The Proclaimers - The World That Was

Seth Lakeman: The Cheese & Grain Frome 22/9/ 2022

I went to my first concert since Glastonbury on Thursday night. It was to see Seth Lakeman at the Cheese & Grain in Frome. It came about because I bought a CD by Seth about three weeks ago, and the very same week I saw that he was playing in Frome, so it seemed fated that I should go. The album I bought is called Kitty Jay and was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005. All the songs were inspired by the myths and legends of Dartmoor where Seth lives. It is just the kind of folk-rock sound that I like. Seth is one of three brothers Seth, Sam & Sean Lakeman who have all had successful careers in folk music. His brother Sam is married to a great Irish singer called Cara Dillon who I have written about previously and they actually live in Frome. I thought they might take part in Seth’s gig on Thursday, which is another reason I went along, but there was no sign of them. I should add that I have seen Seth play before when he was a member of Robert Plant’s band. Van Morrison fans might be interested to know that Seth played fiddle on Dangerous the opening track on Van’s most recent album.

On Thursday night a taxi called for me at 7.30. When we got to Frome, I discovered that the annual funfair was on, right in front of the venue where there is usually a huge car-park. As I was a bit early, I had a quick look around the fair. I didn’t go on any of the rides though, they made me feel queasy just looking at them, especially one ride called The Energizer. It was quite amusing watching them though. The Cheese & Grain is the venue where Paul McCartney played a surprise pre-Glastonbury gig at the end of June. I have seen lots of great acts here over the years. 

Seth and his band came on stage at 8.30. He is a virtuoso fiddle player, probably the best folk-rock fiddle player I have seen since Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention. He also played a variety of guitars during the evening. There was another excellent guitar player called Benji Kirkpatrick who also played banjo, harmonica, bouzouki, and maybe other instruments. On drums and percussion was Dave Smith.  Ben Nicholls played upright bass, concertina, and banjo. There was an excellent backing singer called Alex Hart who played harmonium and helped out on guitar as well on some songs. She sang a very enjoyable duet with Seth during the first half of the show. The musicianship was first class, I can’t fault it. My problem was that I’m not familiar with the songs, so I couldn’t make out the vocals. I didn’t know what he was singing about. I think some of the songs were inspired by landscapes and seascapes, some were protest songs, and others were storytelling songs about historical events, but I couldn’t understand the lyrics. That isn’t the fault of the band. I noticed some people in the audience were singing along towards the end of the concert which meant they were a lot more familiar with Seth’s repertoire than me.

It was a stand-up gig. I would have preferred a sit-down event because my feet were aching by the end. I am nearly 71 after all. I did have a sit down outside during the interval and had a chat with a couple of people who said they couldn’t make out the words either. I had brought my notebook along to write down a setlist but gave up on that. The only two songs that I’m pretty confident I knew were called Bury Nights and Setting Of The Sun. I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t enjoy the concert. I did, the music was great and got very lively towards the end. I filmed one song and shared it below which might give you an idea of what the atmosphere and music was like. I’m glad I went; it made a nice change to get out and about and hear some live music. I’m going to another gig next week, so I’ll tell you all about that soon. Cheers.

Seth Lakeman in Frome 22/09/2022

Sense of Wonder, by Bart Hendriks.

On this dark and rainy afternoon I have been re-reading a book published in 2020 called Sense of Wonder, Encountering Van Morrison by Bart Hendriks. The book came to be written because of Bart having a chance meeting with Van Morrison in a Belfast coffee shop in 2014. They discussed life, philosophy, and their work, which led to Van inviting Bart to lunch when he was in Rotterdam in 2017. I think Bart must have impressed Van because he didn’t talk as a ‘fan’ speaking to a ‘music star’, but as a person speaking to an equal on subjects of mutual interest. Van gave his permission and encouragement to Bart to publish an essay of his ideas if it wasn’t sold for financial gain. Subsequently, only production, packaging and shipping costs were charged for this very attractive hardback book. The picture on the front cover is from a painting by Lisbeth Sorensen. To my knowledge it is only the second book published about the work of Van Morrison that had his co-operation and approval. The previous book was Into the Music by Ritchie Yorke in 1975.

I think a possible reason Bart and Van got on so well is because of their mutual interest in the healing power of music. Bart is a psychotherapist /contextual therapist and is influenced by the work of Martin Buber (1878-1965) who was an Austrian, Jewish, and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centred on the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. To me that means two people having a dialogue not as subject and object, but as two equals. Another person who has influenced Bart in his work is Ivan Boszormewyi-Nagy (1920-2007) a Hungarian American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy. I had to learn some new words and phrases reading Bart’s book, such as phenomenological stance and hermeneutical encounter, but I think I managed to understand it, just about. 

Although I hadn’t heard of some of the people he quotes in the book, I found that lots of the ideas expressed were in line with other people I have read in recent years such as Jiddu Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle, Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. Bart discusses songs by Van which he has found helpful in the therapy of his clients, such as Sense of Wonder, Enlightenment, Take Me Back, The Healing Game, That’s Entrainment, On Hyndford Street, and many others. One theme that re-occurs in Van’s music is the idea of the eternal now. It’s always being now, as Van has often said. I have learned that by reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I think that Van understands that Now is the only time that exists, and by living in the present moment without the burden of the past or future is a very healing thing. There is a quote in the book by Socrates, ‘Wonder is the beginning of wisdom’ which ties in nicely with A Sense of Wonder as Van knows. He sang, ‘You may call my love Sophia, but I call my love philosophy, Didn't I come to bring you a sense of wonder, Didn't I come to lift your fiery vision, Didn't I come to bring you a sense of wonder in the flame’.  Sophia was the Greek goddess of wisdom, which is where the word philosophy comes from.

Van’s lyrics are littered with childhood memories, that is because children live in the eternal present and have a sense of wonder about all they encounter, as seen in such songs as Song of Being a Child. Adults tend to lose that as they grow up. They can be childish which isn’t good, but can re-capture the joy of being child-like with the proper attitude. By listening to Van’s songs, you learn about him, but you also learn about yourself. His descriptions of child-like visions can also trigger memories and emotions in the mind of the listener. That is why Van is reluctant to discuss the meanings of his songs because he knows that the listeners will interpret them in many different ways, which is fine by him. I have enjoyed reading this book again today. A lot of books about Van Morrison that I have read have been very disappointing, but this book by Bart Hendriks isn’t another biography. It written by somebody who understands the healing power of Van’s music. That is what is important, and is what he wanted to write about.  Well done.

Prodigal Son by Martin Simpson.

I haven’t written anything for a week, sorry about that. I thought today I would tell you about an album which I have been enjoying recently called Prodigal Son by Martin Simpson. In Britain we have had some fabulous acoustic guitar players on the folk music scene, and I rate Martin Simpson up there with the best of them. He is a great banjo player, singer, and songwriter as well. I first heard of him in the early 90s when I heard a song called Handsome Molly on a compilation CD called Folk Heritage 2. Then many years later a song called Never Any Good on an album called That’s Proper Folk. Finally, I got around to actually buying a Martin Simpson album. I chose this one because it received rave reviews on release and won the album of the year award at the BBC Folk Awards in 2008. 

I see on the sleeve that it was engineered by Joe Rusby who is the brother of Kate Rusby and was recorded at their Pure Records studio in South Yorkshire. Kate sings some backing vocals on the album. Other names that you might know here include Jackson Browne, Danny Thompson, Andy Cutting, and Kellie While. Martin’s exquisite guitar playing sets the tone for the album on the opening song Batchelors Hall which was written by Dick Cornette and based on a traditional song called Pretty Saro. Then Martin displays his banjo picking skills on Pretty Crowing Chicken. One of my favourite songs here is Lakes Of Champlain which is an American version of an Irish song called Lakes Of Coolfin. I have heard the song previously on a Nic Jones album where it was called Lakes Of Shillin. 

The next track She Slips Away is a touching instrumental guitar piece composed by Martin in tribute to his mother who passed away shortly before this album was recorded. The Granemoor Hare is another traditional song which Martin discovered via Dick Gaughan. Mother Love is a wonderful instrumental written by Martin and inspired by his wife Kit and daughter Molly. Over the years I have heard many versions of Little Musgrave by the likes of Nic Jones, Christy Moore, Paul Brady and Fairport Convention who called it Matty Groves. Martin’s version is as good as any of them. A Love Letter is exactly what it says. Written by Martin with splendid lyrics and I love the cello playing of Barry Philips on this track and others. Duncan & Brady is an American song that was first recorded by Leadbelly. It displays the skilful bluesy side to Martin’s playing. As I mentioned, Never Any Good is one of the songs that introduced me to Martin Simpson. The song is about his father who was never any good with money and couldn’t hold down a job. He was happiest singing or going fishing. The album is dedicated to both his parents. Kate Rusby adds some nice background vocals.

 Martin lived in America for many years and there are several American songs here, including Good Morning Mr Railroad Man which he first heard sung by Ry Cooder. It is a song about the hobos who travelled on freight trains during the great depression. Louisiana 1927 is a Randy Newman song about the great flood in New Orleans in 1927. It is included on this album because of its relevance to Hurricane Katrina and the poor response to that disaster. (I have shared a video of Martin singing this song below if you want to hear it). La Rivolte is a lively instrumental based on an Irish tune, but you might detect a French flavour to it as well. Andrew Lammie is a long traditional Scottish ballad, sometimes called Mill O Tifty’s Annie and based on a true event, the death of Agnes Smith in 1673. It features the accordion playing of Andy Cutting. 

The final track is Kit’s Tune/ When A Knight Won His Spurs. Martin wrote Kit’s Tune while waiting for the kettle to boil, and When A Knight Won His Spurs is a hymn that he first learned in junior school. It brings this excellent album to a close. I rate this album as among the best English Folk albums I have ever heard, so I am very pleased to have finally acquired an album by the great Martin Simpson. If I ever hear that he is playing a gig in my neck of the woods then I would definitely go and see him.

Martin Simpson - Louisiana 1927

New Moon by Elliott Smith.

The sky was grey and threatening to rain this morning, so I decided I wouldn’t venture out today. I was quite content to stay indoors, listen to music and write something to pass the time. I have been listening to a 2CD album that I bought recently called New Moon by Elliott Smith. I bought the album because to my shame I didn’t know anything about him, but I kept hearing his name mentioned by other people who have spoken very highly of Elliott Smith. It is a posthumous collection of 24 songs recorded between 1995-1997 and released in 2007, four years after his tragic death at the age of only 34. Apart from three tracks all the songs were previously unreleased. Often when an artist dies, and albums are released of their work they can be a mishmash of inferior songs and half-finished demo tapes. That cannot be said about this collection which are all well produced quality songs which would have been worthy additions to any Elliott Smith album. The reason for that I think is because Elliott didn’t record for any album in particular. He recorded his songs constantly when he had completed writing them. Neil Young works in the same way. I expect Neil has a vast collection of songs yet to see the light of day. 

Elliott has a connection with Laura Veirs whom I wrote about a few days ago because from the age of fourteen he lived in Portland Oregon where Laura is also based. Portland seems to have had quite a vibrant music scene because The Decemberists who I have been listening to recently also come from Portland. I might tell you about them in the near future. When I first heard of Elliott Smith, I imagined that his music would be kind of grungy like Kurt Cobain, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find this album is in the main very folkie, acoustic and melodic. The vocals are quiet, almost whispered on some tracks. I was hooked from the very first track Angel In The Snow. The feeling that you get from his voice is of an underlying sadness. 

With the excellent guitar playing and the melancholy atmosphere I immediately thought of Nick Drake. I don’t know if Elliott was influenced by Nick, but the comparisons are obvious and the reasons for both their deaths are officially inconclusive. They both had a troubled mind that is for sure. The guitar picking on many tracks is very Bob Dylanesque. The guitar sound also is sometimes reminiscent of The Beatles from the Rubber Soul/ Revolver period. When I was listening to the second CD the Velvet Underground song Pale Blue Eyes came into my head. Elliott Smith believed in Lo-Fi which meant working quickly and not over embellishing the songs. I like that because it gives the sound a very intimate feel. If I was still young and impressionable I think the lyrics of some songs might have put me in a dark place, but now I just feel sorry for Elliott Smith that he didn’t get the help he needed to sort out his mental health problems because he was undoubtedly a great talent. 

Songs like Looking Over My Shoulder are a plea to be left alone as other people irritated him. Miss Misery (early version) is the first version of a song which was in the soundtrack of the film Good Will Hunting and was nominated for an Oscar in 1997. He would have found the experience of performing at the Oscars quite excruciating I would imagine. (See Oscar performance below) The only song not written by Elliott is an angst-ridden cover of Thirteen by Big Star. It is hard to pick a favourite song, but one I really like is Whatever (Folk Song In C) because of the great guitar picking and the chorus, ‘What are you doing, hanging around with me?’. In conclusion, I am glad I closed this gap in my music knowledge. I think this is an excellent album because of the musicianship and vocal delivery. The subject matter however is like existential dread. I think he might have written most of the songs late at night. There are no lyrics in the accompanying booklet, but I think there are scant references to nature, spirituality, love, optimism or other things that make life worth living, which I think is a shame, but on the other hand it is an honest expression of how he felt. I just think it is a pity that Elliott Smith died so young. We will never know what he might have achieved.