The Magnificent Goldberg

Soldiers and sailors have to do what they're told and if they're told, when you want to talk to the man in the engine room, blow down this thing to mke the whistle at the other end go, they bloody well blow down this thing. Because it MUST have worked. MG

I always forget about that. BST never meant a thing to me. MG

And you're an effin' sax player! It looks like something you blow into. Well, it WAS. This from Wiki " the telephone, for which the blower is a slang term, especially in the United Kingdom. The slang came from the Royal Naval ships prior to telephones. Communication was direct, through a voice pipe. The pipe had a whistle inserted at each end. When a message was to be passed, the caller would remove the whistle at his end, place his mouth into the cavity, sealing it. He would then blow hard. The whistle at the other end would attract the man on watch. He would remove his whistle and call into the pipe. Conversations over, both whistles were replaced." MG This pic should sort it out. Where do these pictures keep going?

MG

A blower is a phone. MG

Not that tall, I think. It fits in with the general character and attitude of Geoff and his wife (which you wouldn't know about and I'm not going to explain. And - OK, it was 1954 which is a LONG time - but when I moved from Brighton, where I was at boarding school, while my Mum found a place to live, I pretty well did the journey by myself. I think my Stepfather's mother got me and my suitcase onto the train in Brighton, on the south cost. My Dad, who lived in London, met me at Victoria Station. He probably took me to a posh restaurant in the West End, then put me on the train to Leeds, where my Mum met me and took me to our new home. Kids CAN do that sort of thing at a young age. But I was helped across London. MG PS I was ten then.

Yeah, it's not great, but it does have a certain importance. Like Johnny 'Hammond' Smith's 'Higher ground' it shows that Joe was fully in the spirit of soul jazz, as well as pretty well any other kind of jazz too. There were and are few players who focus on hard bop, verging into the avant garde of the day, who could or would even be interested in trying to get it. It may not be much of a plus for Joe Henderson, the musician, but it's a big plus for Joe Henderson the man. MG

My wife told me an amazing story this evening. She’d been talking to her first husband, Geoff, on the blower. His family still lives in Sussex, by the Sea. In the early eighties, Geoff’s brother, Denis, was a university lecturer in Paris, who lived in the little town of Villeneuve St Georges, about 10 miles south of Paris. When Damien, Geoff’s son, was eight, Denis, visiting Geoff during the summer holidays, took Damien back to France with him for an extended stay. It was only later that Geoff and his Missus wondered how the hell Damien was going to get back home!!! Apparently, Damien was a nut about railways – he’s station-master of Crewe station, one of the most important junctions in Britain. He came back by himself! (One has to assume Denis bought his tickets and gave him some money for food and public toilets.) To make the journey, Damien had to: get a commuter train to Gare de Lyon; either get a taxi across Paris to Gare du Nord, or go by Metro – you have to change at Chatelet; get a train to Dieppe, get a cross-Channel ferry to Newhaven, where Geoff lived. Geoff and his wife met him off the ferry. Can an eight year old speak French? Well, probably a bit, but not much. It sure as hell isn’t in the normal primary school curriculum. I was just knocked out by this and thought I’d share it. MG

Shopping trip to Cardiff today with the ipod going all day. Overdosed on Donald Byrd and enjoyed it very much: A new perspective Mustang Blackjack Slow drag Fancy free Kofi Street lady Now playing Perez Prado - Guantanamera MG

And I'll take 'Brown sugar', by Freddie Roach (You knew I'd say that, didn'cha? MG

They were both very commercial artists. Boismortier, like Marin Marais before him, discovered the burgeoning market of the bourgeoisie and wrote tiny pieces that young ladies could play when papa was entertaining business associates and show off their prowess and perhaps put themselves in a better position in the marriage stakes. They published them themselves, sold them in their own shops and made pots of dough. They're my heroes. Now taking breakfast with M'bilia Bel - Contre ma volonte - Syllart M'bilia Bel - Keyna - Syllart MJQ - European concert - Atlantic MG

Just finished Pointer Sisters - Break out Now on Joseph Bodin de Boismortier - Serenades francaises MG

Rev Charles Nicks & St James Choir of Detroit - I need him - Sound of Gospel Coleperson Hawkins - Soul - Prestige Charles Kynard with Clifford Scott - Where it's at - PJ MG

Rev Charles Nicks & the St James Choir of Detroit - Work on, pray on MG

Happy Birthday, Bob! MG

Strange... Thanks. MG

Was the Trip issue the original version? I've a K7 rip of that. I like it nearly as much as 'Blue Moses'. MG

More DIY rips getting a look in, this evening Al Grey & Jimmy Forrest - OD Phineas Newborn et al (AKA Young men from Memphis) - Down home reunion Florida Mass Choir - Storm clouds rising Bobby Bland - Sweet vibrations Bland's best real album (as opposed to a compilation smashed together by Don Robey from here and there) MG

'Soulful rebel' is quite a disappointment after 'People & love' - not that it's bad, but... MG

Joel Dorn thought, in retrospect, that it was well overproduced. A mistake. But Newman still plays nicely and some of the cuts (like 'Missy'' and 'drown in my tears') are killers. MG

His very, very best! This afternoon, more DIY rips Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir - I know the lord laid his hand on me Mar Seck - Diongoma Charles Kynard & Buddy Collette - Warm winds MG

In the early sixties in UK, prices were rigidly controlled by the majors. Pop albums, including jazz, R&B, country and anything that wasn't classical cost £1/10/6 - about £1.52 in decimal currency. 45s weer 6/8d - £0.33. A pint of beer in a West End pub - I worked near the Ritz - was only 11d . That's about £0.045! A pint of beer in a pub now costs about £5.00. That's 111 times the price of beer then. So who's paying a hundred and ten times the price of an LP now for a new album? Relative prices are the real thing that's overlooked in thinking about historical price changes. Beer and music are what young people bought then and now. MG PS and cigarettes, but tobacco prices are mostly affected by government policies - a lot more than half the price of a packet of tobacco here is tax, which is why I buy a year's worth when I go to France. So it's useless for international comparisons.

Lunchtime groovies Grassella Oliphant - The grass roots Houston Person - Very personal Willis Jackson - Headed & Gutted MG

Not the ones lost in the fire at Atlantic. MG

Old favourites, ripped from LPs, for breakfast Shirley Scott - Drag 'em out Les McCann - Beau J Pooboo Bobby Timmons - Chicken & dumplins MG