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May 18 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

England is famous for odd pronunciations of towns and villages and standing here by this sign you can see one of the classics. I mentioned it the other day in my post about Dylan Thomas. It says Mousehole, but it is actually pronounced Mausl. When I was in All About Eve we had a country writing and rehearsal retreat that we rented near a place called Leominster, that’s Lemmster. Don’t even get me started on Worcester sauce, Wuster sauce or Leicester, Lester. We have great difficulty pronouncing Dionne Warwick’s name over here, because we have a town called Warwick, that’s Wohrick. And remember I have a German wife so she is constantly surprised by English pronunciations as I am by German pronunciations. (Tricky language that one.)

But languages are great fun once you make some progress. I can’t remember exactly the first time I had a conversation with someone in a foreign language, either in broken French or Spanish, but it was exhilarating. If you speak in another language for an extended length of time, it makes you tired, perhaps because the language centre in the brain for your mother tongue is not in the same place as a learnt language. I read a book called Phantoms In The Brain by V.S. Ramachandran where I read about this. The book was full of fascinating examples of the brain’s shenanigans. People who had lost their ability to speak a language they knew fluently due to a brain injury. People who don’t want their legs anymore (yes, I did just say that). People who see cartoon characters everywhere. It all sounds so absurd and even funny, but those people who hear voices are having a terrible time. Think of people who are going through this current crisis, how are they dealing with their mental health issues being cooped up inside all day?

You might have heard of the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sachs. Fascinating. You might have seen the film Awakenings with Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro, also fascinating. In real life Robin Williams took his own life, what a tragedy to lose a man like him to mental battles, a comic genius. Did you ever see Dead Poet’s Society? I loved that film. Once in a hotel foyer in Minneapolis, I was standing in reception and there he was. I didn’t recognize him at first. It was that odd situation when you think you know someone and then realize, oh, it’s him from the television. I was 6 feet away from him, I was about to say something, I opened my mouth and then realized it was Robin Williams. But he noticed this and as I didn’t speak he looked almost disappointed, as if a conversation would have been okay for him. I wish I had spoken to him, he didn’t seem scary or unfriendly, but I just backed out as I realized it wasn’t someone I knew, it was a mega famous person out of context.

It’s hard to keep your head together these days. The lies vs. the truth, the bombardment, the pressures, money, survival, especially now. The modern world can kill you, it makes you promises that it can’t keep. It makes you compete, threatens you if you don’t fit in and when you consider the life people lead outside the west it’s even worse. Being gay in Afghanistan, a woman in Pakistan who has to worry about ‘Honour Killings’. Then there’s FGM, oh my God! At least if we don’t conform to society’s rules in the west we can find like-minded people and we’re not breaking any laws. But why won’t the majorities leave the minorities alone? Let people lead their lives the way they want. You can say it’s fear, you can say the foreigners are taking over (I don’t see foreigners, I see people), but I don’t think it is that, it’s the cruel side of stronger humans belittling weaker humans. How do they get away with it? Bring on the nerds! That’s what I say! Ha ha!! In fact bring on the foreign nerds, even better.

Today has been a mellow day, but I did get a call from Niko, my MOAT partner. I haven’t spoken to him in ages and that was really nice to talk to him. He was calling from Stockholm and we were discussing the situation there. They’ve done it all differently and only time will tell if they were right or wrong in their approach. But Niko and his wife have had the virus (they think), she had fever, he couldn’t breathe, but as it was with Alan Merrill, they won’t put you in hospital unless you are dying and they won’t even test you to see and if you do actually die then well, too bad. I also spoke to Salim in Texas and he said people are going mad out there. Please let this be over soon. Dear Mr Virus, stop now, enough is enough.

Music today is all Dylan, I need a dose of those stimulating words. Dare and I went to see the Dylan Desire tour at Earl’s Court in London in the seventies and I’ve always loved that album. So I may go seventies Dylan today having played a lot of the sixties albums quite frequently and recently. So I’m going Desire (1976) and then those box sets that came out of The Basement Tapes and Blood On The Tracks, I’ve been dying to get into those.

Song Of The Day is After Eight from Hanging Out In Heaven (2000). A calm look at throwing it all away.

 

After Eight

You told me you were coming after five
If I’m alive, after five
I told you it’d be better after eight
When it’s too late, after eight

And if you hear a floorboard creak
Be sure that it’s not me
My feet won’t touch the carpet
Now the world has set me free

If you wanna be there in good time
Get off the line, drink your wine
If you don’t think you’ll make it, it’s okay
Gone tomorrow here today

And if silence is what shocks you
It’s just a different kind of noise
It’s bad for you, but it’s good for me
I didn’t have much choice

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

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵 📷 @oliviaelek Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵

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You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

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TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1045

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TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1032

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At last, a proper door stop. 📷 @judgeschamber At last, a proper door stop.

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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
(Stephen G., VA, USA)

"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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