Thursday 5 May 2011

on the road


"The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream."
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road.


It’s almost time for me to be on the road again. I will be heading North West next week to begin the first of the Fair Days Pay For A Fair Days Work gigs. I am looking forward to playing for my patrons and meeting their people. I know they have gone to considerable lengths to make my stay a special occasion.
I have been rehearsing what I hope will be an interesting and entertaining collection of material which includes some parts of old songs and the usual suspects such as Hotel Room, Evening over rooftops, Poppy, Green lights, Side by side, Speak down wires and a medley of bits and pieces. I will also be performing new material some of which I will be performing for the first time. I will be improvising around the themes of the songs and joining sections together to make each FDPFAFDW show unique. I will be recording each show.

I have been rehearsing on a nylon strung classical guitar, a steel strung acoustic and my lovely Squire Stratocaster. Which one will I be using? The answer is that I am still not sure. I’ve been thinking I should probably use an electric guitar for my show with Luke at Glastonbury and we might be jamming with the house band. Having said that, different things happen on the acoustics. The nylon strung classical job seems to respond more dramatically to different rooms than my other instruments and well, I’ll have to make a decision soon.

Many years a go, during a warm summer Vic Unitt and myself headed west to Devon with not much more than a sleeping bag, some basic cooking utensils, clothing and a harmonica. We probably had about twenty or thirty pounds between us. We hitch hiked everywhere in those days before the fear came to kill off a great way to meet folk and get around. We didn’t mind the long waits too much though some times it was a very long wait for a driver who wasn’t put off by our garb and long hair. During these hold ups we would improvise on a blues theme. Vic would play his harmonica and I sang. I usually made up it all up as we went along though occasionally we would do a Sonny Boy Williamson plus one impersonation.

On a lovely summer evening we strolled into the Golden Fleece in Barnstaple after hours on the road. We were moving around the Barnstaple , Bideford, Westward Ho area and had discovered the Golden Fleece had a folk club. I borrowed a guitar and Vic and I performed a few improvised blues songs to a very warm and enthusiastic folk crowd. At the end of the evening a local headmaster invited us to stay with his family for the night. They looked after us very well and I think we stayed another night. Later that week we made friends with Noel Murphy the folk singer at the Lobster Pot in Appledore. He was performing there and we did a floor spot. It was great fun. Back then we would play any where and although we didn’t know it yet, the rock n roll days were just ahead.

Those were heady days and memories of our Kerouac-esque adventures are very special to me. This was the first experience I had of singing for my supper and a bed for the night. It was an exciting and valuable stage of our performing apprenticeship. I remember that we resolved to re-double our efforts to get out on the road on a full time basis.

Since those days I have pondered how I might get to re-capture some of the feelings of those early performances and I think my trip to the North West next week will be a step in the right direction. A minstrel I would be…….






peace

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"On the rocky road to Dublin 12345"
Noel Murphy.
Good luck Rob,have a good time.
Art xx

Anonymous said...

There's a great version by The Dublin City Workingmans Band. Met some of them in Dublin in February. What an amazing bunch of guys!
Check them out on youtube.

Hi Rob & Art
Have you seen the black & white Hyde Park piece with Mick Farren on ODO? It's on youtube. Crap quality, but full of atmosphere!

BigTone

Anonymous said...

hope you have a really great time up north.sounds like a real blast.

good luck
mick

Anonymous said...

Still no chance of the EEB reforming?Such a great shame if you dont. Must respect your wishes although the band will be very sadly missed.

Anonymous said...

New adventures eh? Hope it goes well as your Fair Days Pay idea is to be greatly admired. Maybe a few others should follow your example.

Peter Pool said...

Excellent posting Rob. Hope all goes well for the first FDPFAFDW gig. Things are really coming together now for our one in June. I'll drop you an email with more info in the next day or so.

Pete
Oxford

Anonymous said...

Good luck with all of it pal! I'm going to read on the road. Don't know Jack Kerouc. Ah! but ya live and learn.

Dazza

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mOY_-s3itA

Thanks to BigTone for pointing me in the direction of the Youtube clip.
I was in the crowd somewhere - 15 years old. Memories!

I'm sure the 'Fair Days' gigs will be fantastic. A great idea.
shoreham_steve

Anonymous said...

Hi Shoreham Steve.
I was 15 years old too. Sadly I wasn't in the crowd at Hyde Park.

Fortunately I was in the crowd at The Ritz in Bournemoth & subsequent years at The Boscombe Ballrooms in Bournemouth.

I wouldn't have missed one minute of it!

BigTone (Tony H.)

Anonymous said...

Curious....

Listen to the opening bars of Hurricane Man & then the opening bars of King Midas in Reverse by The Hollies.

Am I the only one to have noticed this?

Anonymous said...

Green Lights and Helpless by Neil Young.

Steve Broughton said...

oh we played it in the hollows
and we played it in the flats
and if it didn't last forever
sure I swore I'd eat me hat

so sautee potatoes and mushrooms with mine please!!

Anonymous said...

If what didn't last forever Steve the song Green Lights or EBB?

Anonymous said...

Do you want relish with that hat, Steve?

I know how you feel, but should that stop you from forming The Steve Broughton Band?