What better way to start this Christmas day than listen to this wonderful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” sung by 10 year old autistic student Kaylee Rodgers and the Killard House School choir from Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.
Methinks Leonard Cohen might be shedding a tear. Merry Christmas and a prosperous, healthy New Year to you all. Hey Ho!
Our arrival here in Tenerife coincided with the arrival of my Winter Fuel payment into my bank account. I mentioned this fact in conversation with the Welsh Bard, joking that the 116 pints of Alhambra Especial that my £100 allowance would finance should be sufficient liquid fuel to keep me going over the Canarian winter. True to form he came up with his version of Good King Wenceslas:
Chris and Janice, in the sun,
By the wide Atlantic;
Though it seems they’re having fun,
Both are really frantic!
What’s the problem? Flipping ‘eck,
Life can be so croo-el
They have not received the cheque
For their winter foo-oo-el!
Both the Baltzers, feeling hot,
Out in Gran Canaria;
Chris begins to lose the plot,
Life is getting hairier!
How on earth will they survive
With no winter money?
Suddenly the cheques arrive…
Christmas will be sunny!
Sadly since my last blog entry more greats of the music industry have passed on: Greg Lake aged 69
Leon Russell aged 74
Leonard Cohen aged 82
and last but not least the legendary blues and jazz pianist Mose Allison aged 89.
Many great musicians were influenced by Mose Allison including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Ben Sidran, Van Morrison and of course Georgie Fame. His musical style and performance is best summed up by Ray Davies:
"When I discovered Mose Allison I felt I had discovered the missing link between jazz and blues" and Georgie Fame: "I fell in love with Mose’s music the first time I heard it. It was just what I needed to hear: the warmth of the voice, the style, the individuality. He melted my heart with the sound of his voice." And that was exactly how I felt when I first him sing. I bought one of my favourite albums of
all time, V8 Ford Blues, when it first came out in 1966 and played it every day
for years and as soon as it was released on CD I bought it again and still play it today.
Here’s a track from that wonderful album:
RIP Mose, a truly great singer and
musician.
Incidentally you may be wondering why I am indoors on
my PC writing a blog when I am in sunnier climes?
The truth is it’s been lashing down with rain and blowing a gale all morning!
It’s over 2 months since I last put fingers to keyboard while
in the Algarve.
Following our return we had 5 weeks to close down the caravan
in Selsey, clear the allotment ready for next spring and prepare ourselves for a
winter in Tenerife.
The end of October was also a hectic time for “Great British”
events.
Firstly “the Irish Gay Cake row”, followed by the final episode of “the
Great British Bake-off” and then the build up to yet another “Celebrities
Getting Paid Loads of Money for Eating Nasty Things” debacle.
Also late October saw the deaths of four men from differing
sectors of the entertainment business.
Pete Burns, 57,
the TV presenter, singer/songwriter and founder member of the band “Dead or Alive”.
Jimmy Perry OBE, 93, the creator of “Dad's Army”, based on his
experiences in the Home Guard during World War II, and co-writer of “It Ain't
Half Hot Mum”, “Hi-de-Hi!” and “You Rang, M'Lord?”.
Phil Chess, 95, Polish-born American record producer who
together with his brother founded Chess Records and were responsible for countless
hits by recording artists such as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, "Sonny Boy
Williamson, Etta James, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and most famously Chuck
Berry.
Bobby Vee, 73,
American pop star who shot to fame following the plane crash that killed Buddy
Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens en route to a concert at Vee’s home
town of Moorhead, Minnesota. Vee, aged 15, volunteered to fill in for Buddy
Holly with a hastily assembled group he called the Shadows and became an
overnight success.
As you know by now I didn’t get where I am today by writing
odes, I rely on the more eloquent and proficient skills of the Welsh Bard, but
these series of events motivated me to come up with this:
The
Gay Irish Bake-off appeals
Were
met with cries of derision
Whatever
your creed or ideals
It
smells like a real bum decision.
The
Great British Bake-off’s concluding
As
Paul takes the money and runs
Leaving
Mary alone and exuding
From
her wet soggy bottom and buns.
The
jungle in Calais is steaming
Ant
and Dec are camped out on the pier
From
Maplins the campers are screaming
“I’m
a refugee, get me outa here”.
Pete
Burns has stopped prevaricating
Jimmy
Perry has “Put out the light”
And
Phil Chess will soon be producing
Bobby
Vee midst the eyes of the night.
Just over two weeks ago we joined the Great British OAP migration
trail to the Canary Islands.
We are staying in Amarilla Golf, Golf del Sur, Tenerife under
the watchful eye of Mount Teide and overlooking Amarilla Golf course and Marina san Miguel.
This is the 4th year running that we have visited here
and each time it has been for a longer stay. This time we have rented an
apartment until the beginning of April 2017 having decided to spend Christmas
and New Year away from home.
The climate here is wonderfully warm, very rarely too hot
because of the Canarian breeze but suffice to say, even at night, the long
trousers are only worn for the flight and special occasions.
At this time of the year the weather can be unpredictable and
change so quickly – you can wake up to blue skies and by early afternoon the clouds
have descended on you from the mountains. Likewise a dark and cloudy start can
disappear in an instant leaving blue skies and sunshine.
What you can be sure of is that sometime during the day it will be sunny. I'll leave you with this irreverent take on the "Great British" event: WARNING: Do not watch if you are easily offended!
Once again we are enjoying the late summer sun in the Algarve. Not, as in the past, in the East but this time in Ferragudo, a small, picturesque fishing village in the western Algarve on the mouth of the Arade river on the opposite bank to Portimao.
Like Fuzeta, the Ferragudo is all about the fishing and is best summed up by the local street artist, Meize Gomes, who has livened up the concrete structures containing the street rubbish bins with her colourful art.
Yes, as hard to believe as it is, I am 70 years old!
But there has never been a better time to be 70.
My generation should consider ourselves very lucky. We escaped
the horrors of World War II, enjoyed the liberation of the 60s and 70's,
purchased a house in our 20s on a low mortgage and then watched as it soared
in value over the decades. Now, after years of relatively low taxation, good
equity on our homes, and a pension that has matured well, there really is no
better time for us to be alive.
Although 70 may be the new 50, the reality of turning 70
marks the beginning of a whole new territory in life, one we used to call “old
age.”
Yes you can still carry
out many of the more laborious tasks but the difference is that now it hurts! You will also note that the type size of this blog has had to be increased!
In his latest book “The Road to Little Dribbling”, Bill
Bryson rants about receiving regular email alerts warning him of the how to
recognise if he is having a stroke.
He continues:
I don’t actually need memos to know things are not going well with my
body. All I have to do is stand before a mirror, tilt my head back and look up
my nostrils. This isn’t something I do a great deal, you’ll understand, but
what I used to find was two small dark caves. Now I am confronted with a kind
of private rainforest. My nostrils are packed with fibrous material – you can’t
even call it hair – of the sort you would find in a thick coir doormat. Indeed if
you were to carefully pick apart a coir doormat until all you had was a pile of
undifferentiated fibres and shoved 40 per cent of the pile up one nostril and
40 per cent up the other, and took the rest and put that in your ears so that a
little was tumbling out of each, then you would be me.
Somebody needs to explain to me why it is that the one thing your body
can suddenly do well when you get old is grow hair in your nose and ears. It’s
like God is playing a terrible, cruel joke on you, as if he is saying, “Well,
Bill, the bad news is that from now on you are going to be barely continent,
lose your faculties one by one, and have sex about once every lunar eclipse,
but the good news is that you can braid your nostrils.”
The other thing you can do incredibly well when you are old is grow toenails.
I have no idea why. Mine are harder than iron now, When I cut my toenails, I see
sparks. I could use them as body armour if I could just get my enemies to shoot
at my feet.
The worst part about ageing is the realisation that all your future is
downhill. Bad as I am today, I am pretty much tip-top compared to what I am
going to be next week or the week after. I recently realised with dismay that I
am even too old for early onset dementia. Any dementia I get will be right on
time. The outlook generally is for infirmity, liver spots, baldness, senility,
bladder dribble, purple blotches on the hands and head as if my wife has been
beating me with a wooden spoon (always a possibility) and the conviction that
no one in the world speaks loud enough. And that’s the best-case scenario. That’s
if everything goes absolutely swimmingly. There are other scenarios that
involve catheters, beds with side railings, plastic tubing with my blood in it,
care homes, being lifted on and off toilets, and having to guess what season it
is outside – and those are still near best-case end of the spectrum.
But looking on the bright side the last 10 years have been some of
the most enjoyable of my life and have literally flown by.
And we have no plans
to slow down, with 3 weeks coming up in Portugal and the entire winter (4 and a
half months) in Tenerife. Here's the Welsh Bards thought for the day:
The Rushmoor
press, in headlines inches high,
Relates that
Baltzer’s won another Gold,
And not for
lunar husbandry, we’re told -
He gets his
gong for being old, yet spry.
It’s no
surprise – this super Suffolk guy
Who, long
ago, in Ipswich, broke the mould,
Belies the
records showing that he’s old -
The years
don’t weary Chris, though they may fly…
I ought to
rush to Rushmoor on a train
To celebrate
this big occasion, but
I’m sad to
say the Severn Tunnel’s shut;
And now my
molar needs another drain,
This sonnet
to my ancient youthful pal
Comes from
the bottom of my root canal!
Here’s 70 years so far in pictures:
There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all
Beatles - In My Life
I'll leave you with this song by Michael Holliday from 1958:
So lets make the most of it, not bother to to turn up for the game against Iceland, withdraw from The Eurovision Song Contest, brick up the channel tunnel and wave our union jacks while raising our pints of English Ale to Britain retaining its position as number one island state for decent music, stone houses, gastro pubs, varieties of boiled sweets and reasons for not going to work because of the weather! (Thanks to Bill Bryson for the statistic).
Interestingly though, 73% of the 18-24 year olds, who have to live most of their lives with the decision, voted to Remain. I blame the bitter and twisted oldies, many of whom will be 6 feet under by the time the exit is complete and the dust has settled despite the government appointing David Moyes to mastermind an early Euro exit. But that's Democracy ! Me? I've just changed my toon: Hey Ho!
The sun comes up on a massive day
in the Algarve, if you’re a football fan that is, and that means the majority of the
population.
The Portuguese are fanatical
about their football and men like Eusebio and Sir Bobby Robson are National
heroes.
Here in Fuseta allegiances are pretty well split down the middle with almost
half the town supporting either Benfica or Sporting Lisbon with a small band of
loyal FC Porto fans.
As in the English Premier League,
today is the final day of the Portuguese Primeira Liga and, unlike the English
Premier League, the title is still up for grabs.
Benfica, who are 2 points clear and
with a superior goal difference and a relatively easy home fixture against CD
Nacional, are the clear favourites but if they lose and Sporting Lisbon win a tricky
away game against 4th place Braga, Sporting will win the league.
The cafes and bars will be busy this
afternoon for the warm up final Premier League games but by 5 pm they
will be overflowing for the “main event”.
But after all "it’s only a game” and does it really
matter which teams wins?
Methinks it does!
Sir Bobby summed it up perfectly:
“What is a football club in any case? Not the buildings or the
directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television
contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the
noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a
small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his
father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and,
without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”
And that is exactly what happened
to me in 1953 when my dad took me to my first match at Portman Road.
Here’ a reminder of those two
great men, first Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, The Black Panther, who scored 721
goals in 715 matches for Benfica and 41 goals in 64 games for his national team.
and the gentleman of football,Sir Robert William "Bobby" RobsonCBE, whose achievements in football in England and Europe are too many to list.
But for me he will be remembered most for his thirteen-year
tenure at Ipswich Town, when he brought in only 18 players from other clubs
most notably Allan Hunter, Paul Cooper, Bryan Hamilton, Mick Mills, David
Johnstone, Paul Mariner, and Dutch imports Frans Thijssen and Arnold Mühren but relied instead on players developed through Ipswich's youth programmes, including
Terry Butcher, George Burley, John Wark, Russell Osman, Colin Viljoen, Alan
Brazil, Trevor Whymark, Brian Talbot, Kevin Beattie, and Eric Gates who all
went on to play international football.
Not only was Robson a tactical genius, he also
showed a talent for developing new players, with his good interpersonal skills,
caring attitude, hard work and enthusiasm helping them to achieve their best.
Last Wednesday, to celebrate our 48th Wedding Anniversary,
we made a nostalgic trip back to Hastings staying the night at a wonderful
up-market B&B in the Old Town, Laindons.
If you find yourself in Hastings and need to stay over this is definitely the
place to stay.
After a few drinks in our old haunts and a very good meal in Webbe’s restaurant we rounded
off a memorable day at Porters Wine
Bar in Old Town High Street where our old friend Liane Carroll was
performing, including songs from her new CD "Seaside".
Here’s an excerpt from an article by Hannah Collisson about “Seaside” in
the Spring edition of the music magazine “The Stinger”.
LIANE CARROLL
MADE IN HASTINGS
WRITTEN BY HANNAH COLLISSON
____________________________________________
Born in London but made in Hastings; this is
how jazz singer and pianist Liane Carroll describes herself. It is therefore fitting
that her new album, 'Seaside', is inspired by her beloved hometown.
Liane is to be found playing to a trans-fixed
crowd in Porters in Hastings Old Town most Wednesdays, a venue she describes as
her favourite wine bar in the world.
Those in the audience who have never seen
Liane perform before may wonder what she is doing there when surely she ought
to be gracing the stages of London's top jazz clubs. But the truth is she does
perform in London and internationally, with a terrifyingly hectic schedule.
It's not for the kudos that Liane plays in Porters, it is because even after 27 years she still loves it. In fact she was there for her regular Christmas eve slot, before rushing to London for two nights at Ronnie Scott's.
The idea for the album, a mixture of originals and covers, came about when her friend and musician John Stilgoe wrote her a song called 'Seaside'. For Liane, it was so evocative of Hastings that she decided to make a whole album along the same lines.
The album was recorded in Hastings at James's Quietmoney studio on The Ridge, a place Liane describes as her second home.
'Seaside' is particularly special says Liane, not only because she was given carte blanche to do whatever she wanted with it, but because it is more about Hastings than ever before.
"Loads of my friends are here, my husband was born here, I was made here. It has got such a vibrancy about it this town.
You work on something for quite a while and you think 'I hope it's alright' as you can't be objective when you're right in the middle of it."
Liane need not have worried as 'Seaside' has been very well-received indeed, and was named Best New CD at the 2015 British Jazz Awards.
For someone who freely admits they have never been ambitious, Liane's CV to date is pretty impressive.
"I love it if someone enjoys what I do," says Liane. "I don't want to be a star, I don't want to be rich. Sometimes it is a struggle because you don't know when the work is coming in."
Her biggest buzz comes from interacting with an audience, and being part of something that makes people happy.
Liane learned to play piano before she was a singer, given lessons by concert pianist Phyllis Catling.
"I used to sing all the time when I was playing the piano, but I never had a singing lesson; I didn't want to go down that road, I didn't want to be trained.
I was given encouragement, but when I started singing at Republic in Hastings, aged 14 or 15, I was a dormouse, I was so shy.
But the years have changed that. That's a good thing, it should be a slow journey I think."
Now Liane performs all over the world, and is a regular at London's top jazz clubs.
The biggest festival Liane has played to date was the electronic music festival in Brasilia, Brazil, in 2004 to an audience of 70,000 as part of live drum & bass outfit London Elektricity (they were on just before Eminem, who Liane describes as a "pussy cat").
Since 1993 she has been a regular at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club.
In 2007, Liane headlined the BBC Radio 3 stage at Glastonbury, and in 2012 was named Best British Vocalist at the British Jazz Awards.
The cover photo for “Seaside” was taken by another Hastings resident, Carol Murphy, so it really was Made in Hastings.
