Was just listening to Spotify (where lurk, thanks to @Chris, all the Gasroom picks) when this popped up and I thought it might be the nearest traditional jazz gets to what, in the rock world, I think is known as a thrash.
Incidentally, @Erroll_Sims, I was obsessed in the ‘fifties with Chris Barber and later with the genius, highly emotional self-taught clarinet of ‘Mister’ Acker Bilk. [Forget about all the sentimental, commercially-motivated mush with string orchestras that he indulged in much later in his life.]
I met Acker on a few occasions, not least at an all-nighter at Chesham Town Hall in about 1962. On one occasion (at the 100 Club in Oxford Street) he told me how a promoter had offered him his card “in case he was looking for business”. “Business?” he said “I got more bloody business than I can cope with already”. He also mentioned many years later that he regarded Strangler On the Floor (as he called Stranger on the Shore) as a major component of his pension fund.
I still enjoy traditional jazz in small doses but, especially since retirement in 1995, I have switched to the “straight-ahead” category of modern jazz. A few months ago we went with friends to see the Alan Barnes quartet at the Curzon Centre in Beaconsfield. Dave Newton on piano, Steve Brown (no, not that one!!) on drums and a brilliant young bass player whose name escapes me. Absolutely superb evening with supper thrown in (well, not literally).
My AFC Wimbledon friend (who is delighted with Ali Al- Hamadi of course) regularly posts videos of a young(ish) New Orleans based band, Tuba Skinny. They have brought about a revival of interest in early/mid ‘twentieth century traditional jazz and I’ll indulge myself, if I may (sounding horribly like a politician) with the following example:
The first ever gig I went to was Chris Barber at the Millfield Theatre in Edmonton, @micra
Lonnie Donegan was on banjo.
There is a decent chance I would have seen your band @YorkExile as I was an A&R chap for most of the 00s and saw an unhealthy amount of gigs during this period. I’ve also had my fair share of footie chats with Steve Lamacq down the years, he normally greets me with ‘fucking Wycombe Wanderers’. Nice bloke though
The first album I chose to listen to as a child was Good Morin’ Blues by Barber and Ottilie Patterson. I was maybe 8 years old and we’d had a lesson on different kinds of music. The teacher played Dust My Broom by Elmore James and I found something that provoked a visceral response in me that no amount of classical music, hymn singing or recorder class had ever done. So I went home and asked my parents if they had any blues music. And there was Chris and Ottilie’s album.
In my youth Cleo Lane used to do the odd Sunday afternoon jam sessions with whoever she was performing with in London in a barn in Chalfont St Giles which may have been behind The Feathers or what is now Merlin's Cave (my memory of those days is a little hazy for fairly obvious reasons).
Later in life I was a member of Ronnie Scotts as it was so convenient from work & I could catch the penultimate train home if I went to the early show; saw some truly marvellous acts including Chaka Khan, Oscar Peterson as well as the likes of Sarah Jane Morris, Diodato, Chick Corea and so many others.
It was also through Later with Jules that I came across the superb Yolanda Brown (whose style is very much a fusion of jazz & reggae) - try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXqpqePyRQ4
Sad to see that the last remaining original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd has passed away - Gary Rossington was a truly talented slide guitarist and great songwriter - another part of my youth has gone
That may depend on how much you travelled Phil, as we were Sheffield based and our forays south were relatively few and far between. Other than the Dublin Castle, I think the only other London venue we played was the Windmill in Brixton a couple of times. I can't recall any others anyway. I very much agree with comments on Lamacq, he came across as a thoroughly decent bloke.
So start with something I love which has reminds me of the club we support / the state of football / how a guitar can talk:
Dire Straits -Money for Nothing (I believe this is the 2nd Dire Straits track to be nominatied). The lyrics were written in a white goods store I believe, somewhat based on what the guy serving was saying as he watched MTV on a bank of TVs.
Stiff Little Fingers - Barbed Wire Love I heard them live only once, must have been late 70s, the occasion was memorable for my mate shouting "Crap" at them for being pretentious. So far as I can remember we both had a fine time. I suspect some on here might appreciate the middle section.
The Last Shanty - Abney Park @railwaybethand I try to sing this together on the way home from this season's games. Many reasons why it is a current favourite. Just as an aside, if you like the vibe, pay a visit to the Abney Park, roughly midway between Tottenham's and Arsenal's grounds, the location fits it.
I have very fond memories of this song. When I was about 11, Atomic Kitten did a cover version and Dad then introduced me to Blondie's version in an attempt to get me to stop listening to Atomic Kitten. And to be fair to him, it mostly worked.
Seanan McGuire is a fantasy novelist and a singer who often does musical productions at fantasy conventions, and I kinda think that this is pretty much exactly the song you would imagine that person writing xD But I was 100% the kind of kid who'd read Peter Pan and say Wendy should have become a Lost Girl, so the song stuck with me
Maybe not exactly what you think of when you think of J-Pop (Yaida Hitomi herself calls it "heart rock") , but I listened to her music a lot while and it's just a warm and happy pop song. The lyrics are in Japanese , but the gist of it is that the singer wants to push ahead with her dreams, rather than waiting for the perfect moment. So, there's some Wycombe spirit going on there xD
I didn't myself, but my late uncle did. That would have been just an incredible show to watch when he first came out, at a time when no-one would really have heard or seen anything quite like it.
Hi @Wendoverman. I know you popped your head round the door a couple of weeks ago but your return (hopefully on a more permanent basis) is most welcome.
I’m not familiar with the work of Engelbert but was a great fan of Cat Stevens in the ‘seventies. Didn’t get much opportunity to hear Jimi Hendrix other than on the pirate stations (eg Radio Caroline) but what I heard I liked.
Time to go and microwave the Chicken Madras I prepared yesterday with the help of a Patak curry kit !!
Yes it is, I usually have five or six games running on chess.com although I’d say I’m average at best . I have however been using the Ruy Lopez quite often recently .
I use the rival Lichess. Like you, I can hold my own, just. It's a game which infuriates and delights in equal measure. One moment you think you are Paul Morphy and then before you know it you play like a clown. I think we maybe derailing the thread!
I have see SLF many times, one of the finest energetic bands you will ever witness. I've always been amazed that with so many great catchy tunes, they get so little air play on mainstream radio.
On the subject of the blues, one of the most memorable concerts I went to was pretty much by chance. It was at the UEA (University of Eat Anglia) and was something like Great American Blues tour and had four absolutely brilliant old dirty blues men playing. Stunning. From memory if was only two or three weeks after the Stiff tour at the same venue (also pretty good) so around 1977.
Best band I ever saw was 23 Skidoo at a small pub venue also in Norwich. The sound and rhythm still permeates my bones.
More recently Vampire Weekend did an amazing extended concert at Manchester when the support band couldn’t get there due to floods. Horrible venue but superb performance.
Honourable mention in the live category also to Crowded House. Saw them in what seemed like a little over a year play the Borderline in front of about 50, Town & Country in front of 2000 or so and then Wembley Arena (10000?). They were brilliant in all three.
Ive also just seen I’ve been nominated for the three favourite records (thanks @railwaysteve). I will give that some thought.
and @trevor. If you are still around let me know I may nominate you next.
Comments
Brainy or Slow Show for me. What a record though.
My mistake, apols @micra .
Lovely song -thanks for reminding me of it.
Looking forward to Steve and Beth's lists.........Separate would be a bonus.
The family are currently top in both prediction comps - lets see if they can be best at this too....
Was just listening to Spotify (where lurk, thanks to @Chris, all the Gasroom picks) when this popped up and I thought it might be the nearest traditional jazz gets to what, in the rock world, I think is known as a thrash.
https://open.spotify.com/track/03aGIbaIR66ZWugr47A7Ch?si=7eWsJEqiT7ChOHwqEEzFQQ
Incidentally, @Erroll_Sims, I was obsessed in the ‘fifties with Chris Barber and later with the genius, highly emotional self-taught clarinet of ‘Mister’ Acker Bilk. [Forget about all the sentimental, commercially-motivated mush with string orchestras that he indulged in much later in his life.]
I met Acker on a few occasions, not least at an all-nighter at Chesham Town Hall in about 1962. On one occasion (at the 100 Club in Oxford Street) he told me how a promoter had offered him his card “in case he was looking for business”. “Business?” he said “I got more bloody business than I can cope with already”. He also mentioned many years later that he regarded Strangler On the Floor (as he called Stranger on the Shore) as a major component of his pension fund.
I still enjoy traditional jazz in small doses but, especially since retirement in 1995, I have switched to the “straight-ahead” category of modern jazz. A few months ago we went with friends to see the Alan Barnes quartet at the Curzon Centre in Beaconsfield. Dave Newton on piano, Steve Brown (no, not that one!!) on drums and a brilliant young bass player whose name escapes me. Absolutely superb evening with supper thrown in (well, not literally).
My AFC Wimbledon friend (who is delighted with Ali Al- Hamadi of course) regularly posts videos of a young(ish) New Orleans based band, Tuba Skinny. They have brought about a revival of interest in early/mid ‘twentieth century traditional jazz and I’ll indulge myself, if I may (sounding horribly like a politician) with the following example:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bBINhDYXoEg&feature=share
The first ever gig I went to was Chris Barber at the Millfield Theatre in Edmonton, @micra
Lonnie Donegan was on banjo.
There is a decent chance I would have seen your band @YorkExile as I was an A&R chap for most of the 00s and saw an unhealthy amount of gigs during this period. I’ve also had my fair share of footie chats with Steve Lamacq down the years, he normally greets me with ‘fucking Wycombe Wanderers’. Nice bloke though
The first album I chose to listen to as a child was Good Morin’ Blues by Barber and Ottilie Patterson. I was maybe 8 years old and we’d had a lesson on different kinds of music. The teacher played Dust My Broom by Elmore James and I found something that provoked a visceral response in me that no amount of classical music, hymn singing or recorder class had ever done. So I went home and asked my parents if they had any blues music. And there was Chris and Ottilie’s album.
@micra I too enjoy Chris Barber.
In my youth Cleo Lane used to do the odd Sunday afternoon jam sessions with whoever she was performing with in London in a barn in Chalfont St Giles which may have been behind The Feathers or what is now Merlin's Cave (my memory of those days is a little hazy for fairly obvious reasons).
Later in life I was a member of Ronnie Scotts as it was so convenient from work & I could catch the penultimate train home if I went to the early show; saw some truly marvellous acts including Chaka Khan, Oscar Peterson as well as the likes of Sarah Jane Morris, Diodato, Chick Corea and so many others.
I have recently (thanks to Jules Holland) discovered the joyous sound of Trombone Shorty - this is as good an intro as any - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLfsLx04GjE
It was also through Later with Jules that I came across the superb Yolanda Brown (whose style is very much a fusion of jazz & reggae) - try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXqpqePyRQ4
Also featured by Jules on his show are burgeoning talents like Nubya Garcia (https://youtu.be/lUmNtpJpm9o) and Ezra Collective (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5k8YPeK60) all part of the new jazz scene that has erupted in London over the last decade.
Sad to see that the last remaining original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd has passed away - Gary Rossington was a truly talented slide guitarist and great songwriter - another part of my youth has gone
Would you have seen MJ Hibbett or Gavin Osborn at all Phil?
That's where I met Lamacq. Think it was at The Lexington
That may depend on how much you travelled Phil, as we were Sheffield based and our forays south were relatively few and far between. Other than the Dublin Castle, I think the only other London venue we played was the Windmill in Brixton a couple of times. I can't recall any others anyway. I very much agree with comments on Lamacq, he came across as a thoroughly decent bloke.
Honoured by the nomination, thanks.
So start with something I love which has reminds me of the club we support / the state of football / how a guitar can talk:
Dire Straits -Money for Nothing (I believe this is the 2nd Dire Straits track to be nominatied). The lyrics were written in a white goods store I believe, somewhat based on what the guy serving was saying as he watched MTV on a bank of TVs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0
Stiff Little Fingers - Barbed Wire Love I heard them live only once, must have been late 70s, the occasion was memorable for my mate shouting "Crap" at them for being pretentious. So far as I can remember we both had a fine time. I suspect some on here might appreciate the middle section.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5S52jTpcbMw
The Last Shanty - Abney Park @railwaybeth and I try to sing this together on the way home from this season's games. Many reasons why it is a current favourite. Just as an aside, if you like the vibe, pay a visit to the Abney Park, roughly midway between Tottenham's and Arsenal's grounds, the location fits it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDQ1Yh3DUNE
And a separate list from me as well :) Fair warning, my tastes tend to toward sweet, sentimental and lyrically convoluted :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypWXEnK_0T8 : Blondie - The Tide is High
I have very fond memories of this song. When I was about 11, Atomic Kitten did a cover version and Dad then introduced me to Blondie's version in an attempt to get me to stop listening to Atomic Kitten. And to be fair to him, it mostly worked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iguNkTKYFtk : Wicked Girls- Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire is a fantasy novelist and a singer who often does musical productions at fantasy conventions, and I kinda think that this is pretty much exactly the song you would imagine that person writing xD But I was 100% the kind of kid who'd read Peter Pan and say Wendy should have become a Lost Girl, so the song stuck with me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_pT_j7Okc : Go My Way- Yaida Hitomi
Maybe not exactly what you think of when you think of J-Pop (Yaida Hitomi herself calls it "heart rock") , but I listened to her music a lot while and it's just a warm and happy pop song. The lyrics are in Japanese , but the gist of it is that the singer wants to push ahead with her dreams, rather than waiting for the perfect moment. So, there's some Wycombe spirit going on there xD
We just discussed a nomination -
@bookertease please will you do us the honour?
PS. Thanks for the thread @drcongo
Possibly a long shot given it would have been no later than 1970, but did anyone on here ever see Jimi Hendrix?
Seanan McGuire's Wicked Girls is the second song I haven't been able to find on Spotify.
All the others are here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6H3W6bd7hEX2VgXIrElB0O?si=ce2f294c55e34aa3
Going off on a tangent is your username derived from the chess opening.
Jimi Hendrix played the Nags Head in Wycombe I think.
I didn't myself, but my late uncle did. That would have been just an incredible show to watch when he first came out, at a time when no-one would really have heard or seen anything quite like it.
My uncle also saw Jimi at the Nottingham Odeon...he told me...one of those package tour bills that included Cat Stevens and Englebert Humperdinck!
Now that must have been a bizarre evening's entertainment.
Hi @Wendoverman. I know you popped your head round the door a couple of weeks ago but your return (hopefully on a more permanent basis) is most welcome.
I’m not familiar with the work of Engelbert but was a great fan of Cat Stevens in the ‘seventies. Didn’t get much opportunity to hear Jimi Hendrix other than on the pirate stations (eg Radio Caroline) but what I heard I liked.
Time to go and microwave the Chicken Madras I prepared yesterday with the help of a Patak curry kit !!
Atomic Kitten did a cover version and Dad then introduced me to Blondie's version in an attempt to get me to stop listening to Atomic Kitten
This made me laugh as that's exactly what I do with my girls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Mb5RYyjkI
Yep. Chess is the finest board game ever devised.
Yes it is, I usually have five or six games running on chess.com although I’d say I’m average at best . I have however been using the Ruy Lopez quite often recently .
I use the rival Lichess. Like you, I can hold my own, just. It's a game which infuriates and delights in equal measure. One moment you think you are Paul Morphy and then before you know it you play like a clown. I think we maybe derailing the thread!
I have see SLF many times, one of the finest energetic bands you will ever witness. I've always been amazed that with so many great catchy tunes, they get so little air play on mainstream radio.
Thank you for bringing this back into my life.
I found the TV series on YouTube a while back - didn't realise they used Adams Park and the training ground for filming!
On the subject of the blues, one of the most memorable concerts I went to was pretty much by chance. It was at the UEA (University of Eat Anglia) and was something like Great American Blues tour and had four absolutely brilliant old dirty blues men playing. Stunning. From memory if was only two or three weeks after the Stiff tour at the same venue (also pretty good) so around 1977.
Best band I ever saw was 23 Skidoo at a small pub venue also in Norwich. The sound and rhythm still permeates my bones.
More recently Vampire Weekend did an amazing extended concert at Manchester when the support band couldn’t get there due to floods. Horrible venue but superb performance.
Honourable mention in the live category also to Crowded House. Saw them in what seemed like a little over a year play the Borderline in front of about 50, Town & Country in front of 2000 or so and then Wembley Arena (10000?). They were brilliant in all three.
Ive also just seen I’ve been nominated for the three favourite records (thanks @railwaysteve). I will give that some thought.
and @trevor. If you are still around let me know I may nominate you next.
I was everywhere, pre MySpace it was the only way of finding new stuff. Sheffield was always a hotbed of talent.
@eric_plant those names don’t ring any bells, but I reckon I was seeing about 10 bands per week.
Going by Paul Lewis' brilliant Wycombe gigs account, everyone did!