I am in a Sam Cooke frame of mind, singing and playing a range of his songs that I have learnt over the last 25 years. Some of them reached #1 in various countries. He only had one UK #1, as a songwriter: “Only 16”, recorded by Craig Douglas (1959). He wrote and recorded “You… Continue reading “Touch the Hem of His Garment”
Last month I posted this piece, summarizing some of the music events that I have been involved with since last summer. I mentioned a performance that really stood out: “Working Class Hero”, John Lennon’s 1970 composition. “Hammered out on an acoustic guitar, each verse sung without hesitation or prompts, I was reminded of what a… Continue reading “Working Class Hero”
I am still in contact with many of the people I was at school with. Back in February a few of us (seven, to be exact) met up for dinner at a pub in Hammersmith. I had hung out with four of them often in the last few years. (By “often” I mean “at least… Continue reading Old School Ties
How are your sleep patterns? Perfect, disastrous, or somewhere in between? Mine are somewhere between those two extremes, nearer to “perfect” than “disastrous”. I expect that’s true for most people. The following 1,360 words are about sleep, leading to a memory about the best hour’s sleep that I have ever had. I’m afraid that the… Continue reading The best hour’s sleep I ever had
A tale of two priests. The things that you say and do, and the responses that you get. [There are 1350 words in this piece.] Do you feel, generally, that you can predict the kind of response that you will get to the things that you say and do? Or is there usually a level… Continue reading “He’s got a lot to say for himself, hasn’t he?”
A fourth reflection on the 10,000 photos that I can access any time In three earlier pieces (click here for the most recent one) I have reflected on the 10,000 photos that I can access any time. They are either personal to me or were sent my way, as prints or digitally. I have broken… Continue reading 10,000 Photos: Part 4, 1986-2004
My daughter turned 17 earlier this month. In the days leading up to the big day I told her about how I spent my 17th birthday, or more specifically the evening of that day. I don’t recall much about the morning or afternoon, a regular Friday at school at the start of my second year… Continue reading What I did on my 17th birthday
Back in 2016, in this piece about Veuve Cliquot champagne, I mentioned my brother’s “ex-brother-in-law” Paco, a source of many anecdotes over the years. None of these anecdotes painted him in a good light. Brother-in-law might not be the right way to describe how the two of them were connected: my brother’s wife and Paco’s… Continue reading “Tell your father … that I killed this rabbit”
On 11 August 1979 I went to the Royal Albert Hall for the first time, for a “Promenade Concert”, or Prom. A schoolfriend invited me. His father was a senior management figure at a local brewery. The brewery, or their parent company, had a box at the Albert Hall, so that was where we sat.… Continue reading A box at the Royal Albert Hall, 1979
There are some news stories that clearly made a big impression on people. When I was growing up we would only have leaf tea, brewed up in a pot. Right up until the 1980s we never used teabags. My father always said that the stuff that they put in teabags was only the sweepings from… Continue reading The sweepings from the factory floor
The Compartments 