Blind Boy Grunt.

Dylan Eric Von Schmidt & Richard Farina.

There are several mentions in the Joe Boyd book White Bicycles  of Eric Von Schmidt. He was a folk singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter who was a leading light of the American folk scene of the late 50’s and early 60’s. He was also a close friend of Bob Dylan. Bob even mentions Eric on his very first album when he said that he learned Baby Let Me Follow You Down from Eric. He also gave him another plug three years later. If you look carefully at the cover of the Bringing It All Back Home album you will see an album by Eric right near Bob’s hand.

To cut to the chase, when I was reading about Eric this afternoon I suddenly remembered that I have an album by him. I haven’t got many vinyl albums left but somehow this album has survived. It is called Dick Farina & Eric Von Schmidt. Dick or Richard Farina was another singer and writer of great promise. He married Carolyn Hester and later Mimi who was the younger sister of Joan Baez. He is best remembered for his novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Tragically his career ended in 1966 when he was killed in a motorcycle accident. The album was recorded at Dobell’s Record Shop in London in January 1963. It was released in England on the Folklore label. My copy is the very rare first pressing which says LIMITED EDITION on the record label.

My Copy.

What makes this LP so interesting to me (and many others I would imagine) is that there is a guest player on the record who went by the name of Blind Boy Grunt. He doesn’t sing on the album, just plays harmonica, I wish he did sing though because Blind Boy Grunt is better known the world over as BOB DYLAN!. I can’t remember ever playing this album and I don’t know how it came into my possession. I haven’t had a record turntable for at least 25 years so I can’t listen to it now. I did listen to a couple of tracks on youtube this afternoon and I wasn’t all that impressed I’m afraid.

Because of the Dylan connection this record is much sought after by collectors. Mint copies of this rare limited-edition change hands for £50-£!20. Sadly, my copy isn’t in a very good state, the cover is quite worn & tatty and there are some scratches on the vinyl. However, it is probably worth a few quid even in this condition. Anyway, it was good fun finding out about it today and it gave me something to write about..   

       

Bridget St. John - Live (French TV May 1970)

I was listening to Bridget St. John this morning. She is great and should have got a lot more recognition than she did. Here she is in 1970. My favourite song here is Ask Me No Questions
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White Bicycles

Today I have started reading a book that I bought on eBay called White Bicycles, Making Music In The 1960’s.  The reason I was interested in it was because it is written by Joe Boyd who produced some of my favourite music of all time. The list of his achievements is endless, I was just looking through my cd collection and spotted several classic albums produced by Joe such as The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter by The Incredible String Band, What We Did On Our Holidays, Liege And Leif, Unhalfbricking & Full House by Fairport Convention, Just Another Diamond Day by Vashti Bunyan and Kate And Anna McGarrigle. He produced three Nick Drake albums and other people he worked with that I like include Fotheringay, The Albion Band, John & Beverley Martin, 10,000 Maniacs and Richard Thompson.

ISB, Vashti Bunyan, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake.

The title of the book comes from a song by a band called Tomorrow and was about an anarchist movement in Amsterdam in the 60’s to paint all bicycles white so they could be used by everyone. I’m only in the early stages of reading the book so I can’t tell you all that much about it yet but I’m sure I’ll find it fascinating. There are some fabulous rare photos as well of the likes of Anne Briggs, The Watersons, Fairport Convention, Bob Dylan Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Incredible String Band and many more.

Apart from that I haven’t done much today. I did post off a book which involved a long walk which I quite enjoyed, and I put my Robert Crumb book in my bookshop because I decided I didn’t want to read it. I had a quick look through it and decided that it was a bit dated in the modern age. Great music on the other hand such as that produced by Joe Boyd will never seem dated.

I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight.

I got up at 2.30 this morning hoping to see the super blood red moon. I went downstairs and peered out of the kitchen window, but it was too cloudy. I couldn’t see a thing. I went back to bed till 9.00. I had to go to the post office so caught the 11.25 over to Warminster. After posting the package I headed to the music shop because I thought I deserved another cd. I bought I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson. I have several Richard Thompson albums but I have never owned this one and have been meaning to purchase it for ages. Feeling quite pleased with myself I bought a J2O in Wetherspoons and waited  for my friend Sian to turn up. When she finally arrived I bought her a chardonnay but I didn't have one as it was day 21 of dry January. Only ten days to go. It has been a breeze not drinking. I haven’t missed it at all and feel a lot better for it.

We had a chat for an hour or so and then I made my way home. It was a nice afternoon, cold but sunny. I played my new album and I must say it is a classic. I knew it would be. Released in 1974 it was the first album RT made with his wife of the time Linda Thompson. I like her singing on this album. I also like the contributions of all the ensemble, including a brass band. The songs are about the homeless, thieves, beggars, and drunks. The subject matter doesn’t depress me though, I found the music very uplifting. The title track is my favourite at this stage (See video below) , but I love all of it. Withered And Died is another song I think is a classic and Down Where The Drunkards Roll. Every track is worthy of praise though. If you haven’t heard this record before then I urge you to do so.

This evening I have just been watching the telly. University Challenge first, and I’m just watching a series about icons of the 20^th century. The viewers have to vote for their favourite icon. Tonight, was about activists and the choices were Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Emily Pankhurst and Helen Keller. That is a difficult choice to choose the most deserving of those. I think I might choose Gandhi because I think his achievements through non-violent protest were a big influence on Martin Luther King.

Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson : I Want To See The Bright...