Bright Phoebus by Mike & Lal Waterson.

After months of looking, I finally managed to acquire a copy of Bright Phoebus by Lal & Mike Waterson. It cost me deep in the purse though. I saw a 2CD copy in the auction on eBay. I bid and bid, but to no avail. I finally stopped bidding when it reached £45. “This is ridiculous”, I thought to myself. It sold for £51. I was so disappointed I looked on Amazon and saw a copy for sale for £36 and bought it. That is the second highest price I have ever paid for an album. The record is held by In Gardens Where We Feel Secure by Virginia Astley which I paid £44 for. I think Bright Phoebus has become much sought after since being mentioned in Richard Thompson’s book called Beeswing. Anyway, I am pleased I managed to find a copy. The album was originally released in 1972 in an edition of only 1,000 copies. The copy I have is a remastered re-release by Domino Records in 2017 and became the subject of a copyright dispute which might account for it being quite rare these days. 

I must say they did a wonderful job with the design and packaging. It has a triple gate-fold sleeve and contains a fabulous booklet with the lyrics, an extensive essay by Pete Paprides which explains everything you might need to know about Lal & Mike Waterson and the story of how the album came into being, and some splendid photos, including one of Anne Briggs which I had not seen before. Martin Carthy had a lot to do with bringing the songs to the attention of Bill Leader who produced the album. It was recorded in one week at Cecil Sharp House in London. The list of musicians who played on the album reads like a Who’s Who of the British folk scene of the 70s. Richard Thompson, Norma Waterson, Tim Hart, Ashley Hutchings, Maddy Prior, Dave Mattacks, Martin Carthy, Bob Davenport, and many others appear on the twelve tracks along with Mike and Lal. Let us have a look at the songs.

Rubber Band is the opening song. Some critics have described this album as Folk music’s Sergeant Pepper, and I can see that link with this jolly opening song which has a huge array of instruments including trombone and Jew’s harp. The lyrics are comical, clever word play. The Scarecrow is completely different. One person compared it to an Ingmar Bergman film. It has a pre-Christian pagan feel to it with hints of human sacrifice. It is sung by Mike & Lal with just Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy on acoustic guitars. I know Fine Horseman because Anne Briggs also recorded it. Lal sings and wrote this song. Her hero was the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and I think you can see the influence in Lal’s sometimes enigmatic lyrics. I wonder if Winifer Odd might have been influenced slightly by Eleanor Rigby. It is a strange song about a lonely tragi-comic person who spends their life waiting for something to happen, and it never does. Danny Rose is a kind of rockabilly song about a gangster who comes to a sticky end. Lal wrote Child Among The Weeds after her son Oliver was born. All the songs on the album are original compositions, but many of them, like this song sound like traditional ballads that have been around for hundreds of years. If this album is Folk’s Sgt Pepper, then I think The Magical Man is the equivalent of ‘For The Benefit Of Mr Kite’ with it’s circus and Victorian Music Hall imagery. There are twelve musicians on this track. 

The next two songs are much simpler arrangements featuring just Lal and acoustic guitars, cello, and bass. Never The Same is a scary vision of a post-apocalypse world. To Make You Stay is a simple song about loss which does stir the same emotion as ‘She’s Leaving Home’. Shady Lady by contrast features lots of singers and splendid lead guitar by Richard Thompson. Lal wrote Red Wine Promises after she went out to the pub for the night. On the way home she tried to leap-frog over a traffic bollard and fell flat on her back. The song is about her telling herself off for her behaviour. Mike was up a ladder working as a house painter when the sun came out. The words of the title track Bright Phoebus came to him there and then. He had to go home and write it all down. I did not know what Phoebus meant, so I looked in Collin’s English Dictionary, and it said, also called: Phoebus, Apollo Greek mythology, Apollo as the sun god, poetic, a personification of the sun. So there!

I have enjoyed listening to the other CD nearly as much as Bright Phoebus, which is demo recordings made the previous year. The quality is surprisingly good, and I liked the stripped back sound of the songs. There are also three songs which were not included on the original album. Sadly, Lal Waterson died in 1998 and her brother Mike Waterson passed away in 2011. They have left a great legacy and I am sure that their legend will continue to grow in the years to come.

John Clare, Born July 13th 1793.

Last week when I was reading about Lucia Joyce the daughter of James Joyce, I found out that she spent decades in St Andrews Mental Hospital in Northampton. This was also the institution where the poet John Clare died in 1864 aged 70. It reminded me that today July 13^th is his birthday, so I thought that I ought to say a few words about him even though I am not an expert by any means. John Clare was born in a small cottage in the village of Helpston near my hometown of Peterborough in 1793. He left school at age 12 to become an agricultural labourer. Because of malnutrition as a child, he only grew to be five feet tall and suffered from poor health all his life. He fell in love with a girl called Mary Joyce who was the daughter of a wealthy farmer but was forbidden to see her because of his poverty. This disappointment had a profound effect on his mental health in later life. 

His book of poems called Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery was published in 1820 by John Taylor who also published Keats. It was an immediate success, as was his second collection called Village Minstrel and Other Poems. He married a milkmaid called Patty Turner and they had seven children. His success was short lived however and his third book The Shepherds Calendar sold poorly. His mental health declined, and he was admitted to an asylum in Essex. He walked 80 miles home from there. One of his delusions was that he had two wives, one of whom was Mary Joyce. He was finally admitted to the asylum in Northampton where he stayed for about 23 years until his death. It was during this time that some critics say he wrote some of his finest poetry.

John Clare's Cottage.

He was almost forgotten by the end of the 19^th century, but in recent decades he has come to be regarded as a major poet. John Clare had a much greater knowledge of wildlife than other famous nature poets such as Wordsworth. For instance, in his poetry he mentions 147 species of wild British birds. He was ahead of his time in seeing the negative effects of the industrial revolution on the countryside where pastures were ploughed up, trees and hedges uprooted, fens drained and common land enclosed. With his love of the natural world there must be a place for John Clare in this age of climate change and destruction of forests and natural habits for animals.
As well as being a great poet John Clare also wrote some very moving prose. In a book called Rare Mankind by Geoffrey Grigson I found this nice piece by John Clare describing the day in London when he happened upon Lord Byron's funeral. I scanned the pages of the book. 

Nora by Nuala O'Connor.

You may recall that I wrote a little piece about Bloomsday on June 16^th. Well, a good Irish friend of mine read it, and kindly sent me a book that she thought I might enjoy. It is called Nora by Nuala O’Connor, A Love Story Of Nora Barnacle And James Joyce. I most certainly did enjoy it, in fact after the Italy v Spain game two nights ago I sat up until nearly 3.00 in the morning to get it finished because I was so enthralled by the story. The author Nuala O’Connor lives in Galway which is where Nora was also born in 1884. Published this year Nora is her 5^th novel. It is a fictionalised account through Nora’s eyes of the love story of James & Nora from their first meeting in Dublin in 1904 when Nora was a chambermaid at Finn’s Hotel. June 16^th, 1904, was their first romantic evening together, which is why that date is always celebrated as Bloomsday. James later asks Nora to move abroad with him, and even though they are not married, Nora agrees. The story follows their lives in Trieste, Zurich and Paris.

James, Nora, Lucia, Georgio.

Their children Georgio and Lucia were born in 1905 and 1907. I found the parts of the story about Lucia particularly moving, from where Nora first noticed what a strange child she was, to her eventual decline into schizophrenia and being confined to a mental hospital. Before reading this book, I did not know that Lucia was a talented dancer, even appearing in a film by Jean Renoir and had an unrequited love interest in Samuel Beckett. What becomes clear is that Nora had an extremely difficult distant relationship with Lucia.

Wedding Day 1931

There are some very explicitly sexual passages in the book. This is not gratuitous but reflects the passionate relationship between James & Nora. When they were apart, they exchanged many erotic letters. I read that one of their letters sold at Sotheby’s for £240,000. I like the humour of this book which appears on many pages. Even when they were living in abject poverty the pair of them would make the most of a bad situation. The wit of James Joyce can be seen in such phrases as when he describes the Atlantic air of Galway as, ‘fresh as a nun’s drawers’. Another thing I like about this book is that I found it very educational. I have learned a lot about the famous and not so famous figures who come to life on these pages. Joyce was fortunate to meet Sylvia Beach at a party organised by Ezra Pound. Sylvia founded the famous bookshop Shakespeare & Company in Paris and she offered to publish Ulysses when nobody else would touch it. I found a fascinating interview with Sylvia when she appeared on RTE Irish television in 1962. It shows what a great and funny lady she was. (I have shared it on this blog site if you want to see it).

It always seemed to be women who kept James Joyce afloat. I learned about his great English benefactor Harriet Weaver from this book. She sent Joyce a huge amount of money which allowed him the time to work on Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake. I had not heard of many of the characters in the book, but kept reaching for Wikipedia to find out more and learned about the likes of Robert McAlmon who typed and edited Ulysses, Maria & Eugene Jolas who published extracts from Finnegan’s Wake in their Transition magazine, Tom MacGreevy an Irish poet friend of Joyce’s, Frank Budgen an English artist and friend of Nora & James, Mary & Padraig Colum who wrote a book called Our Friend James Joyce. I have a copy of that book, which I must read soon. There are many other interesting artistic people on these pages. 

Nora.

I found that reading Nora is very inspirational. Paris in the 1920s must have been a wonderful place to be, with all the great artists and writers drawn there from all over the world. I know that James Joyce achieved immortality almost like a 20^th century Dante or Shakespeare, but he couldn’t have done it without his Nora. If he hadn’t had Nora, he might have drank himself to death, he simply would not have coped with life on his own. Nora (to quote Nuala O’Connor) was his harp and shamrock, his tribe and Queen, his turf and bog cotton, his squirrel girl, pirate queen and cattle raider, his blessed little blackguard, his auburn marauder, his gooseen. Congratulations to Nuala O'Connor , and thank you very much to my friend for sending me this wonderful book. 

Sylvia Beach & James Joyce.

Sylvia Beach interview on James Joyce and Shakespeare & Company (1962)

The Waterson Family 'Bright Phoebus' Live at Hull Truck

Shining Bright. The Songs Of Mike & Lal Waterson.

Ever since I read Richard Thompson’s autobiography Beeswing earlier in the year, I have been determined to find a CD copy of a legendary album from 1972 which Richard spoke highly of. It is called Bright Phoebus by Mike & Lal Waterson. Vinyl copies do go on sale from time to time, but CD copies seem to be as rare as hens’ teeth. However, a few days ago when I was searching on eBay, I came across a compilation album that looked interesting. It is called Shining Bright, The Songs Of Mike & Lal Waterson. It was only £3.50 inc P&P, so I bought it. That is what I have been listening to for the last couple of days, and it is a very enjoyable album indeed. 

There are fifteen tracks here by various artists including some of my favourite singers. Three of the songs are versions of material written for Bright Phoebus and there are twelve other songs written by Lal and Mike but not previously recorded. This collection was released in 2002. Sadly, Lal died in 1998, so she doesn’t appear on this album, but her brother Mike who passed away in 2011 does appear on one track as a member of Blue Murder. The album opens with a trad jazz type instrumental Bright Phoebus played by John Pashley’s New Orleans Parade Band. Then, an excellent bluesy folk ballad called Evona Darling by Linda & Teddy Thompson. I was pleased and surprised to see that the legendary Van Dyke Parks plays accordion and Hammond organ on this track. 

Scarecrow features the guitar and great voice of Dick Gaughan who I have previously written about on this blog site. Martin Carthy sings Never The Same accompanied by cello, two violins, viola and double bass in a wonderful arrangement by Robert Kirby. Martin’s wife Norma Waterson is next with Song For Thirza accompanied by Martin and daughter Eliza. The legend who is Christy Moore sings Piper’s Path with Donal Lunny and Declan Sinnott playing bouzouki and guitar. Child Among The Weeds is a great folk-rock song by The Eliza Carthy Band which shows the brilliance of Eliza’s fiddle playing. 

I must admit that I had not heard of Helen Watson & Heather Greenback before, but Shine is a wonderful song. Danny Rose is played by Billy Bragg & The Blokes. I was pleased to see that one of the blokes is Hammond organ player Ian McLagan of Small Faces fame. Winifer Odd features the vocals of Maddy Prior accompanied by Rosie & Rick Kemp. The Marvellous Companion has the great voice of Christine Collister with Lal’s son Oliver Knight on guitar. Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher are an American folk duo and recorded One Of Those Days in California. I had not heard of Dayteller before, but I knew their contribution Fine Horseman because the great Anne Briggs has also recorded it. The only track by Richard Thompson in this collection is a wonderful song called Red Wine & Promises which he recorded in Los Angeles. The final song is Bright Phoebus by Blue Murder which is a singalong featuring Martin Carthy on guitar with seven vocalists in support. It reminded me slightly of Ringo singing with the Beatles. No wonder Bright Phoebus has been described as the Sergeant Pepper of folk music. Shining Bright is a most enjoyable collection of songs and a fine tribute to the song writing of Mike & Lal Waterson. It has made me more determined than ever to get hold of a copy of Bright Phoebus. Watch this space!

The Watersons.

The Grave Of Thomas Moore.

Me & Thomas Moore

A neighbour of mine was going over to the village of Bromham this morning. It is only 13 miles from Westbury. I went along as well because I wanted to visit the grave of the Irish writer, poet, lyricist, and patriot Thomas Moore who is buried in the churchyard in Bromham. I have got quite interested in visiting famous graves recently. I find it quite educational, and it gives me something to write about. Also, it is nice to get out of Westbury when I get the chance. St Nicholas churchyard is a peaceful little place, and we found the gravestone within seconds. You cannot miss it because it is at least 15 feet high, I would guess. It is an Irish Celtic cross with intricate carvings. The epitaph at the base of it reads,’ Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee, The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long; When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee, And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!’ On the back of the plinth is a quotation by his friend Lord Byron, but I could not decipher what it says. Thomas Moore lived in Sloperton Cottage in Bromham from 1818 until his death in 1852, but I am surprised that he was not buried in Dublin where he was born. His daughter who pre-deceased him is buried right beside him, so maybe it was his wish to be buried here.

Words on plinth.

I will just tell you a few facts about Thomas Moore that I think are interesting. He was born above his parent’s grocery shop in Dublin in 1779. In 1795 he was one of the first Catholics to enter Trinity College Dublin. One of his friends at Trinity was Robert Emmett who was executed aged 25 for leading the Irish Rebellion of 1803. Moore later wrote a song about his friend called "O, Breathe Not His Name". He moved to London to study law and later travelled to Bermuda to take up a government post. After six months he was bored and went to America where he was befriended by Thomas Jefferson among others. In 1811 he married Bessie who was an actress and they eventually settled in Bromham and had five children who all died young, which was not unusual in those days. Unfortunately, there is one notorious act with which Thomas Moore is associated. His friend Lord Byron had entrusted him with his memoirs which he wanted publishing after his death. In 1821 Moore sold the manuscript to the publisher John Murray. On Byron’s death in 1824 Murray decided the manuscript was too course for publication. Lady Byron was also said to be scandalised. All copies of the manuscript were burned in Murray’s fireplace. It is said to be the greatest act of vandalism in literary history. Moore later wrote a biography of Byron from material he was able to retrieve with the help of Mary Shelley.

Moore in Fox Talbot photo 1844.

While living in Bromham he was friends with the photography pioneer Fox Talbot who lived in nearby Lacock and took a photo of Moore and others in 1844. It is believed to be the earliest ever photograph of an Irish person. These days Thomas Moore is best remembered for his Irish Melodies where he put English words to traditional Irish tunes, including such songs as "The Last Rose of Summer", "The Minstrel Boy", "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" and "Oft in the Stilly Night".  The sheet music for The Last Rose Of Summer sold over one million copies in the USA alone when it was published. It has been recorded by the likes of Bing Crosby and Nina Simone. Even the Grateful Dead song Black Muddy River uses the original tune. The Minstrel Boy is always played at The Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Day and was played at the Queen Mother’s funeral because of her connection to the Irish Guards. It was extremely popular with soldiers in the American Civil War and can be heard in the film Black Hawk Down. It was also played at the memorial service at the World Trade Centre to mark the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. So, you can see that the influence of Thomas Moore lives on in popular culture right up to the present day. That is why I am pleased I visited his grave today.