Gymnopedies.

It has been a beautiful Wednesday morning. I have been sitting in the kitchen with the back door open. The sun is shining, my sunflowers sway occasionally in a gentle breeze and butterflies and bumble bees go about their business without a care. If you didn’t watch the news you would think everything was fine in the world. All that madness seems a long way away. I have been listening to my new CD which came today. It is a recording of works by Erik Satie.

I heard Gymnopedies by Satie on the radio on Sunday morning and decided to order it. I had heard it before, but didn't know what it was called. As well as that piece there are five works by Satie in all, played on piano by Reinbert De Leeuw. I love this minimalist music. There are times when I do not want to hear songs or complicated orchestrations. I just want to hear something that creates an ambiance and puts me in a good mood. This music is like silence in a nice frame. Although Satie composed this music over a century ago it sits nicely alongside other music I have such as Rainbow In Curved Air by Terry Riley, Music For Zen Meditation by Tony Scott, Keith Jarrett, or Virginia Astley who I have discovered recently. Satie was a close friend of Debussy and I can certainly see that connection as well.

There are sleeve notes to the album  which I found enlightening, because I confess I knew hardly anything about Satie before today. He was in the Rosicrucian order for five years and then set up his own religion called ‘The Metropolitan Church of Art and of Christ the Conductor. He was the only member of this church. He left Paris for a suburb called Arcueil and lived in one room which he called ‘Our Lady Of Lowliness’. He had an affair with a model called Suzanne Valadon who left him after six months. This had a huge impact on his life and he never had another relationship again. He died in 1925 from cirrhosis of the liver. No one else had ever entered the room where he lived until after his death. Amongst the squalor of the room many unpublished compositions were found. One score of a work called Jack In The Box was found behind a piano. Satie thought he had left it on a bus. Many of his works were published after his death. I am glad I have discovered Erik Satie and I have enjoyed listening to his music on this nice July day. Apparently Gymnopedies was a dance in ancient Greece which was performed naked. Jean Cocteau said, “Satie’s work goes forth quite naked”, and it certainly does.

Listening To Karen Dalton.

Bob Dylan, Karen Dalton, Fred Neil, Greenwich Village 1961.

It is Karen Dalton's birthday today. She was born on July 19th 1937. This is a piece I wrote about her ages ago which I just dusted off. ....................... 

I bought Bob Dylan's first book of autobiography called Chronicles and in the first few pages Bob relates his experiences of arriving at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. On page 12 he says,
"My favourite singer in the place was Karen Dalton, she was a tall white blues singer and guitar player, funky, lanky and sultry. I'd actually met her before, run across her the previous summer outside of Denver in a mountain pass town in a folk club. Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed and went all the way with it. I sang with her a couple of times".

When I read these words of Bob I just thought to myself that I had never heard of her and read on.
A few years went by until I was on Google one day looking for some information about Van Morrison and started to read an old article on the Guardian newspaper site about Youtube and it was saying how great Youtube was because you could see long forgotten footage such as a teenage Van the Man singing with Them at the NME Pollwinners Concert or legendary New York folkie Karen Dalton. Immediately Bob's  words came back to me.  The first clip I found was Karen singing a song called It Hurts Me Too.  I could see what Bob meant, her voice had an uncanny resemblance to Billie, not only in the sound but in the emotion, she didn't just sing the blues, she was the blues. I could also see the damage that life had done to her. As the camera closed in you could see the effects of hard living etched into her face. Despite the ravages of abuse she still had a nice beguiling smile. The sound of her 12 string guitar was really tasteful.
 I  chose an album at random. It was called 'In My Own Time' and was originally released in 1971. Karen was born in Enid, Oklahoma of Cherokee and Irish origins. In her bluesy, world-weary voice she sang blues, folk, country, pop, and Motown making over each song in her own style. She played the 12 string Gibson guitar and a long neck banjo. Karen's second album, In My Own Time was recorded at Bearsville Studio's and originally released by Just Sunshine Records. Its liner notes were written by Fred Neil and its cover photos were taken by Elliot Landy. Less well-known is Karen's first album It's So Hard To Tell Who Is Going To Love You The Best. Known as The folk singer's answer to Billie Holiday and Sweet Mother K.D She struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years. It has been widely reported that she died in 1993 destitute and forgotten.
The CD arrived  and I eagerly opened the package. On the invoice inside whoever had packed it had written "An Awesome Choice, Dig It!". This boded well and I played the CD. I haven't stopped playing it since. I love it. My favourite song is 'Katie Cruel', it has a strange  haunted quality. Something On Your Mind, the opening track is fabulous but I love all of them. You will know When A Man Loves A Woman & How Sweet It Is but Karen gives them a whole new treatment. What I can't understand is that it flopped on release and Karen disappeared into obscurity. I think this might be because she didn't like singing her own material, she just interpreted other people's songs. Also, apparently she hated recording and wasn't bothered about the trappings of fame and was probably too sensitive. This world was too cruel for the likes of Karen and she buried the pain under alcohol and drugs and slowly slid into a terminal decline.
The word about Karen Dalton is spreading. Nick Cave who wrote a song called The First Time I Came To Town inspired by Karen's Katie Cruel described her as his favourite Blues singer and wrote a piece for the re-release of  the album called 'An Understanding Of Sorrow'.  Nick says "I always play her a lot, and to the people I live with and they would say, 'Please take that fucking record off'. They just didn't get it,they didn't feel the same way, I've had that reaction to Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison or Bob Dylan. That to me denotes a great, very individual, idiosyncratic voice, an exciting voice".

Karen Dalton - It Hurts Me Too

All Shall Be Well by Virginia Astley.

Tuesday morning and I sit in my little yard gazing indolently at four cabbage white butterflies who are performing an aerial ballet. They appear to be dancing to the sound of my new CD which is drifting from the kitchen. It is called All Shall Be Well by Virginia Astley. It is an excellent album, but not the album by Virginia Astley that I really wanted. That one is called From Gardens Where We Feel Secure. Sadly though, that album is unavailable and second-hand copies sell for amounts that are far beyond my pocket. I first heard of Virginia Astley when her name kept cropping up alongside the likes of Bridget St John and Vashti Bunyan and also on radio stations such as BBC 6 Music. I listened to the album on YouTube. It uses natural sounds such as birdsong and church bells to accompany Virginia’s improvised playing. It reminded me slightly of Granchester Meadows by Pink Floyd or English classical composers such as Delius. I wanted a hard copy but could not get one. I settled for All Shall Be Well, but even that cost me quite deep in the purse for a second-hand CD. I think it is high time Virginia’s back catalogue was reissued.

The opening track My Smallest Friend has a cello introduction. I have always liked the sound of the cello. The ‘smallest friend’ in question is her daughter Florence who would have been about four years old when this album was made in 1992. She can be heard singing towards the end of the song. I believe that Florence grew up to be an accomplished cellist herself and accompanies her mother at poetry readings. I am not sure how to describe the music on this album. I have heard it described as dream pop, but I would not say that. It is kind of ambient chamber folk music. A string quartet play on the album which gives it a pastoral English feel. Virginia’s father Edwin (Ted) Astley was a noted English composer who is best known for writing the theme music for such TV series as The Saint & Danger Man. He wrote the arrangements here for three of the tracks My Smallest Friend, Although I Know, and I Live For The Day.

Virginia had a classical music education and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and that is an obvious influence on this album. I think it was at university that she met Kate St John and Nicky Holland where they formed a group called The Ravishing Beauties. I have been a fan of Kate St John for a long time, especially when she was in Van Morrison’s band and with The Dream Academy. Kate plays oboe and cor-anglais on this album and vocals on Blue Sky, White Sky which she co-wrote with Virginia. It is my favourite track and based on a theme by Mozart.

The final track is an instrumental version of the opening song. I have enjoyed listening to this album today. In recent years Virginia seems to spend more time pursuing other interests such as poetry, nature writing and photography. She has recently published a book called The English River. I still think that From Gardens Where We Feel Secure should be re-released though.

Judy Dyble R.I.P

A friend messaged me today with the sad news that Judy Dyble has died aged 71. Judy was the original singer in Fairport Convention. She is also known for the band Trader Horne and she recorded with Giles, Giles & Fripp who later became King Crimson. She also made some excellent solo albums. I was interviewed on Radio Cambridgeshire a couple of years ago about the music scene in Peterborough and they asked me to choose a song which reminded me of the Cloud 9 club in the early 70’s. I chose Jenny May from the Morning Way album by Trader Horne because I saw that band give a memorable performance at Cloud 9. I messaged Judy about that interview, and she listened to it and was really pleased and thanked me. I am now listening to Morning Way. I have written a couple of reviews of Judy’s work previously, so I thought I would dust them off by way of a tribute to a very nice talented lady.

Summer Dancing by Judy Dyble & Andy Lewis. I didn’t know this album was even being released until I saw it in my local record shop. I expected the album would be a sort of simple folky thing with male & female vocals and acoustic guitar. I was pleasantly surprised to find it is nothing like I imagined. It is a sophisticated lush production. Andy would appear to be the production wizard. I liked the album from the first track He Said / She Said. As an old hippy from way back I loved the psychedelic sound and even the birdsong mixed into the song. Judy’s voice reminds me a little bit of Vashti Bunyan who I also like. She has not got the strongest voice, but she uses it very effectively and enunciates every word beautifully.  Judy’s voice is haunting & beguiling. To my ears her voice is as good now as it was in the olden days with Trader Horne. I loved the jazzy keyboards on Night Of A Thousand Hours. This album is on the Acid Jazz label which seems quite appropriate. Another track that stands out for me is A Net Of Memories (London) with the sounds of London crowds and even radio traffic reports cleverly mixed in very evocatively. My Electric Chauffeur is very upbeat with drums to the fore and Treasure has a very lush production with a nice rhythmical sequence. I enjoyed every single track on this album. The vocals are great and the production first class. It is awash with violas, recorders, glockenspiel, hand drums, timbale, guitars, synthesizers, & percussion. A most enjoyable album indeed. Well done to all involved in the project.

Morning Way by Trader Horne.

A band that made a real impression on me at Cloud 9 were Trader Horne. That was on March 15th, 1970 over 50 years ago. I know the date because I looked it up on the internet. I was already a big fan of Fairport Convention. Trader Horne were Judy Dyble who was the original singer with Fairport and Jackie McAuley who had been a member of Them with Van Morrison. After Judy left Fairport, she was a member of Giles.Giles and Fripp who became King Crimson. After Van Morrison left Them, they carried on for a while eventually becoming the Belfast Gypsies who were quite popular on the continent and made three albums.  When they broke up Jackie roamed around Europe and Morocco for a while before meeting up with Judy in Notting Hill and forming Trader Horne. The night I saw them they were very tired, but still performed a great show. Jackie asked the audience if anyone could put them up for the night. They had played at Van Dyke's in Plymouth the night before and had driven all the way to Peterborough which is a long way and Jackie had done all the driving.

They had just released their album Morning Way and after seeing them that night I meant to buy it, but I never did. There was so much great music about in those days somehow, I never got around to buying that album. Forty-one long years went by until one night I stumbled across them on YouTube and I wondered if their album was available and lo and behold it was. I think because of the internet it is becoming worthwhile for record companies to re-release little known gems from the past and with pay-pal you can pay instantly and a couple of days later a CD plops through your letter box, voila! What could be easier? so I treated myself to Trader Horne's album. I must say it is quite magical. The opening track Jenny May is very catchy, I think Jackie wanted to write a children's album originally. The next two tracks are quite Tolkienesque, The Children Of Oare with the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. and Three Rings For Elven Kings. The next track really reminded me of The Incredible String Band's The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, an album Judy actually sang on. Growing Man is a great song with Judy and Jackie sharing vocals. The next track is called Down And Out Blues which is an old Bessie Smith song and I think although it is sung superbly by Judy it doesn't quite fit in on this album. 

The next song is The Mixed Up Kind which has some nice harpsichord and I ought to mention that Ray Elliot  and John Wilson from Them  play on this album. Better Than Today is the next track featuring some nice flute playing. In My Loneliness is a wonderful song and Sheena is catchy and was released as a single. It is great pop music. I have seen this album described as Acid-Folk. The Mutant is very psychedelic, a brilliant piece of work. Morning Way the title track is next with Judy and Jackie sharing vocals. Velvet To Atone was co-written by Judy and Martin Quittinton who went on to write Maggie May with Rod Stewart. Like That Never Was is another upbeat song with amazing vocals. Here Comes The Rain and Goodbye Mercy Kelly are great songs to end the album, The album is very pastoral, very English but the last track is very Irish. Such a shame this album didn't get the recognition it deserved when it came out. I have enjoyed listening to this record and I'm pleased I finally got around to buying it 41 years after seeing the band live.

Colours Are Fading Fast by Loren Auerbach & Bert Jansch

Another rainy day, but I am quite content to remain indoors. Luckily for me the post lady delivered a new triple CD today which has created a nice atmosphere in my wee house. I am now on my second listen. It is called Colours Are Fading Fast by Loren Auerbach with Bert Jansch. Because I haven’t been going out for the last three months I have saved so much money I thought I would treat myself to some new music. I wanted to get something that was completely new to me. I first heard of Loren Auerbach last year when I read a biography of Bert Jansch called Dazzling Stranger by Colin Harper. Loren became the last woman in Bert’s life when she married him in 1999. However, their friendship went back to the mid 1980's. This triptych of albums consists of two albums that Loren recorded in 1985 plus a third CD of various tracks recorded in 1988 but never previously released until this set came out in 2016.

The first album Loren recorded is called After The Long Night. It is a short album of only five tracks and only 29 minutes. Loren made it in collaboration with a singer-songwriter and guitarist called Richard Newman and Bert was called in to provide acoustic guitar. There is also violin and bass. I love the opening four tracks. When I heard the first track The Rainbow Man I immediately thought of Nick Drake. I know it is a cliche to say Nick Drake. Almost every folk musician you hear of these days seems to be compared to Nick Drake, but that is what I thought. I also loved the second song Frozen Beauty. That song instantly reminded me of Shelagh McDonald who I have written about before. I will put that song on this blog page so you can judge for yourself. I also liked Cristabel and So Lonely. I wasn’t so keen on the last track Journey Of The Moon Through Sorrow because it isn’t Loren on vocals. I assume it is Richard Newman.

One reason I ordered this set of Cd's was because the publicity blurb said this music will appeal to fans of Virginia Astley, Bridget St John & Vashti Bunyan. I have albums by Vashti and Bridget, and I have ordered an album by Virginia Astley which I will tell you about in a few days hopefully. Loren’s voice is very intimate, you almost feel she is in the same room. I had the same feeling when I first heard Sibylle Baier. The second album in this set is called Playing The Game which came out in October 1985. It has a richer, more produced sound than the first one and has ten songs. The opening track Carousel has some great electric guitar by Newman. Weeping Willow Blues contains parts of Corrina Corrina and slightly reminds me of Norma Waterson. I think Bert might have written some of the songs but I’m not sure which ones. Is It Real after two listens is the best song with Loren’s delicate vocals perfectly accompanied by wonderful guitar playing.

Loren was planning a third album in 1988 which never came to fruition. There were recording sessions in October & November of that year which make up the third CD in this set called In Moonlights Grace.  Only Loren. Bert and Richard Newman feature on these songs. They are interesting, but not great. What they do show is Bert’s exquisite guitar playing. There is a version of Tam Lin which Fairport Convention made a sublime version of on Liege & Lief and a version of Fleetwood Mac’s Man Of The World. Bert’s guitar on this is wonderful but sadly Loren’s vocals don’t rise to the occasion. It did not really matter that the album didn’t see the light of day at the time because Loren had other strings to her bow. She went off to college and got a degree. I think she became an expert on Norse Mythology and published books on the subject. Loren did not see Bert again for quite a few years, but they met again in 1994 and became more than friends and married in 1999. Sadly, they both succumbed to cancer. Bert died in October 2011 aged 67 and Loren passed away only a few weeks later aged only 48. I am pleased I bought this CD set. It is not one of the greatest recordings I have ever bought by any means but it created a nice atmosphere in my kitchen today and anything that lifts your spirits during these depressing times has to be a good thing.

Loren Auerbach and Bert Jansch - Frozen Beauty