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.

Cycling Sydney to Canberra to Adelaide 2024

Travel

Arriving and Planning to Depart….

So it was a week spent being very grumpy and quietly stressed but the outcome was fabulous as I’m penning this note from Sydney, Strathfield, to be exact. At the time of being denied boarding I had no useful idea of when I would fly. After the initial Qatar Airways rejection, due to a ‘damaged’ passport on the Monday, I went to Liverpool and put getting a new one in motion. That was delivered to my home on the Thursday – 4 days. Then I applied for an amended Australian visa. Again the instructions on the Australian Immigration website were clear as to how to amend but as to whether I’d got one wasn’t! So I rang up a chipper Aussie in Canberra, on a Help Line, and to paraphrase his answer to my question about a new visa amendment being issued he said “Aw mate, you just need to look at the website, I’ll walk you through it.” So he did, there it was, and I said “it isn’t like the form I got when I originally applied?” “Aw mate, this screen is better than your form it’s more up to date. Grab a tinny, chuck a shrimp on the BBQ and chill. She’ll be right.”

A blue one! (Hopefully more waterproof)

So confident that Australia would take me I re-booked my outbound flight. This whole reschedule when you include a new flight, another overnight stay in Manchester, a new emergency passport, lost accommodation cost in Sydney, driving to Liverpool and Manchester and back etc. totted up to c£1,200. Booking accommodation a week later was virtually double the price in Sydney. I think the Chinese New Year may swell the demand in the city?

Check your passport condition.

(As we stayed near Terminal 2 the night before I did pop down to Check In the night before for them to confirm I could fly: they checked the system and the computer said yes.)

Anna has been magnificent through this miserable week although whether power washing the drive is what she expected in return we will never know.

Watched them load my bike box!

The flights are long ones: the total time including stopovers to get here was 25 hours. The first jet, a Boeing 777, was also fully booked and the seat space approximated, in size, to a small gap where I’d managed to wedge my upturned wheel barrow at the back of my garage. However the longer flight on an A380 would have been a wheel barrow and a half. The flights were delayed but uneventful and some sleep came. It certainly came to my neighbour, a middle aged Brazilian lady with no English, whose snoring was redolent of the breathing pattern of two Clydesdales pulling a heavy dray up a steep incline. I must ask where else do you now see signs for a ‘lavatory’? Very 1960s.

Anna had steered me toward an apartment in Strathfield. A suburb I knew nothing of (neither did she but it existed on Booking.com.) A very expensive taxi got me here and eventually I gained access. It being morning according to my body clock I dumped my bike box and luggage and went in search of groceries. With a new SIM card not yet bought I was navigating using photos of maps I’d downloaded. I got lost in the dark. Ambling along were two Chinese lads and so I enquired as to where the supermarkets were? To cut a long story short they went out of their way to escort me to a couple. They were both Chinese nationals. One had residency the other had citizenship. The major difference seemed to be that one could vote and the other couldn’t. I thought this not much of a benefit but given the absence of democracy in the PRC then maybe it had some cache. One worked in logistics the other in banking. They both had great English and couldn’t have been kinder. Sadly my interrogation ended when they brought me to the last supermarket and I had to set them free.

Downtown Strathfield

Strathfield and Burford are virtually exclusively Chinese or Korean with maybe some Vietnamese. Yorkshiremen are not common. That was of no concern other than that led to no bars or western food restaurants but a myriad of Korean BBQ restaurants and other variants. Judging by how busy they were it seems they all dine out regularly. I had a Vietnamese dish on one night.

Seafood rice with Jasmin tea
Everything bi-lingual (and tasty!)
Valentine’s Day. Lurve was in the air

On my first full day it was a matter of getting items. My airline luggage weight restrictions had been pernicious and I needed stuff like mosquito repellant, powdered milk, tins of tuna, a gas cylinder etc. on top of this I needed a SIM card. For 50GB of data I paid A$ 22. Public transport is affordable and the train station outside my apartment took me to Circular Quay and the iconic bridge and opera house.

The Sydney Opera House
The Harbour Bridge (that I cycled across in 2020)

So next it’s trying to catch up on some sleep, completing the cycle route planning, a test run of the velocipede and last minute final purchases before I head south. I’ll pick up next when on the road. Beep beep….

Cycling Sydney to Canberra to Adelaide 2024

Travel, , ,

You Ain’t Going Nowhere, Sunshine…

I’ve always viewed my long cycle trips like a moon shot. On such a mission the excitement is all about being at the moon but much of the anxiety arises in the launch and re-entry. My trips have the same issues. I’m always worried about packing the box, remembering all the things I need to carry, box sturdiness, the weight and not least getting this large package to the aeroplane. When returning the challenge is finding a large cardboard box at the departure town to pack the bike in. On this latter challenge then imagine finding a bike shop with a surplus box and then carrying it 3 miles back to where you’re staying to pack it!

So I was never relaxed about the flight to Sydney. Something approaching relief would have happened when I pushed the box into my hotel room. With the alarm set for just before 4am I tiptoed out of the hotel room at Manchester Airport attempting not to wake my first wife. In the reception I was reunited with my bike box and loading my other bags on the trolley I wheeled the lot down to Check In at Terminal 2.

The bike has to be put on the trolley end ways up to push it through the narrow passageways that litter your route. I got to Check In at around 4.15am in line with instructions for a 7.45am flight (!) The process starts with using those awful electronic stations. They never seem to function properly and an assistant, usually hard pressed as a lot of passengers want his time, has to help due to some malfunction. I overcame the Check In hurdle and was directed to another person at a desk who requested my passport.

I handed it across and literally after opening it up he asked me to wait whilst he hot footed it to another colleague. I was urged to join them where this colleague said to me plainly without any empathy that the passport was damaged and I couldn’t fly.

Weeks of planning, lots of expenditure, accommodation booked, items bought, fitness  kept maintained in a rubbish winter now all discarded in a heartbeat. The passport was weary, true. It had been through the wash in Port Douglas, Queensland in April. However, I’d had no problem subsequently in Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain or the UK. Never even a comment made by an airline or border official.

In distress I said that it hadn’t been a problem elsewhere and so was passed to my third person. She advised that the airline could be fined for carrying me to Australia; as I’m talking the tickets were being ripped off my luggage. My interview was seemingly over as they moved onto other passengers.

Stunned!

Back in the hotel room my bride was rudely woken as I regaled her with this unbelievable situation. Following this I ran around that morning getting a passport application form from a Post Office, passport photos from a booth in Tesco and a counter signature from a friend across town and drove to Liverpool to get a passport on a guaranteed week’s delivery. I now await its delivery.

(Note, this new passport will have a new number. I will therefore have to re-apply for an updated Australian visa. Obviously this can’t be done until I get the new passport and see the number.)

Booking.com and Qatar Airways advise that I can reschedule this flight (and my return ones) for an amendment charge. I somehow don’t feel that lucky but we’ll find out.

So that photo of a smug Yorkshireman in a T shirt in front of the Opera House is on hold.

Following this debacle I did contact Simon Calder of the Daily Telegraph on ‘X’ about Qatar Airways. It seems they have a lot of ‘previous’ with this action. In fact amongst their victims is Matthew Parris who got evicted prior to a flight to an African destination.

Check the condition of your passport and don’t fly Qatar Airways.

Lastly thanks to all the sympathy I got from a load of folks on Facebook and Instagram with my video explaining my problems. Hopefully my next social media post will be happier.

Cycling – Sydney to Canberra to Adelaide – February 2024

Cycling Adventures, Travel

At long last I’ve an opportunity to escape the English winter and spend a month cycling in the heat. Australia was an obvious pick albeit it is a long way away! The ease comes with the language, quality of the campsites, weather and my desire to see more of the country.

I cycled there in 2020 until I was pulled out of the country at a couple of days notice due to the onset of Covid 19. That exciting trip, which included losing my passport, torrential rain, meeting an old friend and time in three major cities – Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane is covered in a series of blogs starting with the first (click here). That was a ride from Melbourne, across country to Sydney and then onto Brisbane up the coast. I’d intended to cycle further north to Cairns. However, I got to drive it in reverse with Anna in 2023 but the itch for Australia still remained to be scratched but on two wheels.

In compiling another bike ride I wanted to see Adelaide and Canberra. I looked at a coastal ride via Melbourne but the road route meant quite a lot of time on a motorway hard shoulder. I did this last time and whilst direct and never dangerous it obviously lacked a lot of charm. A trip across country and maybe a little sightseeing in the outback appealed. Frankly this is where you find the real Australia rather than the inevitable diverse selection of folk and concrete sprawl of the large cities.

My planned route is below although things usually change when I’m on tour. There will a lot climbing to start with on the first couple of days and then things seem to flatten out but with, often, undulating terrains. The weather seems to be late 20’s or early 30°C throughout. Checking on the weather in Australia can be a peek through your fingers activity with the potential of out of control bush fires or flooding, however, I’m not anticipating any of that on this route but if things do deteriorate I’ll find somewhere else to cycle in the country.

Sydney to Canberra to Adelaide. 1,100 miles

I will be blogging, as and when, I get the time but I may more frequently put some videos and snaps up on Instagram so please follow me.

Deniliquin is 450 miles from Sydney in a dry scrubby landscape with a population of 7,500. However it does have pies. I plan to be ‘Australian’ on arrival

In the meanwhile it’s been about getting and maintaining fitness. Normally during this cold weather without a trip in mind I’d cycle regularly but not long distances. However, given the ride in Australia it’s been necessary to gird my loins, wrap up and do the miles. The coldest I’ve had this winter is 1.8°C and when it’s not been perishing I’ve had flood detours to contend with. I’ve never seen York so underwater! Anyway, as they say, it’ll be worth it.

Hope to see you on the road.

Record Of The Week # 152

Music

Blackberry Smoke – Be Right Here

Blackberry Smoke reconvened in Nashville’s RCA Studio A and continued where they left off from 2021’s I Hear Georgia. The ‘live’ sound continues and the songs could have come from the same sessions judging by their similarity. This is their eighth studio release and should follow their last record to Number 1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk chart.

Riff heavy rock n’ roll is always going to find an audience and Blackberry Smoke have a large following. In fact they may be an audience whose record collections place their tastes somewhere between 1971 and 1978 when the large beasts Lynyrd Skynrd, Little Feat and The Rolling Stones bestrode the planet brandishing a bottle neck slide on their fourth finger. Clearly some are still out there ‘playing the hits’ but Blackberry Smoke is releasing new songs yet the whiff of nostalgia hangs heavy in the air.

The opener, Dig A Hole, is the brightest track here with a funky introduction; Charlie Starr steps up to the microphone and the band quickly finds a deep groove as we move toward the earworm chorus. As a signpost of what’s to come this song contains all the vital ingredients: wailing Banshee girly backing singers, a dab of B3 organ or honky tonk piano, some blissful howling heavy guitar signatures and a drum beat that’s so deliberately brutal that the police must be still looking for the perpetrator.

There’s some shameless appropriation such as Little Bit Crazy. It starts with a Stones riff and groove that’s driven by some Nicky Hopkins-esque piano as an ersatz Keith Richards’ lead squalls over the pungent rhythm guitar. It’s terrific but change the vocals and you’d hope it’s from the latest Rolling Stones album. There are some dialled down moments such as Other Side Of The Light that’s written from the perspective of a young boy on an obstacle filled road trip. The acoustic guitar intro gives way to some slide and the best melody on the album that has a wonderful chorus. Whatcha Know Good is another understated song and a co-write with Brent Cobb. It’s an antidote to our doom laden media where this character is seeking some positivity. Amen to that.

The album is solid over its 10 songs and it’s a much loved sound. Blackberry Smoke don’t just blast you with rock band antics but also great tunes and choruses. It’s an enjoyable listen from when the needle hits the vinyl.

PS  I have tickets, with the present Mrs Ives, to see the band in Manchester in September. Must dig out my loon pants and a bandana!

Lost In Music – 2023

Music

I spend a lot of time conflicted with my music. I receive so much of it and can never do it justice by listening it properly. Do you remember when you were younger and when you bought an LP or CD you nearly wore it out? Now with the availability of music through the radio, podcasts, streaming, downloads, CD’s and vinyl it’s hard not to become buried by it all.

I must have received around 80 albums of country music or americana to download from my editor at Country Music People (CMP), various monthly emails from PR agencies promoting their artists and then the occasional album I buy myself. The Mighty Jessney of Vixen 101 gifts me another 40 or 50 blues albums and then I see the odd CD in a charity shop and then there’s vinyl…

As part of a return to being a teenager I’m slowly acquiring a lot of vinyl released between 1970 and 1980. Happiness is a record store in a holiday destination. In Malaga I found a new release of 60s ‘golden era’ country music from a Swedish band, the awesome Country Sound Of Harmonica Sam! Such a discovery seems spooky in Spain but if you search you can find all sorts. In the bargain bin in Auckland I found the second album by Zephaniah Ohora, a fabulous New York based country artist in the bargain bin! There’s no way I’d ever find this in the UK.  Providing your luggage has a large flat space you can bring quite a bit of this stuff back! Generally new vinyl is a deplorable price with most new releases well over £25 and then considerably more for the major artists. I’m more of a second hand vinyl guy and over £15 makes me start to feel faint. However, I’m childishly pleased to have snaffled lots of second hand Wishbone Ash, Santana, Steely Dan, Average White Band, Wilson Picket, Buck Owens and Be Bop Deluxe in the year.

So a top 10?

1. Stephen Wilson Junior – Søn Of Dad

his came via Country Music People and I’d never heard of the artist before. It’s a showstopper of a raw boned wham of an outing veering between country and americana with a lot of rock thrown in. Great lyrics, arrangements and thoughtful lyrics captivated me. His videos on YouTube were the final seal on my thinking I’d discovered a future star.

2. Jaimee Harris – Boomerang Town

At The Crescent in York she was supporting Mary Gauthier and her set was wonderful. Her singer songwriter album displays her siren of a voice. When coupled to some great melodies and often dark lyrics there’s a maturity and authenticity that make me think she’ll one day get a big break.

3. The Country Side Of Harmonica Sam – Back To The Blue Side

This unpromising band name is the country vehicle for Sweden’s Harmonica Sam (Samuel Andersson) who plays ‘golden era’ country. I found this album in a Malaga record shop (Sleazy Records), this shop also had a record label and this was one of their releases! The shop was fully of rockabilly, early 50s rock n’ roll, country, surf and other 60s sounds. After finding this place I’d thought I’d gone to heaven or was having an out of body experience! This album is early 60s country with original compositions and covers. We’re planning to get to Malmö now!

4. Jon Byrd – All Your Mistakes

This nearly escaped my attention amongst all the music I receive but on the first play this selection of originals and covers captivated me and became a ‘go to’. It’s traditional country oozing with pathos, sincerity and drenched in pedal steel. What’s not to love?

5. Ashley McBryde – The Devil I Know

Now riding high in Nashville and the charts she’s a big star. However her ascent has been a long climb and now at forty her talent has won through. This is her third release that has consecutively made my end of year lists. Straight country with tunes, humour, sentimentality and no little verve

6. Brennen Leigh – Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet

This long time female troubadour sings a batch of honky tonkers and ballads with the comforting themes of cheatin’, drinkin’ and lyin’! Slightly care worn but she’s still battling. Fabulous, the real thing.

7. Cody Johnson – Leather

It’s never too early to go back to the 90s and he’s leading the charge with this quality song packed album beautifully played and produced. There’s a variety of sounds and always an interesting lyric. He’s near the top of the Nashville pile at the moment. No wonder why.

8. Elle King – Come Get Your Wife

Take a voice with a lot of personality and experience of singing many genres then couple it to some fabulous contemporary country songs and the production of a top producer and you have a gem.

9. Steely Dan – Two Against Nature

Back to over 20 years! I discovered this lurking on my shelves and played it a lot. This was the last Steely Dan release and it’s passed over as it follows they’re golden period by 20 years when their classic albums were released. So it was great to hear some sophisticated rock, jazz, funk with arresting lyrics. A great band.

10. Wishbone Ash – Live Dates 2

Another retro pick from 1980. I came across the vinyl at a record shop in Beverley, East Yorkshire and loved it from start to finish. Live Dates One had the hits and no doubt spawned the idea to release a second volume. This a truly great rock album.

So 2024 will mean listening to lots of new music including a comforting dose (of hunted down) old rock and soul. Bring it on!

Isabella Isla & Other Trivial Matters – Week 51 : 2023

Journal

Well seasonal greetings. The wonderful news is that Anna and I are grand parents. Isabella Isla was born on December 7th to Sophie and Harry at 7lbs & 3oz. She’s beyond beautiful and I’m looking forward to future days when we can have some fun together. I’m sure her mother will draw up a long list of proscribed foods and activities!

Blurred on instruction!

I tend to make dentist appointments when I have a problem. Routinely turning up for check ups has never appealed. However an email came through from the practice and suddenly becoming intelligent I picked up the phone and made an appointment. It was a Wednesday and knowing how these things work I expected something in a month’s time. To my surprise I was offered 12.10 on the Friday.

On the Thursday I received a call from the practice reminding me that I had an appointment and was I planning to attend? I think it was possible that I was brusque with the caller given that I’d made the appointment only 24 hours earlier and the appointment was actually tomorrow. I planned to discuss cost saving ideas with the practice when I attended i.e. don’t waste my (and their) time calling me!

So on the Friday I’ve set off on a planned 50 miles bike ride and as I’m trundling along near Leeds at 10.30 I have a proverbial light bulb moment and remember the dental appointment, 14 miles away, in York. Shit. Anyway the training aspect of the ride picked up as I pedalled frantically to get back home. Arriving there at 11.40. I literally walked through the shower, jumped in the car and got to the practice at 12.12. On the drive to the appointment I decided possibly not raise my irritation at the reminder call.

Out for a wintery walk with the present Mrs Ives, who’s still looking for the pot of gold.

In a posh café in the centre of York a young chap on the adjoining table to ourselves was sat looking at his phone with a coffee. Around us were other older folk sipping their flat whites. As the waitress started to unload plates onto his table we looked up inquisitive as to what he’d ordered. (After all older people look longingly at cholesterol drenched breakfasts thinking of the long gone days when they could eat such delights without wondering if your close relatives had an undertaker in mind for you.) We were more interested when the waitress enquired as to whether the person who’d ordered the second dish was about? “Oh no, they’re both for me.”

Well, surrounded by lots of chatty folk he was interrogated as to why he was having two meals. Out numbered we established:

  • He’d had a boozy night and was now countering his hangover with a large bacon sandwich and a plate of eggs benedict.
  • He was not alone but his girlfriend was back in the Bn’B sleeping off her excesses.
  • No, she wouldn’t be joining him!
  • They were down from Scotland for the weekend.

Sadly little else was found out as his mouth was full of breakfast, which he preferred to eat at the speed of a labrador to facilitate an early escape rather than provide other information about his private life.  When he did finish (6½ minutes) he got up to return to his paramour. Given his light snack I did volunteer that the cakes were very nice and he could maybe take the edge off any lingering hunger with a purchase? I suspect he’ll not risk meeting us all again and now avoid the café.

In other news I have flights booked for Manchester to Sydney and then a month later Adelaide back to Manchester. Regular readers may be unsurprised to learn that the c1,000 miles between Sydney and Adelaide will be covered on two wheels via Canberra. An escape from the English winter and to ride my bike is a delightful prospect. There are some big distances and hot weather to negotiate. I have been out this way before in 2020 on a bike and I have a good idea of what I’ll experience. I’m camping mostly and have been checking all my kit. In the winter most cyclists drop off their mileage but I’ve tried to keep it going and have been towed around the Dales by an old work colleague, Nick Feasey, to maintain some fitness. As we get nearer to the departure date I’ll be sharing more with you.

Myself and the boy Feasey

So Merry Christmas and I must get to publish my ‘end of year’ list for music heard and acquired in 2023.

Record Of The Week # 151

Music

Jon Byrd – All My Mistakes

Byrd has been on the scene for a long time and his biography talks of various bands in the 80s and 90s in Atlanta. He then relocated to Nashville at the turn of the century where he performed as a sideman on his Telecaster. However, over the last few years he’s been performing and releasing his own songs; this is his 5th album where he co-wrote half the compositions whilst cherry picking some exceptional covers such as Johnny Paycheck’s (It Won’t Be Long) And I’ll Be Hating You.

I nearly missed this album as it arrived amongst the weekly downloads that populate my inbox claiming that the future of music on Planet Earth resides in the MP3’s in the attached folder. It’s a wonderful authentic ‘golden era’ country album of ten songs that exudes immense charm and craft. Golden Colorado starts the album and is a laidback shuffle with Paul Niehaus on pedal steel (Lambchop and Calexico) shadowing his vocal before some 60s strings fill the spaces. It’s a love song about a girl who’s lured him to this rugged and often wild State. A perfect start.

His co-write with Stephen Simmons of Miss Kitty’s Place is a piece of reminiscing at a favourite bar sadly now a vacant lot. When we leave the shuffle we find some sophistication with City People and Why Must You Think Of Leaving. They remind me of the country sound of Glen Campbell. All good things come to an end and he saves the best till last. It’s Bill Trader’s (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I. It’s been covered by everyone, but no doubt the biggest royalty cheques came via Elvis Presley’s 50s rock n’ roll version (although I wonder if Colonel Parker negotiated away some of the writer’s royalties?) Byrd’s take is stripped back and sentimental, a pure country version with acoustic guitar and pedal steel.

It’s a tuneful collection that sounds like it’s been created with a lot of love amongst seasoned musicians. There’s not a misstep here and I love the way his pure yet lived in voice comfortably fits every song with a shrug of the shoulder sentimentality that makes you believe he’s lived every story he sings about. The album will make it into my end of year list at a canter. Wonderful.

Record Of The Week # 150

Music

Cody Johnson – Leather

My introduction to country music came, in earnest, at the beginning of the millennium thanks to regular trips to see Mickey Mouse, en famille, and my discovery of CMT (Country Music TV). I was quickly hooked due to the tunefulness, stories and positive energy. I used to clamber back onto the Jumbo with a suitcase full of CDs. These were of artists shifting big numbers  – Toby Keith, Travis Tritt, Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam, Montgomery Gentry etc. Johnson’s repertoire sits comfortably with these male artists. The strength of Johnson’s 2021 Human: The Double Album was a delight. He has a slightly retro sound and this is authentic country music. The tracks were lyrically engaging, varied in style and often with an acoustic foundation.

Johnson and producer, Trent Willmon now pick up where they left off with Leather, a mixture of heartfelt ballads, country pop and honky tonk. The lively earworm Work Boots starts the album replete with harmonies and a soothing fiddle. Jelly Roll (he’s frigging everywhere!) duets on the single ballad Whiskey Bent. Both voices work well and I have to say that wherever the tattooed one turns up (Jelly Roll is heavily inked!) he generally adds to the quality. George Strait could have sung Watching My Old Flame. The play on words is fabulous: as he’s watching his partner dress to go out he ponders “Yeah, she’s movin’ on from me, there ain’t no doubt / It’s the hardest thing watchin’ my old flame go out.” This ballad floats on a subtle pedal steel and is underpinned by acoustic guitar. Double Down is another play on the words of doubling down in either determination or sinking a couple of whiskies. Crafted stuff.

The Painter is a love song to his wife and was the lead single off the record. Strings and a shuffling snare help him sing her praises. In fact Johnson does ‘sentimental’ perfectly not least with Dirt Cheap. A family man rejects an offer to buy his house and cites a raft of memories buried in the soil of the property. Bravado comes to the fore with Jesus Loves You. It’s certainly nothing about a Sunday Service but an angry warning to a convicted house breaker – ‘Yeah, Jesus loves you / Lordy, all it takes is faith / And if you come near me and minе again / You’re gonna meet Him face to face’. This is red neck country with rock muscle and the offhand delivery that Tim McGraw used on Do You Want Fries With That.

Melodies, harmonies, light touch arrangements, wordsmithery and some expressive vocals make this an important release. Listening to an interview it appears he’s so top drawer that he has the pick of some great songs and around him he has a team who curate this quality of sound. It’s not by chance he’s got to this position as he has a laser sharp focus on his output. With releases as strong as this he deserves every success.

Sunny Sweeney – Retro, Manchester

Music

‘We freaking love this country’. The good news is that Sunny says she’s moving to England as she gushed about the kindness and courtesy of the people she’d met on her latest tour of UK venues. She think she’s sealed the deal by confirming it was logical as she already had a ‘Yarksheer” (Yorkshire) Terrier. The Texas born Nashville resident’s on her latest visit to these shores and it’s proved a blast playing small venues with Harley Husbands. Husbands played the melody and occasional bass lines on acoustic guitar as Sweeney played chords. In return the small, packed club were thrilled to have this country music troubadour grace us with her excellent repertoire. This included many laugh out loud moments as she filled in between the 17 songs. She touched on albums old and more recent; all guaranteed to deliver a favourite you’d know and love.

Not a great snap but the lighting didn’t help!

It was an awfully wet wintery night in Manchester but those who came out were happy to be there and were singing along word perfect on a number of her songs. Take a great set of country pop songs, a running commentary, tales from the road, fan worship and it was always going to be fun. I liked all the songs but Grow Old With Me was a 5 Star experience even though she said it was written to her dog! She played Still Here, one of the less obvious tracks off her 2022 Married Alone album as Bob Harris had recently played it on his radio show. From there we went back nearly 16 years to her debut album Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame for Please Be San Antone.

Loretta Lynn gave her some song writing advice and she told us about it in reverential tones,  ‘write what you know baby!’ It wasn’t what Sweeney expected but after reflection she did and this explains her several marital break up songs. This was the introduction to another song off Married Alone, Leaving Is My Middle Name! I hoped she’d play Lavender Blue and she delivered along with the other crowd sing-a-long Poets Prayer – a wonderful heartfelt song about the life of an artist on the road with their insecurities, deprivations and yet the irresistible draw of taking their artistry far and wide. 

During the song introductions Husbands sat quietly occasionally contributing to stories. The best was when Sweeney declared ‘she was here to tell you how to get free gas’. A hilarious story where they were two hours past the petrol station before they realised they’d driven off without paying. ‘You paid for the gas, right? Err… no I thought you did’. The story ended up with her calling the head office of the petrol station to try and pay. This probably explains why you can never get fuel in the USA unless you pay in advance or at least surrender your credit card.

All good things come to an end and soon she was signing off with From A Table Away and Can’t Let Go. She then disappeared to the ‘merch desk’ where fans were exhorted to buy four CD’s for the price of three as she was tired of lugging them around the country! Me? I pulled up my collar and disappeared into the Manchester rain having had a memorable evening and having ticked off another country favourite.

(Just a brief mention in despatches for Northern Ireland’s Gary Quinn and his earlier support spot. He’s an established, talented and very authentic country artist who’s making music that has a wide appeal. It was my first listen and I’ll be keeping an eye on how he’s doing.)

Record Of The Week # 149

Music

Various Artists – A Tribute To The Judds

Girls Night Out (Reba McEntire, Carly Pearce, Jennifer Nettles & Gabby Barrett) / Mama He’s Crazy (Lainey Wilson & Dolly Parton) / Why Not Me (Megan Moroney) / Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days) (Cody Johnson & Sonya isaacs) /Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain (Ashley McBryde & Shelly Fairchild) / Young Love (Strong Love) (Ella Langley & Jamey Johnson) / Have Mercy (LeAnn Rimes) / Love Is Alive (Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton) / Had A Dream (For The Heart) (Wendy Moten & O.N.E. The Duo) / I Know Where I’m Going (Mandy Barnett, Shelby Lynne & Emily West) / Let Me Tell You About Love (Carl Perkins & Raul Malo) / John Deere Tractor (Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley & Molly Tuttle) / Cry Myself To Sleep (Wynonna Judd & Trisha Yearwood) / Love Can Build A Bridge (Jelly Roll, K Michelle & The Fisk Jubilee Singers)

Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna, had considerable success from the mid 1980s to 1991 before disbanding. Wynonna then pursued a solo career whilst Naomi dealt with hepatitis C, joining her daughter for occasional reunions. Success meant 14 number one singles and numerous awards including five Grammys. Such was their profile that their lives became a soap opera in the US tabloids, as personal strife seemed to define their relationship. Naomi had climbed a literal mountain in pushing the Judds to pre-eminence. Their story has the usual episodes of fortune but also a lot of tenacity, resilience and ambition. The tribute is overdue and, sadly, was kick started when Naomi died by her own hand in 2022. This release is a partnership with the US National Alliance of Mental Illness.

Wynonna and Naomi Judd

The Judds were coached, crafted and produced by Brent Maher and Don Potter, not least their signature harmonies. (Potter also played guitar and arranged the songs.) Their sound was ideal as radio friendly country pop. It’s easy to comprehend why the duo have a special place in the history of country music and the hearts of millions of older fans. Naomi strove for a decade to get the break and when it came it came quickly. It must have been a remarkable feeling to suddenly find yourself rich and top of the charts at the age of 38 after previous penury.

There is alchemy present in the Judds’ legacy: the commanding and expressive voice of Wynonna (who took all the lead vocals), Naomi’s harmonies and excellent songs split between uplifting movers and ballads and their acoustic foundation. Keeping it simple and country was a winning formula and their legend was assured. The selection here includes the major hits and most arrangements are broadly faithful to the originals, helped by having Maher back producing it show cases the Judds’ original sound. There’s nothing here that doesn’t do justice to the project except Meg Moroney’s version of the iconic hit Why Not Me. She doesn’t have the voice or phrasing.

The contributors are galactic but I particularly like, the roots/bluegrass with Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley and Molly Tuttle on John Deere Tractor and Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton on Love Is Alive, seeming to be completely in sync; Stefani has the perfect pitch for the tune. Young Love (Strong Love) finds the ideal voice with Ella Langley. Chet Perkins with Raul Malo really rock and pick the hell out of Let Me Tell You About Love. Perkins may seem a surprise contributor however he played guitar (along with Mark Knopfler on the track he also contributed!) on 1989’s River Of Time album. However, the radically different sounding Love Can Build A Bridge with Jelly Roll and K Michelle make it the best track of the collection and it would sit comfortably in 2023’s charts. Wynonna sings on her own album with Cry Myself To Sleep and it’s considerably more electric and bluesy than the relatively chaste original.

If you’re a Judds fan this is a very enjoyable record; even if you’re new to the duo, then this may help you understand their importance to 80s country music.

Record Of The Week # 148

Music

Chris Stapleton – Higher

Chris Stapleton can do no wrong.  Since the Kentucky born songwriter went solo and started to release Grammy nominated albums (alongside duets with Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran and Adele) he’s become sizzling hot property in the Nashville music machine.

You can therefore imagine my excitement when Country Music People was offered an exclusive pre-release streaming link for the new record. Words such as ‘confidential’ and ‘embargoed’ were writ large on the email with a link promised to only one person. Being the lucky recipient I radioed back to the mothership, advising that ‘the eagle has landed’. During my training I never imagined a mission so exciting.

The good news is that Stapleton doesn’t veer off his well trodden path and uses the same producer and key band members to back him. He composes or co-writes the songs himself, often with his wife, Morgane, who lends her voice here and there. His yearning and powerful rasping roar is a sound of enormous beauty, pathos and dismantling sincerity. He’s captured millions of followers with these pipes and their release isn’t anytime soon.

Despite the fawning of the country music industry this record is predominantly the poppier end of Southern rock with large doses of blue eyed soul, which explains the enormous commercial success as Stapleton, via cross over, reaches a much larger audience. Country wise then What Am I Gonna Do, Trust, The Day I Die, Crosswind and It Takes A Woman are true to the genre (often with cloying sentimentality.) However, Hall & Oates could perform Think I’m In Love With You and pure rock is evident on the thunderous outings South Dakota, White Horse and The Bottom.

Lyrically the 14 track selection are mainly love songs that take the perspective of a forlorn lover who’s eternally grateful for the affection of a woman he places on a pedestal and forgives his multiple failings. When he slips those tropes he can delight; with the Outlaw romp of Crosswind he’s an 18 wheel trucker “picking up speed on a mission to feed” and “trying to keep all the rubber on 65”. The bass lines, from J T Cure, are worth the price of entry alone.

With this voice he can soothe any heart, touch you with raw emotion and he’s been helping grown men to express their feelings since 2015.  Resistance is futile; this will rightly soar up the US country charts and sit there, unassailable, well into 2024.

Rising Prices, Darkness and Kiki Dee – Week 44 : 2023

Journal, Music

A constant news strap line is the ‘cost of living crisis’ and inflation, of course it’s true. However, I believe it’s also been a ‘fill your boots’ opportunity for savvy businesses. Many price increases seem excessive relative to the costs experienced. How many things once cost a £1 and now cost £1.50? As we know there is only one direction of travel on price movement and even if the components or ingredients are commodity price based and can fluctuate up or down then the products never seem to fall in price. It’s seldom talked about apart from the grabbing stance of banks that never offer savers the same upward escalation of interest rate changes on savings than they impose on loans or mortgages. The test is just to work out the percentage uplift of goods; does it bear a resemblance to quoted inflation levels? Whilst inflation calculations are an average (of small and large increases) the rises you’ll find on many products outstrip inflation times over. It’s scandalous and yet not covered in the news?

It’s been a while since I cycle toured and hopefully another opportunity isn’t far away next year. With Anna away and the end of Summer Time in sight I decided to pack up my touring bike with the usual touring weight and head up north for an overnight stop. The plan was to return the next day. If this went to plan the knee would cope and I could check out bits of kit that haven’t been used for a couple of years.

I chose a hilly route up to Helmsley and then to Great Ayton (toward Middlesbrough) to a hotel I’d booked. I’d rest up overnight and cycle back on the Sunday. In Helmsley I lost a phone signal for route guidance and passed through the town heading north uphill into bleak open moorland with a certainty I was on the right road. The upshot was that Google Maps failed me with poor reception and was telling me that there was a route ahead but not telling me it was over an often waterlogged and patchy forest track.

My Garmin satellite navigation device completely failed as the device had developed a memory problem. I was now passing no settlements only odd farmhouses some distance from the main road. This was a main road that was occasionally barred by metal gates! So with falling daylight I ended up pushing my bike along a track and if that was difficult it got worse when I came across a forest clearing where loggers were cutting trees and had turned the track into a muddy quagmire with their heavy equipment.

A nice view but not off a rough track with daylight falling!

The operatives, still working, looked up from their work as, late on a Saturday afternoon, I appeared asking if I was on the right track to Great Ayton? Bemused they proverbially scratched their heads and said I had only two options from here: return to Helmsley or go to Kirbymoorside. I not only had the challenge of finding my way with only their directions to help, unclogging my bike mudguards that were stopping the wheels rotating with thick mud and cycling in complete darkness!

A Happy Ending
A

I carry lights and in the darkness and falling temperatures I fell into Kirbymoorside and at 7pm bowled into a busy pub (and hotel), The King’s Head, asking if they had a spare room for the night? Fortunately they did and sanctuary was found. This experience was after 55 miles and climbing 3,632 feet with a heavy bike carrying over 20 kilos plus myself. They had one free room and so I was in luck. The room was £90 (plus the lost cost of the other one I had booked and paid for in Great Ayton!) but noting I was a single occupant they threw in my steak and chips for free. Whilst always dangerous the whole trip was exciting and the ride back to York the next day was uneventful. Oh yes and the knee survived.

In other news then the outings continue with a trip to the cinema to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, “Do I Love You” (The Frank Wilson classic 45) about the Northern Soul scene by John Godber at Pocklington Arts Centre and as for live music a visit to Selby to see Kiki Dee/ Carmelo Luggeri with Anna and then to Hull to see 70s jazz rockers Soft Machine with the Mighty Jessney.

Camelo Luggeri on multiple guitars and the ageless Kiki Dee at Selby Town Hall
Soft Machine at Wrecking Ball Music and Books, Hull

Lastly I’m enjoying the podcast ‘The History oF England’ by David Crowther. He goes through events slowly explaining in a very accessible way. At the moment I’m listening to the profound events that led up to the English Civil War in the mid 17th Century. This War led to the Parliamentary democracy we know today and a subsequent Constitutional Monarchy: in the UK’s case a ceremonial/figure head arrangement without, frankly, any power. In all this Charles I was executed! I wonder whether all this is taught in schools today? It wasn’t when I was in school (probably not long after the 17th Century!) This seems a set of events that are fundamental to the political system we enjoy (!) today.

Record Of The Week # 147

Music

Stephen Wilson Jnr – Søn of Dad

He’s been around for some time albeit this appears to be his debut long player. Hailing from South Indiana, gaining a degree in Microbiology and Chemistry, he spent time as a scientist working for Mars before a damascene moment when he decided that songwriting was his destiny and not a corporate life. Joining writing rooms in Nashville he worked up songs for Trace Adkins, Old Dominion and Tim McGraw and never gave thought to be a solo performer. We should be glad he did as this is a stellar release and delivered with a voice that has sonorous tones, authority and when in full roar conveys compelling emotion.

The place to start is Father’s Son, a heartfelt tribute to his recently departed father. A brooding atmospheric ballad with his vocals accompanied by strings and an acoustic guitar high in the mix. It ends with some spoken word: presumably by his father. Grief Is Only Love made me think how observant this analysis is. I’ve never heard it articulated as this before. This is Wilson’s state of mind as he looks back on the loss of his father. Never mawkish he manages to imbue both songs with an exceptional sense of loss and pride.

The production values are exceptional and varied with different rhythms making this an interesting listen over the 22 tracks. It’s often layered and you notice, on repeat listens, strings, choruses and percussion in the background elevating the whole experience. He’s a fine guitarist as well and he experiments with extracting sounds that give the songs edge or bite.

There are many shades of rock throughout often giving it a thunderous sound. In interviews he talks of an eclectic taste from Randy Travis, The National, Willie Nelson, Johnny Mellencamp and Nirvana. With that cocktail it’s obvious it leans toward some rock moments and I would urge you to watch the video for Holler From The Holler that was used as part of a national domestic violence campaign. The story told there, when accompanied by this crashing and moody tour de force, is truly something that’ll stop you in your tracks, it did me.

Moving away from americana he goes country with All The Wars From Now On. A folky tale suggesting that old men should fight wars ‘because they’re old enough to know better’ and they’d show polaroids of their grandchildren to each other and play cards instead.  Henry is completely sentimental about a special relationship with a stepson and he mines all the Nashville tropes deliciously.

This is a wonderful hour and a half and one for me to ponder as the end of year lists grow closer.

Reunion & Update

Moores

For all the ex-Moores folk out there then I thought I’d just write up an update. The ‘community’ that is Moores is still thriving and I’m either attending concerts with old colleagues (Charles Greenwood, Steve Jessney and Mark Sutcliffe), out riding my bike (Nick Feasey and Tim Mandle), visiting in Abingdon (Martin Appleyard), occasional dining or drinking (David Cook, Mark Granger, Peter Thorndyke, Andy Radcliffe, Greg Smith, Joe Cannon, Jim Brady, Peter Lawson and David Moore) or sharing nonsense on social media or Strava (Gill Allison, Christian Backhouse, Richard Bywater, Tim Docwra, Richard Fitzmaurice, Danny Gallacher, Janet Lumb, Chris McDermott, Mary Moore, Jo Stocks and Jon Thelwell.) It seems a good tally and the bonds are such that no one ‘works at this’ and it’s 16 years since I left Moores. I’m grateful for these old friends.

(I’m sure there’s others who randomly appear on Instagram or some such occasionally.)

Of specific note was a delightful get together in Arkendale. Andy took time out from a busy work schedule but the rest of us are retired and easily fitted this into our diaries!

Messrs Radcliffe, Greenwood, Thorndyke, Cook and Ives – September 21 2023

Foreign Shores with the Class of ’74 & ’79

Journal, Travel

I can’t imagine if I’d be able to fathom the prospect that over 40 years after our first meeting in Essex we’d fly out to Spain for a few days of sightseeing, beer and tapas.

We’d started as ambitious yet unproven young men with no track record other than a belief that we could rise up corporate ladders. Whilst this was in the background our main pre-occupation was misplaced vanity, enjoying a good time especially if it involved the company of the opposite sex, live music, beer, playing practical jokes on each other and avoiding the washing up in shared accommodation.

From this revelry to today we’d conquer serious illness, get elected to Parliament, ride a bike solo across America, and quietly assume a senior financial position looking over major acquisitions of international brands. 

Neil, I first met in 1974. Early recollections are listening to his Joni Mitchell Court & Spark cassette in my Triumph Herald as we negotiated the Manchester traffic on our way to lectures on Aytoun Street at Manchester Polytechnic. On arrival I’d scour the pavements for ring pulls. There were plenty and I’d push these into a parking meter to obtain parking for the day. Neil and I were put together by the college in digs in Heaton Moor.

Neil

Here we completed our respective degrees before Neil pursued accountancy and I started a career in purchasing. Both our jobs took us south and here we again shared accommodation in Basildon. From here I eventually went north to start a master’s degree and Neil continued, to this day, in corporate finance. My re-appearance in his life probably had a 30 year gap despite being his Best Man at his wedding to Ruth. Today they’re nicely established and partially retired in North London where Neil’s also plugging his EV into a lamppost and saving the planet.

Tim probably appeared in my life in 1979, along with Paul, sharing a house in Billericay (to which I eventually escaped to my own house in Basildon.) Tim also worked at the Ford Motor Company albeit at another plant. Tim’s continuing passions then and now were Wishbone Ash and the Conservative Party. On both counts I was dragged in, as I too liked Andy Powell (one of the two twin lead guitars) and Maggie Thatcher. Tim’s fledgling Tory career was already underway with energetic involvement in various embodiments of the party. By the 1980s he found his way into Parliament to represent a constituency east of London. Before retirement a life in recruitment was his occupation. West London is now his domicile where the Daily Telegraph is his constant companion along with an unhealthy love for Liverpool FC.

Tim

Paul also worked for Ford and luxuriated in being a very authentic Yorkshireman. I think ‘no nonsense and blunt’ is a fitting soubriquet. From an engineering start Paul wasn’t likely to stand still and found his way into sales where he spent his working life travelling the world and being sat in front of senior global players selling ‘solutions’. Yes, whatever that may be! Paul found a bride, Jacquie, and now has four children who he’s enormously proud of and whose age range means he’s still ferrying them from Berkshire up motorways to university or visiting them in their careers in West Australia.

Paul

So after some negotiation at the beginning of the year we elected to move away from the occasional London lunch to Andalusia. We found our own way there and regrouped early in the evening for the first of three delightful dinners. The newly created WhatsApp group (‘The Essex Four’) buzzed happily with updates on travel progress and arrivals.

Conversation at the dinner table rotated around politics (and Tim’s unwavering assertion that he was right and we were wrong), what we’d do as regards sightseeing and who’s round it was. Anna and Katrina did, thankfully, dilute the political content with their later arrival. There had always been a plan for them to fly in. First to stay with other friends along the coast and then for us join up to get the train to Seville. With flights booked they ended up at a loose end when our other friends couldn’t be in Spain at this time.

Sightseeing involved an enormous climb to the Gibralfaro fort where Tim had to bail out toward the top due to feeling frail after a late night drinking at a jazz club. He did show the spirit of 1980 by keeping from his bed past 1 am. We’d abandoned him at the club claiming weariness and I, personally, was still disappointed after a heavy drubbing at table football.

The winning duo… bastards

Tim never contemplated a bike tour due to the possible perception of showing solidarity with a Green agenda by the absence of fossil fuels in our tour of the town. Paul kept him company in the old city and in effect took ‘one for the team‘ by visiting the Picasso Museum. The artist was born in the city. On other cultural exploration Tim opined that all cathedrals ‘were the same’ and side stepped a visit to the architecturally magnificent Catedral de la Encarnación Málaga. Sadly he was correct and I soon stopped listening to the audio guide as we worked our way through numerous saints and endless chapels. However, it is an impressive building.

Evening catering was delegated to Tim and he recommended two of the three night’s venues. It soon became apparent that his communication skills with serving staff merited this leadership rôle. Carmen, a pretty young waitress at our first pre-dinner drink stop, was referred to as ‘a sweet girl’ and at our last restaurant the waiter was brought to heel by ‘my dear boy’.

(No he didn’t eat it all)

Ungenerously he did criticise Paul’s choice of restaurant despite its Tripadvisor near 5 star rating: well earned not least for a magnificent, beautifully lit, view of the cathedral. Tapas was our main pursuit and given the cost of €31 each, with a tip, then we either didn’t eat enough or drink enough! On the latter then the local white wine had a thorough examination suggesting we neglected the food.

The cathedral, from our table

Conversations reminisced between Paul’s famous stream of visitors to our house from South Yorkshire (attractive women, steel workers and the like) and one famous prank where at 3am we crept along to outside a bedroom with a sailing boat foghorn klaxon to awaken Tim who unsurprisingly came to imagining World War 3 was underway. Paul warming to the cultural aspect of Malaga talked about Bath and Seville in some detail thus bewildering Tim who introduced Graeme Souness (Liverpool FC player and ex-manager) into the conversation as his name approximated to Sulis, the local goddess of the thermal springs that still feed the spa baths at Bath. Obviously the alcohol helped this nonsense.

In all these stories there was a hint of sadness as another housemate, Jason, had passed away in 2017 at the young age of 57. Glasses were raised not least because of his active role in all our youthful stupidity. His crowning glory was buying frogs legs and offering up a ‘chicken sandwich’ to Peter, another housemate. Peter, ever enthusiastic for a free sandwich was a lot quicker to accept the kind offer than to finish it when the protein content was divulged as he munched away.

Jason

My hotel was different to the others and I saw maybe more of the city as I trooped in between the two. The centre has tall old buildings, marble pavements and such interesting life whether restaurants, cafes, shops, tourists and churches along my amble. A treat.

On the last morning I volunteered a visit to a car museum – The Automobile and Fashion Museum. This was sensational with some important cars to behold including a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, a gull wing Mercedes and a DB7.

There was ladies fashion but that mainly consisted of mannequins displaying dresses to mollify the bored female visitor I suspect. Naturally Tim didn’t participate despite the preponderance of comforting gas-guzzlers and a welcome return to the 20th Century.

So it was one last quick lunch and then hand shakes, we haven’t progressed to hugs yet, and then Tim and Neil departed toward the airport to return to London. I headed to Seville and Paul to Valencia with his wife. Making memories is the important thing in life and this was a fine few days.