Anna booked four nights in North Norfolk at a delightful 17th Century cottage. We’d been to Suffolk and Norfolk in September last year and a return was planned. We loaded up the car with groceries and bicycles and headed south. The location isn’t too far from York (170 miles) but the road network after Newark and the A1 deteriorates into single carriageways and a lot of roundabouts. (Memo to Boris: forget about HS2 and give East Anglia a road network.)
If that’s slowing your progress then when you add all the artic trucks shipping all the veg that’s grown on the wide open and flat fields in the locality it can be even tougher going. The weather was overcast with heavy downpours, our miserable spring and summer was continuing. However Wells-next-the-Sea was reached and in the indifferent weather our legs were stretched and childhoods were relived with ice cream! We had time to kill before being allowed to check in and so we spent some time wandering around.
Hello old friend…
As a town Wells is some way from the sea but connected by a winding passage through the sandbanks. We strolled up to the beach itself:
Back toward the small fishing port the sights were very twee and attractive. The whole town was served by tidal waters and it was surprising how quickly the tide came in when the turn came.
Note the iron horse sculpture
The loading extension to the wharf is attached to residential apartments nowadays
Dragging Anna past the bucket and spades was a nightmare
It’s not much but we call it home…
However, it was time to go and so we drove along single track roads to reach Great Walsingham, about 5 miles south of the coast. The house was a delight:
Try this with two cups of coffee in your hands!
The countryside is mainly flat although there are lots of little rises and falls. It is an unspoilt part of the country with no industry other than farming. Even the coast doesn’t seem to have anything like a commercial fishing operation. Tourism is the money earner and the relatively unspoilt and undeveloped nature of the area has great appeal. I felt it was the type of place you really could unwind.
So I’m sat on a bench in Skirpenbeck, a small village just outside Stamford Bridge. I’ve been cycling in the Wolds when I stop to eat an energy bar and have a gel. As I cycle through the village toward the the bench I pass an old bloke walking his Jack Russell. He’s five foot nothing wearing a tweed sports jacket, a flat hat and has a small silver moustache. If I’d bothered to wonder how he’s spent his life it’d have been on the railways, in a factory or maybe on a farm.
Anyway he ambles up to me to comment on how chilly it is whilst his dog looks up to me awaiting a scratch on his head. He tells me that he used to ride a bike but the talent resides with his 45 year old son who was a Yorkshire champion. Impressed I ask if living out amongst the hills had helped him. “Oh no, we lived in Hull at the time, I’ve just moved here.” So engaged he regaled me with his moves and said that he’s lived for over 20 years in Turkey. Now this isn’t obvious! So I asked “if she was pretty?” “Oh no, the wife was English!” It transpires he’d made a few quid on a house sale and went travelling and obviously didn’t get past the Turkish coast. “So how did you make a living?” “I was a tattooist.” He was warming to recounting all this life story and was about to probably regale me with some derring do in Marmaris. However, in my lycra I was getting cold and had a large forecasted rain downpour to beat and made my apologies. I now wonder what else I missed in his life story.
The daughters came to York to celebrate their mother’s birthday and we went for Sunday lunch on the river. As we approached the restaurant it was cold but sunny. On sitting down we found ourselves under cover in something that British Cycling could use as a wind tunnel. In minutes the sun had gone, the nithering wind picked up and the rain started to lash down. Folk took cover literally as they worried about wearing their roast beef and trimmings and their table mats and coverings took flight. We sat tight clutching our drinks praying for our lunch to arrive shortly so we could bolt it down and return to some brick shelter. Welcome to spring.
Other adventures involve taking the Morgan to a garage down south in June to have much of the front suspension replaced. The ride is very harsh; thesaying goes that if you drive over a coin in a Morgan you can tell whether it’s heads or tails. I’m hoping this upgrade will make the car less bone jarring. When I first owned cars in the 1970s it was accepted that cars wore out and if you kept a car over 40,000 miles it was likely to be ultimately an expensive decision. Nowadays cars will happily continue over 100,000 if serviced and cared for. Sadly the design of the Morgan is such that there is a very short life for a number of components beneath the car.
Other activities include riding the iconic bike ride of Lands End to John O’Groats. This is planned and booked for the end of June until early July. Unusually I’ll be completing this with long time buddy, Peter. I’m looking forward to a cycle tour but I would want to warn you this two week ride will herald biblical rain and a downturn in temperatures. I shall write in greater detail nearer the departure date.
Lastly, I must be amongst a large number of men who are appalled at the opportunity to hug people as the pandemic recedes. I shall not be changing my arms length approach to affection. I would however like to add that I have been known to moderate this rule as regards the Favourite Youngest Daughter where we share a brisk and business-like handshake on meeting. (I kid you not.)
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall – The Marfa Tapes
These three Texans met in Marfa to perform 15 songs in an informal lo-fi setting. Marfa is known as a cultural hub in West Texas. Randall and Ingram have recording careers but here they’re sat with Lambert as part of a successful occasional writing team on her recent releases. Randall has a CV that stretches back a long way including association with Country royalty as well as being an in demand producer. Ingram’s recording output has had success but it’s his contribution as a songwriter, not least, to some of Lambert’s most memorable songs which seems his métier. If bonds were needed between the three, their composition of the multi-awarded “Tin Man” from her 2016 The Weight Of These Wings album is one; and not to forget their ability to harmonise so sweetly and their love for their home state.
Tylor Ketchum heads up a band of principally his two brothers and his father-in-law. On their third release they’re joined by another famous brother, Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly who takes up production duties. The sound is similar to their 2019 release The Best Of The Worst Kind. However, here Braun brings more commercial sensibility and some celtic flourishes as he adds fiddle and mandolin.
Ketchum is a terrific wordsmith; on the opener “Equation of Life”,he offers a philosophic take – “There’s bigger places and better things to come / Instead of trading time I think you might try spending some / Because change equals money and money always makes sense / When you spend time well you get back time well spent.” When you hitch this to the acoustic based americana country sound, with pedal steel in the background, you’ve got a wonderful 50 minutes ahead of you. Ketchum’s voice is commanding and the mix rightly puts it to the fore throughout.
The band is tighter than the lid on a recalcitrant jar of jalapeños: they weave around each other and deliver effortless solos; and predictably the brothers harmonise better than most on the choruses. “Staring Down The North” has an outlaw vibe where the band quickly hit the afterburners. Ketchum picks his acoustic guitar and extols the virtues of adopting a positive attitude. A prowling electric guitar trades punches with a Hammond B3; I can imagine that this must be sublime played live. “Jenny Lynn” is an album highlight and refers to Ketchum’s wife. It’s a paean to his enduring love as he misses her whilst he’s away. Acoustic guitars play the melody with pedal steel and sentimental Irish fiddle adding to this touching lament.
The title track, “Non-Typical Find”, is a story about the untimely demise of two unfortunates after a car crash on the highway. The driver appears to have been distracted and spaced out and his unlucky female passenger picked the wrong car to flag down whilst hitch hiking. This six minute epic brought to mind the type of engaging story he told on his last album with “The Ballad Of Black Jack Ketchum”, again another misadventure (that ends in a hanging!) “Lemonade” is another lyric that has you concentrating on every word. A beautiful melody enhanced by a picked banjo and insistent snare driven rhythm.
The air should be black with hats as we celebrate this wonderful album. Mine is airborne.
I was visiting Dave at Castle Electrics. This is not an easy experience. Dave runs a small shop in Acomb where he stands behind a cluttered counter in the absolute chaos of stacked washing machines, refurbished Dyson vacuum cleaners, kettles, lamps, mounds of pieces of paper and a phone he seldom answers. However, what he doesn’t know about appliances isn’t worth knowing. I was attending the Temple of Spark to discuss the swapping of an extractor canopy. Escaping him often necessitates the type of quality excuse such as you’re late for an appointment with the Queen or it’s the final countdown for a nuclear attack. Aside from this chore Acomb offers the best charity shop in York for second hand CD’s and occasional LP finds. After Dave accepted my apologies (and I’d promised to give Her Majesty his regards) I migrated to the next temple.
Historically I’ve found some splendid blues CD’s amongst the copious Cheryl Cole, James Last and Robbie Williams detritus. This time after an unproductive scan through the CD’s I turned my attention to the LP’s. Inevitably budget label classical LP’s abounded plus Engelbert Humperdinck, Jim Reeves and Petula Clark to the fore. I’m often happy to snap up the Country music ones as I add to my knowledge of the history of the genre but that’s not the reason for the search. Lurking in the pile was a tatty sleeve of the above album. A quick glance at the vinyl revealed something in quite good nick. It seemed worth investing £1.
Blood, Sweat & Tears were an American band of nine players who enjoyed their chart success in the late 60s and 70s. In fact they had platinum records in the US and topped the charts with two of their albums. “Spinning Wheel” was probably their most successful song in the UK charts. I like brass led soul jazz but when combined with rock it all seems just a loud and meandering affair where I worry that the players are having a lot more fun than the listener. This album, their eighth, was released in 1975 and saw the return of the Canadian lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas to a line up that included trumpets, trombones, saxophones, tuba along with the expected complement of drums, keyboards, bass and electric guitar. My speculative purchases hit the record deck at least once and then gather dust thereafter if they’re not worthy.
I’ve now being playing this for weeks. I love it.
It helps that some of my favourite records are by The Average White Band and Tower Of Power and this sound picks up from both these acts although in a strict chronological order B,S&T came first. The two big draws are the vocals of Clayton-Thomas and the brass arrangements that rage and sooth as they work through a variety of styles and tempos. Their intent is laid bare with the first track “Ride Captain Ride” a tour de force of 70s Soul Funk. Clayton-Thomas’ muscular and commanding vocals sweep you along. They reminded me of a very powerful sports car trundling at an easy pace but the burble of the V8 reminds you that at any time they could propel him, and you, seamlessly with volume and emotion to a different place. “Life” follows with a ridiculously funky bass line with all the hallmarks of the New Orleans legendary songwriter’s work, Allen Toussaint. Horns electrify the chorus and Swede George Wadenius takes the spotlight with an electric guitar solo.
“I Was A Witness To A War” could be a show tune such is the wistful melody. The vocal has pathos and impact as the story unfolds of the horror of it all. One of the composers, Danny Meehan, had a varied career as a performing artist and songwriter following service in the Korean War and receiving The Purple Heart. You can safely conclude any ideas in the lyrics were received on the front line. Side One finishes with a traditional sparsely arranged blues song “One Room Country Shack”. Clayton- Smith delivers over a picked acoustic guitar; later on an acoustic slide joins. A quick tour of YouTube shows that this version is head and shoulders above that of John Lee Hooker or Buddy Guy. No small achievement.
Ultimately the album is a covers collection with only three of the ten songs being composed by band members. Janis Ian’s “Applause” is an interesting choice to start Side Two. Ian has become a revered singer songwriter who’s still touring. This whimsical story is about what each artist seeks in a live performance. It’s sad and poignant. The song is populated with some beautiful horn arrangements that demonstrate several styles and paces from baroque chamber music to jazz harmonies with trumpets playing the same tune note for note. Randy Newman arrangements always borders on a comedy style or a straight singer songwriter unadorned piano ballad. “Naked Man” from his 1974 critically acclaimed Good Old Boys is the former and gets the full band on vocals as Clayton-Thomas sounds like Tom Waits. The lyrics get so wacky that he is unable to stop from breaking into a laugh whilst delivering a verse. More predictable and chart orientated is the cover of “Got To Get You Into My Life” from 1966’s Revolver by The Beatles and also covered by several other artists. We play out with a composition by the drummer, Bobby Colomby, “Takin’ It Home”. It’s a brief coda starting with a sensational Bill Tillman saxophone lead but more to the point reminds us it’s Colomby’s sublime sophisticated drumming that has propelled and held this whole wonderful album together.
(If you’re tempted then I can tell you that this lurks on Spotify or Apple Music or at any leading record outlet)
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