Quite A Nice Day.

It was a nice sunny dry October day, so I thought I should get out and about. I caught the bus over to Warminster to meet a friend. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my bus pass which was a bit annoying because it cost me a fiver to travel both ways. Anyway, I put that disappointment behind me. I was a bit early when I arrived, and I passed the time browsing in the music shop which we are very lucky to have in this day and age. I didn’t know what to buy but I felt obliged to buy something as I had been in there about half an hour. I wanted something by somebody new that I hadn’t heard before. I ummed and aahed for ages and finally bought a CD by Joanna Newsom called Divers. I have heard great reports of her and she has been described as psychedelic folk which I like the sound of. I liked the picture of her on the back of the cd which was the deciding factor in buying it as well. I haven’t played it yet, but I’ll write a review when I have time and tell you all about it.

I had spent so much time in the shop that I was now late. I scurried across the road to Spoons where my friend was waiting. She was annoyed at me for being late, but soon cheered up when I bought a bottle of wine. We sat out the back and enjoyed the autumn sunshine. The time flew by and two large glasses of chardonnay later we were back at the bus stop. After she departed, I still had 16 minutes to wait for my bus, so I went in the Blue Cross charity shop. I found a nice first edition SIGNED! book called The White Book by Han Kang. I must admit that I had never heard of her before, but I had a feeling it was a bit special, so I bought it. When I got home I looked her up in Wikipedia and was pleased to find that she is a Korean writer with a high literary reputation who has won the Booker International prize in recent years. That was a good find. Book hunting is like gold mining. I’ll put the book in my bookshop in the next few days. I might even read it if I have time. Also, when I looked at my emails, I found I had sold two books which was great. That paid for my bus fare, the wine and my cd. What goes around, comes around as they say. I’ll post those books in the morning. After that I had a nice nap. Then I went to the pub for an hour. This evening I listened to the BBC Folk Awards show on the radio. Then I thought I’d write a little blog, which is this. All things considered it had been quite a nice day.

Joanna Newsom.

October In The Railroad Earth.

THERE WAS A LITTLE ALLEY IN SAN FRANCISCO back of the Southern Pacific station at Third and Townsend in redbrick of drowsy lazy afternoons with everybody at work in offices in the air you feel the impending rush of their commuter frenzy as soon they'll be charging en masse from Market and Sansome buildings on foot and in buses and all well-dressed thru workingman Frisco of Walkup ?? truck drivers and even the poor grime-bemarked Third Street of lost bums even Negroes so hopeless and long left East and meanings of re- sponsibility and try that now all they do is stand there spit- ting in the broken glass sometimes fifty in one afternoon against one wall at Third and Howard and here's all these Millbrae and San Carlos neat-necktied producers and com- muters of America and Steel civilization rushing by with San Francisco Chronicles and green Call-Bulletins not even enough time to be disdainful, they've got to catch 130, 132, 134, 136 all the way up to 146 till the time of evening supper

in homes of the railroad earth when high in the sky the magic stars ride above the following hotshot freight trains-it's all in California, it's all a sea, I swim out of it in afternoons of sun hot meditation in my jeans with head on handker- chief on brakeman's lantern or (if not working) on book, I look up at blue sky of perfect lostpurity and feel the warp of wood of old America beneath me and have insane conversa- tions with Negroes in several-story windows above and every- thing is pouring in, the switching moves of boxcars in that little alley which is so much like the alleys of Lowell and I hear far off in the sense of coming night that engine calling our mountains. or the Gate of Marin to the north or San Jose south, the clarity of Cal to break your heart. It was the fantastic drowse and drum hum of lum mum afternoon nathin' to do, ole Frisco with end of land sadness-the people-the alley full of trucks and cars of businesses nearabouts and nobody knew or far from cared who I was all my life three thousand five hundred miles from birth-O opened up and at last belonged to me in Great America. Now it's night in Third Street the keen little neons and also yellow bulblights of impossible-to-believe flops with dark ruined shadows moving back of tom yellow shades like a degenerate China with no money-the cats in Annie's Alley, the flop comes on, moans, rolls, the street is loaded with darkness. Blue sky above with stars hanging high over old hotel roofs and blowers of hotels moaning out dusts of in- terior, the grime inside the word in mouths falling out tooth by tooth, the reading rooms tick tock bigclock with creak chair and slantboards and old faces looking up over rimless spectacles bought in some West Virginia or Florida or Liver- pool England pawnshop long before I was born and across rains they've come to the end of the land sadness end of the world gladness all you San Franciscos will have to fall eventually and burn again.

BUT IT WAS THAT BEAUTIFUL CUT OF CLOUDS I could always see above the little S.P. alley, puffs floating by from Oakland.

Life, Life By Keith Christmas.

It is another golden autumn day today. I was sitting in the yard enjoying the sunshine when there was a knock on the door. The post lady handed me a package which contained the new album by Keith Christmas called Life, Life. “That was quick”, I thought to myself because I had only ordered it on Sunday. The first impression I had was that I liked the attractive artwork on the sleeve by David Alderslade. I wonder if he is related to John Alderslade of Village Pump Folk Club fame? It was at the Village Pump in Trowbridge about eight years ago that I first saw Keith Christmas perform. He made a live album that night which I bought, and I have been a fan ever since.

When I put the CD in the machine, I immediately loved the opening song Round The Stones which is about the Stonehenge Festival of 1979. For a person like me who lives in Wiltshire and has been to Stonehenge for the solstice this song is a bit special. I have shared a video of Keith singing the song below if you would like to hear it. I would love to see Keith perform this song actually at the stones or Avebury or even at the stone circle on the Glastonbury Festival site. That would make a great video. The eponymous title track Life Life is next. It is a life affirming song about how we have minor misfortunes but soon get over it and can even use it to our advantage. I like how the lyrics are reflected in the artwork with the open window and the litter of hedgehogs. Love In The Gold is a very touching love song about ageing and how love doesn’t care about a few grey hairs and being forgetful. Wonderful Ride is another optimistic song which makes you feel grateful to be alive.

Keith recently at Beckenham Bandstand.

A Gun In His Hand by contrast is a much darker angry anti-war song which warns that people who experience the horrors of war never get over it. The sentiment of the lyrics reminded me of Dylan’s Masters Of War. I think Travelling Blues is a quasi-autobiographical song about life on the road for a musician. Trouble Trouble  might be a warning about pride coming before a fall and some pompous people who think the laws of karma don’t apply to them should learn some humility. You only have to watch the news to think that. I haven’t mentioned what a great guitarist Keith is. I don’t play the guitar so I can’t really comment on his technical virtuosity. I just know what I like, and I don’t think there are many acoustic guitar players these days more skillful than Keith. His great guitar playing is amply demonstrated on Who’s Going To Save You?

Glastonbury 1970 (Keith in afghan jacket)

The Love That Surrounds You is a wonderful emotive song which I think might be about giving advice to a friend who could be suffering with depression. As well as Keith’s guitar playing the other thing I like about him is his very distinctive singing voice. Keith conveys emotion in his voice very well and you believe that he means every word. Ruled By The Tide is a story of a nostalgic trip down memory lane to the seaside town when he was born. In the lyrics it mentions a Nottage Institute which I had never heard of, so I looked it up. It is a maritime charity named after Captain Charles G. Nottage. It is a great song.

Born Of God takes its inspiration from the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede. It is a song that I think is very relevant to this country today. I like the line ‘For We’ll never follow a leader with no honour, it will come to no good in the end’, so, listen up Boris Johnson! The final song is Book Of Magic which is a charming song about having an idea for a book, being rejected but still persevering. I think the answer is to self-publish. It is a very nice song with which to end this most enjoyable album.

Captain Charles G. Nottage.

Keith Christmas played on David Bowie’s Space Oddity album and recently played in Beckenham for the 50^th anniversary of a concert where he played on the same bill as Bowie in 1969. It was the gig that Bowie immortalised in Memory Of a Free Festival. He also played at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970 and I think Michael Eavis should book him for the 50^th anniversary festival next year. If you want to learn more about Keith Christmas you can visit his website here- https://www.becn.co.uk

Keith Christmas: ROUND THE STONES, Live In Frome 2019

Dogrel By Fontaines D.C.

We seem to be having a bit of an Indian summer at the moment. It was so nice on Friday I thought I’d go over to Warminster and meet a friend in ‘Spoons. That is the name we give to Wetherspoons. I don’t really like going in there because the owner is a big Brexiteer and is always gobbing off about it on the telly. She likes it though and it has a garden out the back where we sat in the sunshine. Also, you can get a bottle of chardonnay in an ice bucket for less than ten quid, which isn’t bad.

I thought I would treat myself to a new CD and nipped across the road to Raves From The Grave. We are lucky to have a music shop in a little town like Warminster, so I like to support them. I didn’t know what to buy though. In the new releases I was surprised to see a new album by The Subhumans. They are a local band who we used to follow about 35 years ago. They had a huge cult following at the time. It is good to see they are still going, but I don’t think I could listen to it at home these days. I had a good mooch through all the folky type music which is what I mainly listen to these days, but I couldn’t find anything that took my fancy.

Me in Spoons with Dogrel.

Then I remembered a band that I discovered recently called Fontaines D.C. and found their debut album in the section devoted to the Mercury Prize nominees. The album is called Dogrel which is a play on words of doggerel, a type of poetry with irregular rhythms. The band come from Dublin and I think they are the best new Irish band to emerge in years. I don’t listen to many groups these days. If you look back through my blogs you will see that it is nearly all singer-songwriters and solo artists. I think the last Irish band I really followed and bought several albums by were the Saw Doctors and that was a long time ago now. I could have seen Fontaines D.C. this year at Glastonbury when they played the John Peel Stage but I hadn’t heard of them then. It was only when a friend mentioned that they saw them on the BBC coverage that I looked them up on Youtube. If you are wondering about their name, they originally called themselves The Fontaines after a character in The Godfather, but then discovered there was an American band of the same name, so added D.C. meaning Dublin City.

When I got home, I put the CD in the machine and I haven’t stopped playing it since. As soon as I heard the first track Big I thought of another Irish singer I like called Damien Dempsey. That is probably because of the Dublin accent. The singer Grian Chatten should be complimented for keeping his accent and not singing in a mock-American voice which a lot of singers do. This helps the band to have their distinctive sound. He has a great speaking voice as well as on such tracks as Hurricane Laughter. The twin guitar sound is great as well. There are several songs that would have been hits in the old days. I particularly like Roy’s Song which did actually remind me a bit of the Saw Doctors. Every track on the album is worthy but the last three songs are outstanding. Liberty Belle is a tribute to the area of Dublin where they lived called The Liberties. Boys In The Better Land is a post-punk classic which must send the audience wild when performed live. Dublin City Sky is like a cross between The Velvet Underground and The Pogues. I think the great Shane Macgowan would be proud of this song if he had written it. I have shared a video of the band performing this song below if you want to hear it. I think you should.

I think Fontaines D.C. are going to be huge and I will follow their future career with interest. The Mercury Prize is announced this week and I hope they win it.

Fontaines D.C. - Dublin City Sky

If You See Me Comin'

I had a bit of a frustrating morning, but it all ended ok in the end. I had sold a couple of books over the weekend, but I had no jiffy bags to post them off in. I went uptown and no shop had any jiffy bags. I like to send off my books as quickly as possible so in the end I caught the bus over to Trowbridge. I managed to find what I needed in Poundland. I had a look around the charity shops while I was there. I found a nice book about Jimi Hendrix, but even better than that, I found a book by Adrian Mitchell.

It is a hardback first edition of the first book he ever published called If You See Me Comin’ from 1962. I was pleased to find this book because I like that era of the late 50’s & pre Beatles 60’s. It was the era of the Beatniks and protest and the beginnings of Pop Art and all that sort of thing. One thing I like about Adrian Mitchell is his poem To Whom It May Concern with the famous line Tell Me Lies About Vietnam which he performed live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965 which you can see below if you want. Allen Ginsberg was also there on that memorable evening. Later in his career he wrote a poem about Victor Jara who was murdered by the Pinochet regime in Chile. It was set to music by Arlo Guthrie and has become a favourite song of mine, especially the version by Christy Moore.

Adrian died in 2008 aged 76. I looked him up on Wikipedia and found this tribute, "Adrian, said fellow poet Michael Rosen, "was a socialist and a pacifist who believed, like William Blake, that everything human was holy. That's to say he celebrated a love of life with the same fervour that he attacked those who crushed life. He did this through his poetry, his plays, his song lyrics and his own performances. Through this huge body of work, he was able to raise the spirits of his audiences, in turn exciting, inspiring, saddening and enthusing them.... He has sung, chanted, whispered and shouted his poems in every kind of place imaginable, urging us to love our lives, love our minds and bodies and to fight against tyranny, oppression and exploitation”.

I think in these days of Brexit & Trump, with the rain forests burning and shifts to the right all over the world and people forgetting the lessons of history and the dangers of fascism we need more people like Adrian Mitchell who weren’t afraid to stand up and be counted.