TO WHERE I AM NOW

Nooooooooooooo! I caught the lead that was going from my laptop into the stereo and knocked my laptop onto the floor. It all happened in a second but now 24 hours later the truth has sunk in, I broke my computer. I still have my old one that I’m using now, but the computer I do everything on is damaged beyond use. (I knew there was a reason to keep my old heavy MacBook 17 inch.) My super cool computer guy Mohamad is in London, is he around? I’ll try him tomorrow, but it means I have not only the cost of fixing it, but also the cost sending it to him and him sending it back – should he be able to fix it. What can I learn from this? Don’t have black leads in a dark room? I was just thinking recently how wonderfully efficient my computer had been the last year and then this happened, you never know what’s around the corner, death or glory.

Of all the times for this to happen, we recently had purchased an interface that will work on the damaged computer, but so far not this one as it is older, an antique by computer standards. Any live streaming plans are herewith (barrister’s voice) postponed. We were at an early stage of considering the possibilities, but if we did it we wanted it to be of a decent sonic quality with proper equipment, proper mic, camera and violin and acoustic with microphones, not direct into the interface with that horrible tinny sound. If you look at old footage of singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars there are no direct lines, they are playing into microphones (they are mic’d up) which means that they have to be careful not to move the guitar too much as you’ll lose the sound of the guitar in the PA system. Next time you watch the Woodstock movie, check out Ritchie Havens or Melanie. As I remember Tim Hardin (who I love) isn’t in the original film (he is in the extra footage version). He is having trouble with feedback, probably because he is swaying too far away from his vocal mic and the sound man is trying to turn the mic up so he can pick up the sound of the voice. Consequently he didn’t make the film. When you see the footage, it looks like the vocal mic is too far away and he can’t get closer to it because he is hindered by the position of the guitar mic. Can you imagine playing at Woodstock and not making it into the film? How disappointed you would be, I was there, I played there, but the world never knew.

 
I’m not sure how many people are aware of this fact but Woodstock was not held in Woodstock. What? No, it was held in Bethel which is 60 miles away. I know, because I’ve been there, I danced around the field. One thing that struck me about the location was how small it was. A slope and a dip, one hill. It’s hard to believe that this legendary event unfolded in this quiet little place. Why was it called Woodstock when it was held in Bethel? The annual Woodstock Music And Arts Festival site wasn’t deemed big enough for the expected 100,000 people plus they didn’t get site approval. Farmer Max Yasgur offered his 600 acre alfalfa farm, 500,000 people showed up, but the stage and location was way smaller than you could ever imagine. There must have been tens of thousands of people out of earshot and/or stuck on the road.

While we are on the subject of mislabelling the tin, you’ve probably heard of the famous Battle Of Hastings fought in 1066 between the Normans and the English in which King Harold was allegedly struck down with an arrow in his eye. Well, the Battle Of Hastings wasn’t in Hastings, it was in Battle. I know this, I’ve been there. You could say the village was called Battle after the battle, that might be true, but it wasn’t in Hastings. Hastings is 8 miles from Battle, granted it was close and probably the nearest town. Other fantastic facts about Hastings: One day I was visiting my friend and ex band mate Andy Cousin from All About Eve (he lives along the coast in Folkestone) and we decided to go on a lovely day trip to Hastings. There we found a record shop, where I found a vinyl copy of the All About Eve album Ultraviolet which I’d been looking for for years. The shop owner was quite amused to see the excitement over our own record and was especially excited when he saw the gorgeous picture of Andy and I inside.

I had two sessions today, one with Eric and his talented daughter Ava in Minneapolis and Doug in Wappingers Falls. Dare was in the studio control room mixing another Space Summit track and I also managed to watch a whole episode of Elvis Costello’s Spectacle from the Apollo Theater on 125th St, NYC. This week’s guests were Richard Thompson, Allen Toussaint, Nick Lowe and Levon Helm. I like this show, music and talk, check it out (Toussaint and Helm have since sadly died):

 
Music today has been exclusively John Martyn. Bless The Weather from 1971, Solid Air from 1973, Inside Out from 1973 and Sunday’s Child from 1975. Little known facts about John Martyn: His real name was Iain McGeachy and both of his parents were opera singers, it explains a lot. A terrible drunk and an amazing singer-songwriter and innovator, who straddled Folk, Blues Rock and Jazz, he died at the age of 60 in 2009.

Last thought – the first track on Bless The Weather, Go Easy, has the lyric “Life, go easy on me”.

Song Of The Day has to be You Bring Your Love To Me from Hanging Out In Heaven, dreamy Floydy Folkiness, probably thanks to John Martyn and of course Roy Harper.

 

You Bring Your Love To Me

Diamonds and snow
And crystals that grow
A tune in the trees
That hangs on the breeze
And you bring my love to me
You bring my love to me

If I had a choice of an angel’s voice
If I could empower
For one single hour
Then you’d bring your love to me
You’d bring your love to me
And we’d kiss and entwine
For all time

Garlands of flowers
And sweet springtime showers
Your hair in the clouds
Your tresses unwound
And you bring your love to me
You bring your love to me

The patterns and shapes
That fall into place
The light of the moon
That shows me your face
And you bring my love to me
You bring my love to me
And we’d kiss and entwine
For all time

(Willson-Piper)
Hanging Out In Heaven (2000)