On Friday night,60’s Icon Adam West, best
known for his role as the comic book super hero Batman alias Bruce Wayne in the
1960s television series, died at the age of 88 inLos Angeles following a short
battle with leukemia.
His first role was in the film The Young Philadelphians which
starred Paul Newman in 1959 and his acting career went on to span 50 years.
West was 37 years old and twice-divorced when, after years of small roles, he was deemed to be Batman material after bosses saw him playing a 007-type spy in a Nesquik advert and was offered the role that would define his life.
In 1970, he was offered the role of Bond by producer Albert
Broccoli for the film Diamonds Are Forever which he rejected as he believed the
role should always be played by a British actor.
But, if you believe what you read in the tabloid press, behind
the bat mask was a sex-mad actor who turned to booze when the show was axed.
Caped Crusader star who died on Saturday aged 88 was a
'sexual vampire' behind the mask and turned to alcohol when the show was axed.
He and co-star Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin, also
romped with eager groupies in their dressing rooms in between scenes.
In fact West discovered the only limits to his bedroom bat
powers were those caused by his famous costume.
HOLY FAMILY VIEWING, Batman – it turns out the Caped
Crusader’s fetching satin pants spent a lot of time on the floor.
Tight squeeze … Adam West covers what co-star Burt Ward called his ‘Bat bulge’! There’s
no doubting that Mr. West had an eye for the ladies and dated many fellow stars
including actress sisters Natalie and Lana Wood, and Raquel Welch.
But let’s remember him for those
memorable performances on the TV screen, this one with actress Jill St. John:
When Mrs. Beatrice Zimmerman gave birth to Robert on May 24, 1941 she
could never have imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that he would go on to become
one of the most prestigious, prodigious and richest singer song writers of all
time. Now aged 76 Bob Dylan is still writing, recording and touring on what he
calls “The Never Ending Tour”.
His achievements are best summed in by this extract from Wikipedia:
Bob Dylan is an American poetic
songwriter, singer, painter, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate. He has been
influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of
his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when his songs chronicled social
unrest. Early songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times
They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and
anti-war movement. Leaving behind his initial base in the American folk music
revival, his six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone", recorded in
1965, enlarged the range of popular music.
Dylan's lyrics incorporate a wide
range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied
existing pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.
Initially inspired by the performances of Little Richard and the song writing
of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and
personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning more than 50 years,
has explored the traditions in American song—from folk, blues, and country to
gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk
music, embracing even jazz and the Great American Songbook. Dylan performs with
guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he
has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never
Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been
central to his career, but his song writing is considered his greatest
contribution.
Since 1994, Dylan has published
seven books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major
art galleries. As a musician, Dylan is one of the best-selling artists of all
time – in 2008 he had sold 120 million albums.
He has also received numerous
awards including eleven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy
Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Minnesota
Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of
Fame. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for
"his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by
lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
In May 2012, Dylan received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
In 2016, he was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the
great American song tradition".
For me, Dylan’s influence of popular music has been immense. He has
written in excess of 500 songs, released 38 studio albums, 11 live albums, 85
singles and 26 notable extended plays.
Whether you love him or hate him, and I know many of you won’t share my
enthusiasm, there have been nearly 1500 cover versions of his songs by over 600
artists making him the the most recorded popular music songwriter of all
time.
A staggering 63 artists have recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” closely
followed by “Don’t Think Twice it’s Alright” with 50 cover versions.
Many artists have had major hits with Dylan songs early in their
careers:
The Byrds - Mr.
Tambourine Man
Jimi Hendix - All
Along the Watchtower
Bryan Ferry – A
Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall
Adele - Make You
Feel My Love
Stevie Wonder –
Blowin’ in the Wind
Van Morrison and
Them - It's All Over Now Baby Blue
Manfred Mann - If
You Gotta Go, Go Now
The fact that major international artists from many genres of popular
music have recorded his songs including Bette
Mildler, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Bobby Darin, Bruce Springstein, Carl
Perkins, Johny Cash, Willie Nelson, Ben E King, Dionne Warwick, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz ,
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Harry Belafonte, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, Neil
Diamond, Nina Simone, Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Four
Seasons, The Rolling Stones to name just a few, demonstrates his extraordinary
song writing skills.
There are over 200 albums of entirely Dylan songs including these major artists:
There’s even an internet radio station devoted to Dylan cover songs – Tangled Up in
Bob.
On Saturday 15th July 1978 I made one of the biggest
mistakes of my life when I chose not to go just up the road to Blackbushe Aerodrome thus missing the only opportunity I would ever
have of seeing Bob Dylan play live, but that is another story!
Here is a selection of my favourite Dylan cover versions in an attempt
to demonstrate the diversity of his song writing talents and win over some of you
doubters:
And to finish a song by the man himself that IMHO is the greatest pop song of all time, a view shared by Rolling Stone Magazine who, in 2011, voted it Number 1 in their Top 500 Songs of All Time:
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:
