I have loved this song for 40 years. Although it came out in late ’71 I didn’t find it until that never ending summer of ’76. In fact, I didn’t find it. It found me. My best mate, Des, had moved into town in ’74. He was a student at the local Tech and we had met in the pub, found we had the same taste in music, beer and women, and had become firm, life-long friends. In ’76 I had a few months between jobs. In fact we were both working for an agency, so found ourselves with plenty of August afternoons, sitting in the garden of his shared house, stereo blaring out of the window, drinking big bottles of cider and making each other laugh. This song, from an album that he love, was a big part of that soundtrack, that summer. As each cider bottle was emptied it was launched into the hedge behind us. The trick was to get it to lodge in the hedge, rather than fall out. The more drunk we got, the funnier the whole thing was. We were 19, not a care in the world. Now look at us. The fact that we are both still alive is a miracle. Both of us have had the motive, opportunity and have come THAT close……. I have had to take a year’s break from him, almost the longest we have ever been apart. It just got too much and was starting to affect my mental health. In his Christmas card he said he was in AA, so I hope that works for him and that we can meet up and make each other laugh again. Like we always have done.
I guess we won’t be chucking bottles of cider in any hedges though.
Cider bottles in the hedge
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Hmmm.
40th anniversary of that amazing summer is approaching. Perfect weather for the pot-and-acid-addled hippy that I was in those days.
I was just now (since reading the above and starting to type this) trying to discover what date was the last rainfall before it started. No luck. It must have been the best part of 3 months, June to August.
I do remember that for the last week of it there was the obvious tension of an approaching thunderstorm and where I was, in darkest West Wales, the rain was torrential when it broke. So heavy it was nigh impossible to be outside in it.
I was working in a tourist cafeteria which had roads sloping downward towards it from left and right outside, overlooking a valley with a drystone wall and some wooden benches on the opposite side of the road. As the rain lashed down the road outside and the area with the benches quickly began to fill up with water, approaching the top of the two steps onto the veranda of the café. Luckily, the rain stopped for a while and the gardener from the Hotel next door ventured out and unblocked the clogged drains by the wall, allowing the water to pour away into the woodland below.
Of course the café, being pretty much the only place of shelter, filled up with punters while the downpour was in progress, so we were suddenly incredibly busy. A very good day for my employers.
Have an Up. I really enjoyed reading that.
Life at 19. So carefree, at least in some ways.
All that cider. But where was Rosie?
Oh, and cider.
I was just starting on a pint of Addlestones Cloudy cider when I spotted the OP. It has now been consumed.
Remember Loggins and Messina well and the summer of 76. My mate was a big Loggins and Messina fan – he had the studio albums but also a superb live album. At that time we were also listening to Tom Scott because he played in Joni Mitchell’s band and we we’re big Joni fans. We took turns choosing an album to play – he went with Loggins and Messina whilst my choices invariably were Steely Dan and Leonard Cohen. We camped around Europe with an Interrail ticket just as the summer was breaking – for a month we had about 4 days of sun. When we got back to UK our house parties included dousing my younger brothers aairfix model planes in lighter fuel, set them alight and throwing them out the bedroom window as if they had been brought down by enemy fire. One time my dad got up the next morning for work after we had a house party. The cherry blossom tree in the front garden was adorned with cider bottles and blown up condoms. Of course the condoms had never been used for the purpose for which they were made. We just pretended then.