The Unthanks - King of Rome (2012 Folk Music Awards)

A Trip To Bath To See The Unthanks.

Sorry I haven’t written anything for a while. I have had two of my friends visiting for a few days, so we have been out and about every day and I haven’t had time for writing. On Tuesday afternoon we went to the beautiful city of Bath. We whiled away a pleasant hour by the river outside a pub called The Boater. Then went to The Salamander near Queens Square for some food. I have liked this pub ever since I came to this area over 40 years ago. Highly recommended if you are ever in Bath. 

After that I showed my visitors some of the magnificent Georgian splendor of Bath such as the Royal Crescent and the Circus which has that name because it is a perfect circle of Georgian houses designed by John Wood The Elder and built between 1754 and 1768. After wandering around Bath, we eventually made our way to The Forum which is fast becoming my favourite music venue. I have seen lots of great bands here over the last few years. 

We were a bit early, because when we took our seats in the front row I thought the show started at 7.30, but it was actually 8.00 when The Unthanks and their 11-piece band appeared on the stage. It was well worth the wait. The band were magnificent, among the instruments they played were piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, guitars, bass and drums. They were rehearsed to perfection because they had recently been in the studio recording their forthcoming album Sorrows Away. I was particularly impressed with the trumpet player Lizzie Jones who gives an evocative gritty northern feel to the music. The music director would appear to be the pianist and composer Adrian McNally. The focus of the whole group is the two sisters Becky and Rachel Unthank whose harmonies are spellbinding. As well as their astonishing singing ability they even did a bit of clog dancing during the show. They were assisted on some songs by Niopha Keegan who also plays violin. She sang a magnificent version of the McPeake Family song Singing Bird.

I didn’t write down a setlist because I only have two of their albums The Songs Of Molly Drake and The Unthanks Memory Box, so I didn’t know the titles of all the songs. It was five days ago now, but I’ll just tell you what I can remember. The opening song was called The Great Selkie Of Sule Skerrie. The Sandgate Dandling Song was written by Bobby Nunn. I remember a different version by Cilla Black called Liverpool Lullaby. I much prefer to hear The Unthanks sing the original lyrics though. The King Of Rome is one of my favourite songs. It is about a pigeon who won a famous pigeon race from Rome to Derby in 1913. I first heard Magpie when it was featured in Mackenzie Crook’s TV series The Detectorists. (See video below) 

The Bay Of Fundy is the new single from the album and is an instant classic in my opinion. You can also hear it below if you scroll down. Rachel and Becky encouraged the audience to join with the chorus of Sorrows Away. I’m still not sure what Gan To The Kye is all about or if I have spelled it correctly, but it sounded really nice. I think they said that A Whistling Woman was written by their friend the actress Maxine Peake. Lucky Gilchrist is a song about a friend of Rachel’s who died, and it mentions Freddie Mercury. Isabella Coke Ovens reminded me of when I used to work in the coke ovens at Shotton steel works. Mount The Air is the title song to a previous album and was performed sublimely. There were lots of other songs, but I can’t remember what they were called now. There is no other band in the world anything like The Unthanks. Although their roots are in folk music, at times you can hear elements of progressive rock, classical music, minimalism, and ambient music. They are very proud of their northern roots and uncompromising in singing in their northern dialect. If you want to see them for yourself, they are playing all over the country on this tour. You won’t regret it. Thank you very much to The Unthanks for a great concert in Bath.

Review: Wayward, Just Another Life To Live, by Vashti Bunyan.

I stayed up late last night until about 2.00 in order to finish reading an autobiography called Wayward, Just Another Life To Live by Vashti Bunyan. I had seen an advert on the internet that it had been published and you could buy signed copies, so I ordered one and it arrived on Monday. I have been a fan of Vashti for about fifteen years, ever since I first heard her album Just Another Diamond Day which I am listening to at this very moment. The music is perfect for a spring morning with the weather getting warmer. I already knew that Vashti had led an unusual life, so knew it would be a good read. It is a very attractive book just to look at with the dust jacket having a beautiful photo of Vashti gazing wistfully at the camera. Inside, the pages are tastefully illustrated with photos and drawings by Vashti herself. She seems to have had quite a middle-class childhood. Her father was a dentist and part-time inventor, and her mother had an interest in music which was never fulfilled, which seems very similar to Nick Drake’s mother Molly. Vashti attended Ruskin School of Art in Oxford where she was befriended by Michael Palin & Terry Jones. 

It seems to me that people from these sorts of backgrounds often have fortunate chance meetings with people at parties. Vashti met an agent who introduced her to Andrew Loog Oldham the manager of the Rolling Stones. She made a single of a Jagger/ Richards song with one of her own compositions on the flip side. It didn’t get anywhere. She was compared to another Andrew Oldham prodigy Marianne Faithfull which irked her, and she told friends that Marianne didn’t write her own songs. (That isn’t quite true because Marianne co-wrote Sister Morphine, Broken English and others, but Vashti wouldn’t have known that at the time) When I wrote a piece about Vashti a few years ago I also said that she reminded me of Marianne, (sorry Vashti). This period seems to have been quite an unhappy time in her life. You get the feeling that a lot of events were too painful to write about, or they are just hinted at, such as when she mentions ‘the little ghosts of lost babies’. Her mental health declined, and she had a bad experience with LSD which seems to be a similar story to another singer who disappeared for decades Shelagh Macdonald.

She met Robert Lewis when he was hitch-hiking, and they eventually got together. Through a friend of Robert’s, they knew Donovan who had plans to start a commune on The Isle Of Skye. Donovan lent them £100 towards the cost of a horse called Bess and a wagon which was made from an old baker’s van.  Together with a dog called Blue they set off on their epic adventure to walk from London to the north of Scotland. Along the way they picked up another dog, a crazy Afghan hound called May. The journey took nearly two years, with stops along the way. This is the best part of the book in my opinion with vivid descriptions of the people they met, and their trials and tribulations, bad weather, accidents, hospitality, and inhospitality. Their horse Bess is the star of the story for me. 

It was on the journey that she wrote the songs that became Just Another Diamond Day. I did know about their journey previously, but reading the book dispelled any romantic ideas I had about it. It was often a very hard life, but I think it was good for Vashti because being so close to nature, having to survive from day to day, and having animals and later children to look after stopped her from dwelling on her own problems. On a trip south she met the famous music producer Joe Boyd and a year later recorded her album. It featured Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band. He was into Scientology and in one amusing episode she found Robin had wired Robert Lewis up to an E- Meter. She got to know the ISB very well indeed because later she lived at Glen Row cottages in Scotland which they owned. I see that Mike Heron of ISB is thanked in the acknowledgements. Also on the album were Simon Nicol and Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention who Vashti says she had never heard of. Robert Kirby famous for working with Nick Drake also arranged some tracks. Joe also arranged a song writing session for her and Nick Drake which ended in failure because of them both being so introverted.

The album flopped as usual, due to no marketing. Vashti had other priorities by then because she was expecting her first child. She gave up all interest in music making and three decades went by. Then in 2000 the album was re-released to rave reviews and was championed by the likes of Devendra Banhart among others. Live performances followed, and two more albums to critical acclaim, and now this wonderful book has been published. I enjoyed it immensely. I think that part of the reason I liked it so much is because it reminds me of a time when lots of us were young idealists who would have liked to have lived a nomadic existence or lived in a commune away from society. We never did, but can live it vicariously through those who had the courage to try. Thank you very much Vashti Bunyan for telling us your brave and fascinating story.

The Unthanks - The Bay Of Fundy (Official Video)

Love on the Left Bank.

Tonight, I have been reading a wonderful book called Love on the Left Bank by a Dutch photo-journalist called Ed Van Der Elsken. It is a 2020 hardback facsimile of the first edition which was published in 1956. When I say ‘reading’ I really mean ‘looking at’ because there is very little dialogue, but it is crammed with splendid black and white photographs of the bohemian subterraneans who haunted the Left Bank of Paris in the early 1950’s, a time and place which has always fascinated me. I bought the book because the main protagonist in this story is Vali Myers  the mysterious femme fatale heroine of this semi-biographical roman à clef, and I wanted to find out more about her.  As you may know, I am a big fan of Patti Smith and first came across the name of Vali Myers in a recent interview with Patti in The Guardian. This is what Patti said about Vali Myers. ‘When I was a young girl, I found pictures of her in a book called Love on the Left Bank. She was one of the early beautiful gypsy beatnik girls. Living in rural south Jersey, I aspired to look like that or be free like that, to go from Parisian Cafe to cafe, writing poetry. I was living in the Chelsea Hotel with actor/playwright Sam Shepard and one day Vali Myers walked in with a baby fox on her shoulder, which matched her wild red hair. I was amazed. Vali had tattoos all over her face, so I asked her if she would give me a tattoo of a small lightning bolt on my knee in honour of Crazy Horse, which she did with a big sewing needle in ink. To this day, it’s on the inside of my left knee, so I think of her every time I look at it.’

My natural curiosity took over, and I wanted to find out more about this exotic foxy lady who I had never heard of, so I googled her name. I found out that Vali was born in Canterbury, Sydney Australia on August 2^nd, 1930. She left home at 14 and became famous as an artist, dancer, bohemian and muse. She became the leading dancer for the Melbourne Modern Ballet before moving to post-war Paris aged 19. It wasn’t as romantic as she imagined because she ended up living on the streets of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Quarter. She would dance for hours in bars for money to get by. It was in this bohemian atmosphere that she and her friends first met Ed van der Elsken. Vali was beat before beatniks and hip before hippies. She was decades ahead of her time. With her looks and fashion sense she was like a forerunner of the Punks and Goths. She mixed with writers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams who based the character of Carol in his play Orpheus Descending on her. 

She became hooked on opium and would smoke it late at night with Jean Cocteau. Other acquaintances included Salvador Dalí and Django Reinhardt. Her artwork came to the attention of George Plimpton, editor of The Paris Review, who publicised her in his magazine, and bought many of her early works. Vali married Rudi Rappold, an Austrian from Vienna, and in an attempt to cure her addictions moved to Positano in Southern Italy. The marriage didn’t work out, but in 1971 she met Italian artist Gianni Menichetti who moved in and together they developed the property into a successful wildlife sanctuary. Animals, especially owls, ravens and foxes were always a great source of inspiration for her pen & ink drawings and watercolour paintings. At Positano she had many famous visitors such as Marianne Faithfull and Donovan. He was so captivated by Vali that he flew her to London to dance on stage at the Royal Albert Hall to his song The Summer Day Reflection Song which is in the 1968 film Dope. 

Her art fetched high prices which is why she made frequent trips to New York and stayed in the Chelsea Hotel. Her legend grew when American film-makers Sheldon Rochlin and Flame Schon made a documentary called Vali: The Witch of Positano which became a cult classic in America. Mick Jagger bought several of her works. Due to ill health she returned to Melbourne in 1993 after being away from Australia for 44 years and opened a studio in the Nicholas Building; only returning to Positano occasionally. Vali Myers died in Melbourne on 12 February 2003 shortly after being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 72. Hers was certainly a life lived. Her whole life was a work of art. Her positive attitude is shown by what Vali said to a newspaper only a month before she died, 

‘I've had 72 absolutely flaming years. It [the illness] doesn't bother me at all, because, you know, love, when you've lived like I have, you've done it all. I put all my effort into living; any dope can drop dead. I'm in the hospital now, and I guess I'll kick the bucket here. Every beetle does it, every bird, everybody. You come into the world and then you go’.

PS: Last night I found a video on YouTube of Beeswing by Richard Thompson which is made of photos of Vali and her art. I think it is great. I have shared it below if you want to see it.

Vali Myers montage set to "Beeswing"

Van Morrison, Pacific High Studios '71.

Today I have been enjoying listening to a new Van Morrison 2CD set which arrived recently. I was searching on the internet for info about Van’s forthcoming 43^rd studio album when I stumbled across it. This recording was made on September 5^th, 1971, at Pacific High Studios for broadcast on KSAN-FM radio. I don’t know why it has only emerged as an album now, but I am pleased it has because I think it is a great recording with Van at the peak of his powers and sounding like he was enjoying this session. I was a bit dubious about ordering it because I had never heard of the label called London Calling. I think they specialise in releasing radio recordings. 

I feared it might be a badly produced bootleg product. When I opened the package, I was pleased to find an attractive double CD with nicely designed artwork and a little booklet of sleeve notes with some nice photos of Van & Janet Morrison and a contemporary interview with Van from the NME. (I did have a little bit of trouble initially removing CD from the centre piece though). Judging by what the interviewer says about meeting Van I don’t think Van would approve of this release. I expect a lot of long-time Van fans will already possess a bootleg of this session, but if you haven’t then I heartily recommend it. The band are excellent. With Ronnie Montrose on guitars, Mark Jordan on piano & organ, Bill Church on bass, Bill Atwood on trumpet and trombone, Jack Schroer on saxophones, Rick Schlosser on drums and percussion, and Janet Morrison and Ellen Schroer on backing vocals. This was the beginning of the band who would eventually evolve into the Caledonia Soul Orchestra which I think most fans would agree was the best band of Van’s career.

CD 1 opens with Into The Mystic, which is a great start, followed by I’ve Been Working which always sounds greater performed live. I really like Friday’s Child on this album. It is one of Van’s lesser-known songs from the Them era which was only released on a single in 67 after Van had left the band. The sax playing of Jack and the backing vocals of Janet & Ellen here are wonderful. By the way, Lisa Stansfield does a great version of this song which you can find on YouTube if you want. This is followed by Van singing an intro of Que Sera Sera by Doris Day before launching into a rocking version of Hound Dog with Mark Jordan excelling himself on piano. I think this shows the good humour of this recording. Two great songs follow which I’m sure were inspired by Janet, Ballerina and Tupelo Honey. Then Van announces a new single coming out which is Wild Night, and then his version of Dylan’s classic  Just Like A Woman brings CD 1 to a close.

CD 2 opens with Moonshine Whiskey which is another Van song that I think is better performed live. Jack, Ellen & Janet again sound great here. Dead Or Alive follows, and I see from recent concerts that Van has returned it to the present day set-lists. I think it was his Skiffle Sessions album where I first heard this song, but it is obviously a lot older than that because Woody Guthrie wrote it. You’re My Woman reflects Van’s domestic contentment of the time. These Dreams Of You is followed by Domino which became a big hit single for Van in the USA. Two other songs from the Street Choir album Call Me Up In Dreamland and Blue Money follow, which make me wonder if I was a bit harsh on that album when I reviewed his 70’s songs the other night. Bring It On Home To Me by the great Sam Cooke follows, before a very humorous version of Buona Sera Signorina by Louis Prima brings this most enjoyable performance to a close. If you are one of the fans who prefer Van’s older work and you don’t already have a copy of this recording, then I think this could be just what you need..