is mentioned in a recent song by Van called In Tiburon and City Lights Books also were the American publishers for Van’s book of lyrics called Lit Up Inside.

Van Morrison at City Lights Bookshop.

On Keats.

The sun is shining here this morning, if somewhat windy. I am going to try and get outside and achieve something today. I will let you know what progress I make, if any, tomorrow. I just thought I ought to mention John Keats because it is the 200^th anniversary of his death today. He died in Rome of tuberculosis aged only 25. I am not going to sit here and pretend that I am an expert on Keats, far from it, but like many people I do know his most famous works, such as Ode To Autumn, Ode To A Nightingale, Bright Star, Endymion and one or two others.

I have also read a bit about his tragic life and his doomed love affair with Fanny Brawne. This is what Wikipedia says about him. ‘John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his works having been in publication for only four years before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats' work was a great experience that he felt all his life. The poetry of Keats is characterised by a style "heavily loaded with sensualities", most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of the Romantic poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through an emphasis on natural imagery. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature. Some of his most acclaimed works are "Ode to a Nightingale", "Sleep and Poetry" and the famous sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer".

Keats died in Rome and was buried in the English cemetery there. He requested that his name should not be on the headstone, but it should say, 'His name is writ in water'. That is because he thought his name would be forgotten and washed away. The opposite is true of course. I like to interpret the meaning as seeing Keats words as throwing a pebble into water and the ripples of his genius have spread out across 200 years and have touched people all over the world.. 

Listening To Cara Dillon On Monday Afternoon.

It has been almost Spring-like here today. If it is like this again tomorrow, I will get outside and carry on with painting that wall. There is a lot to do. I took a stroll up town earlier. I got some wild bird food that I know they like, and on the way back from Morrison’s I went in Davies and got some plant food for my new yucca.

This afternoon after I had pottered around for a bit, I just sat in the kitchen watching the birds outside flying to and fro. I was listening to After The Morning which is an album by Cara Dillon from 2006. I have not played it for ages and had forgotten how good it is. Cara comes from Dungiven in Northern Ireland, but these days she lives just down the road from here in Frome, Somerset. We went to see Cara at the Cheese & Grain in Frome a few years ago. I got the poster from the door afterwards and Cara signed it for me. I had it framed and it looks great on my wall. There is a quote from Q magazine on it which says, ‘What may well be the worlds most beautiful female voice’. I will not argue with that.

I will not go through every song because it takes too long. Five of the songs are written by Cara and her husband Sam Lakeman and the other seven songs are either traditional or written by others. Cara gathered some wonderful musicians together for this project, such as the great fiddle player Cathal Hayden who I have seen playing with Christy Moore in recent years, Martin O’Connor on accordion, the master guitar player Martin Simpson, the legend who is Paul Brady and others who I am not so familiar with.

My Poster Of Cara.

You might know the opening song Never In A Million Years because it was released as a single and got lots of airplay on Radio 2 at the time. If I had to choose a favourite song it might be The Streets Of Derry which features Paul Brady on vocals. I also love The Snows They Melt The Soonest which is a traditional ballad that I first heard by Anne Briggs. When I say that I like Cara’s version just as much as Anne’s, that is saying something because Anne Briggs is Britain’s greatest ever folk singer in my opinion. Walls is a nice cover version of an American country song which Cara and Sam put their own arrangement to. Cathal Hayden’s fiddle playing is of the highest standard on this song. Garden Valley is a wonderful song written by the great Scottish singer Dougie MacLean. In fact, all the songs on this album are excellent. Well done Cara & Sam.

If you are not familiar with Cara Dillon’s work. I have shared her version of  Memory Lane to this blog site. I thought some of my Van Morrison fan friends might like it.

  

Cara Dillon & Sam Lakeman - Memory Lane (Van Morrison)

Into The Music by Van Morrison, Revisited.

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon and I am listening to Into The Music by Van Morrison. If somebody asked me to name the last Van album where every single song was a classic, In all honesty I would have to say Into The Music. This is what I said about it a long time ago.........

Sometime in the mid 1970's I bought my first Van biography. It was a paperback by the late Richie Yorke called Into The Music. I do not know what happened to it, maybe I sold it on my bookstall. At the time I thought it was not very good. Probably because it was the only biography Van ever actually co-operated with, I think Richie had to be careful what he said. A few years later Van bought out an album called Into The Music and my first thought was that it wasn't an original album title, being the same as the book and a play on words of Into The Mystic. However, on hearing the contents it was apparent that after his hiatus of the mid-70's Van Morrison was back on top form. I think after the disappointing reception of A Period Of Transition Van had to make a commercially successful album, which he did with Wavelength and the success of that album gave him renewed confidence to try something more adventurous. He did this brilliantly with Into The Music producing an album packed with great songs and achieving great critical acclaim at the same time. 

The album begins with a very optimistic upbeat song, the very catchy Bright Side Of The Road. This song gave Van his first hit single in Britain since the days of Them. I like Katie Kissoon singing in the background and the harmonica and when Van does that growly voice which is a bit like Louis Armstrong. Let’s enjoy it while we can because it goes by in the twinkling of an eye. The upbeat feel continues with Full Force Gale. This is very spiritual and Christian. I will find my sanctuary in the lord', sings Van. The great Ry Cooder plays slide guitar on this one. A great song for Sunday mornings, or any morning, for that matter. Steppin’ Out Queen is next. Queens crop up quite a lot in Van songs, Joe Harper Saturday Morning also mentions queens, and Queen Of The Slipstream of course. It is a great song as is Stepping Out Queen, Part 2 on the Philosophers Stone album. Mark Isham’s piccolo trumpet gives a very medieval feel to Troubadours. Van’s friend Robin Williamson plays tin whistle on this song. He was to play quite a role in Vans spiritual journey in subsequent years. 'And for every man all across the land and from shore to shore, they came singin' songs of love and chivalry from the days of yore'.

Pee Wee Ellis.

Rolling Hills is again very up tempo with lots of Yeahs and whoo's from Van who threatens to dance a jig among the rolling hills. Toni Marcus plays a nice viola on this track. Toni plays an important role in making the sound of this album, playing violin, viola, mandolin and straviola. You Make Me Feel So Free is a song I have come to associate with Brian Kennedy in subsequent years because he sings a great cover version on the No Prima Donna album. Pee Wee Ellis excels himself on this track with a nice solo. It was a lucky day for Van when Mark Isham recommended Pee Wee to him. The first six tracks are great, but then Van steps up from great to sublime with the last four tracks starting with Angelou. I have heard it suggested that Van might have got the name from the famous American author Maya Angelou who wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I have never heard of anyone else by that name. This is a romantic song with its images of Paris in the month of May. I spent a few months in France in 79 and met lots of interesting people so this song struck a chord with me when I first heard it. I especially like the talking interlude in the song. ‘Walkin' on a city street who would think you could ever be touched by a total stranger, not me but when you came up to me that day and I listened to your story it reminded me so much of myself. It wasn't what you said but the way it felt to me, about a search and a journey just like mine’.

Toni Talia Marcus.

The next song And The Healing Has Begun is almost as good as it gets with Van. I would put it in the top five Van Morrison songs of all time. Toni Marcus is magnificent on this track. It's All In The Game is a Companion song to You Know What They're Writing About. When Van sings the two songs together it becomes his Master class. Among Van afficionados this song has become simply known as 'Game'. The song itself has an interesting history. The original music was written by an American Vice-President called Charles Dawes in 1912. Lyrics were added by  Carl Sigman in 1951. It was recorded by Tommy Edwards and got to Number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic in 1958. Both Cliff Richard and the Four Tops had hits with it before Van recorded it and made it his own. It is Toni again who excels on this song with her haunting violin. It is a shame she was not in his band for longer. The song flows seamlessly into You Know What They're Writing About. The words Meet me down by the pylons has a very personal resonance for me because at Worthy Farm there is a line of pylons which go right across the site towards the Tor in the distance and the first time I saw Van at Glastonbury in 82 these words suddenly took on new meaning for me. They seemed strangely prophetic. Van Morrison has made some great albums and wonderful songs since 1979, but I do not think for sheer consistency and quality he has quite matched the brilliance of Into The Music. This album personifies the healing power of music.