My Music

I've been a keen music fan since early childhood, and have played guitar for over 50 years. I was quite good at it when I was in my 30s, but it has been a steady downhill journey since then. I have 4 guitars, including a Martin J40 and a Fender Stratocaster. I don't play them much these days, although I keep telling myself I should play more. A few years I bought Logic Pro (a home studio package) for my MacBook so one of these days I might do some recording. The software includes a virtual set of guitar effects units, so I ought to experiment with this. Is it too late to hit the charts with a home recorded masterpiece? Probably!

I love to listen to music, and have about 2000 CDs. I will listen to just about anything, apart from trad jazz and opera. If you measure my likes by the number of CDs I have by an artist, my favourites are Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Keith Jarrett, Bert Jansch, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, JS Bach, John Martyn, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Pink Floyd and Richard Thompson. I have seen all of these artists live (apart from Bach, obviously, John Coltrane and The Beatles, although I have seen Paul McCartney 4 times), and my one (perhaps dubious) claim to musical fame is that some 30+ years ago I was in a folk music duo with a friend, and we were the opening act when Richard Thompson played the folk club that we ran in Birmingham.

I have been going to concerts since I was a teenager. My friend John and I would go up to London, spend the day wandering around the music and record shops, then go to a concert in the evening, usually at the Royal Festival Hall or the Royal Albert Hall. Good gigs I remember include the very first Frank Zappa concert in the UK, the Incredible String Band, Ravi Shankar, Miles Davis, Pete Seeger and Pentangle.

Over the years I have seen many well known acts and some lesser known, or even completely unknown (music fans can be quite snobbish sometimes). Gigs that stay in the mind as being exceptionally good include Sting, Crosby and Nash, Crosby Stills and Nash, Melanie, Buffy St Marie (yes they are both still performing!), Fairport Convention, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd (1994 but the memory is still fresh courtesy of the live CD), Roger Waters, James Taylor (seen him 6 times and every concert a corker), Leonard Cohen (Manchester Opera House 2008, possibly my favourite concert ever and I have a bootleg recording - don't ask!), Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, U2 and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. In 2012 I was dragged kicking and screaming to see Barry Manilow - it was better than I expected, but only done in the name of marital harmony. Some years ago I was bullied in a similar way into seeing Rick Astley, and much to my surprise he was really good. Unlike Bazza, I would see him again. Another marital contractual obligation gig was Sade - quite good, actually.

Within the past couple of years I have been to gigs by Seth Lakeman, Dweezil Zappa, Crosby Stills and Nash, Richard Thompson, Paul McCartney, Fairport Convention, Ray Davies, Elton John, Australian Pink Floyd Show, Sting and Paul Simon (together), Queen, Fleetwood Mac and Yes. In their different ways, all hugely entertaining. At the time of writing, upcoming gigs are Walter Trout, Caro Emerald and ABC (another marital obligation gig). When we lived in Coventry, we were fairly close to Birmingham - most tours of decent music acts usually take in the LG Arena or the NIA, and I've also been to some really good events at Warwick Arts Centre (only 3 miles from we used to live).

Now we live in the middle of nowhere in Northumberland, but still get to gigs. The Sage in Gateshead gets some good acts, and since moving here we have seen ABC (again), Caro Emerald (again), Kate Rusby (again), Fairport Convention (again) and Richard Thompson (again). Lots of agains there! We also saw Elton John at the Newcastle Metro Arena, and at the time of writing will be seeing Phil Collins there at the end of 2017.

In the 1960s, there were package tours rather than concerts by only one act. For example, I remember seeing TheAnimals, The Nashville Teens, Bill Haley and His Comets and Elkie Brooks all on the same bill. I saw Manfred Mann and Unit 4 Plus 2 in similar circumstances. The best of these shows was the last of that type that I went to: Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice and Amen Corner, all on the same bill. Hendrix was top of the bill with 45 minutes, Pink Floyd and The Move got 30 minutes and the others were about 20 minutes each. When I tell people now about this concert they don't believe me! But it really happened - Chatham Central Hall, 1st December, 1967. On the left is a poster for the Nottingham gig - couldn't find one for Chatham. Note that The Move got equal billing with Hendrix on the poster, above "The" Pink Floyd!