All posts by tonyives

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About tonyives

A Yorkshireman of a certain age who likes most genres of music and most makes of old car. Travel is a joy, not least to escape the British winter. Travel by bicycle is bliss and if I’m not lost in music then I’m lost in a daydream about a hot day, tens of miles to cover and the promise of a great campsite and a beer. I like to think I’m always learning and becoming wiser. However, on the latter point evidence is in short supply.

Fish & Chips, Sewing Machines & Short Screws – Week 4 : 2019

Journal

January 21, 2019

I saw a thread on a cycling forum about cycling in Croatia. The gist, from the contributors, was that you needed to be part of a UN Convoy to reduce the risk of reckless drivers killing you. I’d ridden a few hundred miles there last summer and some of the busy congestion wasn’t much fun, however, I’d be happy to cycle there again.

A lot of cyclists are very nervous in traffic: I’m not but without doubt the UK roads are getting busier. Out during the week I pulled up at some temporary traffic lights outside a small town (Easingwold). The lights changed and I clipped my feet into the pedals and set off to be nearly grazed by a car barrelling through. The car had been a long way short of the lights when they changed; he sped through. So you think we’re talking about a busy sales rep hoping to make a crucial appointment? No, it was an old couple in some Korean hybrid no doubt risking my safety to get home for afternoon TV, a chocolate digestive and to let Rufus out into the back garden for a tiddle. Back in the centre of York, on Lendl, a tourist simply strolled across the central island to walk in front of me. In fairness she had her mind on other things as she was busy chatting on her mobile phone. Before impact I bellowed at her and she stepped back shocked. I was hardly inconspicuous in a hi-viz orange coat. No doubt her relatives in Beijing asked what the noise was? Let me help her – it was a call to keep her out of one of York’s unheralded attractions – York District Hospital.

Strolling round IKEA there was a desk that was so high I guess you stood at it. On the desk there was a prop: a sewing machine. Now over 50 years ago my mother had one but in 32 years of marriage my present wife may have had one but it is long gone by decades. They are about as ’current’ as slide rules, dandelion & burdock and Haircut 100. So why was one in IKEA? Well our local and large Yorkshire Asian community make their own clothes and IKEA have analysed their footfall and worked out a use for this piece of furniture. Great marketing.

IKEA is one retail member of the ‘High Street’ that’s surviving and now it appears that HMV has suitors. I’m so pleased about that: we need visible vinyl in the city. One of the dashboard knobs dropped off the Morgan and I lost the short grub screw to fix it. Thanks to specialist shops like Fastpack then you can find any fastener you need in volumes of one or two on a side street near you #boybliss.

The Favourite Eldest Daughter (FED) visited last weekend and dining was a priority for the one night of her stay. I volunteered a local delicacy, fish and chips. The quality of the Yorkshire takeaway is unsurpassed yet FED had some anxieties. Where to get them from and would the chips be good enough? There was a little ‘on line’ debate and (you’ll see my constructive and conciliatory comments in green below) on the dish. You’ll be palpably relieved to learn an emporium was eventually found and the transaction completed. Picky Southerners?

So how about the mast then Tony? Err, well it is still there and despite the network operator ignoring my letters then we have recently been in communication. I wrote to the principal share holder of the holding company and their non-executive chairman. After ignoring my letter for two months the CEO of the PLC holding company came back with a reply pronto!

He ‘parroted’ the balls I have had from the network operator and so I’ve written back offering images of where he could move this offensive stick to. I’ve copied his superiors again and at the very least the MD of the local company is now starting to be seen as a loser as he’s dragged these luminaries into my life. I also started to Tweet on the network operator’s Twitter posts. They blocked me but I changed my address and made comments on their posts again. The local Council were freaked by the ongoing dispute (and their social media involvement by being copied in). They raised the problem with the network operator again. Quickline said no due to technical reasons. So in summary it rumbles on and I am making their lives less comfortable by their original mistake.

Thinking about creating a website for all this next. If other people have the risk of a mast appearing then maybe I should ensure they are aware of what befalls them?

Lastly let’s imagine you are a member of the Police force and you are assigned to looking after the Duke of Edinburgh. An easy gig? He doesn’t go far and probably sleeps a lot: lots of time for cups of tea, chocolate hob nobs and playing games on your mobile? However, imagine your terror when the DoE declares he wants to go for a drive and you’ve go to accompany him.

Record Of The Week # 57

Music

January 20, 2019

Eric Brace, Peter Cooper & Thomm Jutz – Riverland

The gifts of the Mississippi are the historical and geographical attributes that surround it. These include inequality, cotton, deprivation, heat, a lazy pace, roots music and a mighty ribbon of water that broadens as it descends the USA to become little short of a country within a country.

Here we have three gifted musicians who’ve taken their wonderment to produce a remarkable album. They write stories about war, floods, workers, segregation, bootleggers and the simple towering majesty of the river. The range of the themes and people who ‘speak’ these stories are beautifully crafted and diverse in their perspectives. Add some acoustic folk/roots music delivered with harmony, humour and memorable melodies and we may have an album that stands out from the current crop of releases.

Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz collaborate on yet another album and pen 13 out of the 14 songs. All three are accomplished musicians with a considerable catalogue of music between them. Brace and Cooper, two former journalists, have worked together for many years and been Grammy nominated. Jutz has had a career that includes playing in the bands of Nanci Griffith and Mary Gauthier.

“River City” tells us about the boats that work the channel and its men who tumble off at various ports for an evening’s entertainment before returning to carry on their journey. The song carries a heavy heart at the life of being continually in transit with all the leaving that this entails. The three voices, whether as a lead or in the chorus, work so well together often harmonising to give a depth and emotion to the lyrics.

The working river saw changes as sail gave way to steam. Inevitably some trades fell into disuse. “King of the Keelboat Men” has that Springsteen bitter undercurrent of proud and strong men being made obsolete; their talents discarded. “Drowned & Washed Away” revisits the vicissitudes and upheaval of the devastating 1927 flood. “Down Along The River” is a song about the role the river played in the 1860s’ Civil War. 

Recent history is about segregation. “Mississippi Magic” touches on a landmark that was key in the nascent civil rights movement. With a heartfelt conversational narrated start we see the unfolding conflagration of 1962 with conflict between white and black over an African American’s entrance to the the University of Mississippi. Never preachy and told from the perspective of a surprised onlooker this captures the era.

Acoustic albums are often beautifully played (as the absence of electricity seems to provide nowhere to hide). Whether it’s Jutz’s flatpicking or the plucking of a banjo we have accompaniment that compliments but never intrudes and creates space for those voices to enthral. Welcome to 2019, we’re setting the bar high.

POST SCRIPT

This is a tremendous album but the concept appealed to me after my 2015 bike ride down the USA:

(http://toronto-neworleans-orlando.blogspot.com).

I trundled through the Deep South leaving Memphis on Highway 61 and picking up the signs on the Blues Trail and absorbed the culture and geography. Landmarks were numerous from Bessie Smith’s place of death to B B King’s museum in Indianola and a night of being bitten by bed bugs. I only came across cotton once as I cycled into Clarksdale. Apparently it’s too thirsty compared to soya and probably not as lucrative. Other myths are that black folk still play the blues. Sadly not really, it seems a white person’s pursuit nowadays. All the black folk were helpful and kind (Including the inmates from the local penitentiary who wanted a light for their cigarette as they painted the car park at the field where I camped). Time on the Natchez Parkway will always live with me as will Natchez as I camped beside the river on a site with a huge RV looming over my one man tent. The next day I crossed the Mississippi three times before getting into Louisiana. The worst road surfaces in the USA welcomed me along with torrential rain as I approach New Orleans. The rain on a crossing across the Mississippi by ferry was so horrific that the operator invited me to sit inside for another trip until the weather passed! So I ‘did’ this part of the world and feel a little smug that i lived and pedalled miles absorbing all it had to offer and not just writing beautiful songs from a misty yet romantic notion.

The British Honours System: A Critique

Tony’s View Of The World

January 18, 2019

I cringe every time the latest Honours are announced. This occurs twice a year. In total 1,350 of these accolades are handled out to ‘recognise merit in terms of achievement or service’. At best described as a peculiarly British arrangement where there are several levels of award from a suffix that you cam affix to the front of your name through to a large number of prefixes that you can tag onto your surname. These awards are handed out to Brits and other members of the Commonwealth or we can give ‘honorary’ awards to citizens of other nations. 

Their compilation is by a couple of committees and then the Queen advises the lucky winners of their prize officially on certain dates. If you get the highest accolade then Her Majesty or delegates invite you to Buckingham Palace where you kneel; the sword is tapped on your shoulder and you get to discuss briefly the weather and her nag’s prospects at Epsom in the afternoon racing.

The problem is about who gets these awards. It seems a right for politicians, sportsmen, senior soldiers, ancient rock stars, national treasures in terms of acting, radio or TV personalities, currently overpaid ‘captains of industry’ and probably a whole selection of people who’ve spent about a decade canvassing for one (or putting money into good causes to gain ‘credits’).

This nonsense started in 1348 and may explain some of the archaic titles such as The Order Of The Garter. In fact the most common Honours are Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. (MBE). The very reference to the British Empire is not only obsolete but frankly places it in a Netflix period drama.

If it is for service or achievement then why by heading a Government Department as a civil servant do you get a gong? You’re bewilderingly well paid, live a cloistered and privileged life and have another career of being a non-exec on all sorts of Boards (after you take your eye wateringly generous pension). Okay, you can do your job and climbed to the top of the ‘slippery pole’ but why should you get a bauble?

Captains of industry have tenures, sometimes long and sometimes short, where talent, good luck and timing enables them to earn £millions and have privilege in any activity they may want to participate in. After all this recognition they eventually get a Knighthood so that they can join their other lucky and lofty mates. A risk, of course, is that after your bank contributes to a global financial collapse: they might ask for it back as happened to luminaries at two UK banks. 

The celebrity strain is beyond a joke. This New Year saw Michael Palin and Twiggy get Knighted or made a Dame. Now to say anything derogatory about these two is akin to feeding a playful labrador puppy into a wood saw… but come on! Twiggy got the Honour for her services to fashion, the arts and charity? Google tells me that she has involvement with 13 charities. Well done and thank you but how many folk do you know who are devoting over 10 hours volunteering or caring where they get no money, no support and certainly a lot less than appreciation? I know a few.

If these celebrities make a mockery of the pecking order of worthiness then don’t start me on footballers, actors or musicians. It seems that the first hiring question for their future PR agency is what will you do to accelerate my acquisition of an Honour? “My qualifications are that I’m over 50 years old, have convictions for drugs and have mainly led a dysfunctional life that has enabled tabloid newspapers to have a splendid time telling people about me. I am also hopelessly rich, entitled and hob nob with junior Royals. However, I’ve lent my name to a few charities, I fit in a couple of functions a year and my PA has me sign lots of T shirt. In addition I can fit in a gig for free once in a blue moon. Surely that’s worth a Knighthood for my export sales and high profile?”

A mediocre political career on the back benches can get you a Knighthood if you vote regularly with the Government, say nice things about the leadership when required and retire when the tap comes on the shoulder to release your safe seat to an acolyte of the ruling junta.

Somewhere down the list with the junior accolades are ladies who’ve devoted many days a month to teaching disabled children to ride a horse or given 50 years of service to being a lollipop lady on a dangerous road in rain and snow. I love these folk and we walk in their shadows. Neither do I have a problem with awards of distinction such as bravery. I’m humbled to think what soldiers do on battlefields, who isn’t? 

I know a few men who’ve had an Honour. Were they worth it? Debatable but I do know one who spent a lot of time and effort trying to get the highest award (unsuccessfully). There are many who’ve turned down the offer when they’ve been asked if they want one. I’m happy with that but a few have gone out of their way to demonstrate their virtue signalling by declining the Honour – frankly, that’s worse than accepting it.

Due to political patronage and the desire to create ‘feel good’ on the front page of The Daily Mail twice a year this antique Byzantine practise will continue with some occasionally ‘sold’ for a donation to a political party. And with all this we sneer at corrupt practices in Asia and Africa.

Lastly, there are some monumental cock ups. Lovelies who’ve been awarded an Honour include Mussolini, Ceausescu, Mugabe, paedophile Jimmy Savile and traitor Anthony Blunt. I suspect there are a few current holders who glance nervously over their shoulder at the Serious Fraud Office and or some under-age sex investigation policemen.

Don’t get me started on the award of honorary degrees…

Record Of The Week # 56

Music

January 17, 2019

Boo Ray – Tennessee Alabama Fireworks

I’m sometimes suspicious of the ‘copy’ that comes with a new album but I have no problem with calling Ray a ‘Self Styled Southern Troubador’. Firmly seated in Country Rock he writes killer tunes and delivers a lyric with memorable soundbites. Tennessee Alabama Fireworks refers to a sign just off Interstate 24, which is either a burden or gift. Ray was commuting between the two States about 80 times a year and on one side emotional problems abounded but on the other a soothing calm would return. Maybe this is a good time to mention that Ray turns his life into a song and more often than not he’s reflecting on disruption and hair raising scrapes. The title track off his last album Sea Of Lights was inspired by getting mugged and his car falling apart!

“A Tune You Can Whistle” starts the 10 track album and hits an immediate driving groove with pedal steel behind his slightly frayed but attractive voice. From the start you get the feel that this is a crafted affair. Ray is an accomplished guitarist and it shows throughout. Recorded at Nashville’s Welcome to 1979 studio in 5 days then he must have arrived well rehearsed. The ballad “She Wrote The Song” has a Southern Rock feel with lashings of Soul. Ray talks of a life of challenges and bad luck. His chorus tells us “It’s the pain pills that took away my sweetheart, It give me cold chills I think that’s gonna leave a scar”. This sounds like a sad chapter in his life but he’s now moved on.

“Don’t Look Back” is another fabulous arrangement. Hitting that groove again his preoccupation is guiding a Cadillac to Texas and leaving behind his troubles. Some energetic ‘out of your seat’ 60s Soul with brass introduces “20 Questions” with its examination of a lover’s motives and movements. Ray leads the vocal above wailing guitars and a girly chorus.

The album closes with a little romance on “Skin & Ink”. This demonstrates his talent as a Country wordsmith – “Drinking at the lost love lounge down on Dauphine street, She was looking at this naked girl peeking out beneath my sleeve, She said ‘Damn, that girl there on your arm it should be me’, Ice melting in my whiskey glass, girl if you only knew, The love took to get her there, and the hell she put me through, Yeah, yeah might be a little room on the other arm for you”. A honky tonk rhythm with fluid electric guitar from Ray takes this home.

I’ve loved his last three albums and if your Country music comes with some memorable hook drenched melodies, some Steve Earle mayhem and one foot in Southern Rock then this is for you. 

Record Of The Week # 55

Music

January 5, 2019

J P Harris – Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing

Emerging as one of the best releases from the last quarter of 2018 is Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing. Harris has an interesting backstory of leaving home in Alabama in his mid teens and traversing the USA; now coming to rest in Nashville. Along the way he’s made a living with a variety of practical jobs including carpentry. I’d like to think that he’s made more money as a musician than spoiling wood because if this release is anything to go by then it is worth parting with your hard earned cash for.

Along the way he’s picked up some worldly wisdom and shook off some bad habits. Such a phase is captured in “When I Quit Drinking”, where against an acoustic backdrop he recounts the sober world he now inhabits; not with particular fondness. Maybe some reining in was necessary if you listen to “JP’s Florida Blues #1”, a rocking paean to a drug fuelled tour in the Sunshine State. This has a fun and well devised video if you make your way onto YouTube.

Harris seems to have some talented friends to call on for the album. The bassist, Morgan Jahnig (Old Crow Medicine Show) plucks throughout and produced the album. Guitar duties fall to luminaries such as Leroy Powell and Chance McCoy (another OCMS player). To this end you tell me if the guitar solo on “Longs Way Back” isn’t a pure Willie Nelson copy with its fluid and delicate runs.

I’d place Harris nicely in the Country Americana bracket with an acoustic platform occasionally rocking out with a hoe-down. However you’ll find him being claimed exclusively by Country when you hear “”I Only Drink Alone” which could place you in the 1960s with a Haggard or George Jones style of song. A honky tonk piano drives this gentle tune with a thumping base to a gentle waltz. 

His articulate and observational lyrics can be fun or profound and maybe benefit from reflection and composition over the last four years since his previous release. “Lady In The Spotlight” is a rueful and tender song with a Glen Campbell acoustic guitar rhythm where an aspiring female musician ‘wannabe’ finds that she’s not taken seriously as she tries to break into a new scene. Her looks count for a lot yet only as temporary entertainment for her potential mentor. 

This is an album of ten fabulous tracks and my favourite pick would be “Miss Jeanne-Marie” which brought to mind Travis Meadows with its melody and arrangement of a chiming piano and a heartfelt vocal up front with occasional electric guitar fills.

Harris has an attractive voice and an ability to write a tune. If I’d got to this sooner then it would have made my 2018 end of year list. I’d guess some of these excellent songs may end up on a bigger star’s album shortly. Cut to the chase and get the real thing now.

PS      Don’t be put off by the album sleeve!

Flat Tyres, Christian Louboutin & Jazz Hands- Week 51 : 2018

Journal

December 22, 2018

Firstly a correction: In the last blog I said that I listened to 10 hours of music per week. What a load of rubbish! If it is 40 hours then I may still be shy of the true figure. Sat at my desk, driving my car, riding my bike, writing the blog and most other places, if I am by myself. See my ‘Records Of The Year 2018’ for the fruits of this labour.

It was a week of learning. I started with the surprising fact that due to Health & Safety rules a postman now cannot change a flat tyre on his van. Our local postie, Andy, was stranded for an hour whilst a ‘man’ was called to carry out this deed. If you wonder why a Second Class stamp costs £0.58 then it is to cover this type of requirement. (Andy was similarly unimpressed with hanging around for an hour!). 

Other education involved the loss of 30,000 men in a bloody battle about 10 miles west from our house. Anna and I went for a walk and look.

The Battle of Towton was fought in 1461. A reputed 50,000 soldiers converged on this small settlement outside Tadcaster. On one side was the English King, Henry VI and on the other side the other English King, Edward of York (to become Edward IV). One was a Lancastrian and the other was a Yorkist. These two Houses disputed the throne and a battle in The War Of The Roses took place here. The weather for March was harsh with snow and high winds. The superior Lancastrian armies were down wind from the onslaught of the lesser number of Yorkists who slaughtered many Lancastrians in a hail of arrows whilst the Lancastrian bowmen fell short with their missiles. The Lancastrians did briefly gain the upper hand but when reinforced by the Duke of Norfolk’s army the Yorkists won the hand to hand conflict and put the Lancastrians to flight. The Lancastrians were slaughtered. Their critical obstacle was a river at the bottom of a steep hill called the Cock Beck.

They couldn’t cross it and became easy quarry. The legend has it that the Beck ran red with Lancastrian blood and that one form of bridge that existed was the corpses in the Beck that others used to cross over.

Written history in the 15th Century was thin on the ground and seldom accurate. Accounts of the duration of the fighting and the casualties varies but historians believe the total numbers who fought are correct but that the death toll ranges between 3 to 30,000. The remains that are still being dug up today provide skeletons with horrific injuries as fierce and brutal weapons made holes in their skulls.

Today there is a walk at the battlefield with graphics that tell you about the War and the Battle. It’s tranquil and dog owners shout at their pouches to stay on the path and greet other walkers with friendly greetings. To think that the population in England was only 2,000,000 in the 15thCentury and that today’s UK armed forces only amount to 80,000 you can appreciate the scale of this conflict.

Whilst this, in effect, deposed Henry VI and the Yorkists took the crown it was only temporary as the Lancastrians eventually prevailed in 1485 with Henry VI reassuming the throne and merging both Houses by marriage.

In other observations then ‘camping’ students were evident in York. Not in tents or in wintery fields but in coffee shops down Fishergate. Here your average young millennial will buy a coffee and then open their laptop up and hog a table for two hours. I was not impressed when unable to sit in a favourite café. Neither can the proprietors be impressed as they expect these ‘tables’ to turn a decent revenue during the day. Again on York’s burgeoning student populations such now are a number of students of Chinese descent that means we have a number of shops catering to their grocery requirements. Quite a shock really but their money is no doubt welcome in the local economy.

Lastly I think we should end on a Christmas note. I was sleighed (see what I did there?) with a visit to Harvey Nichols with the Favourite Youngest Daughter. She was seriously evaluating a £500 pair of shoes. This worked out at about £50/square inch. I was amazed that a girl who once wore a sparkly top to a school fancy dress day where the pupils were encouraged to dress as farmers was now thinking of spending her hard earned salary on such footwear. Things, as they say, change.

 As any fool know then the brand is denoted by the red sole…

I’ve been to two Christmas concerts this year. One was a serious, thoughtfully compiled and complicated affair at The National Centre for Early Music in the centre of York. The other was a group of septuagenarians in Santa hats (and jazz hands) singing beautifully and having a ball at a shopping centre in Leeds. Guess which one worked for me!

Merry Christmas

Records Of The Year 2018

Music

December 21, 2018

It seems remarkable to me that I have listened to 287 new albums this year. A total of 195 were released in 2018 and another 92 releases were from earlier years. Nearly all the new releases were digital files given to me by three outlets. Two of them gave them to me as a pool of stuff to review. The 92 earlier releases can be various purchases of vinyl or CD’s that I’ve picked up in charity shops. I have an unquenchable desire for a complete understanding of many genres and at £0.50 a time then the world is your oyster. The big question is when do I listen to it all? In my study, in my car, washing my car, gardening, listening to Anna (!) and always on my bike. I erroneously put in one blog that I listened to 10 hours of music a week. Crap, frankly I may even be north of 40 hours!

I know several of you will scan the list below for artists you know. Sorry! Please trust me that I listen to all this alongside Earth, Wind & Fire, Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan, The Isley Brothers, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, The National, Van Morrison, B B King, Eric Clapton etc. I always retain my bearings.

So below is a list of the stuff that stuck in my head or appealed to my taste. Where I don’t put a date then assume it is 2018. Enjoy:

  1. Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain                    Singer Songwriter
  2. The Curse Of Lono – As I Fell                                                                          Rock
  3. Rich Krueger – NOWthen                                                                                 Singer Songwriter
  4. Sunny Sweeney – Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame                                      Country (2006)
  5. Bindley Hardware – Ever Satisfactory                                                         Americana
  6. Elkie Brooks – Live & Learn                                                                               Rock (1978)
  7. Kayla Ray – Yesterday & Me                                                                              Country
  8. Victor Wainwright & The Train                                                                        Blues
  9. Dusty Ross – Stolen Horse                                                                                 Country
  10. Ross Cooper – I Ride The Wild Horses                                                          Country
  11. Erin Enderlin – Whiskeytown Crier                                                                 Country
  12. Ashley McBryde – Girl Goin’ Nowhere                                                           Country
  13. Dave Kelly – Solo Performances : Live In Germany 1986 – 89              Blues (2016)
  14. James Scott Bullard – Full Tilt Boogie                                                           Blues Rock
  15. Tom Hambridge – The NOLA Sessions                                                           Blues Rock
  16. Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History                                                     Indie Rock (2010)
  17. Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You                                                   Americana
  18. Meghan Patrick – Grace & Grit                                                                       Country (2016)
  19. Candi Staton – Unstoppable                                                                             Soul
  20. Old Crow Medicine Show – Volunteer                                                           Country/Bluegrass

Courtney Marie Andrews – Pocklington Arts Centre – Dec 7th 2018

Music

December 18, 2018

A kind of silent reverence greeted the diminutive Courtney Marie Andrews as she took the stage in front of a sold out crowd in North Yorkshire. Pocklington appears to be the home of Americana in these parts and a good audience is always guaranteed. Andrews’ has been touring for several months now in the USA and Australasia; this was the second date on her UK tour that even takes her to the Shetland Isles. It should have been her third gig but wear and tear on the voice meant missing a night in Birmingham. Resting up in London with friends downing the magic elixir of ginger tea appeared restorative!

Declared fit, she gave us 14 songs mainly from her Honest Life and May Your Kindness Remain releases but, as she said, playing an overseas audience meant she could play some other songs and we were treated to two new songs and a couple of singles that never made an album.

Of course the voice is the draw with that Joni Mitchell sound and a range characterised by raw, at times lonely, emotion and bathos. The lonely comes from the nature of her observational lyrics in which she reflects on people and situations around her. In fact you’d worry that having known her for the last few years that you’d end up in a lyric. Boyfriends beware.

 With this in mind she tells the story of a touring musician who declared on their first meeting that she was gay, adding that Andrews wouldn’t therefore want to tour with her. Nothing could be further from the truth as Andrews tells of her own upbringing with a gay parent. “Irene” sets out to fortify her new companion to stride forward and shrug off her doubts and guilt. Similarly we visit the On My Page album with “Pictures From Michael”. The unlikely subject is her incarcerated uncle who sent paintings from his prison up until the privilege was withdrawn (because of his continuing disruptive behaviour). Who could make this up? However, it is an insight into her openness about her life and family with a no holds barred approach.

It seems most American touring artists are unhappy about Trump and inevitably at some point we have the disclaimer. However she handled this thoughtfully by singing about the other side of the immigration argument. “Border” seemed a timely and thought through perspective on those arriving and striving in the USA without a partisan rant.

What became clear was that she is an accomplished musician. On guitar rhythms were strummed, melodies were picked and this accompaniment added to the voice. Switching to keyboards she introduced the unlikely topic of a song about a dog -Tucker. This was a home run in dog loving Britain! “This House” talks of a home albeit not the most organised of abodes but for a travelling musician it is her sanctuary. Sadly Tucker is now buried in the yard.

Toward the end she said that she would not be playing an encore but would take three requests. To my relief she accepted the shout to play “May Your Kindness Remain”, a song about a female free spirit who despite her frailties has a kindness that makes you forgive her excesses. On this song she really let her voice soar and maybe we got a sound that she’d be holding back for fear of undoing her recent rest.

As a person she comes across as serious, independent, hard working and wise for her years. As an artist she comes across as an alchemist with an ability to create melodies and lyrics that beguile. A truly beautiful night and let’s hope she’s back soon.

Books Read in 2018

Journal

December 17, 2018

I thought I’d list the books that I’ve read during the year. I am anything but a voracious, or a quick reader, but I do select my books with quite a bit of thought. There are some time gaps when I was cycling and not reading:

January – ‘The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock n’ Roll’ / Preston Lauterbach

         The Chitlin’ Circuit was the name given to venues in the South of the USA where black artists would play to black artists                  up until the 1960s. Often fire hazards with shady proprietors would be the scene. Early blues acts cut their teeth                                and later stars such as Little Richard.

                  ‘Fats Waller’/ Maurice Waller & Anthony Calabrese

                An innovative American jazz pianist with a unique stride style. A talented musician who played The Cotton Club and was                          often  happy playing Classical. Iconic with an immense legacy.

February – ‘The McMillan Diaries Volume 2’ / Peter Catterall

                  Harold McMillan came to be PM after Anthony Eden’s turbulent premiership crashed at Suez. He kept diaries up until the                          time he resigned the leadership in the early 1960s.Observant and engaging if not always frank!

                    ‘Fats Waller – His Life and Times / Joel Vance

                      Another biography of the great man. Another book from my late father’s library.

March – ‘The Terri Clark Journals’ / Terri Clark

                 Terri Clark is a Canadian Country Music artist. She is, or was, a major star in mainstream US Country music at the turn of the                      millennium. A lightweight read I picked up in Canada the year before.

April – ‘Going To Sea In A Sieve’/ Danny Baker

                The ubiquitous cheeky chappy has been found on TV and radio over the last 30 years. A fabulous raconteur who writes about                   his early years. Seldom have I had such an engaging read.

May – ‘David Bowie A Life’ / Dylan Jones

               There is little that I didn’t think I knew about Bowie and more pertinently wanted to learn. However I heard the author                                interviewed on ’The Word’ podcast. His methodology of putting interviews together sequentially on Bowie’s timeline with little                added information made for an honest and revealing story through the words of those who knew him.

            ‘Finding My Voice’ / Elkie Brooks

           I had the records and had seen Vinegar Joe live in 1973 but my fascination came about through having heard her calamitous                   interview with Michael Parkinson some decades ago on radio. There was a complicated story in there? There was certainly a life               with considerable highs, lows and impressive striving. Also there were some stories about a couple of fabulous solo albums I                   needed to know.

July – ‘Going Off Alarming’ / Danny Baker

           The sequel to his first book. This took us further into his career. Still a great read if not as compelling as the first book. 

August – ‘Why I’ve Stopped Talking to White People About Race’ / Reni Eddo-Lodge

                  This book still sits in the best seller lists. My Favourite Eldest Daughter suggested I should read it. (I think we might guess                          why!) Part informative, part indisputable and part self serving for a certain political stance. Frankly if someone has a                                    characteristic that you cannot experience e.g. colour or sexuality I think it’s correct to hear it and quietly think about it. I think                    we can agree the way ‘forward’ is complex.

October – ‘Éamon de Valera : A Will To Power’ / Ronan Fanning

                    After attending a course at York University of Ireland between 1823 and 1923 I was interested to pick up the history from                           there. de Valera was a player in the struggle for Irish Independence before the creation of the Free State and remained in                        power until the 1950s as it’s President. A life of austerity, controversy, conservatism, an iron will and astute political                                     manoeuvring was the picture I gained.

               – ‘A View From The Foothills – The diaries of Chris Mullin / Chris Mullin

               Mullin was a Labour MP for Sunderland South and was Left Wing and a known novelist. His early career was as a journalist                        and his pursuit of getting justice for the convicted Irish who were incarcerated for the Birmingham bombings. The diaries are                    a great read. He is tempted into Government as a very junior minister (which muzzles him) and we hear about the boring                          jobs  and ultra controlled ways of New Labour. Humorous, self deprecating and permanently conflicted between his own                          politics and that of his Party.

November – ‘Decline & Fall’ / Chris Mullin

                         In effect sacked from Blair’s Government and never likely to join Brown’s he writes from the back benches as Labour                                  implodes. He left Parliament at the end of Brown’s Government.

                    – ‘Reporting The Troubles’ / Compiled by Deric Henderson and Ivan Little

                   Decades after the end of the Northern Irish Troubles this book contains short essays from journalists who reported them                           about people, usually ordinary, they met who were caught up in the death, hate and destruction.

December – ‘Untold Stories’ / Alan Bennett

                         I’d been meaning to read one of this great playwright and actor’s books and this appeared in a charity shop and was                                suddenly mine. Over 600 pages of a diary of his life and events. A man of a certain era with clear thoughts and immense                            powers of observation and recollection. A right riveting read….

Christmas Trees, Snowflakes & Brexit – Week 49 : 2018

Journal

December 7, 2018

Despite listening to probably about 10 hours worth of music per week I seldom listen to it on the radio, I listen to speech. I try and listen to intelligent stuff like the news or podcasts but occasionally I can’t get to turn the dial quick enough to avoid some tosh. Listening to BBC Radio 5 Live there was some *snowflake* slot about parenting. They were bemoaning that we all turn into our parents. This rueful reflection was coming out of old timers who were having anxiety attacks about turning 35.

Out of all the illustrations such as getting great pleasure at irritating your kids with banal and unfunny jokes at their expense came the observation that like their father one of them now had a dedicated stick that they kept for stirring paint. I’m guilty, as charged.

On a trip to London I was taken with some headphones Matt has that are wireless, that is, they don’t plug into a device, and pick up a bluetooth signal instead. I bought a pair and they can be a bit temperamental but there is no looking back now! On a bike there are challenges of where to put the device so that you can cycle and listen through headphones. This overcomes all this.

 (Yes, I know one school of thought is very anti wearing headphones when riding a bike. Frankly I can provide a long list of things more dangerous. I don’t listen during traffic congested urban areas.

So how do you get to sleep? Frankly amongst the many challenges we all face then this is not one for me. I become comatose very shortly after shutting my eyes. This is a considerable bonus when camping. However I always do something that I once read in a book. I start to think back during the day and think of the 10 positive/pleasing things that happened. This can be a telephone call, something complicated that you sorted out, the surprising delight of a breathtaking view in the countryside, finding that elusive item in a shop or, often, a superb bike ride where I rode well. Try it.

Brexit? Weirdly I’m enjoying the latter stages of the debate, it’s like a boxset with no end in sight. Every day a new position or information becomes evident and so each side either attempts to suggest it means nothing or the other side suggests it does. In the meanwhile it is a feeding frenzy for TV News Channels, newspapers and social media on a 24/7 cycle. 

I enjoy the tactics of the Government whether harnessing Cabinet ministers, the EU or the Bank of England, on separate days, to keep hammering home their point of view whilst pretending to be ‘honest johns’ just telling you the way it is. The Opposition who really don’t seem as a Shadow Government to mind Brexit but want to press and harry the Government into an Election or jettisoning the Prime Minister and just take every opportunity, irrespective of the merits of the argument. After this you get the implacable Brexiteers or the Remainers MP’s who I suspect mainly speak for themselves rather than the public. We as the spectators have a sketchy grasp on whether it is all doom and gloom. Whichever way it still has some way to go. I’ll pull up a chair.

 In attempting to save the planet we have moved from real Christmas trees to an artificial one. We haul this out of the loft every December. Not that I wish to be grumpy but assembling it takes as long as the 18 mile round trip to B & Q to buy and then stick into a base and push into the corner of the lounge. The artificial tree comes with every branch separate and needing to be hooked into the central shaft/trunk. Anyway we can all agree it looks very pretty.

Lastly on Christmas, Anna and I went to the local pub on Saturday night with other neighbours for our annual Christmas dinner. It was very convivial and the conversation and drink flowed. One neighbour recounted a less than happy Christmas Day lunch at his house last year. His new partner’s children attended. 

One daughter was very dismissive of his considerable efforts to produce a splendid meal. This didn’t bode well for an easy afternoon. The daughter, who by all accounts is carrying way too much timber, bemoaned her weight problem. The neighbour appearing sympathetic volunteered he knew what her problem was. All faces turned toward him to listen to his considered opinion. “Well you’ve got an over active knife and fork!” I’m not sure if she’s coming around for Christmas lunch this year.

Record Of The Week # 54

Music

December 4, 2018

Kayla Ray – Yesterday & Me

I doubt you’ll care but there is a battle raging amongst Country music fans and professionals about the state of the industry. Whilst, in my opinion, it has always been a broad church of a genre with novelty records as well as more serious songs then there is fury that something known as Country Pop has eaten it.

Country Pop is formulaic and what US radio stations want to play. The formula? Exclusively male artists, limited lyrical topics – drinking beer, driving a pick up, tight black dresses and quite a lot of Jesus. Layered into this confection is a predictable Rock sound with a dance rhythm, similarly placed electric guitar solos, repeatable choruses and any other tedium that the same session players can take to their next studio date. Even more infuriating to the supposed ‘Keepers of the Flame’ is that these automatons are infusing Country with Rap. I agree this is deplorable and Florida Georgia Line should be imprisoned for a long time or at least until they show some remorse.

Me? Frankly there is enough Country music that is wearily called ‘authentic’ to still go around. Yes, there is every chance that Sara Evans, Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack’s revenue stream is being hit. The kids just want to dance and luxuriate in a lightweight tuneful chorus rather than explore the dark recesses of 9/11 or divorce.

Amongst all this ire then if you just look at releases from many artists on small record labels there is enough magic to go around. And so it is with the above gem. This album came by an email from a PR company and I’ve loved it ever since. Lyrical themes are family rifts, infidelity, substance misuse and the proverbial lessons of life.

Ray has been playing for some years despite still being a millennial and graduating to being in front of a microphone by band management (Jason Eady). This diminutive tour de force has a Texan drawl you could cut with a knife made more special by that achy breaky fragility that heaps on the emotion. “Camel Blues” refers to the cigarettes rather than the quadruped. She ruefully sets the scene as regards a moody and independent man:

He smokes his Camel’s blue,

Drinks his Label Black

Three fingers whiskey,

The man ain’t coming back.

We discover that she’s apparently to blame for the schism despite “it taking two hard working fools to build a wall, but it takes two fools still in love to make it fall”. In the meanwhile the pedal steel produces magic complemented by some other deft electric guitar over a shuffling rhythm. What a start!

“Once A Week Cheaters” is a Keith Whitley composition she duets on with Colton Hawkins. The pedal steel provides the colour whilst the acoustic rhythm section plays a slow waltz. A familiar Country theme of two illicit lovers making a rendezvous to dance. Drenched with sadness, frustration and loss weigh this down with raw emotion you can barely guess at.

So that’s the serious bit. “Pills” she says is about the advance of “big pharma, vulture capitalism and the perpetuation of addiction”. With a lively fiddle playing the dance melody she talks of the proliferation of these tablets available from all sorts of credible medical practitioners including more unusual sources including “my very favorite electrician buddy from the east side of the river back home in Waco who we call Sparky!”

Above I distanced myself from the debate about authentic Country music, however, I love it. Texas seems to be the epicentre of all that’s traditional Country at the moment. Ray has released an album that might have been accumulating accolades in the 1960s. This was when Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn were playing the victim with such lasting profundity. “I’m Still A Woman” is a slower ballad that dares to talk about her sexuality and needs despite her  secondary role in a man’s world. Again Joshua Barnard’s guitar picks the correct note every time as Ray’s voice captivates at the front of the mix.

Every track is a true joy and Jason Eady’s production could not be more sympathetic or understanding of this talent. My favourite Country album of 2018.

Derailleurs, Flawed Legislation & All That Jazz – Week 47 : 2018

Journal

December 1, 2018

The siting of an enormous broadband mast close to our garden boundary has interested our local MP, Julian Sturdy. As a consequence he’s written asking them to move it. Quite a splendid and supportive letter given our anger. I’d written to the Managing Director (MD) of the network operator and the Chief Executive Officer of the parent company; I’ve not had the courtesy of a reply. I also rang the MD’s office to no avail. Cowboys come to mind. In addition I attempted to get the local residents interested and circulated widely any correspondence I received or generated. I also kept contacting the Council asking ‘supplementary’ questions following their initial advice that there was nothing they or I could do. Eventually the Council’s patience was tested and in the end I got a terse email advising the ‘matter is closed’!

I’m convinced we’re stuck with this monstrosity but if there is any comfort in knowing that I pushed it as far as I could then I know I have. The change in recent legislation that allowed network operators to put up 15 metre high masts without seeking Planning Permission is the problem. The argument for doing this was that delays were being experienced by involving planning permission. I can’t believe that the relaxation of this part of the Town and Communities Act was to upset residents and for network operators to stick up these things where they pleased.

I don’t think I’ve really complained about all the heat that I’ve cycled through this year? Last summer saw me cycle every day in France in temperatures of 35°C (95°F). There are challenges of avoiding getting sun burnt, sun stroke, running out of water and forever seeking shade when on the road. However there is no comparison to riding in the cold. 

I went out this week for a 50 mile spin and the forecast said it was around 5°C (40°F) but it turned out to be 1C (34°F) falling beneath freezing on several occasions. Not only does this become very slippy on the road but being the UK I set off in soaking drizzle. 

I was well ‘sealed’ apart from my leggings/tights and gloves. Both these got sodden and I got progressively colder despite cycling continuously and regular climbing. About an hour from home I was losing the feeling in my hands which made changing gear and braking difficult. Blissfully I got home and whipped off the gloves. The pain was excruciating as blood returned to the hands. Even after this interlude there wasn’t sufficient feeling or strength to undo my overshoes or shoes. I suppose the upside was eating like a pig to replace the carbs and to warm up before a soaking hot bath. Roll on warmer weather.

On the grey matter front I bowled up to the University Of York for a Saturday course: “The History Of Jazz”. I know a lot about jazz but how all the different styles and eras fit together was an interesting thing to discover. So for over around six hours with the help of Spotify we went through 70 years of jazz. All the way from The Original Dixieland Jazz Band to Glenn Miller and on to Miles Davis. Fabulous and yet another long list of stuff to hear or buy. 

This time using my hands more than brains I took a bicycle to the outskirts of York for another Saturday course to be taught how to expertly adjust or fit various gears, bottom brackets and headsets. This time it was a Council run course. The guy running the course spent some time as a professional bike rider, running a bike shop and now has an IT business. Apparently he still turns his hand to being a bike mechanic on some of the professional tours. This year he’s been in the Gulf working at the Tour of Abu Dhabi. These races are used by the professional teams to get fit and limber up for the European season. 

Truth to be told I think a couple of people on the course were hoping to get some free maintenance on their own bikes. He illustrated the techniques by taking your bike and dismantling it before re-assembly. On one bike he simply couldn’t remove the pedals such was the corrosion. As regards the gears he did a demonstration on my bike before de-tuning it all so that I could practise my skills putting it right. Frankly I’d prefer if he’d left mine alone as it was working well before I went!

Record Of The Week # 53

Music

November 10, 2018

Jamie Lin Wilson – Jumping Over Rocks

A stand out release from the steady stream of new music is Jamie Lin Wilson’s second solo album Jumping Over Rocks. Ten tracks of Country Americana include nine original compositions, several in collaboration and one remarkable cover: more of that later.

From the first notes of “Faithful & True” you know you’re in the presence of something exceptional. You’ll find a crystal clear voice with pure and sweet tones. However, it’s drenched in heartfelt emotion.This slow ballad tells the story of her relationship with its frailties and failures containing a plea for her lover to accept her for what she is.

“The Being Gone” seems autobiographical with the opening line “Well I’m headed back from Dallas two days gone and gone to hell”: a weary travelling musician with home on her mind. The track, and album, sound beautifully produced (Scott Davis) and a tribute to the band’s talent is that it was all recorded in four days in Austin, TX. All tracks were cut live which will drive listeners to check out her touring plans.

Lyrically it’s all observational and confessional, and often delivered in a conversational style. She says that she’s made music and toured forever but stopped at regular intervals to have and raise children. Predictably with such a background there is a lot of maturity and confidence – not unlike Amanda Anne Platt. Similarly each song relies on an excellent melody and arrangement.

If you’re going to pick a cover then Guy Clark’s 1975 “Instant Coffee Blues” is a great choice. Wilson captures Clark’s tired and lost delivery of empty lives charting a downward trajectory. Jack Ingram takes a verse as the man “she took home for reasons that she didn’t understand.” Sparing pedal steel keeps them company. (One for my end of year compilation album).

“Death & Life” took Wilson four years to write and hinges off the story of a premature death and how the mourners (mother and son) coped. A beautiful lyric that address the gaps that occur when such events happen and how the survivors clamber back into light. With a slow and atmospheric backing driven by Charlie Sexton’s guitar 

As always I wonder how such a talent is not headlining the Grand Ole Opry but in fairness there’s such a long queue of hard working, yet seemingly invisible, troubadours ahead of her. 

I truly love this album. You need to hear it or own it.

Record Of The Week # 52

Music

November 8, 2018

Cory Morrow – Whiskey & Pride

I fell in love with contemporary Country music at the start of the millennium, when a whole raft of artists I’d never heard of like Pat Green, Dwight Yoakam, Eve Selis, Sara Evans, Clint Black and Gary Allan moseyed into my life. I found tremendous musicianship, great tunes with uplifting choruses, stories about life that I could relate to and seldom a duff track out of twelve.

Cory Morrow might not, in my opinion, be worth the ‘legend’ status his website ascribes him but he’s a Texan delight and this album transported me back to 2000 with its 13 tracks of exceptional Country. You’ll find a tight band able to produce note-perfect upbeat songs and words that encompass love, life and the spiritual. Morrow has been around since the start of the millennium, and is clearly no newcomer as (according to a brief Google search) he has an apparent net worth of $2 million! (no doubt his accountants are unaware of any figures like this). His adult life has been through the admitted usual mire of substance abuse and hard-living, but he’s well on the other side as songs like the uproarious Christian “Revival” testifies (Oh Lordy!)

The title track and single, “Whisky And Pride” comes with a splendid video where our recalcitrant loser receives another shot of fire water from the bar man, whilst the live honky tonk band bait him from behind. They suggest that he should swallow his pride (rather the whiskey) and head home to the missus. (Spoiler alert – a quick check of his mobile at the end suggests he does.) It’s here the craft of the album is demonstrated with a great tune, splendid wordplay and the type of rhythm driven by an accordionno less, that will have you shuffling your feet.

Lloyd Maines is another Texan with sensational producer credits, probably best known for his work with his daughter’s band – the Dixie Chicks. His production here regularly lets acoustic guitar come forward in the mix and the quick and beautifully picked lines are melodic and dove tail perfectly with Morrow’s attractive and achy baritone.

“Top Of My Heart” is a reflective and tender love song with the narrator trying to look within to find the ability to commit to the right woman. Country music on occasion professes to be the white man’s blues and “Blue Collar” extols the virtues of hard work, modesty, paying one’s dues, being charitable, being humble and not least being satisfied with your lot. I’m not sure I’m convinced about all that but it is a familiar Bible Belt mentality revisited even if it does emanate from a little further South.

Eleven of the 13 tracks are composed by Morrow and there isn’t a misstep to be found. It’s this kind of Country music which first sparked my interest in the genre and I urge you to invest and to wear this out. It’s the real thing.

Satsumas, Oldsmobiles and Chainsaws – Week 44 : 2018

Music

November 7, 2018

There was a strange smell in the car. As opposed to something that you could identify easily it was a chemical smell that might have been screen wash? I couldn’t see anything and expecting something expensive to resolve. The car was booked into the garage.

I handed across the keys but was shortly invited into the workshop to inspect the car. The mechanic had peered beneath the front passenger seat and found a satsuma. Clearly it had advanced to be decomposed in the extreme. The trip was a great waste of my time and there is a running family joke is that no one is allowed to eat in my car! See the image on the left!

Two trips to London were part of the week. The first was as a trustee of the Moores Furniture Group Pension Scheme. With the other trustees we were selecting a fiduciary manager for our investment of the funds. I seldom wear a suit and in fact it is quite a pleasure once in a blue moon: nostalgia overcomes me for cuff links, ties and polished black shoes. So sat on the train I take my spectacles off to scrutinise something closely and put them in a pocket. On eventually restoring them to my face the arm fell off! So I turned up at a meeting to discuss the best deployment of £93 million by first asking if someone had any cellotape.

The second trip, at the weekend, was to stay with Katrina and Matt. However we really visited to see some veteran cars. These are motor cars made before 1905. In fact a large number look like ‘horseless carriages’. After exhibiting themselves on Regent Street on the Saturday they then participate on the Sunday in the London to Brighton Veteran car Run of 50 miles.

In the scheme of things then leaving central London and driving to Brighton by 4.30 pm doesn’t sound difficult but it is. They set off from beside the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, from around 7.30 am. These cars were only ever expected to make short distances and they are chronically unrelaible. I think we take for granted the reliability of modern day machinery. Amusingly then from where they started were pools of oil and water. When diesel and petrol engines are banned, in a couple of decades time, these cars will still be allowed to run with all their pollution.

Even if I dwell on my 1965 Triumph Herald then it had a load of faults that came with cars of the era. For these veteran automobiles the major challenge is not only moving forward but also braking. The brakes are inefficient and you need quite a lot of space to come to stop. Back in the day there wasn’t as much traffic on the road and therefore plenty of space to slow down. Nowadays the roads are crammed. Michael, one of the owners and drivers (to the left in his 1904 Oldsmobile and deer stalker) ruefully talked of cars nipping into these gaps as they approached lights.

I mentioned nostalgia above and never is the subject more alive than on a newstand with the publications that revisit times gone by. I’m usually looking for Country music magazines but the tractor one caught my eye. Back in the day I spent a lot of time buying several items that were originally fitted to this tractor. I was at Ford Motor Company between 1978 to 1984 and bought, during that time, all the electrics, hydraulic tubes, tyres, some cabs, castings and forgings (used on the tractor and in the engine) and other things I forget. Also during this time I bought items and services that were necessary to run the plant and various departments. I bought print and artwork that mainly concerned the manuals that were supplied with each tractor. To think now about air brushing and printed materials is to step back to another century. Today a bright operative sat at an iMac could do the job in a fraction of the time and then publish it all digitally.

Into every life a little rain must pour they say. A deluge arrived when looking out across the trees from our front garden I saw a 15 metre high pole. We were delightfully secluded without any other buidlings or similar in view. This pole is shortly to be adorned with satellite dishes and electronic gubbins. This mast will enable broadband signals to be received from about 4 miles away and then be beamed elsewhere locally. Myself and other neighbours are not impressed at this erection.

So we have got the Council involved who are scheduled to visit to see if it conforms with Planning law and other relevant agencies have been engaged. Needless to say the neighbour who’s allowed this monstrosity to be placed on their land has been spoken to and told that he’s the spawn of Beelzebub. I got a lot of waffly disclaimers back about it not being his responsibility to consult with his neighbours about this pole. Not mentioned is the lucrative contract (thousands of pounds per annum) he’s signed with the company that owns the mast. Anna, when passing by my chair, was signalling for me to calm down as I got more vocal on the ‘phone. We’ll see where our complaint goes. 

One neighbour suggested resolving the problem with a chainsaw. Watch this space. “Timber…”