We started the year in quiet contemplation here on the Crotchety Man blog but now it's time to shake off the torpor of the holiday season and get moving. And, you know, nothing says "let's get this show on the road" better than Jessica by The Allman Brothers Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TqmGptGZbM Jessica is an instrumental from the Brothers and…Read more Jessica
1970s
Peace of Mind
Let's start 2017 with a sweet, gentle instrumental - something to soothe away the excesses of the New Year's Eve party and ease the conflict and bitterness that was the hallmark of the year just gone. This is a track called Peace of Mind from the Natural Elements album by Shakti. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSq8zCZ1hI Shakti was an east-west…Read more Peace of Mind
I Believe in Father Christmas
Christmas songs are always sweet. A few are sugar plum sickly. One yuletide song, though, can be savoured every year with no queasiness at all. It is Greg Lake's I Believe in Father Christmas. Those of you who admired Greg Lake's music will know already, I expect, that he died of cancer on 7th December, so…Read more I Believe in Father Christmas
Lord Franklin
At the end of the 15th century the colonial powers of Europe started to search for the Northwest Passage, a hypothetical sea route across North America that they hoped would be a profitable corridor between east and west to rival the mediaeval 'silk road' trade routes that connected the Mediterranean region with India and China. Many expeditions were…Read more Lord Franklin
Bundles
Bundles of Unpredictable Notes Define the Lasting Essence of Soft Machine For my money Soft Machine were at their best around 1975/6. It was a time when founding member Mike Ratledge was fading out¹ and Karl Jenkins was taking over the reins as band leader and main composer. They released two studio albums in this…Read more Bundles
Diamonds and Rust
Nimble fingers pick gently at the strings of an acoustic guitar. Dark hair tumbles around her face. Her features and her music speak of Spanish ancestors as she gazes into the pale yellow light of a rising moon. A little while ago the phone had rung and the voice on the line stirred memories from years ago. Precious memories of…Read more Diamonds and Rust
Scheherazade …
The trouble with classical music is that it has no punch. The notes have no attack; melodies wander aimlessly; movements stagnate. Where is the zing of a plucked metal string, or the thwack from a flick of a hickory stick on a taut sheet of calfskin? The trouble with rock music is that it's all Punch…Read more Scheherazade …
Big Yellow Taxi
It's been a rather miserable summer in the UK so far. Here in the middle of England there's hardly been a day when it didn't rain or at least threaten to. There have been sunny periods, too, but I've lost count of the times we planned to go out for the day and at the…Read more Big Yellow Taxi
Lucky Man
They say bad things and London buses come in threes. Of course, when you're waiting for a bus you want it to come quickly; you don't want bad things to come at all. But come they do. Sadly, in the space of a few weeks, the deaths of three prominent figures in the music business have been…Read more Lucky Man
Lizard
It's a brave man that disagrees with the renowned guitarist, composer and producer Bob Fripp but, when it comes to King Crimson's third album, Crotchety Man takes issue with him. In the early seventies Lizard graced my turntable as much as any other record I possessed; it could almost be described as the soundtrack to my university…Read more Lizard
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