My Glastonbury Festival Memories: Chapter 4. 1983

The main thing I remember about 1983 is that it was hot, a scorcher. We were all camped down by the pylons again. Our friend Pete from Yorkshire came down with his girlfriend Luciana and I told them not to worry about a tent because I knew where I could borrow a spare one. I didn’t look at it before the festival and when we set it up we found it was tiny. It was only about eighteen inches high. It looked like a caterpillar, the sort of thing that mountaineers used. Luckily the weather was so nice that year they seemed to manage ok.

The pub landlord Pee Wee from Trowbridge who I worked for the previous year was running the main beer tent in 83 which was a huge marquee to the right of the Pyramid Stage. I think that was the last year that they had a beer tent in the actual arena in front of the stage. Also, due to new legislation brought in by Thatcher’s government this was the first year that Michael Eavis had to apply for a licence to run the event. Mendip District Council set the crowd limit at 30,000 but everyone who was there knew that there were far more people than that there due to gate crashers. This caused a few problems when he applied for a licence the following year. The festival also had its own radio station for the first time that year called Radio Avalon and it has been present every year since, but in all the years I have been going to Glastonbury I don’t think I have ever listened to it.

Musically for me personally I don’t think that 1983 was a very memorable year. The highlight for me was seeing The Chieftains for the first time in my life. I’m not sure if seven creamy pints came out on a tray but they deserved one because they certainly got the audience dancing with the jigs and reels. The act that I really wanted to see was Melanie. I had been a big fan of hers from the early 70’s and had lots of her albums such as Candles In The Rain, Leftover Wine, The Good Book and others but I had never seen her live in concert. I was looking forward to seeing her but unfortunately, I had been drinking cider all day and fell asleep before she came on. Apparently, my sister Margaret tried to wake me up, but I can’t remember anything about it. It wasn’t until about 2008 that I finally got to see Melanie at the Cheese & Grain in Frome which was a nice evening. A band I do remember seeing was an Irish folk-rock band called Moving Hearts. They were good. Christy Moore was a member of this group for a while, but I don’t think he was with them in 83 at Glasto. I was to see some memorable performances by Christy in later years at Glastonbury.

There was always a lot of reggae at those early festivals. It was the dance music of the time. There were tents pumping out dub reggae all night long. On the Pyramid Stage Dennis Brown played, backed by Aswad who always seemed to be on at Glasto. I also remember Marillion playing who were big at the time. Curtis Mayfield was also there but I only have a vague recollection of his performance. I also have a very dim memory of the veteran American folk singer Tom Paxton being there. He was one of the protest singers from the 60’s so had a lot of empathy with the CND ethos of Glastonbury. I wonder if he thought it was strange if he thought he was coming to some sort of political rally type event and found out that it was a hedonistic sex, drugs and rock n roll fest with a couple of political speeches thrown into the mix. The act that closed the festival in 83 was King Sunny Ade who was an exponent of JuJu music from Nigeria. Some people talked highly of him afterwards but I’m afraid I can’t recall any of it. I am usually the great rememberer but I think 1983 was a bit of a wipe-out for me probably due to the cider intake.

The Chieftains.

My Glastonbury Festival Memories: Chapter 3. 1982

Chapter 3. 1982, Summertime In England.

We were back at Glasto in 1982 which was memorable for me. One reason was that it was the first time that I worked at Glastonbury and another reason was that my favourite musician of all time Van Morrison made the first of his seven Glastonbury appearances. The job I had in 82 was working backstage for a pub landlord from Trowbridge who was running the backstage bar. I have written about this episode in my  book called Vanatic so I won’t repeat the whole sorry saga here. Sufficient to say that we arrived on the Wednesday and my services were dispensed with on the Saturday morning. We were camped up near one of the electricity pylons right in front of the Pyramid Stage, so we got a great view of the proceedings. There was quite a gang of us. Sadly, I can think of four people from that year who are no longer with us, Paul, Gordon, Richard and Tim.

Back in those far-flung days of yesteryear the cows used to be grazing on the land right up to the festival starting. You had to watch out for cow pats which were everywhere. It wouldn’t be advisable to wear a black beret to those early Glastonbury’s because if it blew off at night you could try on five of them before you found the right one. There were lots of animals in those days as well. Horses pulling gypsy type caravans and lots of dogs. The dogs had a great time at Glasto. A dog’s nose can sniff out a discarded half eaten burger from hundreds of yards away. I’m not sure if it was 82 but my friend Dave brought his dog called Hagan one year and as soon as he arrived and took Hagan’s lead off he ran away. He didn’t return until Monday morning when Hagan realised it was time to go home.

There were no police on the site in those days. They didn’t arrive till quite a few years later. They weren’t needed anyway as it was so peaceful. They were outside though and searched anybody going in at random and ran up cricket scores of arrests for possession of marijuana and LSD. Many a bright young person had their future blighted by getting a criminal conviction for having a bit of pot in their pockets. The police in those days regarded hippy types as the enemy. This was encouraged by the Thatcher government who hated Glastonbury and its association with CND.  Matters would come to a head a couple of years later with the notorious Battle of The Beanfield. I’m glad to say though that these days with the festival ten times bigger the police attitude has changed completely. The amount of arrests is tiny in comparison and their presence is mainly concerned with the welfare of the festival goers.

1982 was the first year as well when I got a taste of the mud that Glastonbury is famous for. The Friday was the wettest day in Somerset for 45 years and the site was turned into a mud bath. This is because the site is on clay, also it is in a valley so the water all goes downhill into the basin at the foot of the hill. When you have been to a few Glastonbury’s though you get used to it and its not muddy every year which some people who have never been seem to think.

Musically 1982 was the first Glastonbury for me when there were some truly great performances. On the Friday punk poet John Cooper Clarke was brilliant and I was on the side of the stage for his performance and shook hands with him at the end. I was also on stage to see Black Uhuru because I knew their roadie Mick from Bradford On Avon. Backstage I also met the late great Randy California. I can’t remember his performance. All I know is that he must have been quite drunk by the time he got on stage because I had been drinking with him. Roy Harper returned to Glastonbury on Saturday afternoon but this year there was no punch-up as in 81.

The highlight for me on Saturday was Van Morrison’s performance. It was only the second time I had seen him in concert. Van was still based in the States in those days and I think this was his first tour in Britain since 79. Van arrived in his car backstage, walked straight on and gave a magnificent performance then got straight back in the car and was driven away immediately. It was to be five long years until I saw Van return to Glastonbury. His band did hang out for a while though. I found a photo of his sax player Pee-Wee Ellis chatting to Jackson Browne and about twenty years later I presented a copy of the photo to Pee-Wee and he was really pleased because he had never seen it before and he signed a copy of it for me as well.

The head of CND Bruce Kent gave a talk on Sunday before the music began. I remember this person who didn’t like Glastonbury supporting CND flew around and around above the site in a light airplane trailing a banner with the slogan HELP THE RUSSIANS, SUPPORT CND on it. I think he ended up in court for that stunt and got fined. Good!

Sunday was another great day of music. There was a fabulous set by Jackson Browne who had been on the site all weekend enjoying the festival. There was also a great performance by Judy Tzuke who played just as it got dark. I think she must remember that as the gig of her life because she has faded into obscurity since those days but she was brilliant that night. I particularly remember her last song called Stay With Me Till Dawn.If I remember correctly the last person on was the late great Richie Havens. It was a thrill to see him for the first time because I had always liked his performance in the film Woodstock. It was raining quite heavily during his set so I watched from the entrance to my tent. He was great and I was to see him again at Glastonbury many years later. The festival of 82 was brought to an end with an amazing laser beam display accompanied by the music of Tubeway Army.

Next morning as we left there were hundreds of people hitching out of the site. I don’t think people hitch to festivals any more. Most of them were heading for Stonehenge and all along the lanes were people with signs saying STONEHENGE PLEASE. I expect they all got lifts because that’s what it was like in those days.

My Glastonbury Festival Memories: Chapter 2, 1981

Chapter 2. 1981, Down by The Pylons.

The 1979 festival was a financial disaster unfortunately and after 79 there wasn’t another festival at Glastonbury till 1981 but that didn’t stop us going to Worthy Farm in those two years. There were some small gigs in a barn up by the farmhouse. They hardly got any publicity, we heard about them by word of mouth. There was a great atmosphere and they used to have a bonfire going outside as well. I remember particularly one night seeing Roy Harper there and, on another occasion, seeing Atomic Rooster. Other people have told me they saw Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance as well, but I don’t remember that. The most amazing of these gigs for me though was one Sunday afternoon myself and Fred went down to Worthy Farm to see The Master Musicians of Joujouka. These are a group of Sufi Trance musicians from the Rif mountains of Morocco. They were brought to Glastonbury by a man called Rikki Stein (not to be confused with the famous cook). He had a lot to do in later years with bringing a lot of African music to Glasto such as Fela Kuti and many others. The musicians from Joujouka were discovered in the 50’s by the likes of William Burroughs, Bryon Gysin and Paul Bowles and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones who recorded an album with them in 1968 which was released after his death.

It was an incredible and strange afternoon but what made it even more magical was the fact that as we were leaving, on a perfectly clear day an inverted rainbow appeared in the sky. You might not believe that you can get an upside-down rainbow, but I saw it with my own two eyes. I have looked it up since and it is a phenomenon known as a circumzenithal arc. Look it up for yourself if you don’t believe me. For me it just confirmed that the Vale of Avalon is indeed a magical place. The Master Musicians of Joujouka returned to Glastonbury in 2011 when they opened the festival on the Pyramid Stage and they also played up at the stone circle. 

In the two years leading up to 1981 there had been two major events. The Russians had invaded Afghanistan which brought Cold War tensions to a new height and Emily Eavis was born. Both these events concentrated the mind of Michael Eavis. Concerned about the threat of nuclear war he had joined The Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament. He wanted to help them raise funds. This had become extra important when the British and Americans under Ronald Reagan had agreed to base Cruise Missiles with nuclear warheads at Greenham Common in Berkshire. The festival of 1981 was the first Glastonbury Festival to make any money and £20.000 was donated to CND. Glastonbury became the single biggest donor to this cause over the next ten years and the festival became known as the Glastonbury CND Festival. Eventually thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev and his policies of Perestroika and Glasnost which led to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty the missiles were all gone by 1991 and with the ending of the Cold War Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water-Aid became the main beneficiaries of Glastonbury. All this does show the big influence that the festival has had in trying to make the world a better place.

1981 was also the year that the Pyramid Stage returned. It was built from local wood and telegraph poles and covered with box-section iron sheets that Michael Eavis bought from a bloke he met at Taunton market. It was finished just in time but the huge CND logo that was meant to be at the apex of the pyramid was too heavy to haul up there, so it spent 1981 in a corner of the stage. That stage remained in place till 1994 when it burned down. Michael got planning permission for it to be a permanent structure because in winter the base of it was used as a cowshed.

It cost us £8.00 to get in. In those days you didn’t have to park outside the fence. You could park anywhere you want. It was still quite empty when we arrived. We got a lift there with Mike from Bradford On Avon who just drove his car in there and parked up in front of the stage and we put our tents up next to the car. It was hot that year. A good friend of ours called Pete from Yorkshire came to that festival. He was a great cook and before we set off for Glasto he made a lot of curry which he put in Tupperware containers and said that would keep us going for the whole weekend. I stored it all away in the tent. On the Monday morning when we were packing up to go home I found all these containers of food and realised that we hadn’t eaten a single thing all weekend. I wonder why that was. There was a family there that year who we knew from Bradford On Avon. “I like your wigwam”. I said to them. “It’s not a wigwam, it’s a tipi!”, shouted one of their kids most indignantly.

Bob Marley had died only a month before the festival which might have partly accounted for all the reggae music pumping out all over the site but musically in 1981 my main memory and for a lot of other people as well was the punch-up on stage between Ginger Baker and Roy Harper on Friday night. Ginger Baker was on last and the music had to end by a certain time. Roy Harper’s set went on and on. Eventually Ginger Baker got fed up and came on the stage and started setting up his drum kit and told Roy to F*** Off. A scuffle broke out and Roy Harper ended the set being dragged off by the security. So much for the love and peace, man. New Order played on the Saturday and the singer/guitarist was so drunk he could hardly stand up and kept lying on the floor. I also have a vague recollection of the great Taj Mahal playing on the last night and I think he might have sung a song called CND Blues, but he did play again another year, so I might have that confused. It was 38 years ago after all.

On Monday some hippy guy offered to give me and my brother Paul a lift home in his van, but we had to hang about all day in the blazing sun while he dismantled his market stall. I was suffering with sunburn, dehydrated, deprived of sleep and hadn’t eaten anything for days. It was a relief to finally get home that evening. Glastonbury was over for another year.

Live At The Marvelous Tiny Theater by Michel BG Yves.

Bonjour. It is raining so I won’t be going out today. That gives me the opportunity to tell you about the music I have been listening to recently. As you know, I have always enjoyed listening to French chanson and have written previously about the likes of Francoise Hardy and Marie Laforet. Today I want to tell you about another recording I have been listening to for the past two days. It is Live At The Marvelous Tiny Theater by Michel BG Yves. Firstly, I should declare an interest because I know Michel. I first met him and his Danish wife Marchen in Dublin 2015 when we were enroute to Belfast for Van Morrison’s 70^th birthday celebrations. Our paths have crossed a few times since then in places like Bristol and at Nell’s Club in London. 

Michel’s main passions in life appear to be gastronomy and music. It seems that ever since he retired from being a chef de cuisine he has had more time to develop his music skills. I first became aware of his musical talent when he posted videos on Facebook of himself playing the saxophone. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength and has emerged as a great singer. His sons are also accomplished musicians on the Danish music scene. Recently Michel converted his basement into a tiny theatre where he hosts concerts for family and friends, and it was in the Tiny Theater that the 20 songs I received two days ago were recorded.

I have enjoyed listening to the songs immensely, and it has been very educational for me learning more about French music, translating the titles and lyrics to find out the meaning of the songs. As well as listening to Michel’s recording, I have also listened to some of the original versions by other artists. I was surprised to find out that I recognised some of the tunes. The bolero style Et Maintenant for instance. It was originally a big hit in France for Gilbert Becaud who wrote it. I remember the English version What Now My Love by Shirley Bassey and later by Sonny & Cher. 

I won’t discuss every song here, but I think my favourite song on first listen was the very poetic and emotional Les Gens Du Nord (People Of The North) written by the Algerian exile Enrico Macias, but now after further listening I like all 20 songs. La Maladie D’Amour was a popular folk song which has been covered by many people including Sacha Distel. Au Pays Des Mervielles De Juliet sounds quite humorous to me. I think it translates as The Wonderland Of Juliet, but I’m not sure of the songs meaning. Serge Gainsbourg wrote Requiem Pour Un Con which was featured in a film starring Jean Gabin. 

I believe ‘Un Con’ means a jerk or an idiot. When I looked up Faut Pas Pleurer Comme Ca today I found out that it was recorded by Gerard Depardieu. It is quite easy to understand the meaning of J’aime Les Filles (I Like Girls). Toute La Musique Que J’aime is a most enjoyable blues song. I have always liked the songs of the genius Jacques Brel ever since discovering his music via the likes of David Bowie, Scott Walker and Alex Harvey. Michel sings a brilliant version of Voir Un Ami Pleurer which featured on Jacques Brel’s final album before he died in 1977. Many people will recognise Les Feuilles Morte (The Dead Leaves). The lyrics were written by Jacques Prevert and then Johnny Mercer wrote an English version called Autumn Leaves. Among the many recordings of the song there was one by Edith Piaf in French and English. 

Il Est Cinq Heures by Jacques Dutronc was voted the greatest French single of all time in a poll, and Michel’s version is just as good in my opinion. The most excellent live concert ends with Il Voyage En Solitaire written by Gerard Manset in which Michel encourages the audience to join in with the chorus, before leaving the stage with the applause ringing in his ears. Highly recommended. I have shared one song Les Gens Du Nord below, and you can find all twenty songs on youtube. Cheers.

Les Gens Du Nord by Michel BG Yves.

Van Morrison at Les Cousins Folk & Blues Club 1966..

I haven’t written anything for a while because the weather has been quite pleasant recently and I have been busy gardening and doing some much needed house repairs. It is a lot cooler and showery today so I should make an effort to write something. I thought I would tell you about the music I am listening to right now. It is a 3CD box set called Les Cousins. The Soundtrack Of Soho’s Legendary Folk & Blues Club. I ordered this labour of love compiled by Ian A Anderson about three months ago. I’ll just tell you briefly about this club. Les Cousins was opened on Friday 16 April 1965 in a basement venue in Greek Street, Soho which had earlier served as a 1950s skiffle club. 

Upstairs was the Dionysus restaurant owned by a family called Matheou, and  Andy Matheou ran the basement club. The club was reputed to have taken its name from Claude Chabrol's 1959 film Les Cousins, However, the name was usually pronounced with English pronunciation, rather than French. The club was noted for its all-night sessions and was favoured by the innovative musicians who were less welcome in more purist traditional folk clubs. The reason I bought this compilation of songs is because it is packed with music by many of my favourite singers and musicians who I have written articles about previously on this blog site. People like Jackson C. Frank,  Dr Strangely Strange, Dave Van Ronk, Roy Harper, Julie Felix, Bridget St John, Tim Hardin, Cat Stevens, Strawbs, Bert Jansch, Keith Christmas, Sweeney’s Men, Sandy Denny, Tir Na Nog, The Watersons, Donovan, Shelagh McDonald, John Martyn, Anne Briggs, Nick Drake and many more, there are also artists who I wasn’t aware of previously who I want to learn more about. There are 72 tracks in all, a feast of music for fans of folk and blues music.

Bert Jansch

The boxset also contains a booklet with copious informative notes by Ian who has painstakingly written about every single artist and song that feature in the collection. The booklet is also lavishly illustrated. It contains photos of Andy Matheou’s diary where he kept a record of the acts he had booked. I was astonished to find out that on Tuesday April 26 1966 Van Morrison appeared at Les Cousins and was paid the princely sum of £3.00. Two weeks earlier the legendary Sandy Denny also appeared for £3.00. I think Van must have been moonlighting from his group Them. I wonder if this is the first known gig of Van appearing as a solo artist? I think £3 in 1966 is about £54 in today’s money. 

The Watersons

It’s still not a lot of money, but it is if you are broke. The previous year Van and Them had records in the charts, but the fact that he played Les Cousins for such a small fee suggests to me that they hadn’t made any money from their efforts. Two days after this gig Van and Them would play by the river Thames in London for a satellite broadcast to the USA and the following month headed for America where after a long residency at the Whisky A Go Go and other concerts the group would break up. I would have loved to have been in the audience that night at Les Cousins. I doubt if we will ever know what songs Van sang. Possibly he might have tried out early versions of Madame George or Ballerina. I know this is a long shot but if you were there let me know. Cheers.

Davy Graham, Martin Carthy.

The Mavericks & Jarrod Dickenson, The Forum Bath, April 24 2024.

I had been looking forward to this evening for months, and finally it had arrived. Colin and Sharon picked me up in the market place and off we set for Bath. The countryside looked beautiful in the April evening sunshine, and I thought how lucky we are to live in such a pleasant area. Eventually, we arrived in the fine Georgian & Roman city of Bath. Our first stop was the bustling Lamb & Lion pub intending to get some food, but the barman said there was a 45-minute waiting time, so we just had a drink in the beer garden and then made our way to a burger bar where I opted for a vegan burger. We passed the time chatting to some other Mavericks fans who just happened to be in there. The time flew by, and we strolled to the nearby Forum where the doors had just opened.

The show was supposed to start at 7.30, but the support act of Jarrod Dickenson and his small band of another guitar player, a drummer and his wife Claire shuffled on stage at 7.50. All was soon forgiven for the late start because they played a short, but very enjoyable set of songs. I had never heard of Jarrod Dickenson until a few days ago, but when I saw that he was to be the support act in Bath I listened to some songs on YouTube. I was particularly taken by a sweet little duet with his wife Claire called Your Heart Belongs To Me. I have shared it below. I think Jarrod hails from Waco Texas, and I was surprised to find out that Claire is from Belfast. 

Later in the evening I had a little chat with them at the merchandise table and bought Jarrod’s 2017 album Ready The Horses which he signed for me. I should have asked Claire if she was a fan of fellow Belfast citizen Van Morrison, but I didn’t think. I can’t remember all the songs in their set, but they certainly performed Faint Of Heart which is also on the album. I would describe his music as soulful country rock, excellent. During the interval It was great to meet up with my old friends and former neighbours Dave & Sarah for a little chat. Then it was time for one of the world’s great live bands The Mavericks.

I must confess that I have never bought a Mavericks album, and Dance The Night Away is the only song I was familiar with. However, I saw them play at Glastonbury a few years ago and was blown away by their infectious joyful danceable music. I think their forte is certainly live performance. If I get a Mavericks album in the future, I think it would definitely be a live one. Before last night Raul Malo the vocalist and bass player was the only Maverick I could name. I think there are only three other official band members, Paul Deakin on drums, Jerry Dale McFadden on keyboards and vocals, & Eddie Perez on guitars. 

There were about eight or nine people on stage who all performed brilliantly. Max Abrams on sax, Julio Diaz on trumpet, Percy Cardona on accordion, and Lorenzo Molina on trumpet all deserve a mention for their splendid efforts. (I hope I got the names right, and haven’t forgotten anyone) You might be disappointed if expecting a setlist because I don’t have a clue what most of the songs were called. Lots of people left their seats to dance in front of the stage, so I wandered down and filmed one song which I think is called The Name Of The Game.

While I was down at the front, they played There Goes My Heart which I surprisingly recognised. I also remember Moon & Stars which Raul said is the title track from their upcoming new album. And We Dance is a very moving song inspired by the war in Ukraine. They played a slow version of Dance The Night Away which the whole audience sang along with, and Raul conducted. This band are all about audience participation. By the end of the show almost the entire audience were on their feet and clapping along. If I had to choose a highlight of the show, I think it would be their beautiful version of the Rodgers & Hart classic Blue Moon. I can’t name any of the other songs, but that doesn’t matter because they treated us to two hours of wonderful positive uplifting music. As we left the Forum, I knew that the audience had just shared a memorable experience. The Mavericks will be weaving their magic at the London Palladium tonight before moving on to Europe. If you ever get the chance to go and see them, I think you should go. You won’t be disappointed.

PS, thank you very much Colin & Sharon for taking me to Bath, and for some of the pictures. Cheers.