The End Of An Era.

Monday morning. I ought to try and write something in the mornings because if I leave it until the evening, I tend not to bother. So, what have I been doing lately? Not a lot really. On Saturday I went over to Warminster. I thought I would treat myself to a new CD because I like to support my local record shop when I can. It is called Raves From The Grave because as well as new releases they also sold rare collectible vinyl. “Have you got the new album by Marianne Faithfull?”, I asked the lady behind the counter. “No, we haven’t got anything new I’m afraid, this is our last day today, we are closing”. That was sad news, the end of an era. It is inevitable I suppose. All the interesting little shops are gradually disappearing. It is the effect of online shopping and maybe Covid was the final straw. In a few years’ time I think all music shops will have closed. When I look back, I remember the hours I used to spend happily browsing in record shops until I made my choice of what to buy. Anyway, I had a look through what stock they had remaining, but couldn’t find anything I wanted, so left the shop empty handed and went to Spoons to meet Sian.

I don’t even like Wetherspoons. The owner of the Wetherspoons chain Tim Martin is a pro-Brexiter and they even used to have pro Brexit leaflets on the tables in there. He treated the staff appallingly during lockdown, telling them to try their luck at Tesco’s. Now, he is asking Boris Johnson to allow more workers from Europe into the country because he is facing staff shortages. The irony of it!  Anyway, Sian doesn’t care about that, and also because other pubs like The Bell have closed down due to Spoons undercutting the prices, there isn’t a lot of choice in the centre of Warminster. That is why I met her in there. Previously I used to get her to take my photo with whatever CD I had bought, to illustrate my subsequent review. Today, I sadly had nothing to photograph, but I got her to take my photo anyway.

I did leave her for a few minutes while I had a had a quick buzz around the charity shops. I found one little bargain for only £1.00 which was Hoochie Coochie Man, The Chess Story. It is a 2CD set of 50 original recordings on the Chess label, by such people as Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Etta James, Little Walter, Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy and many more. I played it when I got home and love it. I bet Van Morrison would enjoy this album because a lot of these people were a big influence on Van, and I only discovered a lot of them because of Van talking about them in interviews. That is just one of the great things about Van, he leads you discover other great music.  So, although it was disappointing that the record shop has closed, it wasn’t such a bad day after all.