Pontiac Blues Sonny Boy Williamson II 1951

King Biscuit Time 1942 and 52

Silent footage. Max Moore, owner of Interstate Grocery in Helena, Arkansas, was the sponsor for radio station KFFA's "King Biscuit Time" program. We believe he shot this home movie circa 1942. In it, renowned blues musicians Robert 'Junior' Lockwood and Sonny Boy Williamson perform on the front porch of a small-town Arkansas grocery store. This is likely the earliest footage of these musicians performing together. The second portion of the clip is a 1952 tour featuring Williamson and his band. This film was preserved with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Max Moore Home Movie Collection

Susan Wells by Neil Mitchard

When Sue was in the Terraplanes

Some postcard views of Radstock

John Mitchard's 1970 Election campaign in North Somerset

My Dad stood in his hometown of Radstock for the 70 GE. He didn't win but did very well. I can remember it vividly.

Radstock

Somerset Coal Canal

Interview with Johnny Thunders from December 1980's Zigzag

Subway Sect Zigzag no 83 - May 1978

The Fallen Leaves - 'punk rock for gentlemen'

The Fallen Leaves Bristol Thunderbolt May 4^th

I have always been a fan of the early Subway Sect. This goes back a long time when the single Nobody’s Scared came out and we saw them on the White Riot Tour and heard their Peel session. We were most disappointed when we saw them supporting the Buzzcocks and they had all been sacked apart from Vic Godard. The subsequent LP What’s the Matter Boy was critically lauded but I didn’t like it – it wasn’t the Subway Sect that I fell in love with. So when Dave offered us a lift to see the Fallen Leaves (Rob Symmons’  former guitar-slinger in the Subway Sect’s newish band) we jumped at the chance. We weren’t disappointed. The thrashy trebly guitar sound was there and it was great to behold in an intimate venue. He’s obviously influenced a whole raft of guitarists including me. He is a missing jigsaw piece of punk history. The whole band are good – they all work really well together. Check out the Fallen Leaves – they’re on Spotify and still gigging – a class act.

Frome's Pipe Shop

Nice to see some parts of Frome seem unchanged. And how would we know what sobrani cocktail were like otherwise?

Napoleonic Association at Hyde Park London c1989

68th Durham Light Infantry - still going strong

18eme de Ligne from France

Neil Morrison leads the British out. He was a Yank connected to the military in Europe

Ralph Mitchard in the 46eme de ligne

Napoleonic Event in Czechoslovakia in 1990

Dr David Chandler leads the French - I am on this if you can spot me

18 de Ligne from France at the Austerlitz memorial

Richard Moore in Czechoslovakia

Renault Chenilette

Carrier used by the French in 1940. Details

Chuck Berry Performs "You Can't Catch Me" in 1956's "Rock, Rock, Rock!"

Jimmy Reed Big Boss Man (Live) AFBF

Radstock Jig

Here
RADSTOCK JIG, THE. English, Hornpipe (cut time). C Major/A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The English collector Cecil Sharp noted this tune from one James Higgins (1819-c. 1910), a fiddle player who was living at the time in Shepton Mallett Union, a workhouse. It was originally simply called “Radstock”, or, as Sharp gave it in his notebook, "Radstock Tune." Sharp published it soon afterwards with the title "Radstock Jig," using the convention of the word 'jig' not to denoting musical meter but rather to indicate a tune played for solo dancing (see Sharp's Folk-Dance Airs: Collected in Oxfordshire, Glocesteshire, Devonshire, Somerset, and Devonshire, 1909). Higgins was a native of the village of Shepton Mallet (south of Bath), Somerset, where he was a clerk in the local Co-operative Society, and Radstock was a nearby mining town. There is some thought, although no evidence, that the tune may have been in the repertoire of the Radstock Band, an old village band.

Bad Detectives in Bath

Had a fun night last night at the Widcombe Social Club (ace venue) with the B-side the A-side dj team.

Delta 88 at Somer Valley Rock n Roll Club

Western Star trio from Devom came to Radstock Working Me' Club for a night of rockabilly. Next one is May 13th Tomcats. Photo Sue

Frome gets even more famous

So surreal to see Frome become centre stage for the rock

world last night when Foo Fighters played a secret gig in Frome's music venue the Cheese and Grain which was streamed live on YouTube. It was in connection to their appearance at Glastonbury. Quite a few Frome (pronounced Froom) people got in. Apparently. We didn't bother.