Ralph Mitchard

Pic of me in about 2003 in my much loved Fall t-shirt for FallFriday. Love long sleeved t-shirts with text on the sleeves.

The Monkees Mary Mary

When I was a kid I didn't like the Monkees. I used to think they were a rip off  of the Beatles and I never found their humour. I knew they were bogus as I recognised Mickey Dolenz from the tv series Circus Boy which I liked. But Sue likes them so we have their music on occasionally and I have come to respect them. Yes it is a rip off but a very well crafted one by some of the best songwriters and session musicians there were.

Mamma Talk to your Daughter J B Lenore 1954

This is a minimalistic classic. No intro -  boom straight into the verse and it grabs you from the start. A really minimal guitar solo finishes the party. Wiki

Full documentary movie 'The Howlin' Wolf Story"

A documentary about the great blues man 'Howling Wolf' ( Chester Burnett ) with many interviews with other famous blues men and rare video footage of blues history

Chicago Blues Documentary 1972 42 mins

Documentary about Chicago Blues and the migrating black community that brought it there. Made in 1972 the political tensions of the late 60's are still an all pervasive presence but it makes for an edgy and atmospheric portrayal of the era and the music. With Muddy Waters, Johnnie Lewis, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, J.B. Hutto, Junior Wells, Floyd Jones..

John Lee Hooker and Al Wilson 1970

From http://www.blindowl.net/index.html

Hear one of the great collaborations from Hooker n Heat in 1970 with 'Let's Make it'  here

Sonny Boy on RSG

Sonny Boy Williamson II, January 8, 1965 on British TV music show Ready, Steady, Go accompanied by Gary Farr and the T – Bones. Photograph by Val Wilmer.

Photo from here where there are some fantastic pics of Sonny Boy in Europe

Laugh Clown Laugh Frome synth duo

This photo by Chris Stocker of the Black Swan in the 80s has Frome synth outfit Laugh Clown Laugh (Dominic O'Brien and Sam Findlay) in it. I remember watching them in the 80s at a pub in Beckington. They have released an album on Seattle's Medical Records. Hear it here

They also have a blog where you can buy t-shirts see what they are up to  and so forth - go here

Kitsch-22 trousers (Modzart)

I don't have much of my punk clothes left - just a few t-shirts and these trousers. They were from a shop just off Oxford street in London called Kitsch-22. Their label was Modzart. I also had some red leopard print drainpipes but they are long gone. Can't find much in the web about this shop though it was popular with punks - I think 999 used to wear their stuff. From what I have found out the Kitsch-22 designs got sold to BOY in 1980. A few t-shirts on ebay at high prices.

Me in 1978 with Kitsch 22 red leopard print and kitsch t-shirt of a les paul and Chinese characters

Pic of the shop off New Bond Street from a BFI article on Punk

Me in red leopard print kitsch-22 strides. Nigel in Seditionaries bondage trousers 1978

Blues before Sunrise

I have made a collection of photos of some of my favourite bluesmen. Go here

1970 Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green - The Green Manalishi Live Sweden

Sad to hear of the passing of Peter Green. Fleetwood Mac were a British blues band worth listening to even in this day and age. 

Fighting For Liberty by Stephen M Carter

Detailed story of the events of 1685

This is a fantastic book and to my mind a welcome addition to anybody's library. It brings fresh insight into the rebellion and a new way of telling the story of the two expeditions of 1685. One of the novel approaches of this book is it deals with the Argyll venture in Scotland on an equal footing as the more famous rebellion in the West. Battles north of the border hitherto forgotten are examined and presented.

I would say the nature of this book is detailed military history - a particular good feature of this book is the many skilled maps of the events and skirmishes. Ideal for wargamers. I would say this is probably the most detailed book on the Rebellion out there - I believe it has taken many years to put this together and it shows by being full of useful information. Of course it's not just archives that feature in this book the author has been out travelling and visiting the sites of events photographing them and this is a another useful feature.

I feel like I have learnt a lot about the Monmouth episode that I didn't know so full marks for that. It has a lively style that keeps you reading and seeing what happens next. The colour plates are very good and useful as well as the many monochrome images from the era that pepper the text. If you have an interest in the events of 1685 then this book should be on your shelves.

Hooker n' Heat

Easily the best of all the collaborations that occurred around this time (London Sessions etc) this one is really well executed. Only a few of the tracks are true collaborations as a lot of the album is Hooker solo but the collaborations are so good. Alan Wilson's harmonica is brilliant. His last studio recording.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooker_%27n_Heat

Robert Nighthawk Eli's Place 1964

This is one of my favourite blues clips on YouTube. It's filmed at Maxwell street market Chicago where you might have seen John Lee Hooker in the Blues brothers movie. But this is closer to its heyday in time. Blues combos would often play in the streets it was a staple of establishing a name or getting some change.

Billy Boy Arnold

A blues legend who is still very much alive making great records. Listen to his 57 hit Rockin' itis
He started out playing with Bo Diddley. Here is a great interview about the early days. Below is him doing a fine version of his 55 hit I Wish you would in 2012. Wiki

Dissenters - a novel set in Frome

I grew up in Frome Somerset so I have always been interested in the 17th century history including the Monmouth rebellion. This novel by a local author looks really good.

Dissenters: Conscience and Corruption in 17th-century Frome, a novel by Liz Hutchinson

In the 1660s English society experiences religious, social and industrial upheavals. Throughout the land, thousands of Puritan clergy are expelled from their churches and homes, dissenting congregations suffer repression by the magistrates and meet illegally. In Frome, Somerset, a family is impoverished and drawn into a smuggling gang. The changing times offer new opportunities – some less reputable than others – and violence is often the first response to those who enforce the law. The town’s flourishing woollen industry allows some to build fortunes, especially the more unscrupulous developers. But for others, the threat of poverty, starvation or the gallows is always present . . .

May 2020, 274pp, paperback, £10.95, ISBN 978-906978-83-9.

Devil's Music Giles Oakley

This was the book of a BBC series from 1976. I got it then as an essay prize at school. The show was good I taped it on audio cassette as this was pre Video. First time I heard Charley Patton. 

Blues Who's who Sheldon Harris 1981

Paperback. A big fat phone book of a tome. But it's only ok. There's some useful photos and it is impressive but it's not essential. 

Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf Segrest, James, Hoffman, Mark (2005)

2010 my brother got me this for my 50th, and Howlin' Wolf's centenary, as we are exactly 50 years apart. It's a very good book that if you like the man you need. 

Blues records 1943-1966 Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven 1968

This was an invaluable help to a young blues enthusiast. It details all the sessions with who plays on what of your favourite blues artists. Record sleeves aren't always full of this type of information so this book fills in the gap. 

Nothing but the blues Mike Leadbitter 1971

My copy has no dust jacket. Image from ebay. Another book I got to know through Frome Library but managed to pick up my own copy. It's a collection of interviews with blues musicians as published in Blues Unlimited. Grouped in regions. Some nice monochrome photos too. Mike Leadbitter wiki

Chicago Breakdown by Mike Rowe

Going to do a series on blues books. This one came out in 1975 and was written by an Englishman. Essential book on the blues of post war Chicago.

The Fall - Lay of the Land (OGWT)

Michael Clarke and the Fall in 1983. I remember one of my friends at the time raving about this.

Charley Patton John Fahey

I read this originally on a Frome library copy. 1970s. Very good. Before I had actually heard Charley Patton as apart from a listening booth experience (see below) there was no easy way of hearing the good stuff. Found this and ordered this expanded edition which is out in September

The Father of the Delta Blues, Charley Patton (1891–1934) was born and raised around Mississippi's cotton plantations. During the 1920s, he was the first of the region's great stars, performing for packed houses throughout the South and making popular recordings in New York City. His music — ranging from blues and ballads to ragtime and gospel — is distinctive for his gravelly, high-energy singing and the propulsive beat of his guitar. Patton had a lively stage presence, originating many of the guitar-playing antics now associated with Jimi Hendrix and other latter-day musicians. His influence, among both his contemporaries and subsequent blues artists, is incalculable.
Noted guitarist John Fahey presents a textual and musicological examination of Patton's music. This new edition of the original 1970 publication is enhanced by Fahey's notes from the Grammy-winning, out-of-print box set Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton. Available for the first time outside the set, Fahey's reconsideration of Patton's music offers fresh perspectives and key corrections of the historical record.

I Put a Spell On You Steve Bergsman

I had an Amazon gift card from my sister.  I remembered this book came out last year so I bought it. I haven't finished yet but it's good. It managed to weave its way around the fact and fiction of this amazing person.  It does the Alan Freed era nicely which was obviously a big impact on his live show.  His complicated love life is written about. The British tours of the 60s are an interesting phase to read about. later life and recordings are all covered in detail with some humour. Well worth a read.

The Guitars of Early Blues

This I enjoyed. 

Hound Dog Taylor 'Beware of the Dog'

I first encountered Hound Dof in 1976 in a listening booth at a record shop Milsoms in Bath Somerset. They were connected to Duck Son and Pinker who sold instruments initially pianos but later guitars. They didn't do pop, rock, disco whatever. it was classical, jazz, folk, blues and later World. You could get blues albums there and listen to them before purchase. Very archaic by then but they used to get my money so it worked. They also sold sheet music, music books and tutorials like Country Blues Guitar or similar. Photo from this gallery of Milsoms pics.

My Hound Dog Taylor T shirt

 I bought this t-shirt when I was in the States. Turns out a character in the tv show 'Shameless' has one the same - coincidence?

If you want to buy a Hound Dog Taylor T shirt like mine go here. Back reads Hound Dog on the front with his famous six-fingered hand and quote on back. "When I die, they'll say 'He couldn't play shit, but he sure made it sound good.'"