Being for the benefit of Prudence Farrow

Rock 'n' Roll? Nah, it's jazz

I shudder think how many times Joe Public has crossed that bloody zebra on Abbey Road in an effort to recreate the Beatles photoshoot from 1969; we've all done it, we've all traipsed down to St. John's Wood and annoyed cabbies & bus drivers alike - I know I have. Maybe jazz guitarist Al Di Meola has too, I don't know. Maybe I should ask him. What I do know is that when he brought out a collection of Beatles instrumentals a couple of years ago - Across the Universe - he was channeling his inner John Lennon in more ways than one. Di Meola's virtuosity on the fretboard is matched only by the pose he strikes on the album cover (above). I'm a strong believer that  every great album has to have equally great artwork. That's not negotiable. I will always deduct marks for any album whose cover is suboptimal. Harsh? Maybe. But them's the rules. 

Al Di Meola - Dear Prudence (2020)

Album *****

Artwork *****

Can't you read?

Apparently 40% of UK adults haven't read a book in the last year. And I can believe it. I travel on buses and trains a fair bit and can see that having your head stuck in a book has been overtaken by doom scrolling. It's sad, but what are you gonna do? I've always had the reading bug. It's never left me. I still remember making the leap from junior fiction to adult fiction. I'd been getting my fix down at the local lending library on stuff like The Hardy Boys mystery stories before dipping my toe into Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and the Fontana Ghost Stories. It wasn't long after that I was topping up my library intake with anything (and I mean anything) I could get hold of from secondhand bookshops, relatives' bookshelves, flea markets etc.

I can remember devouring the Callan novels (c.1974) by James Mitchell. It had been a TV series (and a film, I think) in the late 60s/early 70s but I was always tucked up in bed when it came on; it opened up another world - a world of espionage, exotic locations (well, East Germany), spies & professional hit-men. I was hooked. 

It's only recently I've got around to watching the DVDs and, I've got to say, it's held up remarkably well. Edward Woodward is nothing short of brilliant and his stooge, Lonely, (played by Russell Hunter) is like something out of Samuel Beckett.

Here's the intro/theme music. I remember it, of course, but it must have been through watching  late night Channel 4 reruns many years later.

...

Edward Woodward (1930-2009)

Russell Hunter (1925-2004)

Egg-bound

My love of eggs is no secret. And since I've had more time on my hands just lately I'm able to spend longer over breakfast than usual. As you can imagine, eggs loom large. Poached, scrambled, boiled (with soldiers), eggs benedict, egg shakshuka, are constantly rotated. I'm even buying vintage eggcups online such is my obsession with the oeuf. (I blame Matt in The Abdication for putting me onto Omelegg last time we were in Amsterdam). That and the amazing CackleBean eggs Lucy sells in Kraft Werks (the Pantone reference for the colour of their yokes hasn't even been invented yet).

Couple all this activity with another culinary infatuation of mine - curry - and it's no surprise that egg and tomato curries are getting a lot of bandwidth currently in the Medd kitchen. Easy to prepare, easy to cook - what's not to like? While I've got you, here's another egg related question...

Dean Martin & Helen O'Connell - How D'ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning? (1951)

49 not out

Forty-nine is a funny number. You can see why, can't you? Well, it's odd for a start; all odd numbers are funny. And it's not quite 50. It'd like to be 50, a half century, a bullseye. It just didn't quite make it. I'll be interested to see how many 49s we get in November's Photo Challenge.

I mention it because this year marks the 49th anniversary of the release of Elvis Costello's debut album My Aim is True. And because the artist formerly known as Declan MacManus isn't keen on significant birthdays he's strongarmed his record company into going early and unleashing on the record buying public an all singing all dancing edition of this rather splendid platter, complete with countless versions, outtakes and demos (many previously unheard), and enough reading matter and associated photographs to keep you going till Christmas. In fact, why don't I let the man himself tell you all about it...

Back in 2022, not long after Covid, when I resurrected Vinyl Night - listening to albums in full - we put Costello's tour de force through its paces and it got a terrific reaction; igniting all sorts of memories. The fact that we cranked it up to 11 didn't do any harm either. I've thought recently about bringing Vinyl Night back and, if I do, this is definitely coming back out to play. 

Andy Burnham cometh

Burnel v Burnham

In 1978 when the Stranglers were labouring away in the studio recording what would become their Black and White album, J.J. Burnel - the band's bass player and resident motorbikin'/ Karate expert - stayed on in the studio while the rest of the band went for a well deserved pint and started recording a few more tunes he'd been holding back. These Can influenced tracks started life on a budget beatbox whereupon Burnel would layer more instruments and before you know it he'd got an album's worth. The resulting long player Euroman Cometh saw the light of day the following year where it reached the dizzy heights of #40 in the album charts. Still, not bad for a collection of dirges and drones knocked up on a basic drum machine. It's got a charm all its own (something that can't always be said about the erratic character that made it). Do the European, in particular, whilst not only very much on point (thank you, Andy Burnham) has, I think, stood the test of time remarkably well.

J.J. Burnel - Do the European (1979)