A Musical Meander based on 1975 and These Days

This morning I read about a group 'The 1975' appearing at Glasto. Was this coincidence with some stuff I wrote last night? I'd never heard of 'The 1975' and my head is currently sufficiently full of music (while writing this update, I've just finished Philip Glass' 'Mad Rush' and now have Max Richter's 'On The Nature of Daylight (Entropy) 2018 version' playing) so I doubt I'll chase 'The 1975', at least for now.

Last night, I had happened upon a programme that led to my fingers whiling away time on the laptop keyboard until late at night. The programme was about about surgery for facelifts, tummy tucks, saggy arm lifts etc. Fascinating, I thought, and if I had the money required ... I would buy a Maserati. So, it was clearly time to switch off the TV and check emails to the backdrop of youtube. This is when my 1975 thoughts sprang up!

It was the opener on youtube - Fripp and Eno with 'Evening Star' from 1975. Can one 'love' electronic music? Back to Eno - I had (and still have) tremendous admiration for Brian Eno, not as much from Roxy Music time, although they were very good at arty rock, but from building what is called ambient music - music for airports etc. I think BBC's Arena arts prog still uses 'Another Green World' which, while pre-ambient, is not dissimilar, and it's from 1975 again! And Robert Fripp ... coming from King Crimson which, although appearing initially, from The Court of The Crimson King, as yet another progressive rock/heavy metal group, sounded a revolt against the plague of metal spreading in the late '60s (although it did suffer some of the pretentiousness of that era). He's done some good stuff. I play Evening Star often - I never tire of it.

1975: that date, meaning little in itself (for now), reminded me of other dates, and reading about somebody who was born only a couple of months before me. So I'm heading away from '75 to '48, the year I was born, as was Brian Eno  and the writer of These Days.

While in '64 I was 16 and a teenager going out with my first girl friend, Jackson Browne, just two months older than me, was writing 'These Days' - a song that retains a timelessness to it. Youtube have an excellent copy of him performing it with the equally excellent David Lindley (a sad loss) at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in '96 . Annoyingly for me (and it will be at least until the end of time), in '06 I was walking about in the Picos de Europa in the Asturias at the very same time that Jackson Browne and David Lindley were appearing in the capital, Oviedo, and I wasn't aware! The prices of air tickets back then were such I could have flown out there from Gatwick just for the concert, but I was just a few miles away! The concert featured a singer, Luz Casal, who went against her usual repetoire to sing 'These Days' - a delicate version which I play quite often. It would be wrong to finish this reprise of JB's song without going back to the Greg Allman original version, although here done later as a duet with  JB (including the backstory). JB has said he thought Greg Allman's version with its slight, but important word change at the very end changed the song for the better. I was a fan of the Allman Bros - I have their first two albums, and petrolheads will remember Jessica . It was a shock when Duane got killed so early on. But, when mentioning the Allman Bros, apart from Duane and Greg, the guitar playing owed much to Dickey Betts.

Now, if only I'd written 'These Days' ... I could afford the Maserati and the surgery, and then some!

Back to this week and 1975. Composer of the week On BBC R3 is Gavin Bryars. His music is very interesting and in the last year I've heard, on several occasions, a piece of something entirely different from anything I've ever heard before in my life. It was originally recorded back in 1975 on Brian Eno's 'Obscure Records' record label. Initially, possibly a difficult listen for several minutes, it becomes a 24 minute mantra. This original version has Michael Nyman on organ and Derek Bailey on guitar - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet but there is also a later version here with an extensive 'sleeve' note by Gavin Bryars about the origin of the music and the words, sung by a homeless man.

This completes the meandering 24 hour loop around my mind of the music associated with 1975. That year also saw the emergence of Talkin' Heads and The Sex Pistols ... that's someone else's story.

Update 30/06:

I've become aware over the last few days that my music posts have changed a little to reflect my listening history. I've never kept a diary and using the musical interludes in my life bring those times alive. I found that immediately I finished this post, I started on another, on Americana! (Neurodiversity and the rest just have to wait). As I said to a friend just yesterday, I don't have anyone to sit and reminisce with, so I reminisce with my blog ...and, heaven forfend, it doesn't contradict me! So, if these reminisces become very introspective, too bad, I'm covering nigh on 70 years of my life!

 

A WEEK IN IRELAND

 Following my Christmas stay with Pamela and Mary, I returned in early March. Pamela was due to have an operation at the end of May and it seemed a fortuitous time given that Stena had offered a 50% discount on sailings following the closure of Holyhead through Christmas. At Christmas we had hoped to have a night away in the Irish Midlands, but that didn't come about, so that was planned by Pamela for this trip.

As I normally do, I drove to Holyhead on the Sunday, 9th March, and spent the night there before getting the morning ferry to Dublin.  

                              Coming into Dublin Port

That would ensure that I arrived in Dundalk in time for tea. As it happened, Pamela asked me to drive her to Dunne's supermarket as her knee (the subject of the proposed, but again delayed operation) was bad. That done, it was repacking for me ... two nights away in two different hotels, completely en femme. We were to be joined by Debbie who I had met in 2022 and we would take two cars for convenience. So it was that we left in convoy on 11th March ... with our first tea stop in mind!

IF IT'S TUESDAY ... IT'S SLANE, BECTIVE ABBEY AND TRIM

I took Pamela in my car, while Debbie took Mary and we headed to Slane and the Conyngham Arms Hotel for tea, scones (for some, not me, I've enough weight) and stretching of legs. Oh, and pictures, of course!

Me, Debbie and Pamela in the Function Room at the Conyngham Arms Hotel

The others had been to the hotel before and were warmly welcomed. This approach was to be repeated throughout our time away and when we visited somewhere completely new, it was at times difficult to pull ourselves away from chatting with staff! 

Bective Abbey

Bective Abbey was chosen as a location for more photos, although I am as interested in the history as anything and this was a good introduction to the central Ireland. Bective is in Co. Meath - a daughter house to Mellifont Abbey which I finally visited at Christmas! Bective was founded 1147 although the remains today probably date from the 13th to 15th centuries.

After leaving Bective Abbey we headed West towards Trim, where we stayed the night at Trim Castle Hotel. The hotel is right next to Trim Castle and my room looked out on the Keep. Debbie did suggest we might have a walk around the castle, but all the travelling had taken its toll on me by now and I preferred to relax in the hotel.

The Keep at Trim Castle is the highest in Ireland and this had a nice resonance with me as I see Dover Castle Keep (the highest in the UK) almost everyday! 

Trim Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We had cocktails, posed for photos and then ate at the hotel, which was very pleasant. Well rested, we met at breakfast the enxt morning in preparation for the next leg of our journey. Debbie and Mary were going to Athlone for shopping while Pamela and I were heading south of Athlone to Clonmacnoise Monastery on the River Shannon. But first Pamela needed tea and scones! That was a bit of a struggle as none of us knew the area. I checked tripadvisor for Kinnegad, only to be directed to place that was permanently closed. Luckily, Debbie found a bar, Brackens, along the road and we went there. 

Pamela and I then headed off to the monastery across the boggy central part of Ireland via the Esker Riada - a glacial feature (more to be found here ). The monastery seemed a tricky place to find as there were no signs until we were there! The staff at the entrance were great fun and informative. The monastery was one of the earliest and most important centres of Irish Catholicism, dating from the 6th C.  

 One of two of the Round Towers at Clonmacnoise Monastery with the Shannon in the background

The more complete Round Tower

The site also has a theatre for showing a fine video of the development of the monastery as well as a museum with high crosses and other stonework. I must admit that I found the high crosses at Monasterboice were more powerful, partly because of their imagery, but also they were 'in situ' whereas at Clonmacnoise a replica is placed outside the abbey.

Also, nearby are the remains of the Anglo-Norman Clonmacnoise Castle. The castle is curious as it was a stone keep built to replace an earlier wooden keep within the traditional 'motte and bailey' design. During the14th C 'gaelic resistance' the keep was undermined and now sits, toppled, on top of the motte.

 Clonmacnoise Castle with the River Shannon beyond 

 As with Trim Castle, a short visit begs for more. 

WEDNESDAY AND HEADING BACK TO DUNDALK VIA BECTIVE TEAROOMS

I shall not dwell on finding our hotel at Athlone ... except to say it wasn't in Athlone, it was on a business park outside the town and didn't live up to our expectations (which, after Trim, were quite high!) 

The next morning after breakfast it was time to head back. By this time Debbie had checked distances and we settled on stopping at Kilbeggan for morning tea/coffee/scones. The cafe was was clearly there just for locals, but as with everywhere else, no one turned a hair at three Tgirls. Then it was onto lunch! The others had been to Bective tearooms before and it was ideal. The cafe there was full but they had 'covid' pods outside and we took one over. 

Then it was back to Dundalk. I can't express my thanks enough to Pamela and Mary, and also Debbie, for making these three days 'en femme' so enjoyable.

I should say that I arrived on Monday and it was now Thursday with still a few days to spend in and around Dundalk. I've curtailed this a bit as it's three months later and soon I shall be back on the ferry across the Irish Sea, but there are more pictures of our few days on flickr. 

Now, the planning for the next adventure begins! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a Quick Prattle About This and That

 My friend Deeanna has done a wonderful job on descaling my memory about music. Yesterday, there was a piece in The Guardian about Genesis P-Orridge. I could hear the chalky scales falling to the bottom of my skull. Was it 'Throbbing Gristle' I had seen in '78 ???  I knew that I'd seen Nico with another performer at The Marquee (Wardour St, London). A quick internet search reminded me that it was Pere Ubu on the same stage as when I saw Nico, and then it clicked ... Throbbing Gristle were also seen at the Marquee, but left no impression ... 

The back story is that while I lived in Germany, I returned to the UK quite often between '77 and '80 as I still had use of a flat that a friend was renting from my father. The friend was into experimental music (he even had the early VU album with the banana ... still (and I hope, forever) unpeeled!!! So it was that on a trip (or trips) back to the UK, I saw Throbbing Gristle and then Pere Ubu (neither left a lasting impression), but Nico!!! She was playing a harmonium gifted by Patti Smith. She was Nico ... end of ... except that when she sang, in her low monotone, Deutschland Uber Alles ... some in the audience did not understand the irony and cans were thrown ... using my co-country lingo ... eejits! 

It's a strange world ... I wrote the above while listening to the Prelude to Tristan und Isolde ... how tastes move on!

Finsbury Park Astoria 66-68 and RIP Brian Wilson, Inventor of the 'Surf' Sound.

 Another blog interruption, this time brought about by the death of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

The Finsbury Park Astoria on Seven Sisters Road was a major venue in North London, on a par, I think, with the Golders Green Hippodrome. The main thing I remember about it is how easy it was to park nearby on Seven Sisters Road (how times have changed).

I'm not sure how many concerts we went to there but we never saw the Beatles. We would have seen The Who in '66. I recall little of that concert apart from 'My Generation' and Pete Townsend smashing a guitar into his Marshall amps. 

We saw Jimi Hendrix in March '67 as part of a tour with the Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and, even, Englebert Humperdink! But memories of Jimi feature far more frequently from Sunday Nights At The Saville.

One thing I'm certain of is seeing Otis Redding sitting on the edge of the stage while singing 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay'during the Stax Road Tour (as I recall us calling it) in '67. That was one of those concerts that becomes part of your DNA. There is a pretty good description of the evening here although I think we went to the 2nd performance as I don't recall any police being present. What was brilliant, however, was when groups of black guys got up during Sam and Dave's slot and started dancing in the isles!

Then, in December '68, we went to the Beach Boys European Road Tour - I even enticed my sister and brother-in-law along. For me the Beach Boys were an important 'node' in my musical development but the Californian surf sound was already being replaced by the West Coast psychedelia and anti-Vietnam motifs by the time they toured in '68. Still, I enjoyed the concert and I do have a couple of Beach Boys LPs from that time.

Brian Wilson, who passed away recently, was the inventor of the 'surf' sound and is highly praised for his innovative work as a musician and the word 'genius' is not misplaced (although he was not alone in this).