A few years back in this place, in our time-honoured way, we shared our tales of what happens at the Venn diagram intersection of our own musical world and the normal lives of the rest of our world – family, non-music friends, colleagues. I was reminded of this on this day last year. One of my union muckers, aware that I was unlikely to be doing something straightforward like going to see the Alex, had driven the local train to take me to Crewe and once there, I was greeted with a
“Eh up, lad, where you off to?”
“Audlem Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy Day.”
“Do you know? I regretted asking that question even before I’d finished asking it.”
So how are the experiences with civilians going?
Further, while I know from blogs passim that this musical combination sounds like a real horror show to many of you, and the accompanying link probably won’t convert you. But surely you’ve got to love that, for one day a year, an obscure village on the Cheshire/Shropshire border becomes the focus for drone-driven dance music. There will be Northumbrian pipes, uilleann pipes, border pipes, English bagpipes and so much more than just the tartan-flavoured stuff. And gurdies akimbo. Musicians flaunting their non-populist stuff in the heart of Middle England. My honest appraisal of last year’s day was ‘life affirming’.
Is there anything comparably obscure that goes on in your manor? If so, celebrate it. Just as I will now, as I saddle up the bike to head off to …
Audlem Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy Day. Hurrah!
Contributing to this site about pretty much anything in the recently updated column would count as obscure to most of the people at my butcher’s counter. I was thinking about how I would describe the recent selection of topics to a stranger, and I came up with, “you know, a bit like the brother back at home in that Mott song”.
Mott the who????????
Do you still have a butcher, Retro? Not many of those left around here except in the food halls in town.
I am definitely a civilian when it comes to meat. 100 years ago, the average shopper knew about all the different cuts available. I am one of all those young dudes who doesn’t even know mutton from lamb.
Actually the delight of moving to Lichfield 15 years ago is that there is a thriving butchery domain in Staffordshire, from Peter Coates of Alrewas, Walter Smith in Lichfield, Russells of Shenstone and C.Robinson & Sons in Burntwood. I bought a rabbit and some faggots from the latter only this week, and the rabbit is to be consumed tomorrow. They all make their own pies and sausages. and life is good. In moderation.
That is very impressive. Although rather bony, rabbit is delicious. But I have no idea where you can buy some or indeed a faggot or home-made pie here in Stockholm.
Oddly, Swedes have all heard of steak and kidney pies and have a very low opinion of them.
@Kaisfatdad; Taylor & Jones at Hantverkargatan are your friendly British butchers in Stockholm… Home made pies, sausages etc, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could find a faggot in there as well.
With good reason.
Why anyone would choose to eat a kidney with all its urine taste is beyond me.
Kidneys are magnificent. I like them fried with onion, garlic, chilli, mushroom & English mustard, served on toast.
Have you never read James Joyce or listened to Lou Reed?
I hardly think we can take our lead from Leopold Bloom when it comes to preparing kidneys for breakfast….
“—There’s a smell of burn, she said. Did you leave anything on the fire?
—The kidney! he cried suddenly.”
That first chapter had me salivating….
How absolutely wonderful. Put me on the first train!
Audlem seems to be a very lively community. A village that goes its own way.
How about some Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy music from Hungary? 20 or so pipers giving it some welly. What is that… You are getting your coats..
Magnificent! Though somewhat light on the gurdys; we had twelve in the backroom of the Bridge Inn yesterday, and it’s not a big room.
Excellent illustration of Hungarian bagpipes, as mentioned in my post below. A good vet could get them back on their feet. Indeed, Mike Billington has a set that he describes as being ‘of obvious gender’.
Is that Michael Billington of Rebec..? We became friends on Facebook via a mutual friend and he sends me his recordings. Nice chap!
The very same. He is great company, which is just as well, as I had his Hungarian bagpipe in my right ear most of yesterday.
As it happens, I was the support when he played my folk club in the summer, and through that club and sundry sessions I enjoy, it turns out I have quite a connection with Rebec. Not surprising given the provenance of much of their music.
On the last day of the Culture Festival here in August, at the bottom of Kungsträdgården, there are always a large number of people with key harps and fiddles having spontaneous jam session.
All quite splendid.
There is also a dance tent where visitors can dance polka and schottis all day and it does not cost a penny.
Asturians are not shy about their love of the gaita (their variation on the bagpipes.)
And Tyroleans have some serious brass festivals.
This vintage clip is full of surprises. Like cockfighting.
And of course Audlem was a victim of the ever charming Dr Beeching. As remembered in this beauty
Flanders and Swann – The Slow Train
Sounds like my kind of day.
Have some medieval pipes from some chums of mine.
I did the first closed-door vinyl afternoon in my local cafe a couple of weeks back (Sgt Pepper to ease them into the idea). 25 civilians came to hear an album they can all listen to on Spotify at home, so that was a result.
I handed out some suggestions slips with “what album would you like to us to feature?”. Amongst the Floyd/Mac/Eagles/Hendrix stock civilian answers was Michael Buble’s ‘Call Me Irresponsible’.
There’s really no accounting for taste, is there?
Call Me Irresponsible is his appropriately-named experimental glitchcore album, I believe – only available as a white label. There’s more to “The Boob” than meets the eye.
On first reading I thought that said ‘girthcore’, which I must admit had me intrigued
It would be a brave soul who googled that.
I googled… and found a remarkable page.
http://www.metaljazz.com/2018/03/la_previews_march_915_watchers.php
A few choice quotes:
“L.A. Speedfest 3 revs yer cardiac with the blastiest & fastiest of punk/metal subgenres like girthcore and mince.
Israeli emigre space funksters Maetar welcome you into their world of earthy transcendence. With artistic singer-violinist Lili Haydn and spontaneous painting by Norton Wisdom.
Chicago’s Harm’s Way scorch the heavy hardcore oompah. With Ringworm Vein, Queensway. ”
Heavy hardcore oompah sounds just the job.
It is a fact that whatever the noun/verb/adjective, someone somewhere has at some point appended “core” on the end of it to make up a music genre, usually consisting of a maximum of three records. 90s music journos had this down to a fine art.
Good point. If one digs deep enough, one will even discover Moosecore…
Aaaargh!
I deny everything.
MB’s new album is available on “milky white” vinyl. I’m saying nowt.
Just imagine trying to explain this to the bloke in the paper shop.
(Charles Hayward – Rattlesnake & Slow Train)
Everybody knows that hurdy gurdys were invented by DONOVAN.
That Donovan guy is everywhere. Last week someone sent me (don’t ask) some “erotic” pictures, and amongst these was a series with a couple doing it in front of a large Donovan poster behind their bed. He’s apparently “big” in France.
It’s the Breton cap, I reckon.
There has been some pretty esoteric stuff on this thread, But your French Donoverotica pics really take the biscuit, Fatima.
How on earth did you know they were French? Did you catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower?
https://wordpress.com/view/chickswithdisks.wordpress.com
Hurrrr
This came upon a facebukk page. More Donovan (non erotic) and others.
Marc and Joan,
Another string to DONOVAN’s bow – until now I was unaware that he had also invented street protests.
I doff my metaphorical DONOVAN cap (that Dylan and Lennon stole) to him.
Not exactly the same but..
last weekend I was with a team of…younger referees. One of my older mates is Geoff Rodgers. Who obviously goes by “Buck”.
Two of the kids don’t know why. One of them thinks he fought Ming on Mars.
I am old.
They’ve obviously never heard of Feeder.
I like Feeling a Moment.
Frankly, at my age I like feeling anything.
Oho!
Not often that Moose is wrong, but the Hurdy-Gurdy Hitmaker did not invent the instrument did lead to new surge in popularity and the founding of festival over in Washington State (now defunct by the look of things). It is an instrument with a long, colourful history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy-gurdy
Here’s Spencer Tracy playing one in Captains Courageous.
France is the bastion of hurdy gurdyism and there was a big festival in Saint Chartier. This nostalgic blogspot about it is a delightful read.
http://andy-letcher.blogspot.com/2012/07/saint-chartier-est-mort-vive-chateau.html
Not only is Moose incorrect about Donovan but my friend further up on the pipes was booked to do a session playing the Hurdy Gurdy for Donovan.
Donovan walked in took a look at the hurdy gurdy and asked ‘What’s that?’
I literally lol’d at that 🙂
Answer – ‘It’s a Hurdy Gurdy, man…’.
Even the Muftiest of civilians would want to get dancing to Brick a Drac.
Who says that hurdy gurdyists are not ready to rock?
Turn the hurdy up to 11 and reboot the bagpipes …..
Is that a pipe in your bag or are you just pleased to see me?
I think we have got to the point where we can dip our toe into the lake of …jazz hurdy gurdy.
Mmm! Nice!
I’ll see your jazz hurdygurdy and raise you some free-jazz bagpipes.
That is extraordinary. I have never ever heard the pipes played like that. I am not surprised to read that this day job is as a sax player.
http://www.mindyourownmusic.co.uk/paul-dunmall.htm
A very impressive c.v.
I cannot follow that but these Russian gurdy folk make an impressively droney noise. Cracking hats too.
And here is a serious HG virtuoso, Matthias Loibner.
Unable to get the link for YouTube but Rufus Harley is worth a look for jazz bagpipes.
Played on Laurie Anderson’s ‘Sweaters’ ( that’s a track not her clothing). One of my favourite moments was asking for it to be played in a local record shop. There was considerable bemusement.
Great choice, Hubert. Not heard that before. I can imagine that Sweaters raised a few eyebrows.
What I like about Rufus and Paul Dunmall (who Mike posted above) is that they are taking their instrument seriously and making me want to listen.
I have been damaged by hearing too many pipers togged out in a kilt standing by a lochside playing a very limited repertoire. Badly.
Not just eyebrows, there was a raising of heads as to look at the speakers in the shop as if there might be a visual clue as to what they were hearing.
Shooting the breeze with three British lads at the cricket last week. I am guessing they were all late twenties.
In an exchange of trivia one said that Nigel Farage is younger than Johnny Depp. I replied that Mike Pence is younger than Flavor Flav.
None of them had heard of Flav or Public Enemy.
Nooooooo boyeeeeeeee!
Lucky sods.
Discovery of the day: Muddy Gurdy. Three French musicians, including vielle a roue player , Gilles Chabenat, head to Missisipi to explore the local music culture. No Donovan fans there: the locals had never heard of the Hurdy!
Full story.
http://www.hypnotic-wheels.com/review/detailed-story-and-compilation-in-froots-magazine/
Now then, Gilles Chabenet is very much part of my dance scene. I look forward to him bringing some of that crossover back to the next mazurka workshop.
My local sport stadium has a annual Cheerleading competition.
I wanted to attend to assess the erm “Musicianship” and because i love Glokenspiel stuff.
Wife says no.
You naughty man.
The hurdy gurdy and the bagpipes have often been played together. This article explains a little of the history.
http://www.hotpipes.com/hgpipes.html
And here is some fetishistic Hurdy Gurdy erotica!
http://www.hotpipes.com/hggirls.html
“If you can abide it
Let the hurdy gurdy play
Stranger ones have come by here
Before they flew away…”
(Sorry about that, but you know, on every thread, WE NEED THE DEAD!).
Marvelous! As a band with their roots deep in American music, the Dead most certainly belong here.
I had to google to find the song but here it is, performed by Suzanne Vega for a change.
That is a beautiful version, for me the standout on Deadicated, the tribute album that formally “got” me the Dead.
I suspect that not much gold dust was being sprinkled over the cleavages of Audlem on Saturday.
Back in the days of the Gold Rush, 150 or so years ago, the Hurdy Girls aka the Hessian Broom Girls were sweeping the prospectors off their feet.
http://www.revisionist.net/hurdy-gurdy.html
All long before Mick Jagger met any gin-soaked barroom queens in Memphis.
The hurdie gurdie girls were there to dance and there were strict rules about how they should behave. At a dollar a dance, it was an expensive pleasure!
http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2011/06/entertainers-hurdy-gurdy-girls.html
This reminded me strongly of Sebastian Barry’s wonderful novel, Days without end, where the two protagonists dress up in drag and entertain in a variety show.
This is a great thread. A true byway of popular culture. Thanks to thecheshirecat for starting it but I’m so pleased Kaisfatdad is firing on all four cylinders. The blog wouldn’t be the same without the pair of you.
Well I, for one, am impressed at how the blog has meandered via Swedish butchers and genre coining, and ‘dad has excelled himself with hurdy gurdy offerings. Turns out that Halsway Manor in Somerset (folk heaven, I believe, though I’ve never been) has an entire weekend of Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy. This gives me the opportunity to post three sevenths of Blowzabella giving it some dance music action.
To think, the original thread was just a few of us chuntering about not being able to freely discuss The Lurkers at the water cooler. From little acorns… (or “aykerns” as that bloke says on the White Stripes record)
However, I would like to object to the mention of Michel Buble. Where is my safe space?
Thanks for the kind words, Tigger. I am really enjoying our explorations enormously. Cheshire certainly knows how to find a tasty bone that will get Kaisfatdog wagging his tail.
Here are Symbio, a modern Swedish duo combining hardy and accordion.
Not explored yet but I suspect the HG has quite a presence in Early Music.
If this doesn’t get Cheshire up and dancing, nothing will.
And that led me to this.
Talk about hardcore. A whole YT channel dedicated to the HG! And very well done too.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLQpoaUGjfVnEPX7HbjVmZw?pbjreload=10
Ha! That is indeed one of my favourite dance tunes, written by Andy Cutting. Blowzabella often open with it and I am there, kilted and booted, poised with a partner, so that I don’t miss a move. Schottische tunes are so often the ones that fill the floor.
Blowzabella are definitely a band who I will be listening to more after this thread,
Here is another cover of Le Petit Chien by two Italian geezers.
Infectious!
Here is the composer Andy Cutting playing it.
My recommendation : start at Octomento, the first album of the current and definitive line up. It’s the one where, most of all, the tunes stand on their own two feet, even if you have no penchant to dance. By contrast, the live album Dance meets the Trades Descriptions Act and captures the experience.
Now that is what I call a dance band!
I am chuffed to see that Octomento is on Spotify.
And was equally chuffed to discover this clip of Blowzabella playing their socks off at a festival in France.
An audience who know how to dance. That made my evening.
A little classical music? Let’s have some Bach!
And some 18th Century court music. Tobie Miller is a rather impressive HG virtuoso.
How about some baroque? Here are two German musicians (from the Neue Deutsche Welle/German New Wave era) who have an ongoing project to release 100 albums – each in a different genre.
Two examples from their baroque album – channeling “Afro Blue” and the “Pippi Longstocking” theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1ND9HrI8i0&t=0s&list=PLgXwpIozFGVsyEvxMEmFAS7enpH5Sxkla&index=16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cAMNLxbECg&index=11&list=PLgXwpIozFGVsyEvxMEmFAS7enpH5Sxkla
Which neatly brings this thread and Kaisfatdad’s Jan Johansson thread together…! 🙂
Wiggled Boning sounds very rude to me. But his Baroque Pippi is splendid.
Oh heck!
For those that think “Classical Music” is boring & takes itself too seriously. Try this.
It never fails to cheer me up.
That certainly was not boring. This probably is but it is different-
I wanted to find Besame Mucho played on the hurdy but this was the best I could find.
Or how about this? The stage act is a tad more exciting than Kraftwerk.
I once had a daft idea. One local pub used to have a Sunday acoustic evening, and I discussed with mates the possibility of getting together as a four-piece group to play this event. We would be playing Kraftwerk covers on various acoustic instruments – one of us already owned an harmonium, and had others to hand.
Unfortunately it never happened as the pub stopped the event due to a change of ownership.
I’d have paid to see that.
See also my friend’s Radiohead-in-a-C&W-style band, Rodeohead.
Rodeohead! Best band name of the week! They sound rather good too.
Cracking article!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/arts/music/hurdy-gurdy-matthias-loibner-schubert-winterreise.html
And here are Brot und Sterne, the jazz trio that Loibner plays in.
They sound extremely promising.
A longer song played live.
Maybe we can initiate a revival of the phonofiddle? Dr. Strangely Strange sure played one…
Much as may be expected I don’t think the Strangelies used the phonofiddle, come to the the Incredibles didn’t either.
I recall Neil Innes saying how awful they were to play so the Bonzos may have used one.
I’ve seen either a still or a clip of the Bonzos featuring a phonofiddle. From their early days with Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell in the ranks, AFAIR.
G.H. Chirgwin would have been perfect for the Bonzos.
An hilarious multi-instrumentalist, he was the last great virtuoso of the bladder and string. Sounds like a complete hoot.
https://www.jonroseweb.com/e_vworld_phonofiddle.html
The Stranglies’ new (official) biography is very big on phonofiddles!
Rahssan Roland Kirk – The Inflated Tear Live In Prague 1967
Some people will go to any length to get the spinach out of their teeth.
This thread will not be complete without a mention of Stalin and the Conference of Kharkiv.
In the Ukraine there used to be two kinds of travelling blind minstrels: kobzari and the lyrnyky.
The latter played a lira, the Ukranian word for hurdy gurdy.
The former played a bandura, the national instrument of the Ukraine. (For this reason the kobzars are often referred to as bandurists.)
This article has some cracking vintage photos of both professions.
http://www.brama.com/art/kobzar.html
Stalin hated them all. According to an often mentioned story, in 1932 he summoned all the kobzars to a conference in Kharkiv and then massacred them.
Here is a trailer for an Ukranian film, The Guide, which mentions the massacre. A kobzar would often have a sighted attendant who helped them.
@Locust, you mentioned this thread having connections with the Jan Johansson one. I just discovered another.
From Jazz på Ryska, a track called bandura.
And here is kobzar (blind minstrel) Pavlo Suprun playing a bandura in Kiev.
Glad to see that Stalin was not successful in wiping out the kobzari.
With Winter approaching (for our N. Hemisphere readership), I thought I’d put a clip of Scandinavian Ice Music into the mix. Take it away, Terje!
That really is rather lovely! But it cannot be easy being the roadie for that band.
From the sublime to the bizarre. A hurdy gurdy, especially made for use underwater. The wackiest thing I’ve seen this week.
http://andycavatorta.com/rotacorda.html
You will not be surprised to hear that it is rather difficult to sing underwater.
Bagpipes of Havana! I was not expecting that. Not surprisingly, it is the Asturian rather than the Scottish variety, that young Cubans are learning.
https://havanatimes.org/?p=123014
Even so, I think it is all rather fun.
The Buena Vista Bagpipe Club! Fidel, where’s your troosers?
Havanna and Heather is an exotic mixture!
Wow! Suddenly I have a vision of El Gato de Cheshire in his boot and kilt burning up the floor dancing to a Schottische played by some sultry senoritas from Santiago de Cuba.
Pass the rum, compadre!
This will get your toes tingling.
Efren Lopez used to be in a Spanish folk band called L’ham de foc which I rather liked. Then suddenly he popped up again today playing his “viola de roda”. Very good too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o8G6WNA4Xk
Want to know more? Course you do!
http://www.efrenlopez.net/web_angles/angpresent.htm
I am so fascinated by Sr. Lopez, that I am going for a second helping.
First an improvisation on the hurdy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbD5cUjdTEY
And now Abracadabra again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2zv0cfEDqQ
And going back a few years, the wonderful L’Ham de Foc.
Singer Mara Aranda is worthy of further investigation.
And now a visit to the Prado where there is a fine painting of a blind hurdy gurdy player by Georges de la Tour.
https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/a-blind-hurdy-gurdy-player/33422fcb-a2b9-4a83-b907-e539aaed796d
Georges painted several hurdy gurdy men. Here is one (on the left) getting into a punch up.
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/628/georges-de-la-tour-the-musicians%27-brawl-french-about-1625-1630/
This lass calls herself The Snake Charmer.
How would she go down in Audlem?
Black latex and studs make a pleasant change from a kilt.
She is rocking a black leather sporran!
Did some research. She is from Delhi and her name is Archy J,
https://celticlife.com/archy-j/
To think, HP is missing this!
On December 10th Colindale Folk Club hosts Anna Tam, a classical soprano / folk singer who also plays nyckelharpa, cello, viola da gamba and hurdygurdy, though I don’t suppose she’ll be bringing all of those with her. Probably just the nyckelharpa.