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Aug 15 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Dear doctors, how do I flush my ear? Do I just use warm water? I get the feeling it’s not an infection because it’s been the same for a month and the drops make no difference but if I could clear my ear of wax it might be the problem. I’ll ask at the pharmacy tomorrow to see what they say. In the meantime concentrating on music is still proving to be tricky but I did grow up as a teenager about five miles as the crow flies from the Pier Head in Liverpool and the music never stops. I worked for a time in the Cunard Building and would regularly spend all my spare money on records, I still do. But I was wondering if I’d grown up in Switzerland would I be a skier, silly, I know, but the real question is, is it about nature or nurture? In Liverpool, I might have as likely wanted to be a footballer and I did play football in a school team but it always felt as much about how tough you were as much as your skills and I never wanted to physically fight for a place and the dominant tough guys weren’t exactly encouraging. So was the legend of The Beatles the inspiration or would my interest have been the same if I was born into a family of Inuit? Interestingly despite having drums and dance as their pleasure, the Inuit didn’t have a specific word for what in English we describe as music, so to answer my question as to whether I would have been as interested in music as an Inuit – I think not.

I was born in Stockport and lived near Glossop on the way to Pennines country till I was about ten. Living in the countryside, Manchester was the nearest city and then around 11 I moved to Derbyshire where my parents had their second pub. I was only there for a couple of years, again in the countryside. Moving to the Wirral was like Tarzan moving to a space station. From all the freedom of the fields and big rooms in the pub to a cramped modern flat, terrible really. I’m not really sure how much I resented it because it was just the way it was but when I look back I wonder what my parents were thinking taking me from wonderland to skinheadland. No wonder I left the northwest and Liverpool as soon as I did, I just felt there was a big wide world out there and I was anxious to explore it, with a guitar.

I can’t actually believe that I took the Strat I bought at Frank Hessy’s in Liverpool to Australia, in the cabin, in a very flimsy soft case. Not only that I also took a 12-string acoustic and shipped my record collection, priorities. My parents had been into music, the usual suspects on my dad’s side, Frank, Shirley and well, Holst. My mum was into the other Franks, Frankie Vaughn and Frank Ifield but Glenn Miller was what got her going, anything swing. I had an elder brother that had The Beatles records and played in a cabaret band in the northwest. But it feels like I didn’t need all those connections, it would have happened anyway and when they put their music to bed I was under the sheets listening to Radio Luxembourg.

I still have many of the 7-inch singles I bought as a 9-year-old in 1967. I only ever sold records once, that was in Manchester just before I was preparing to quit my job at The Lansdowne Hotel and go to France for the grape picking with one of the receptionists, my friend Lesley. We’ve recently reconnected and after 30 years it was like nothing had changed. Busking around Europe seemed like a better option for playing music than trying to get a band together. Dare and I tried in Liverpool and in London but despite even writing our own songs we only ever got as far as making a demo. The crazy thing was that the person we made the demo with ended up being the A&R man at the label (Biggles) that signed the ex-band in England. He didn’t know it was me till much later on. We have also recently reconnected.

My point today as I’m still feeling the pain, is that I still had three seshes today with Arktik Lake Tony in Sydney, Abby and Nick in Philly and Brian in Indiana, I still listened to music today, I still investigated some new albums and if I had been born on Mars with no ears I would still be into music like a ravenous creature, never satisfied, never getting enough of the stuff.

Music today has been Sandy Denny and the albums Sandy Denny and the Strawbs – All Our Own Work (1967), Fairport Convention’s third album Unhalfbricking (1969), Fotheringay’s debut (1970) and her second solo album Sandy (1972). This because we found a video of our trip to her grave that we never posted. We were there when we were staying with Biggles and his wife Colleen in early 2020 who live very close to the Putney Vale cemetery where she is buried. Visiting people’s graves might seem quite maudlin but it always fills me full of energy and inspiration. If you aren’t aware of Sandy Denny’s work then make your way from the beginning to the end and be sad that she left us so young, dying as the result of a fall at the age of 31.

Music Of The Daze

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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Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

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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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Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
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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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