And You And I.....
I have a "moleskine" that I jot and draw in because, these days, the World is tilting on its axis so far that I'm finding it hard to hang on. Consequently these pages are getting neglected. Sorry. But, there ya go!I think that the decision has been made that my Dad - MY DAD! Is going to have to go into a home. He is beyond the world the rest of us live in. He's in pain and my Mam isn't strong enough to pick him up, never mind pick him up and wipe his arse at the same time. I get calls most days to come and pick him up - it's making me inefibly sad to see him. Gaunt, devoid of joy. Incontinent. Moribund.
All these emotions are heightened by the disgrace that is Xmas. Enforced fuckin' jollity - wall to wall. I HATE IT! I did before - but the ability of it to EMPHASISE the shite in folks' lives makes me hate it even more. It's not religion though - I'll give you that. It's Capitalism, red, in tooth and claw.
And, so....onto The Pogues at the MEN Arena 16th Dec 2006. (Supported by the Saw Doctors). We started off 'round the European Markets in the centre of Manchester. We ate Moroccan at a great stall down Brazenose Street - not far from the statue of Abraham Lincoln. Chicken breast, onion, tomatoes, peas, spices avec salad, garlic sauce and pitta bread - all for £3.50 and all of it wonderful.
We then perambulated towards the MEN Arena. Where we first encountered the piss-poor sound while the Saw Doctors were on. Although, for both Doctors and The Pogues, I don't think the "sound" was the primary concern.
All the crowd were interested in was jigging and crowd-surfing. But, for those of us who were brought up on the music it was a grave disappointment. The place is too big for the nuances of any music - apart from, perhaps, Meatloaf or Grand Funk Railroad. Celtic traditional music - in my opinion - suffers more than most in the huge arena. That and the insidious marketing of all things Irish, from bars to bodhrans, reduces everything to the "Craic". Magnify that a thousandfold and the whole thing becomes a pissed up 17 year-old's idea of heaven. Everything else dies on the vine.
A gig to forget. Although Dearest enjoyed herself thoroughly. She quite rightly ditched me to go dancin' in the seats behind with some classy Tipperary women.
Shane MacGowan - peacock-chested with his new teeth - constantly staggered off the stage and left the rest of the band to fill in. Without MacGowan and his his songs, that band is average. The highlights were:-
The Broad Majestic Shannon
A Pair Of Brown Eyes
A Rainy Night in Soho (magnificent)
Dirty Ol' Town
And, obviously, "A Fairytale of New York". Jem Finer's daughter - sister - wife - cousin.....well, her second name was Finer - sang the Kirsty MacColl bit as the fake snow fell and the everyone (well almost everyone) held their mobile phones aloft in a strangely Sci-Fi pastiche of the lighters of days gone by.
Over the weekend I have read Joe Boyd's wonderful autobiography "White Bicycles".
Now, this man has been one of my heroes since the late sixties. He produced Nick Drake, John Martyn, Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention and many other Island recording stars. Witchseason Productions - who remembers that logo?
What I didn't know was that the Ivy League educated hipster had organised concerts by the likes of Lonnie Johnson and the Rev Gary Davis out of his own pocket for a few friends - who all chipped in - when he was about 17!. He ended up - straight from college organising a European tour of blues greats in the early 60s. Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Later he was a tour manager for the likes of Roland Kirk, Dudu Pukwana, Coleman Hawkins and John Lee Hooker. He worked with Duke Ellington!!
When he finally shipped up in Britain at the tail-end of austerity, he fell-in with the Watersons, Martin Carthiy, Anne Briggs, Paul Simon and many, many others.
I've loved his roster of artists from the first time I heard them, but I never knew that he was sound engineer who didn't turn it down in the face of Pete Seegar and Theodore Bikel's "requests" at the Newport Jazz and Folk Festival 1964 as Dylan appeared on stage with his electric band.
Respect Mr Boyd. Respect.
Buy it now:-
"The best book I've read about music in years" - Brian Eno
"Fascinating, capturing and enthralling - what a life, and what a way to write it" - Charlie Gillett
And. Crucially.
"Joe Boyd knows" - Kate Bush.
6 comments:
I enjoyed the Victoria Wood drama. sometimes a bit of escapism is just what the doctor ordered.
Jennyta - you're not wrong. The diary itself was a masterful achievement. The re-awakening of the woman who wrote it was superbly portrayed and Victoria Wood who both wrote and starred in was wonderful.
The thing was, my mother found it marvellous because of the nostalgic "spirit of the blitz" atmosphere it evoked.
I prefer a little more "look what happens when a bomb falls in your street" than dust and shakey doors.
My cousin went crazy when her best friend's entire family were blasted to Kingdom Come by a rogue incendiary device that should have been dropped n the centre of Manchester. There's old folks' bungalows there now - fitting I suppose. But nobody younger than my generation realises why these 1950s bungalows suddenly appear among the Victorian terraces.
I think the programme - marvellous though it was - would have benefitted from seeing the stomach-churning reality of a true "People's War".
Still Crazy! I love that film, feelgood, but dead funny. I could watch it over and over again and have done as thewife will testify. Bill Nighy is brilliant and the music is excellent to boot.
I loved the Victoria Wood thing and I loved Still Crazy even more.
Christmas markets- have the german steak burger. I've been twice and it was gorgeous. Although I can't quite remember it, due to copius anounts of something-wein. Enjoy the Pogues - I am dead jealous!
Yea I read Joe Boyd's book recently2.Well written romp.what a life!
I hope You&Yours have an Ace Christmas.Regards From Monseiur Zim.
Thanks Steve, I will look out for Joe Boyd's book. The Fairports were special to me as "What We Did on Our Holidays" was the first album I ever bought. I lost them when they became over-traditional as Dave Swarbrick took a hold.
For me, Christmas is very much a pagan festival and I will be celebrating just being alive as the sun slowly returns to give us another season of growth. I love Christmas - the festival food and the drink, a nip in the air and my family around me. Life can be so good.
Post a Comment