Visiting The Graves Of Thomas Hardy & T.E Lawrence.

It was a nice day yesterday, so me and a friend of mine decided to go exploring. I thought it would be interesting to see if we could find the graves of some more famous people. We headed for the tiny village of Stinsford on the outskirts of Dorchester where I heard the heart of the great writer Thomas Hardy was buried. It did not take long to get there as Dorchester is only 53 miles south of Westbury. I will just tell you a grisly story I read about the heart of Thomas Hardy. It was his wish to be buried in the churchyard at Stinsford because that was the church in which he was baptised in 1840. His first wife Emma was already buried there. 

Under The Greenwood Tree.

Hardy lived at nearby Max Gate with his second wife Florence where he died in 1928. Because of his great novels, Far From The Madding Crowd, Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Jude The Obscure, The Mayor Of Casterbridge and many more, as well as his poetry, his reputation was almost as great as Charles Dickens. The nation felt that he should be buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey. A compromise was reached to keep everybody happy. His heart would be removed and buried at Stinsford and then he would be cremated, and his ashes interred in Westminster Abbey. 

Hardy's window.

This is where we get to the macabre bit. A doctor was called to his house where his body lay, and he performed the quite simple operation of removing the heart which was placed in a dish in the room. Mrs Hardy offered the doctor a glass of sherry in gratitude, and they retired to the drawing room for a few minutes to talk. Now, Thomas Hardy had a favourite cat called Cobby who entered the empty room where Hardy lay, discovered his heart, and promptly ate most of it. Minutes later Mrs Hardy found the horrific scene. The story goes that the cat was immediately destroyed and allegedly was buried in the churchyard. It is said that many people remarked on the sudden disappearance of Cobby after Hardy’s death.

C Day-Lewis

My personal view is the story is a myth that was probably invented in a Dorchester tavern one night and the story spread. There is one thing that I find strange though. During my research I found some footage of the internment of Hardy’s heart. (I have shared it to this blog page if you want to see it) A man’s heart is roughly the size of a large apple, it would easily fit in a box about four inches square. The casket the priest is carrying to the grave is large enough to contain a cat!. Why put his heart in a box that big? It makes one wonder. Anyway, We found the picturesque little church at Stinsford quite easily and it only took about two minutes to locate the grave which was in between those of Emma and Florence. They lie there peacefully in the shade of an old tree. I wonder if it is the tree referred to in his novel Under The Greenwood Tree because that book is set in the village of Mellstock which was Hardy’s fictionalisation of Stinsford. The tree would definitely have been there during his lifetime. Inside the church we found an amazing stained glass window memorial to Hardy. Also, just a few yards away from Hardy we found the last resting place of Cecil Day-Lewis who was the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He was also the father of the great actor Daniel Day-Lewis. He was a great admirer of Thomas Hardy and it was his request to be buried in the same place.

Me & T.E. Lawrence.

From Stinsford we drove on to the nearby village of Moreton where we found the grave of T.E. Lawrence who many people know better as Lawrence Of Arabia. He was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident near here in 1935. Apparently, there is a roadside memorial marking the spot where he died, but we did not find that. He lived nearby in a tiny cottage called Clouds Hill which his brother donated to the National Trust. Mourners at his funeral in 1935 included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster and Lady Astor. Next to the quiet plot where Lawrence is buried, we found a walled garden which is a beautiful place with ponds and all kinds of exotic plants and trees and modern sculptures, and a nice café where had a cup of tea. Well worth a visit if you are ever in Moreton.

Approaching Lulworth Cove.

After that we had enough of history and culture for one day and decided to head for Lulworth Cove. The plan was to hopefully find a nice pub or a fish and chip restaurant for a spot of lunch. When we got there though it was apparent that everyone in Britain seemed to have the same idea. Because of the nice weather, school half-term holidays, and the fact that because of Covid nobody goes abroad anymore, the place was jammed. We took one look at the packed carpark and decided to be far from the madding crowd. 

Compton Abbas.

We headed towards home and near Shaftesbury stopped at Compton Abbas airfield. This is a tiny little airfield for light aircraft. It also has a café, so we had a bite to eat while watching the planes landing and taking off which was quite good fun. We finally got back to Westbury by 5.00, in time for a couple of well deserved pints in The Crown. I must say after a year of not going anywhere it is nice to be able to get out again.

Thomas Hardy Funeral (1928)

Free by Iggy Pop

I have known about Iggy Pop since the 1970s, but never had any interest in listening to his music, not even when he was associated with David Bowie who I admired a lot. I thought Iggy was a bit of a lunatic who became famous due mainly to his crazy antics on stage. However, In recent years I have grown to like him as a person, mainly due to his excellent radio show on Friday evenings on BBC 6Music. Iggy has played some great music that I would never have got to hear only for him. He also has a great voice for radio. I rate him alongside Bob Dylan as a musician who has tried his hand at radio presenting. I still do not think I would have gone so far as to buy an album by Iggy though. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine Colin who is a huge fan of Iggy Pop and has most of his work gave me a copy of Iggy’s most recent album called Free. Colin had discovered that he had accidentally bought it twice. I played it for the first-time last week when me and Curly went out for the day. I really liked it. The album is nothing like what I had expected from Iggy Pop. I have been playing it again this morning, so I thought I would tell you about it.

It is called Free because that is how Iggy wanted to feel. He was feeling drained from touring and wanted to get away from what was expected of him. As a fan of other people’s music, he wanted guitarscapes instead of riffs, and wanted space in his music. Also, he wanted to get away from the ‘effluent of his own mind’ and interpret the poetry of others. Iggy only contributes towards the composition of three tracks on this album, but it is his vocals throughout. The principal collaborators are Leron Thomas whose trumpet playing, and keyboards are a dominant sound and guitarist Sarah Lipstate whose professional name is Noveller. The title track Free opens the album with just Iggy’s great vocals accompanied by trumpet and a dreamy soundscape of guitars. Love’s Missing was written by Iggy and Leron and features bass and guitar by Aaron Nevezie and Chris Berry on drums. The next track is called Sonali. I did not know what that meant, so I looked it up and it is a Bengali girl’s name. This track is awash with piano and synthesisers by Kenny Ruby. The bass of Robin Sherman introduces James Bond, the catchiest of all these songs and the lyrics are quite humorous. It was released as a single I believe. The trumpet introduction to Dirty Sanchez gives it the feel of a spaghetti western. It is written by Leron Thomas who wrote most of these songs. Glow In The Dark features moog synthesiser and keyboards provided by Florian Pellisier. Page has a more stripped back sound of just Iggy, Aaron and Leron.

Lauren Laverne & Iggy.

The final three tracks are my favourites on this album which develops into a poetry reading with musical accompaniment. We Are The People was written by the late great Lou Reed. Iggy discovered it in a book of Lou’s poetry and related to Lou’s view of their country. It is just Iggy reciting the words, with trumpet and keys. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is arguably the most famous work of Dylan Thomas, published in 1951. Iggy’s reading of it is sublime, and the accompaniment is perfect. The last track is called The Dawn and Iggy himself wrote the words. Because of the subject matter in the lyrics, I wonder if it is his response to the Dylan Thomas poem? I do not know, but the words are great. Iggy is 74 now and this album shows that he has no intention of going gentle into that good night. I am pleased that Colin gave me this CD because I have enjoyed listening to it very much indeed and it has totally changed my view of the one and only Iggy Pop.

Rise Up Like The Sun by The Albion Band.

I got a new album in the post today which I will tell you about. It is not the CD I originally ordered which was Bright Phoebus by Mike & Lal Waterson, a legendary rare album that I was eager to hear. The eBay shop where I ordered it from sent me a message to say it was damaged, and did I want a refund, or order something else? I looked to see what else they had in stock and ordered Rise Up Like The Sun by The Albion Band. I bought this album on vinyl when it was first released in 1978 and loved it. In my view it is one of the classic albums of the Folk-Rock genre. The CD which arrived today also has four bonus tracks which I had not heard before.

The Albion Band was the brainchild of Ashley Hutchings, also in the band are Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks. Richard Thompson is a guest on the album as well, so you have most of Fairport Convention from their golden era of late 60s/ early 70s here. Ric Sanders who later joined Fairport is also in the band. Other members are, John Tams, Phil Pickett, Pete Bullock, Michael Gregory and Graeme Taylor. There is also a star-studded cast of guests, including the wonderful Kate McGarrigle, Julie Covington, Linda Thompson, Pat Donaldson, Martin Carthy and Andy Fairweather-Low. The opening track Ragged Heroes was written by John Tams who sings it with Martin Carthy & Andy Fairweather-Low helping out on vocals. The next song Poor Old Horse is a classic and my favourite song on this great album. It starts slowly but builds relentlessly. I think it was developed from a sea shanty with great chord progressions and chanted backing vocals from seven singers. Afro Blue /Danse Royale is a combination of a John Coltrane jazz piece and a medieval tune. Ric Sanders was responsible for this track, and you can see the jazz fusion influences he brought from his previous band Soft Machine. Phil Pickett contributes some wonderful medieval bagpipe sounds into the mix.

Ampleforth / Lay Me Low is a traditional fiddle tune leading into a John Tams arrangement inspired by a Shaker psalm. Time To Ring Some Changes was written by the great Richard Thompson. House In The Country is another favourite of mine because it features the voice of Kate McGarrigle. It is an early 20^th century song in the traditional style about homelessness which is still an issue today unfortunately. The Primrose is two variants of a very lively traditional tune which was learned from melodeon virtuoso John Kirkpatrick. The final song Gresford Disaster is an epic ballad tale of a coal mining disaster which happened in North Wales in 1934. I know all about it because I went to college near that coalmine, and we did a drama production based on the story. The four bonus tracks are great and include The Postman’s Knock, a jolly song which was released as a single, Pain And Paradise is another song developed from a sea shanty, it features guest vocals by Viola Wills. There is another version of Lay Me Low and finally another Richard Thompson song Rainbow Over The Hill featuring Linda Thompson on vocals. I have loved listening to this great album again today. I am still determined to find a copy of Bright Phoebus though. When I succeed, I’ll let you know. Have a nice weekend.

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan, 80 Years Forever Young.

 I thought I'd celebrate Bob's 80th birthday today by dusting off a story that I wrote a few years ago that was published in a book called Bob Dylan, The Day I Was There................
The year was 1978 and the times they were a changing. Punk rock had swept the country and the old guard was being pushed aside. It was announced that Bob Dylan was to arrive in Britain for five nights at London's Earls Court. The news was greeted with derision by the new wave but for anyone over 25 this was the best news in years. It was Dylan's first visit to Britain for 9 years, since his legendary appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival in 1969. Excitement spread like wildfire throughout the land. The tickets were to go on sale at various venues around the country one Sunday morning at 9.00.Each person was allowed to buy four tickets. The nearest venue to us was the Colston Hall in Bristol.
The night before the tickets went on sale I began to get worried that we would be at the back of the queue and miss out on the tickets. "I think we should be in the queue now," I said to my friends.

We set off for Bristol with our sleeping bags sure that we would be the first in line at the box office. When we got to Colston Hall we were surprised to see a line of people stretching from the box office to the corner of the street. To our horror when we got to the corner we found the queue stretched all the way along the next street as well. There were already thousands of people camped out to get Bob tickets. This was the amazing appeal of Bob Dylan in those days.
There was a fantastic atmosphere on the streets of Bristol that night as a mini Bob fest was held, people sat on the pavement drinking and chatting and listening to Dylan on tape recorders and the sweet smell of marijuana drifted up Colston Street. Next morning the bleary eyed revellers began to shuffle forward when the box office opened. Finally with a sigh of relief I had the precious tickets in my grasp. We were going to see Bob Dylan!

A few weeks later we found ourselves in the vastness of Earls Court arena, Bob was just a tiny figure in the distance and this was before the age of huge video screens. If my memory serves me well he was wearing a top hat. The band were superb though and included three girl singers who were excellent. I think this was the best band Bob had in his career. It's so long ago now in the mists of time that I can't remember a lot about the concert apart from Bob getting a huge round of applause when he first played the harmonica on Love Minus Zero No Limit, also the crowd gave a huge cheer when during It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding Bob sang "Sometimes even the President of the United States has to stand naked", this was only four years since Nixon resigned don't forget. I think my favourite song that night was  I Want You which Bob had slowed right down to a haunting  ballad. There were also songs from his brand new album Street Legal which were excellent. I think the last song he did was Forever Young and during this song people started holding up cigarette lighters and candles until there were 15,000 little lights inside Earls Court. It was an amazing sight. The whole concert was a deeply moving spiritual experience.

Then it was announced that Dylan was to end his European tour with a huge outdoor concert at Blackbushe Aerodrome near Camberley in Surrey. It was to be known as The Picnic. Some picnic this was! Once more we set off to see Bob. The official figure of the attendance that day was 165,000 but anyone who was there knows that the real figure was about three times that. It was vast, I think it is only rivalled by the Stones concert in Hyde Park as the biggest concert ever in Britain. As well as Bob, Eric Clapton was on and Joan Armatrading and Graham Parker And The Rumour who were a hot band in those days. All the glitterati were there, during Bob's set Ringo Starr and George Harrison could be seen at the side of the stage. A good friend of mine sent me a bootleg of this concert a couple of years ago. This is the setlist from that amazing night,

My Back Pages, Love Her With a Feeling, Baby Stop Crying, Just Like Tom Thumb Blues, Shelter From The Storm, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, Girl From The North Country , Ballad Of a Thin Man, Maggie's Farm, Simple Twist Of Fate, Like a Rolling Stone, I Shall Be Released, Is Your Love In Vain, Where Are You Tonight?, A Change Is Gonna Come, Mr. Tambourine Man, Laissez-Faire, Gates Of Eden, True Love Tends To Forget, One More Cup Of Coffee, Blowin' In The Wind I Want You, Señor ,Masters Of War, Just Like a Woman, To Ramona, Don't Think Twice It's Alright, All Along the Watchtower, All I Really Want to Do, It's Alright Ma, Forever Young, Changing Of The Guards, The Times They Are A Changin'.
It took us hours to find our car afterwards and it was dawn before we finally made it to the main road to head home. There would never again be a concert in Britain like Dylan's concert at Blackbushe which was the hippies graveyard. For me it represented the end of an era. The following winter was the winter of discontent and in 1979 Thatcher seized power and a darkness descended upon the country which she held in the grip of her icy claw. I saw Dylan again in 1981 but it wasn't the same. By then I was disillusioned because if Bob Dylan was the voice of a generation how come someone like Thatcher got elected? For me it was only Glastonbury Festival which kept the flame of hope alive during those dark years of unemployment and poverty. I lost interest in Bob for a while especially when he reached his nadir with the Saved album and then his shambolic awful performance at Live Aid, but in recent years I have returned to playing Bob's records and there is no doubt to me that he is one of the greatest poets who ever lived and anyone who ever saw Bob perform live is privileged.
So thank you for writing the best songs
Thank you for righting a few wrongs
You're a savage gift on a wayward bus
But you stepped down and you sang to us
(Words by Joan Baez)

For My Crimes by Marissa Nadler.

It is Wednesday morning. I have not written anything for about ten days, so I thought I would tell you about the CD I am listening to at this very moment. It is called For My Crimes by Marissa Nadler. I heard a song a few weeks ago on BBC 6Music and thought, “What a wonderful voice”. It was the voice of a siren, not a police siren, but one of those mythical Greek creatures. I looked her up on the internet and next thing I knew I had ordered her most recent album. When it arrived, I played it a couple of times and could not get into it at first. I thought it was a bit ‘samey’. Because of the excitement of Van Morrison’s new album, I forgot all about it until yesterday, and now it is growing on me with every listen. This is Marissa’s eighth album released in 2018. The cover is one of her own paintings for she is also an artist. The painting does not have a title but seems to depict a shipwreck or a fire. Probably a metaphor for a doomed relationship which seems to be the subject matter of the songs. The photos in the booklet show that Marissa is exceptionally beautiful in a goth sort of way. The music has a dreamy, ethereal quality.

The title track For My Crimes is very dark and seems to be set on Death Row with the protagonist asking not to be judged by their crimes. It is probably symbolic for being the guilty party in a failed relationship. The song tells me that Marissa is a very accomplished guitar player as well as having a beguiling voice. I see Angel Olsen who I have written about previously provides some lovely ghostly backing vocals. I think all the musicians on this album are female. I Can’t Listen To Gene Clark Anymore is a beautiful song, one of my favourites. It is about not being able to play favourite songs because it brings back painful memories of lost love. Marissa must be quite familiar with Gene Clark’s No Other album which I have also written about previously. Sharon Van Etten also sings on this track and I should mention the wonderful string arrangements on this album by Janel Leppin. Are You Really Gonna Move To The South? features the harp of Mary Lattimore who also has a successful solo career. Lover Release Me is a plea to end an unhappy prison of a relationship. Blue Vapor is an outstanding track with a full band sound featuring saxophone and Patti Schemel from the band Hole on drums. Interlocking has Eva Gardner on bass. Hands can interlock, but so do the links of chains. I think that is the message. All Out Of Catastrophes is another dark song in which Marissa’s lover calls her Natalie by mistake. There is a hint of psychosis when she throws her keys at his head.

Dream Dream Big In The Sky is more positive, where she wants to actually be with someone. The arrangements are exquisite. You’re Only Harmless When You Sleep is cold, like moonlight on a tombstone. “We’re only lonely when we’re in the same room” is one line. It is like the alienation of an Edward Hopper painting in a song. Flamethrower has imagery of things like a body being burned in the desert. Didn’t that happen to Gram Parsons? Said Goodbye To That Car is the final song where getting rid of an old car with 119,657 miles on the clock represents the ending a relationship. Even then, there is a suggestion of menace, where she mentions in passing that the car took a bullet in the roof in New Haven, but she does not say how or why. Only time will tell if I listen to this album very often. It is a grower though. The overall sound of the voice, guitar and strings is quite beautiful, even if the subject matter is dark. I have shared a video on this blog page of Marissa performing I Can’t Listen To Gene Clark Anymore. I like it, but you  can judge for yourself.

ADDENDUM: When I wrote this review yesterday I didn't know a lot about Marissa. A friend who read my review told me that she is married to Ryan Walsh who wrote the book Astral Weeks which is about the Boston music scene in 1968. I thought that the songs might be autobiographical, but I think now that Marissa might get a lot of ideas from films or books. She seems to have an interest in crime and horror stories which might explain some of the lyrics, and shouldn't be seen as being about her personally.

Marissa Nadler - I Can't Listen to Gene Clark Anymore (Live with Sharon ...