Viva La Rock And Roll
Summer is with us. Outside our window, the sweet smell of the Yorkshire
countryside wafts in a haze of pollen and burning ewes across the green
meadows, and flower-lulled in sleepy grass we can feel the cool lapse
of hours pass until the centuries blend and blur….
At least we could if we weren't stuck in an office doing the firm's business.
Yes folks, while outside children smash phone boxes with holiday abandon,
and downstairs TDL sticks together little plastic bits of model aeroplanes,
oblivious to the splendour of the season outside, we, the OBCs of Blyth
INC, are once again poring over a sweat-stained keyboard, itching to flip
on Duke Nuke'em or Unreal, but tragically obliged instead to regale you
with our wit and wisdom one more time.
That went well. Wasted a good inch or so. Which leaves little space here
to thank those who responded to last edition's caption competition - the
lyrics were, of course, from the recordings of Mr Nat King Cole - and
to invite you all to enjoy the latest challenge, which is much more fashionable.
But can anyone tell us the connection between these captions and a bit
of lemon?
Splitting In Two
Quite the opposite in fact. More of a merge of sorts, as the ranks of
Blyth Power have been swollen by the grand figure of one to include Mr
Gary Miller as additional guitarist. Not since the days of Alnwick and
Tyne has there been a full time famous five - overlapping guitarists don't
count - and we are looking forward to revisiting more of the band's golden
ages, as well as re-introducing an acoustic element to some of the new
material. Mr Miller is, of course, that same G. Miller of Whisky Priests
fame. As TDL is now their drummer, and obliged to follow orders in Gary's
band, it seemed only right that he should be co-opted into Blyth and forced
to play the chords A, D and E unceasingly for the rest of his natural
life. Mr Miller will be bringing to the party a third harmony vocal, a
whole collection of stringed instruments, ranging from a thin hard one
with six strings and a shrieking amplifier, to a little plinky one with
about a million strings. He will also provide us with a straight bat and
a strident Yorker once we meet Chris from B. Storts again on the field
of honour.
TDL tells us that he once bowled Gary out, for which feat he was promised
a Mivvy, which he has not yet received. As the whole world has seen what
a lousy cricketer TDL is at past Ufford occasions, we may or may not believe
him. Anyhow, welcome aboard Mr Miller.
Everything's As Clear As Time
So, if you wish to sample Gary's bowling skills, and hear him play in
the NEW EVEN BIGGER Blyth Power, then pay attention to the next announcement.
The return of the Ufford Ashes will take place this summer, on August
18th at The Whistle Stop, Tallington, just north of Peterborough, on the
East Coast Main Line. Those of you who regularly attended the event at
the White Hart in Ufford, back in the olden days, will need no reminding
of what goes on. Those of you who still don't know what we're talking
about, and don't have access to the website to find out, take heed. Every
year we used to have an outdoor event, combined with a cricket match and
campsite at a pub in Lincolnshire called the Old White Hart. Tragically
the pub changed hands, and for years we have been trying to find a sympathetic
venue that can provide not only camping facilities, but also a cricketable
field, and a tolerant attitude to the varying subtleties of our music.
At last, thanks to our good colleagues on the spot, we have found such
a place.
So, The Tallington Ashes: a jar of greasy fag ends that we used to lose
regularly to the arch foe - Chris from Bishop's Stortford and his team.
This year will be different. This year we aim to win! You can help us
achieve this by rolling up to the venue after lunch on Saturday 18th August.
There will be no admission charge - we'll be seeing if we can ring a bigger
collection of donations out of those present than was obtained at Womble's
do. Bands will be playing outdoors after tea time, when we all get tired
of watching the handful of real competent cricketers slogging sixes over
the railway lines. There's no limit to team numbers - all are welcome
to join in, and younger children and the faint hearted can use the same
soft tennis ball that TDL insists on playing with, as he is a weedy wet,
chiz chiz, and does not like hard cricket balls.
After the bands play, we have the option of all retiring to the campsite
where no doubt someone will play faerie bells on the skule piano. Acts
so far include Mad Dogs & Englishmen, General Winter, Eastfield, Chris
Butler, Jehovah's Witless and Rachel Pantechnicon.
A final lunchtime music session on the Sunday will round off the event.
Blyth then have to rush south to Epping for the Hay Festival, at which
TDL is due to croon solo at 4pm, and the band later on at 8pm. Hurrah.
Further enquiries call the hot line. To book a camping spot phone the
Whistle Stop. Best of all, make a weekend of it, and we'll all go down
to Epping in a convoy….
The firm would like to extend an invitation to you all to Tallington.
If all the people who have begged us to resume the festivities turn up,
it should be a splendid do, and can continue for years to come. If they
don't - well, yah boo to them.
Other events of note in the Blyth calendar include a return to The Boatrace
in Cambridge on August 9th. It's been a while since we played here, so
we urge you all to come along and impress the new owners with how fashionable
we now are. Rome Burns are playing again, and the earth will, no doubt,
move.
Mad Dogs and Englishmen are out and about in September in the UK, and
dates in Holland are coming together for November. Those of you who frequently
travel to the Netherlands for the interesting railway traction take note.
Qu'est Ce
Que C'est What People Say
Paris is a beautiful city on forty francs a day. Blyth Power CDs are a
better investment, and if you want a preview of some of the finest moments
from the band's recorded past, then come along to the Old Blyth Showroom
this summer, where the chaps, and chappess, will be presenting a much
changed set featuring a number of our greatest hits. Back from the archives
are Rowan's Riding, Burning Joan, Thin Red Line, Swing, Westminster &
Wandsworth, Katherine's Will and more. New to the live set will be Rebel
Angels - which TDL strangled a couple of times solo, and Edward Lay Bare
and After the Horse Has Bolted, which have been uprooted from the solo
set and given immense and comprehensive orchestration for the full band.
Some of these tracks put in an appearance on the weekend of Crawley Folk
Festival, when Mr Miller made his debut. Also onstage for the first time
with the band was Nigel, the sax player, who joined us for Stitching and
Animal Farm in Coventry for some jazz improvisations. If you weren't there,
then you missed a rare treat.
The Image Has Cracked
Of course if you here then you can look at the pictures from that weekend
on the gig history section and marvel at Nigel's splendid shirt. TDL claims
that e-mail and the internet is a passing trend, and that it will fade
away when people are bored of it. Just like CDs, Coronation Street and
the wheel. But then, he's still engrossed in the same Airfix kits he was
making over thirty years ago, so we never listen to him.
New to this website, among many other things, is part one of Genesis to
Revolutions, which is the full and frank confessions of TDL from his basin-cut
childhood in Somerset to the end of his tenure with Zounds. The gig history
is now up to the minute and illustrated throughout, and elsewhere there
are a lot of snide and spiteful commentaries on songs and recordings tucked
away where you least expect to find them - as well as comprehensive notes
on the precise order in which the chords A, D and E should be played for
each individual track. Never mind Euro-Disney. Take the kids for a day
out on www.blythpower.co.uk