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:
Sadly since my last blog entry more greats of the music industry have passed on:
Greg Lake aged 69
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!
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.
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!
Hey Ho!
