When Crotchety Man was a student studying biochemistry in the early seventies the class turned up for a series of laboratory practicals to be told that we were getting a new supervisor. For the next few weeks, instead of the fully qualified doctor of philosophy we had expected, they had appointed a 'demonstrator' who was…Read more Là-Haut
Month: January 2018
Burning Shed Free EP
Back in March 2017, in my Album of the Month post on Moroccan Roll by Brand X, I opined that the latest incarnation of the band had fully rekindled the energy and enthusiasm of their early albums. As evidence I cited a live version of Malaga Virgen recorded on their reunion tour just a few…Read more Burning Shed Free EP
Message In A Bottle
Or, Tales of the River Bank¹. One morning in the summer of 1979 Crotchety Young Man was on his way to work. At that time he was based in the Berkshire town of Reading and his route took him over the river Thames at Caversham Bridge. There were rather more people than usual in the…Read more Message In A Bottle
Whistle Down the Wind
This week it was announced that Joan Baez is releasing a new album on 2nd March. Whistle Down the Wind will be her first new recording for a decade and its promotion marks the end of more than 50 years of touring for Baez. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5-e4qqvKck The phrase, "whistle down the wind", evokes a forlorn sense…Read more Whistle Down the Wind
Raven
The rain clouds have blown over and the rainbows have faded away. Neil Ardley's bright kaleidoscopic colours have dissipated leaving only black, white and 50/50 shades of grey. These are the colours of penguin suits and polar landscapes but for this Track of the Week we are in temperate regions much closer to Crotchety Man's…Read more Raven
A Kaleidoscope of Rainbows
Before we get into the new year in earnest here's a belated Album of the Month post originally scheduled for December 2017. The album in question is called A Kaleidoscope of Rainbows and it was one of my first forays into the hinterlands of jazz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImHQwOKyL5s I must have bought this record in the late seventies…Read more A Kaleidoscope of Rainbows
Now We Are Three
- - - - - - - - A prisoner breaks out of jail. He runs down the street shouting "I'm free! I'm free!". A small boy is unimpressed. "So what?" he calls, "I'm four". - - - - - - - - The Crotchety Man blog is (very nearly) three years old now and,…Read more Now We Are Three
