Like The River Loves The Sea by Joan Shelley.

I opened the front door this morning and two metres away was the smiling post lady. “Package for you”, she said. “Thank you”, I replied. She had left it on my doorstep. I knew what it was, a new CD. I went in the kitchen and opened the package and put the CD in the player. Then I washed my hands because you cannot be too careful. What strange times we are living in.

It was a warm sunny day, so I sat in my yard by the back door and soaked up the music and the sun. The album is called Like the River Loves the Sea. It is by an American singer-songwriter called Joan Shelley. An internet friend had recommended her music to me a few days ago and I remembered that I had seen Joan supporting Richard Thompson in Salisbury in late 2018. I had been extremely impressed with her at the time but had gradually forgotten about that evening. I am grateful for the reminder because this is a genuinely nice album.

Joan comes from Louisville Kentucky and this is her seventh album. It was recorded in Iceland in 2019. I cannot hear an Icelandic influence in the music though. Maybe if you go somewhere different and look back at where you have been, then it becomes an art form. Nathan Salsburg who I think played guitar with her when I saw her live is on the album. There are some Icelandic musicians as well and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy whose name I have heard before sings harmonies on a couple of tracks.

I have only heard the album twice, so I am not going to talk about each individual song. The album has a nice consistency of mood which I always like. I would describe it as country flavoured folk music I suppose. Usually when I listen to a singer for the first time I am reminded of other singers. I do not really get that feeling with Joan, except maybe a hint of Joni Mitchell around the time of Blue. There is one song called Cycle which mentions a lover coming home late which made me think of The Speed of The Sound Of Loneliness by John Prine. That might be because I have had John Prine in my brain the last couple of weeks. The songs all seem to be very personal love songs.

Teal is a nice song, talking about ‘fresh air, the wind and the rain’, even the birds in the trees nearby seemed to be singing along with that song. I also liked the cello, violin and viola of the two Icelandic sisters on Tell Me Something. Any Day Now is a perfect upbeat song to end the album with. In the booklet of lyrics there is a poem by Max Porter which contains the line I want to stay all night which is the title of one of the songs and makes me wonder just how autobiographical Joan’s lyrics are. Maybe sometimes they are quasi-autobiographical words inspired by other writers’ work. That does not matter though. This album creates a mellow feeling of well being in the listener and hearing this album on a nice sunny day made the catastrophe of coronavirus seem a long way off and I’m glad I heard it today for that reason alone.

They Call Him Japhy Ryder

Quote by Gary Snyder.

It was Jack Kerouac’s birthday today. Jack was born on March 12^th, 1922 which means that if he hadn’t drunk himself to death in 1969, he would have been 98 today. I would have forgotten about his birthday if I hadn’t been reminded of it by a Facebook friend. Purely by chance I had a Jack related parcel arrive today. It contained two books by Gary Snyder. They are called The Back Country and Earth House Hold. They are American books, published by New Directions in 1969. One book is poetry and the other is prose. I got both books for a total of 99 pence on eBay. That is what I call a bargain.

Gary Snyder was the real-life person who was portrayed as Japhy Ryder the hero of Jack’s second most famous book The Dharma Bums.  He was born on May 8, 1930 which means he will soon be 90 years of age.  Although best known as a poet associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance, he is also an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. He has been described as the ‘poet laureate of Deep Ecology’ Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. Snyder has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese and was an academic at the University of California. ( I found a lot of that info on Wiki.)

I’m looking forward to reading both these books before I sell them. I have always liked Gary Snyder, ever since reading the Dharma Bums about 45 years ago. He didn’t have the self-destructive side to his nature like Jack and other people associated with the Beats and he practiced what he preached. With his interest in ecology and being aware of the need for humans to live in tune with nature he was decades ahead of other writers. I bet Greta Thunberg would have got on well with Gary.

Talking about being in tune with nature, I have been doing a bit of gardening in between rain showers. Just tidying up mainly. I’m still planning to get out walking soon if the weather cheers up a bit. I’m on day 8 of my yoga as well. This week I have been following the horse racing at Cheltenham, but I haven’t picked a winner yet. It’s the final day tomorrow with the Gold Cup as the big race. I’ll let you know how I get on.

The Secret Heart Of Music

I received a couple of interesting books in the post recently. They are both concerned with Sir George Trevelyan. If you haven’t heard of him, he was a British educational pioneer and a founding father of the New Age movement. In 1942, after hearing a lecture given by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner, Trevelyan discovered a spiritual worldview. During his lifetime he explored beliefs in angels, the calming effects of crystals and the power of ley lines, alongside organic farming and communal living. He carried out his pioneering work in the teaching of spiritual knowledge as adult education. The courses ranged from chamber music and drama onto esoteric subjects such as 'Finding the Inner Teacher' and 'Holistic Vision'. He was involved in the establishment of the Findhorn Foundation, the Gatekeeper Trust, and through his friendship with Wellesley Tudor Pole, the Chalice Well  at Glastonbury and the Lamplighter Movement. In 1971, he set up the Wrekin Trust to promote spiritual education and knowledge.

I heard Sir George speak at Glastonbury Festival in 1981, but I can’t remember a word of what he said. What has got me interested in him recently is curiosity about a weekend conference at Loughborough University in 1987 called The Secret Heart Of Music which the Wrekin Trust organised in collaboration with Van Morrison. I have written about this event previously on this blog site. You can find a recording of Van performing at this event on youtube. I hoped I might find further information in these publications. The first book is called Sir George Trevelyan And The New Spiritual Awakening. There is one paragraph on page 161 about the Loughborough event, but sadly nothing that I didn’t know already (See pictures) 

 The other publication is a pamphlet called A Curriculum For Spiritual Training Combining The Ancient Wisdom With Modern Developments In Psychological And Scientific Knowledge. It contains the trust’s agenda for Autumn 1986 and Spring 87. Sadly, there is no mention of the event I am interested in. I don't think the Wrekin Trust exists any more, so I can't contact them.

It would be great to hear from anyone who was there on that weekend. I know there was a brochure published to accompany the conference. I haven’t been able to find a copy of it. If you have a copy that you would sell or loan to me, I would be delighted to hear from you. Also, I would love to see any posters or photographs of the event. Cheers.

A Rainy Day In Salisbury.

It was pouring with rain when I set out for the train station yesterday morning. There was travel disruption due to the weather but luckily the 10.05 to Salisbury was running on time. From the train window I could see the effects of weeks of rain. Some of the fields had turned into lakes.  On arrival in Salisbury my plan had been to look in the charity shops, but I abandoned that idea and sought shelter in the Wetherspoon’s pub. After half an hour of staring out of the window in there I was bored, so decided on a brisk walk to the cathedral.

World's oldest clock.

It must be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Britain. The spire is 404 feet tall, a sight to behold. I saw the Magna Carta, one of the most famous manuscripts in the world. It has been in Salisbury since 1215 which pre-dates the present cathedral because work on building the cathedral didn’t begin until 1220. The signing of the Magna Carta by King John marks the beginning of democracy in Britain. Previous to that the king had absolute power.

Another fascinating thing I saw inside the cathedral was the world’s oldest working clock which has been ticking away since 1380. It hasn’t got a clock face but has been chiming on the hour for 640 years. It has ticked about 13 billion times. There are some very interesting graves in there as well. I saw one of a Knight who had fought in the Battle of Crecy in 1346. You could spend hours in there reading about the history of the building.

Here comes the Knight.

I had to go though because I was meeting my friend Odele in the Bishops Mill pub at 1.00. The last time I was in Salisbury it was sad to see this pub closed and abandoned after the Novichok nerve agent attack. It has been reopened now which is great to see. Odele is a friend from the Glastonbury Festival re-cycling crew. I hadn’t seen her since the last Glasto, so it was great to see her again and have a catch up. We had lunch and after a couple of hours the sun miraculously came out, so we had a stroll about the town. We looked in about six charity shops, but I didn’t see anything I wanted to buy. When I tired of the shops, we had another sit down in the Ox Row Inn and chatted about all sorts of matters for an hour or so.

I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by. When we left the pub, it was beginning to get dark. Time to make my way home. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for a train and that was the end of my trip to Salisbury. It was nice seeing Odele. I just realised it is only 120 days until we set off for Glastonbury. Bring it on!

The Lost Brothers: After The Fire, After The Rain.

The new album by The Lost Brothers popped through my letter box yesterday. I was disappointed last week when I couldn’t buy it in my local record shop. When I got home that day, I looked online, and on a site called Bandcamp I discovered you could order signed copies of the CD. I’m pleased I bought it because it is a very nice album indeed. It is called After The Fire, After The Rain. I don’t think much of their signatures though! (See picture)

There are eleven tracks and the album is 41 minutes long. The Lost Brothers are a duo of Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland who use other musicians when needed. Among the well known luminaries who helped create this album are Bob Dylan’s bass player Tony Garnier who also co-produced the album, M Ward who features on guitar, Jolie Holland who was a founder member of the Be Good Tanyas and fiddle maestro Steve Wickham from The Waterboys.

I suppose you would describe this music as Americana because it has a very American sound and was recorded in New York, but it has an Irish soul. It’s like being in a desert and yearning for the rain and the wind. I think Mark comes from Omagh in Northern Ireland and you can see the influence of that area in such tracks as Six Mile Cross and Glens Of Gortin. I won’t go through every track but what I like about the album is that it creates a mood and maintains that mood throughout. If they were Van Morrison, I think this album would be Veedon Fleece.

It was when I saw them perform the opening song Fugitive Moon on RTE recently that I determined to buy this album. I have shared that song on this blog page. I only have one other LB album which is their debut from 2008 called Trails Of The Lonely. They have another album which I am intrigued by called So Long John Fante which I am tempted to order because John Fante is one of my favourite writers.  I did actually see them perform on the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury a few years ago and I wish I had paid more attention at the time, but I didn’t realise how great they were. It takes time for this gentle melancholic music to soak in. I don’t have any favourite tracks here, but Venus is very reflective and atmospheric. I like the whistle on Ash Wednesday and the trumpet on Wilderness which gives it a very Tex-Mex feel. If you get the chance to see the Lost Brothers live, then go and see them. I certainly will. I hope they return to Glastonbury this year.

The Lost Brothers | Fugitive Moon.

It's Too Late To Stop Now by Van Morrison.

Sunday afternoon and another grey and gloomy day. At the moment I am listening to Van Morrison, It’s Too Late To Stop Now. It is the 3 CD + DVD set that came out a few years ago. I’m not going to tell you about the whole package now, but this is what I said about the original album many years ago……….

It’s Too Late To Stop Now was the 3rd Van album I bought after The World Of Them and Astral Weeks  back in the mists of time in 1974 when I lived In Summerhill near Wrexham, North Wales. I was sharing a little house called 'Trem-y-war' (it was a Welsh name) with my brother and a friend Dave. I was 22 years of age. I bought the album in a record shop just around the corner from the bus station In Wrexham. Over the years it has come to be one of my favourite albums. To me, It’s Too Late To Stop Now is the greatest live album ever made. It was recorded at three different concerts, at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and The Rainbow in London. the London concert was broadcast live on BBC2 TV and on Radio 2 simultaneously. Also, I don’t think there is any overdubbing, the product is exactly as heard in concert.

The album begins with Ain't Nothing You Can Do which was originally recorded by Bobby Bland. I had never heard of Bobby Bland to tell you the truth but that is one of the great things about Van in that he points you towards music you wouldn't otherwise have heard of. Then it is Warm Love followed by Into The Mystic, two of my favourite Van songs. The band on this album is the best band that Van ever had in his career The Caledonia Soul Orchestra. They all deserve a mention, David Hayes Bass, Terry Adams Cello, Bill Atwood Trumpet, Nancy Ellis Viola, Tom Halpin Violin, Tim Kovatch Violin, Jeff Labes Organ/Piano/Arranger/Keyboards, John Platania Guitar, Nathan Rubin Strings Violin, Jack Schroer, Piano/Arranger/Saxophone, David Shaw, Clarinet/Percussion.

The next song I Believe To My Soul is a Ray Charles classic, Van’s version of it is so good he often performs it to this day. I've Been Working is a Van original from the Street Choir album. The Caledonia Soul Orchestra were named after an outtake from that album. Help Me is a Sonny Boy Williamson song that Van obviously loves because it has been a mainstay of his repertoire to this very day. Wild Children is one of the best songs from Hard Nose The Highway. It is a top flight version, as is Domino. I Just Wanna Make Love To You is a first rate song written by Willie Dixon. UK people will probably be more familiar with this song sung by Etta James which was her only UK hit. The next song Bring It On Home To Me is a Van classic that was originally a hit for the great Sam Cooke. It was also an early hit for The Animals. I remember when Van sang this song in Torquay one time it received a standing ovation from some of the audience.

St Dominic's Preview is next, a peerless Van song. Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket is another Sonny Boy Williamson song but not really one of my favourites but Listen To The Lion on this album is my favourite Van song of all time. It is a magnificent performance displaying the full range of Vans vocal pyrotechnics. Here Comes The Night is next. Then it’s Van’s classic song Gloria. The album ends with great versions of Caravan and Cyprus Avenue. I have enjoyed listening to these songs again on this rainy Sunday afternoon.