Happy Birthday to Marianne Faithful: – Madame George

Heal the World with Compassionate Leadership. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

J.P.

A quick little update on my adventures in the shady world of secondhand book dealing. I managed to sell my Kenneth Branagh signed book last week, so I posted it off a few days ago. This morning I replaced it for sale with a book by J.P. Donleavy called An Author and His Image, The Collected Short Pieces. It is a nice hardback first edition 1997, so I hope it finds a good new home. Apart from Flann O’Brien I think J.P. is the funniest Irish writer of all time. Actually, I should say Irish American because although he lived in Ireland most of his life, he was in fact born in New York of Irish parents in 1926. After WW11 he moved to Ireland to study at Trinity College Dublin. He died in 2017 aged 91. I think my favourite books of his are The Ginger Man, A Singular Man and The Onion Eaters. I was reminded of J.P. recently because Shane MacGowan was a huge admirer of Him. (See the photo of Shane & J.P.) It was J.P.’s book A Fairytale of New York that inspired Shane to write his classic song of the same name. If you haven’t read any of his books, then I encourage you to do so. Cheers. 

Shane MacGowan & J.P. Donleavy.

Nick Cave Sings "A Rainy Night in Soho" at Shane MacGowan's Funeral

The Legend of Sweeney's Men.

Some new music arrived here on Monday, a compilation 2CD album from 2004 called The legend of Sweeney’s Men. I had ordered it about ten days ago and a few days later I heard the sad news that Shane Macgowan had passed away. That was a strange coincidence because one of Sweeney’s Men was Terry Woods who later became a member of Shane’s band The Pogues. Some of the Sweeney’s songs such as The Waxie’s Dargle were also part of The Pogues repertoire, so you can see that they were a very influential band. I had been meaning to listen to Sweeney’s Men for a long time for various reasons. I first heard of them through my late brother Paul who told me that on various occasions he had two of their members Johnny Moynihan and Henry McCullough play in his pub in County Mayo in the 1990s. Paul got especially friendly with Henry. I remember a famous occasion when they met up at Glastonbury 1999 after Henry played on the acoustic stage. 

Anne Briggs & Johnny Moynihan.

Another reason I wanted to learn more about this band is because of their association with Anne Briggs who apart from Sandy Denny is my favourite folk singer of all time. For several years in the 60s to the early 70s Anne was Johnny Moynihan’s girlfriend and spent several summers with the band travelling and singing around Ireland. I actually think it is a shame that Anne didn’t join the band and record with them. Johnny wrote Standing On The Shore in 1969 for the album The Tracks of Sweeney. Anne said this about the song, “This song was Johnny Moynihan’s vision. He expresses what he saw so beautifully and sadly and seems to convey this feeling of endless whiteness”. Anne recorded this song two years later for her album The Time Has Come on which Johnny played. Anne also recorded Step Right Up written by Henry. Johnny is famous for having introduced the bouzouki to Irish folk music. Anne learned how to play the bouzouki from him and recorded Living By The Water playing that instrument. There are extensive sleeve notes to this 2CD set expertly written by Colin Harper. He is a wonderful writer about the folk scene in Britain and Ireland. I have one of his books Dazzling Stranger the definitive biography of Bert Jansch. 

The sleeve notes tell us that the band got their name from Sweeney who was a mythical mad king of Ireland in the humorous classic At Swim Two Birds by Flann O’Brien who I must say is one of the funniest writers I have ever read. The original group members were Andy Irvine, Johnny Moynihan and ‘Galway’ Joe Dolan (not to be confused with the other Joe Dolan of Make Me An Island fame) They made some successful singles and then Dolan left to go to Israel. He was replaced by Terry Woods. After they recorded their first album Andy Irvine left for an extended visit to eastern Europe. He was replaced by Henry McCullough who had just been fired from his band Eire Apparent. Henry later joined Joe Cocker’s Grease Band and become the only Irish musician to play at Woodstock in 1969. He also later joined Paul McCartney in Wings. During Henry’s brief time with the Sweeney’s they went down a storm at the 1968 Cambridge Folk Festival. I wish I had been there. 

I should mention also that although he wasn’t ever a member of the band Paul Brady sometimes filled in with them on stage. Sweeney’s Men eventually dissolved, Johnny and Terry fell out with each other. Ashley Hutchings formerly of Fairport Convention tried to form a new band with them, but only Terry was recruited for the new group which became Steeleye Span. There are 41 tracks on these two CDs, so I’m not going to talk about each song and tune, but I love it, right from the very first track Old Maid In A Garret. As well as Irish music you can hear influences of English folk music, sea-faring songs and American Appalachian sounds. There are songs made famous by The Dubliners such as Black Velvet Band and McAlpines Fusiliers. I think my favourite songs on CD1 are Willy O’Winsbury which Anne also recorded, Sally Brown and Waxie’s Dargle, but I like all of them. 

The CD2 isn’t quite as traditional, with tracks like Autumn Gold, Dreams For Me, and Go By Brooks showing almost an acid-folk influence. As well as Sweeney’s Men there are tracks by the likes of The Capitol Showband, Anne Briggs (Willy O’Winsbury & Sullivan’s John), Steeleye Span, The Woods Band and Rain On The Roof which all feature various members of the band. The album ends with my favourite Andy Irvine song My Heart’s Tonight In Ireland which tells in song the story of Sweeney’s Men. I am very pleased that I bought this album and learning a lot more about the legend of Sweeney’s Men. I am sure that in years to come their legend will continue to grow. PS, since their demise there has been occasional reunions of the band. You can see a video below which is from Andy Irvine’s birthday celebrations in 2012. PPS, I found the photo of Anne & Johnny on the internet. I hope whoever owns the photo doesn't mind me using it. Cheers.

The Waxies Dargle - Sweeney's Men 2012

Remembering Shane.

Shane & Van.

Tonight, I feel that I should say a few words about the passing of Shane MacGowan who died today. Although I knew he had been ill for a long time it was still a shock to hear that he has gone. It has been a sad year for Irish music with Shane’s close friend and collaborator Sinead O’Connor also dying this year. They were both rebels against the authority and hypocrisy of the establishment, as well as being brilliant singer-songwriters. On the news and on social media people have seemed to focus on Shane’s ‘notoriety’, alcoholism, and lifestyle. I would rather he was remembered for being one of the greatest songwriters of his generation which is how his friend Nick Cave described him. Shane wrote the best Christmas song of all time in my opinion which is Fairy Tale Of New York (See video below). 

Shane & Bruce.

It is totally different to any other Christmas song because it tells the truth about what Christmas is really like for many people, poverty, loneliness and broken relationships. Many people only know Shane from that song, but he has left a legacy of dozens of great songs. His fans included the likes of Johnny Depp, Christy Moore and Bruce Springsteen. Van Morrison invited Shane to sing with him at the Brit Awards in 1994. He singlehandedly created a new genre of music by combining punk rock with Irish folk music, added poetic meaningful lyrics and made something totally unique. He was a genius. His huge influence can be seen in such acts as Flogging Molly, The Dropkick Murphys, The Mary Wallopers, Fontaines D.C., Lankum, Damian Dempsey, Lisa O'Neill and many more. When people complain about his ‘lifestyle’ they forget that it was his lifestyle that was the source of his inspiration. He wrote about the denizens of the dark streets of London with an eye as sharp as Charles Dickens. It was what he witnessed and wrote about. You could criticise other great writers like Dylan Thomas or Brendan Behan for the same reason, but I know they couldn’t have achieved such great art without their chosen lifestyle. 

Johnny & Shane.

I think I only saw Shane three times. The best times were at Glastonbury in the 80s when The Pogues were at their peak. The sheer exuberance of their music was something to behold, and the audiences used to go wild. Live performance was definitely their forte. I’m sure many music fans have been looking back today with happy memories of seeing The Pogues. I’d also like to pay a tribute to Shane’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke. Shane was a lucky man to have found such a devoted wife who looked after him to the end. Despite what the critics may say Shane had a life that was well lived. He won’t be forgotten.

Shane & Sinead.

R.I.P. Shane MacGowan

Under The Sky by Pete Sinfield.

You know how in my last blog piece a few days ago I said I had started dealing in books again, and I said that it was only a hobby, but I might find some nice books on my travels. Well, I never thought that would come true so quickly, and I didn’t even have to leave the house. It seems like serendipity to me, or synchronicity, what ever you want to call it. Anyway, it happened by chance in a most happy beneficial way. A few months ago, a very good friend of mine kindly gave me a copy of a signed limited-edition book of lyrics by Kate Bush called How To Be Invisible. It is a wonderful book that I wouldn’t dream of selling. Anyway, last Thursday morning I started reading it. 

Kate had written a very interesting introduction and in the last paragraph she said, “When I was about sixteen, I bought a book of lyrics and poems by Pete Sinfield. He was the lyricist for the progressive rock band King Crimson. It was fascinating and not like the other books of poetry I had. It wasn’t that there was anything missing from the written lyrics, but there was definitely something different about them. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on……..This information piqued my interest. “Hmm, I wonder if that book is still available”, I thought to myself. So, I looked online. It is the only book Pete Sinfield published and called Under The Sky. I was disappointed to find out that it had been out of print since the 1970s. There were no copies available from Amazon or any other online bookshops I could find. 

Then I looked on eBay and was shocked to find just one copy for sale for £450!. I didn’t give up though, and wondered if the Oxfam book shop might have a copy……and they did! . Not only that, but it was also signed by Pete himself. Best of all it was priced at less than a tenth of the unsigned one on eBay. I couldn’t believe my luck, clicked ‘Buy Now’ and it was mine. It arrived in the post today, and I am well chuffed with it. The dust jacket is quite creased and has some marks on it, but you have to expect that in a book that is half a century old. The inside of the book is fine and has Pete’s signature under a photo of himself. It also has beautiful illustrations by a lady called Julia Fryer. It contains all of the lyrics that Pete wrote for King Crimson up to 1972. 

My favourite of his songs is I Talk To The Wind. (See video below) They are all here, In The Court Of The Crimson King, The Wake Of Posiedon, 20^th Century Schizoid Man and many others. I might sell it at some time in the future, but for the time being it is a keeper. Thank you very much to my friend for the Kate Bush book which led me to learning about her influence Pete Sinfield which in turn led me to find this rare and wonderful book. Things do happen in mysterious ways, which proves to me that everything is connected.

 

King Crimson - I Talk To The Wind

It Was Sixty Years Ago Today.

These days sometimes I can barely remember what I did yesterday, but I can still vividly remember the events of sixty years ago today, November 22 1963. I had just turned twelve years old and was in my first year at the Kings School, Peterborough. My main interests at the time were pop music and sports, especially football. That week Gerry & The Pacemakers were number 1 in the charts with You’ll Never Walk Alone. The Beatles were number 2 with She Loves You. Other great songs in the charts that week were by The Searchers, The Ronettes, Roy Orbison, Billy J Kramer, Chuck Berry, The Crystals, and Trini Lopez. Peter, Paul & Mary had just entered the charts with Blowing In The Wind written by an almost unknown in Britain singer called Bob Dylan. School had finished for the week, it was a Friday, so I was looking forward my team Peterborough playing Brentford the next day. We had only got a TV in our house in 1960, and colour TV was still five years away, so my memories of that fateful evening are in black and white. In Britain in those days you had a choice of only two channels BBC or ITV. We were gathered around the telly in the living room watching the Tonight programme on BBC presented by Cliff Michelmore and then switched to ITV to watch a popular quiz show called Take Your Pick hosted by Michael Miles. Towards the end of the show the transmission was interrupted by a NEWSFLASH which said that news was coming in that President Kennedy had been shot and injured in Dallas Texas. It was a huge shock. We switched back to BBC to see if there was any more news. On the screen was just a globe going round and round… and then a voice said, “It has just been announced that the President has died”. It was chilling news. I think all scheduled programmes apart from News were cancelled for the rest of the evening. 

My dad had been on the afternoon/evening shift at Perkins, and when he got home he was really upset about the news. My parents were Irish and catholic, so as you can imagine with President Kennedy’s background being of Irish descent and being the first catholic President he was extremely popular in our household. Being so young and having such an attractive wife as Jackie Kennedy also added to his charisma. Just a few months earlier he had made a very successful state visit to Ireland which my parents had followed with great interest. Later that evening we heard that Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested for the slaying of JFK. First thing the next morning I ran up to Wrights the newsagents on Oundle Road and bought the Daily Mirror which was the popular newspaper for working class Labour Party supporting people like us. The Headline on the front page just said KENNEDY ASSASSINATED. The whole paper, even the back page was covered in the almost unbelievable news. Two famous writers, Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis both died on the same day, but that news barely got a mention in the papers. 

That Saturday evening the BBC showed the first episode of Doctor Who which was to be extremely popular with young viewers especially when The Daleks were introduced. That show is still going sixty years later. Another interesting fact is that Lee Harvey Oswald was paraded before the press in a midnight press conference. A young British disc jockey called John Ravenscroft who was working on a Dallas radio station bluffed his way into the press conference by claiming to be a newspaper reporter from England. Apparently, he can be seen in the TV pictures, but I have never spotted him. He later returned to England, got a job on pirate radio, changed his name to John Peel and became one of the most influential figures in British music. Another person who used his connections to the local police to attend that press conference was a local strip club owner who also had connections to mobsters named Jack Ruby, who the following day filmed live on television shot Lee Harvey Oswald.

There were many other events in the 1960s and 70s that have stayed in my mind to this day. Cassius Clay against all the odds beating Sonny Liston to become World Heavyweight Champion and changing his name to Muhammad Ali, England winning the World Cup, the killings of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, the deaths at the Munich Olympics, and the death of Elvis Presley to name but a few. However, no news has ever shocked me more than the tragic event that shook the world on November 22 1963.

Scattershot by Bernie Taupin

Due to the weather I won’t be going out today. However, the rain has given me the chance to finish reading a wonderful book which my friend Colleen kindly sent me recently. It is called Scattershot, a memoir by Bernie Taupin. Colleen said the writing is brilliant, and she is correct. Bernie is a great storyteller and has a way with words that shouldn’t be surprising as he is one of the most successful lyricists of the past fifty years. You don’t even have to be a huge fan of Elton John to enjoy this book because Bernie is a name dropper extraordinaire and so the book is littered with anecdotes about the famous musicians, writers, artists, sportspeople and public figures that crossed Bernie’s path along the way. Bernie was born in a small village in Lincolnshire in 1950. In the book he recounts at the age of sixteen seeing Otis Redding at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire. That struck a personal note for me because that was a popular venue for music fans from my hometown of Peterborough. At the age of seventeen he answered an advert in a music paper for new songwriters and was teamed up with Elton John. They made their first album together Empty Sky in 1969 and Bernie says it was no Astral Weeks but it wasn’t bad, which shows that he has high regard for Van Morrison’s work. On pages 78/79 he recounts an hilarious meeting with Van where Van does impressions of the characters from a popular radio show called The Goons which showed a side to Van which most people don’t get to see.

One thing that comes over very clearly in the book is Bernie’s love for all things American. This was apparent from an early age when he discovered music by the likes of Marty Robbins. He moved to America permanently in the mid-1970s and totally soaked himself in the culture. Even his terminology is very American. He refers to ‘gas stations’ whereas we would say ‘petrol stations’. He has a great love of American Football and the western lifestyle, eventually buying a ranch and immersing himself in things like rodeos and bull riding. Bernie is very critical of people like Rod Stewart who move to America and pretend they are still in England. This is a huge read of 400 pages, so I’ll just pick out a few little things that I particularly liked in the book. I didn’t realise, or had forgotten that Bernie produced an album which I have always thought is very underrated which is American Gothic by David Ackles. Like me, Bernie also thinks that Dory Previn is a great singer-songwriter who deserved much more attention. I think he much preferred meeting Dory to meeting her nemesis Mia Farrow who stole away her husband Andre Previn. From a young age Bernie had a great love of literature and poetry which obviously seeped into his songwriting. He reveals how he got the title for Candle In The Wind from a book by Alexander Solzenitsyn. He got the idea for the song from watching the film The Misfits and the original inspiration was Montgomery Clift, but then he realised that Marilyn Monroe was probably a more commercial idea. Rocket Man came about through reading The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. Because of his love of books one of his most memorable encounters was an accidental meeting in a London hotel with one of his favourite writers Grahame Greene. He is full of praise for Leonard Cohen who he describes as the master who has no lyrical equal, a poet whereas all others are merely lyricists.

There are many hilarious stories in the book. Bernie recalls an evening in a restaurant with Salvadore Dali and his wife. During the evening Dali drew a picture on a napkin using anything that was to hand and gave it to Bernie who proudly took it back to his hotel. The next day to his horror he returned to his room to find the napkin had been laundered and no trace of Dali’s work of art remained. How surreal!. In another funny tale he recounts how he and Kris Kristofferson had to prop a drunken John Prine up on a stool for an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. There are also drunken encounters with the likes of Oliver Reed and his friend Alice Cooper. Bernie also remembers being in a restaurant with a pregnant Kate McGarrigle and her husband Loudan Wainwright. They were wondering what to call their future son and Bernie says it was he who suggested the name Rufus. There is also a sad encounter between Brian Wilson and John Lennon. I found Bernie's recollections of his parents last days particularly moving. I could go on and on, but I don’t want to ruin it for you if you want to read it yourself. I must say that I found it one of the most well written, informative, funny, moving, intelligent and honest music autobiographies I have ever read. Highly recommended.

My Evening With Natalie Merchant In Bath

Saturday was a good day for various reasons. Firstly, the sun was shining which was a welcome change from all the rain we have had recently, secondly, my team Peterborough United beat their local rivals Cambridge United 5-0, and thirdly I went to see Natalie Merchant at the Forum in Bath. I arrived in Bath far too early as always, so I bought a vegeburger from some food outlet and then repaired to my usual pre-gig haunt in Bath The Lamb & Lion where I passed the time with a large glass of chardonnay while watching Bournemouth v Newcastle on the large screen. Finally, it was time to make my way to The Forum which was packed with the cream of Bath society, and me. This concert had sold out months ago. I was in row J of this beautiful venue. 

Natalie and her excellent band came on stage promptly at 8.00. I didn’t catch any of the names of the group, but there was a piano player who also played accordion, a drums & percussion, bass, a guitar player, and a wonderful string quartet. I didn’t write down a setlist because I’m not an expert on Natalie’s music by any means. I think she only performed four songs that I was already familiar with. I wish I had bought her latest album Keep Your Courage which contained the majority of the songs performed last night. The experts will have to forgive any mistakes because I bet I have forgotten some songs or got the titles wrong. I have guessed at some titles based on snatches of lyrics I can remember.  Anyway, Natalie looked great when she arrived on stage dressed in a kind of purple and pink garb.

I believe the opening song is called Lulu and is a tribute to a silent film star called Louise Brooks (1906-1985). When she isn’t singing Natalie swirls around the stage like a gypsy dancer round a campfire. Natalie told the audience that the next song Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience she adapted from a poem by a Cornish poet Charles Causley. The title sounds very William Blake to me, but I just looked up Charles Causley and the poem. It is a children’s poem about growing up and lost innocence. Very educational and shows that Natalie is very well read. She said that she recorded the song with Irish folk band Lunasa who were in the audience tonight. 

I recognised The Worst Thing from her Motherland album which I acquired recently. The title track from that album is one of my favourite songs of hers. I videoed it and you can see it below. It was the song which brought Natalie back into my orbit when Christy Moore recorded his own version. The Man in the Wilderness is another adapted children’s poem from her Leave Your Sleep album. Narcissus comes from her latest album which I must get. I noticed that they were selling signed vinyl copies of it on the merchandise stall, but I don’t collect vinyl. I should mention that Natalie was joined on stage for several songs by another singer called Mayteana Morales who is also a wonderful singer. I think she sang on Ladybird, Come On Aphrodite, Break Your Heart, and also Wonder which I recognised from the Tigerlily album. Then Natalie said it was time for an intermission which made me wonder just how long this concert would last because they had already played for 90 minutes which is the usual length of time of an entire Van Morrison concert. Anyway, I went outside for some fresh Bath air.

Mayteana Morales

When Natalie returned for the second set she had changed her attire. The second half got off to a bad start because her microphone wasn’t working. She didn’t get upset about it though and the crew soon sorted it out. Frozen Charlotte opened this half of the show, followed by Ophelia and Giving Up Everything. During Ophelia Natalie wandered off stage and left the string quartet playing the beautiful arrangement with the piano player. It was like being at a chamber music recital. Natalie then returned and introduced all the musicians, but I regretfully didn’t write down their names because they all deserved a mention, especially the pianist who composed the arrangement. A highlight of the evening for me was when Natalie started talking about Jack Kerouac and I thought to myself, “Brilliant, she’s going to sing Hey Jack Kerouac”. She didn’t though because she talked about the female figures of the Beat Generation who don’t usually be mentioned such as Jack’s girlfriend Joyce Johnson who wrote the book Minor Characters. Natalie also recounted meeting Allen Ginsberg and squirming with embarrassment because she had written in the song ‘Allen baby, why so jaded?’, but he didn’t care, and they became great friends. Natalie wrote King Of May as a tribute to Allen and last night she read an extract from his poem of that name. Allen was actually crowned King of May in Prague in 1965. (See photo). 

Allen Ginsberg, King of May.

The next song was My Beloved Wife another of the few songs I recognised during the evening. After that song Natalie gave a lady in the front row a copy of her signed album. Lucky lady, I bet Natalie has done that at all the shows on this tour. This was followed by The Feast of St Valentine and Natalie said she had spent a couple of hours looking around Bath Abbey and reading all the words written on memorials in there. I’m pleased she got a chance to see some of the beautiful city of Bath. Then disaster struck! I looked at my phone and it was 10.25 already. I had to leave because my train was at 10.33. I think I missed at least 20 minutes of the show, probably some of the best songs as well. I ran to the station and just managed to catch the train which was packed with drunken youngsters who had been in the Saturday night pubs of Bath. Luckily I bumped into an old friend Jean who had been to see a play at the Theatre Royal, so I had some company on the way home. When I got home I uploaded my video which took ages on my slow computer. I had taken some photos as well, but most were blurry and unusable. Anyway, despite leaving the show before the end I really enjoyed it. Probably the best concert I have seen since Patti Smith at the same venue a couple of years ago. Thank you very much to Natalie Merchant and her wonderful band of musicians. THE END.

 

Natalie Merchant: Motherland. Bath Forum 11/11/2023

Later Than Laugharne.

I had a text from my friend Sian this morning, ‘Come over to mine, bring some wine and sandwiches’. I needed to get out of the house, so went to the supermarket and then the bus stop where I found there was no bus for an hour, so I got a taxi to Sian’s house in Warminster. I noticed how wonderful the trees looked at this time of year, and it felt good to get out and about. After a pleasant few hours at Sian’s I decided to head home before dark. At the bus stop I found it was 18 minutes until my bus back to Westbury. To pass the time I walked across the road to the Blue Cross charity shop and had a mooch through the second-hand books. Most of them were the usual rubbish you come across, but just as I was losing interest, I noticed this slim volume of poetry called Later Than Laugharne by Aeronwy Thomas- Ellis. It was a first edition of her first book of poems from 1976, and also a signed copy. Aeronwy was the only daughter of Dylan Thomas, probably the greatest Welsh person of the 20^th century. There are photos of Aeronwy on the front and back covers in which you can see the resemblance to Dylan.

I was especially pleased to find this book because its title immediately took me back more than 50 years to January 1973. I was in my final year at Teacher Training College. It was during final teaching practice, and I should have been studying, but me and three friends went to Tenby for the weekend. We visited nearby Laugharne and Dylan’s house which was called The Boathouse. It was a weekend that I’ve never forgotten. Anyway, I thought the book was a bargain for £4.00, So I paid the lady and made my way back to the bus stop. I read a few of the poems on my way home and liked them very much indeed. You can’t detect any influence of her genius father in the words, there is no imagery like ‘starless and bible black’, instead the words are simple and sparse, as if unnecessary words have been thrown away. They have a kind of Zen-like simplicity. The poems actually reminded me slightly of another poet I admire called Gary Snyder.

When I got home I looked up Aeronwy on Wikipedia and found out that she sadly passed away in 2009 aged 66. Finding this book today was a reminder to me of how much I used to enjoy book hunting for rare editions. I had my own little online bookshop; I don’t think I made any money out of it but found some very nice books. On the bus on the way home I resolved to get back into my book dealing because everyone needs a hobby and an interest don’t they, especially when you are my age and have lots of spare time. I’ll let you know when I find some more interesting books. Cheers.

PS, I added a video of Van Morrison singing For Mr Thomas below if you want to hear it.

Van Morrison - For Mr. Thomas

More Than A Whisper, Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith.

It has rained here for days on end, but I have been quite content to stay indoors with my books and music. Today I thought I would tell you about a wonderful album of music that arrived here yesterday. It is called More Than A Whisper, Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith. A few days ago a good friend of mine sent me a link to a song by Steve Earle called It’s A Hard Life Wherever You Go. As you know, I am a big fan of Steve and I immediately loved this song, and the sentiment behind it. It also had an Irish feel with the uilleann pipe playing of Ivan Goff and mentions of Belfast. I decided I needed to hear the whole album, especially when I saw that it was packed with songs by some of my favourite artists. I ordered it online and it arrived 48 hours later.

Nanci & John Prine.

The cover has a nice photo of Nanci composing one of her songs. In the sleeve notes Mary Gauthier writes an eloquent tribute to Nanci. Mary also sings the title track which is superb with a wonderful string arrangement. You may remember I wrote a piece about Mary when I bought her album Mercy Now a few years ago. (See below for a video of Nanci’s original version) The opening track is You Can’t Go Home Again. I expect Nanci got the song title from a book by Thomas Wolfe. Sarah Jarosz sings the song and as well as her vocals I love the pedal steel guitar playing of Larry Campbell. As you probably know Nanci died just over two years ago, only a year after another much missed singer, her good friend John Prine. John sings one of my favourite Nanci songs Love At The Five & Dime. It is a duet with Kelsey Waldon who I didn’t know anything about until yesterday, but I love her voice. 

Billy Strings & Molly Tuttle perform the next song Listen To The Radio. It is only the two of them on guitar and vocals, but the guitar picking is sublime. No wonder he is called Billy Strings. Emmylou Harris is one of my all-time favourite singers and she sings Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War) The fiddle playing and accordion are great. Trouble In The Fields is an emotional sad song by Lyle Lovett & Kathy Mattea which tells the story of a couple who have to sell their John Deere tractor and do its work themselves. John Steinbeck would have liked this song!. I don’t know anything about Brandy Clark, but I should do after hearing her sing Gulf Coast Highway. I do know Shawn Colvin who sings Outbound Plane because I have her album A Few Small Repairs. I see that Nanci wrote this song with Tom Russell, another great singer-songwriter. 

I definitely haven’t heard of Ida Mae before who perform Radio Fragile. It has an experimental sound with keyboards, synthesizers and percussion. Late Night Grande Hotel features Aaron Lee Tasjan on piano and vocals, and I see Patty Griffin sings harmony vocals. The sound of a car driving away announces the arrival of Ford Econoline by Todd Snider. Willie Nelson’s granddaughter Raelyn Nelson can be heard on backing vocals. The wonderful Iris Dement plays piano and sings Banks Of The Pontchartrain. This excellent album is brought to a soulful climax by The War & Treaty singing Nanci’s best-known song From a Distance written by Julie Gold. I think I have heard this album about five times now and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed hearing every single song. If you like Americana style music I think you will enjoy it as well. It is a fitting tribute to a much-loved great singer and songwriter.

nanci griffith-more than a whisper

10,000 Maniacs - Hey Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac died aged 47, October 21 1969.

'I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night. It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don't worry. It's all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don't know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky way soft cloud innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect. We were never really born; we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere: Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes into everything is one thing. It's a dream already ended. There's nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be glad about. I know this from staring at mountains months on end. They never show any expression, they are like empty space. Do you think the emptiness of space will ever crumble away? Mountains will crumble, but the emptiness of space, which is the one universal essence of mind, the vast awakenerhood, empty and awake, will never crumble away because it was never born.' 

~Jack Kerouac

Private Moments by Graham Robins.

An advance copy of the new EP from Graham Robins called Private Moments popped through my letterbox yesterday. I was extremely pleased about that because there has been a big silence from Graham for quite a few years now, so it is great to know he is back on the corner again making great soul connected music, same as it ever was. I think it was 2011 when I first became aware of Graham’s music when Simon Gee of Wavelength magazine sent me a copy of the very Van Morrison influenced The Shipping News album. That was followed up by the equally great Parish Papers & Short Stories in 2015, and Majestic Halls in 2017.  I reviewed all those albums previously on my blog site. 

There are just three tracks on this new EP which I think might be a teaser for a brand-new album planned for next year. Graham wrote all three songs. The excellent horn arrangements are by Paul Devonshire. As well as Graham on vocals and acoustic guitar the recording features a great six-piece band consisting of Max Milligan on electric and acoustic guitar, Stuart Lynas on piano and Hammond organ, Robbie Matthews on bass, Paul Devonshire on whistle and saxes, Matt Wynch on flugel horn and trumpet and Paul Hornsby on drums.

Of the three songs, my favourite is the opener Have You Fallen In Love At First Sight? It is an epic soulful ballad, up there with the best songs Graham has ever produced. Graham’s emotional delivery and all the band are terrific. I think Paul’s whistle playing also gives the song a nice underlying Irish Celtic feel. The title track Private Moments is a very catchy danceable song. I think it would be even more perfect with a couple of girl backing singers in the mix, but it is pretty great as it is. When I read the title of the final song Shovelling Coal I immediately thought of the great soul classic Working In A Coal Mine by Lee Dorsey, but Graham’s song is about his grandad who worked on the railway and smoked forty cigarettes a day. When I listened to this upbeat song the humorous, sometimes sad lyrics about his grandad actually brought Ooh La La by Rod Stewart & The Faces into my mind. It is a very enjoyable song.

My only complaint about this EP is that it is too short. If Graham has a few more songs of this quality up his sleeve then I am definitely looking forward to a new album. Graham will be promoting his new music at the Bear Club in his hometown of Luton on Wednesday, 8 November, so if you live in the Luton area I advise you to get along there and enjoy the soulful sound of Graham Robins & his band. You can find out more about Graham on his website here- http://www.grahamrobins.com/

An Evening With Eckhart Tolle In London 2023.

I haven’t been inspired to write anything on my blog page for a while, but I had a very enjoyable visit to London yesterday which I thought I would tell you about. This is what happened. I caught the 10.47 train from Westbury to Paddington which was at least 45 minutes late by the time we arrived in London, but no matter, I had plenty of time on my hands so decided to saunter through Hyde Park to my hotel in South Kensington. It wasn’t sunny but quite warm and very pleasant looking at the birds on the Serpentine and the squirrels scampering about among the autumnal trees. I emerged from the park at the Albert Memorial and walked up Queensgate where I found my hotel. It is the same hotel I stayed at when we saw Van Morrison at the Teenage Cancer Trust concert quite a few years ago. After I checked in, I had a nice nap for the rest of the afternoon. When I woke up at about 6.00 I had intended walking the short distance to the Royal Albert Hall but it was raining, so I hailed a cab and arrived about an hour early. 

The rain eased off and I hung about outside for a while chatting to people. It was nice talking to people who had the same interest in Eckart Tolle. Finally, I entered the historic building. At the merchandise stall I bought a couple of Eckhart’s books that I hadn’t seen before, Oneness With All Life and Practicing The Power of Now which is a collection of passages from his writings. Then I bought a glass of lemonade which lasted me all evening and took my seat. I was right up in the top circle but that didn’t matter because you got a great view, and they had big screens as well.

Eckhart was introduced and he sat on a chair with just a small table next to him and spoke seemingly without any notes to 5,000 people for two hours. That is the length of a football game with extra time. It didn’t seem like two hours though. The time flew by because he is such a great speaker. One thing I like about Eckhart as well as his wisdom is that he has a great sense of humour, so his talk was punctuated by intermittent laughter from the audience. At other times you could almost hear a pin drop in the huge hall in the stillness between his words. I remember seeing Krishnamurti talk in the 80s at Brockwood Park and he was very serious, also I didn’t understand half of what he was saying, you had to concentrate really hard to try and grasp his message. With Eckhart though he says very deep and intellectual truths in a straightforward way which anyone can understand. 

In case you don’t know anything about Eckhart this is what it says on his website.  ‘Eckhart Tolle is widely recognized as one of the most inspiring and visionary spiritual teachers in the world today. With his international bestsellers, The Power of Now and A New Earth—translated into 52 languages—he has introduced millions to the joy and freedom of living life in the present moment. The New York Times has described him as “the most popular spiritual author in the United States”, and Watkins Review named him “the most spiritually influential person in the world”. Eckhart’s profound, yet simple teachings have helped countless people around the globe experience a state of vibrantly alive inner peace in their daily lives. His teachings focus on the significance and power of Presence, the awakened state of consciousness, which transcends ego and discursive thinking. Eckhart sees this awakening as the essential next step in human evolution’.

I don’t think anything Eckhart said last night was particularly new to me because I have read The Power Of Now, Stillness Speaks and A New Earth and watched his videos on almost a daily basis on YouTube for the last three years or so. However, when I saw that he was speaking in London I knew it would probably be the only time in my life when I would have the opportunity to be in his presence, so I am very glad I bought a ticket. Among other things, he has taught me that we are not our thoughts. There is a much deeper consciousness than that. We all have to think obviously, but our thoughts are mainly just the product of the conditioned egoic mind. Most thinking is just a lot of mumbo jumbo that comes into your head uninvited and is usually negative and a waste of energy. 

The only time that exists is Now, yet most people waste their lives mulling over the past or thinking about hypothetical situations that might or might not happen in the future. How great it is to be able to turn off the constant commentary that is going on in your head. It is much nicer to just accept the present moment for what it is, relax, be aware of your breathing, and watch the world go by. Going for a nice walk every day and getting in touch with nature is the perfect antidote to the modern world. Anyway, I won’t bang on because Eckhart is far more articulate at expressing these things than me. There are lots of books and videos out there if you want to learn more. I think you should because the world is in a right mess at the moment, run by unconscious lunatics, and the only hope of A New Earth is a spiritual revolution. I’m not talking about organised religion which has done untold damage in the past, but an awakening to the universal consciousness which we all share. Thank you very much Eckhart Tolle for a wonderful evening.