Sid Smith's Postcards From The Yellow Room

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXX

2012-01-30T08:00:00.001Z

A Class Act III

2012-01-30T07:57:00.001Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXIX

2012-01-29T12:33:00.001Z

Random Penguin LXXVIII

2012-01-29T10:18:00.000Z

1952

Street Life CCL

2012-01-29T08:26:00.000Z

Apropos Of Nothing IV - Why Social Media Is Brilliant (Sometimes)

2012-01-28T14:52:00.001Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXVIII

2012-01-28T13:20:00.000Z

Dynamic Duos XV

2012-01-28T13:16:00.002Z

Gregory Peck and Harper Lee

Something About The Eyes III

2012-01-28T13:07:00.003Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXVII

2012-01-27T14:47:00.002Z

World Book Night XXVII

2012-01-27T10:01:00.000Z

Tim

My shadow over the field

Nominations For God CXIX

2012-01-27T09:54:00.001Z

Jonathan Meades

A Small World

2012-01-26T19:41:00.000Z

Meet Thomas...

Thomas is one of our very lovely neighbours. He'd just got back from a trip to Edinburgh where he'd been giving a talk about the history and practice of a sanatorium on the outskirts of Dresden. His presentation had been at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.

Thomas called round to tell me that over a meal after the presentation, where he lived had come up in conversation. Upon hearing Whitley Bay mentioned an Edinburgh-based colleague informed Thomas that he knew about Whitley Bay through the pages of this very blog!

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXVI

2012-01-26T09:55:00.000Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXV

2012-01-25T11:17:00.000Z

Ditko's Here II

2012-01-25T10:51:00.000Z

The Honourable Member II

2012-01-25T10:36:00.000Z

Gerald Nabarro

The Cat, Of Course, Said Nothing...

2012-01-24T19:32:00.001Z

Actually that old line borrowed from Kinky Friedman is not really true in the case Min. She's constantly nattering away in catspeak, especially when you sit down to try and do some work.

And if reasoning with humans doesn't work then Min generally favours direct intervention...

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXIV

2012-01-24T11:37:00.000Z

The Usual Suspects XXIV

2012-01-24T11:09:00.001Z

Apropos Of Nothing III

2012-01-24T10:57:00.005Z

He seemed to be one of those people, so many of whom gravitate to Pentecostal sects, who move around the West and the South and the Border states forever felling trees in some interior wilderness, secret frontiersmen who walk around right in the ganglia of the fantastic electronic pulsing that is life in the United States and continue to receive information only through the most tenuous chains of rumour, hearsay, haphazard trickledown.

Joan Didion
1979
Notes toward a Dreampolitik
The White Album

When You've Got It, You've Got It! III

2012-01-23T20:17:00.003Z

Julie Driscoll

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXIII

2012-01-23T08:14:00.000Z

Eddie Henderson Realization / Inside Out

2012-01-22T17:29:00.001Z

Eddie Henderson
Realization / Inside Out
Anthology: Volume 2 - The Capricorn Years
Soul Brother

Although the Georgia-based Capricorn label was best-known for releasing The Allman Brothers, full marks to them for taking a punt on Herbie Hancock trumpeter, Eddie Henderson. Fans of the gloriously alchemical musings of Mwandishi / Crossings / Sextant trilogy which features Henderson, will be familiar with the lengthy modal workouts interspersed with generous washes of Hancock’s echo-drenched Fender Rhodes and the occasional burst of Pat Gleason’s ARP-synth alien arabesques. The tumbling, chaotic components of 1973‘s Realization never loses their way thanks to the simmering focus of Billy Hart and Return To Forever’s Lenny White's drumming.

1974’s Inside Out holds the compositional reins a tad tighter than during Realization. With the hook-laden title track sounding at times like a close cousin to Headhunters’ Chameleon, Henderson is in a more playful mood, sneaking quotes from Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue and Bitches Brew’s Spanish Key. Elsewhere, sinewy themes snake through the bustling funkish undergrowth, with Henderson’s gorgeous tone alternating between wry lyricism and bellicose abstraction.

With broadly the same line-up as Realization (with one-time Weather Report member, Eric Gravatt replacing White) there’s understandably a stylistic continuity bridging both albums. Building upon the dead-eyed certainty of Buster Williams’ bass lines, the ensemble pitch a rootsy jazz-funk skywards, audaciously parking it in a weirdly elliptical orbit between melody and structure, but never quite allowing those particular gravitational forces to hold sway entirely.

As a result these are dense, and at times, ambiguous albums that remain bizarrely accessible and all the way out-there all at the same time. Along with fiery contributions from Bennie Maupin, as Henderson’s trumpet swims out across a spacey, freeform ocean, this anthology is like discovering two brand new albums by Mwandishi-period outfit, and if that prospect floats your boat, you should purchase this set without hesitation.

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXII

2012-01-22T12:33:00.001Z

In the post today...

2012-01-21T12:31:00.000Z

A fistful of Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin...

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XXI

2012-01-21T10:06:00.001Z

World Book Night XXVI

2012-01-21T09:45:00.002Z

David

and here the assiduous illuminator himself, bowed to

his desk in a corner

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XX

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000Z

Weather Report Live In Cologne 1983

2012-01-20T07:42:00.000Z

Weather Report
Live In Cologne 1983
Rockpalast

Weather Report
Live In Cologne 1983
Art Of Groove

Those busily writing Weather Report’s musical obituary after the departure of the legendary Jaco Pastorius had to spike their copy when old hands Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter convincingly re-imagined the group with Victor Bailey (bass), Omar Hakim (drums) and Jose Rossy (percussion).

Supple and focussed, this appearance recorded for German TV contains tracks like The Peasant and Blue Sound Note 3 which convincingly rekindle the air of smoky mystery and exploratory impulses that had prompted Weather Report's formation and much of their subsequent career, but which sadly had been missing for far too long.

Fast City is a prime slice of straight-ahead be-bop that has Shorter’s tenor setting the air alight with racing choruses that skim and bounce off Bailey’s effortlessly rippling bass.

Keyboard wizard Zawinul, though ever-present, thankfully tones down the lava-like perma-coating of synths which often overwhelm or mar the original versions of these tunes. Away from fussy studio-induced stodge, the music here really springs about with a welcome degree of lightness, subtlety and joy.

If Weather Report were blown off-course by their unexpected star-status in the late 70s, then this double album (and separately available DVD) is the sound of the band happy and animated at having rediscovered their raison d’etre. Most certainly a cause for celebration.

Something About The Eyes II

2012-01-20T07:30:00.003Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XIX

2012-01-19T11:45:00.001Z

Homeward Bound

2012-01-18T11:31:00.000Z

The view from the office this morning...

A morning spent with Dec and Jakko discussing various bits of musical history and our thoughts thereof. Very useful, and as ever, very enlightening. Jakko dropped me off to Berkhamsted station from where I trained into Euston. I headed over to the British Library at St. Pancras where I set up base camp and did some site updating and general catching up.

It's only a hop, skip and a jump (or in my case a drag, limp and a lurch) away from King's Cross.

On the way home...

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XVIII

2012-01-18T10:28:00.003Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XVII

2012-01-17T17:54:00.001Z

"My Streets are my, Ideas of Imagination..."

2012-01-17T10:11:00.000Z

Sunrise over Aylesbury this morning...

After another wonderful breakfast I was dropped off at the station.

It's cold in them thar hills...

My son texted to inform me that Whitley Bay was -3 in the temperature stakes today. All of which made me glad I was down here instead of up there. On the way in I got a call telling me that this afternoon's meeting was going to have to be rescheduled.

Out of Marylebone and along to Baker Street and then over to Bond Street. Or Henry Ford, Charles Darwin and Geoff Hurst if you follow Simon Patterson's 1992 work, The Great Bear

Then into South Molton Street where once William Blake lived and, as Peter Ackroyd puts it, sat brooding.

Here amongst the expensive eateries, chatteries and shops selling things that people with too much money do not need, if you close your eyes it's just possible to imagine William Blake, living in poverty and with his visions; heaven, hell, Albion and eternity parading past his eyes.

My meeting with a significant participant in the King Crimson story took place a few doors down. It turned out to be a session where some very different songs of innocence and experience were expounded upon at some length.

In clock-time 1969 seems like a long time ago but talking to people who were touched by the music and moved to do things as a result of that exposure, the power of those events seems very real and very much with us in the present.

Nominations For God CXVIII

2012-01-17T08:06:00.000Z

The Usual Suspects XXIII

2012-01-17T08:03:00.000Z

The Honourable Member I

2012-01-16T09:00:00.001Z

Tom Driberg

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XVI

2012-01-16T07:50:00.001Z

Library Pictures

2012-01-16T07:15:00.000Z

Sunrise over Aylesbury way...

After a glorious breakfast, we hit the road...

Arriving at Colindale for a day of archival rummaging in support of the revised and expanded King Crimson biography which I'm currently working on...

The view from the office this morning...

I'd spent a bit of the morning looking over material but an email requiring me to do some urgent writing for a magazine piece arrived and it was a case of having to respond to that rather than my intended task. Nevertheless, lots of useful work done.

Sunset over Colindale...

Out In The Cold...

2012-01-15T16:44:00.000Z

A harsh frost on the ground as I leave the house this morning...

Lesley is giving me a lift to the coldest place on the planet. Debra is coming along for the trip to see me off, and I suspect, head onto further adventuring with Lesley...

Fond farewells...

Inside the funnel of freeze...

I’m heading down to London en route for more adventures of the Crimson kind over the next couple of days.

It's not just Whitley Bay that was coated in frost...

Across London with a stop at Fopp. It’s not remotely on my way but I feel compelled to give it a visit to see what bargains it might offer up. I had a hankering for some Blue Note jazz. The trouble is, when I’m confronted with a wall of said goodies, my mind starts up with this kind of thing:

Have I got this one?

Did I replace this one when I ditched all my cassettes and switched to CDs?

I’ve got this one. Ah, but it might only be a burn and I want Nat Hentoff’s sleevenotes.

And so on.

Usually what happens is I leave empty-handed vowing to make a masterlist that will be with me at all times. I certainly did that the last time I was in London, and indeed did make a masterlist ahead of this trip knowing Fopp would be on the list.

Dear reader, I forgot to bring the list with me!

Marylebone and beyond...

A Class Act II

2012-01-15T09:48:00.001Z

World Book Night XXV

2012-01-15T09:30:00.004Z

Chris

The softening ruts

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XV

2012-01-15T08:26:00.001Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XIV

2012-01-14T08:56:00.001Z

Grandparents Do The Daftest Things...

2012-01-14T08:56:00.000Z

Debra and I were on a conference call to Sam last night who was relaying the latest update on our lovely granddaughter, Aurora. Here's a snap of us as we spoke, with me proudly showing my Aurora Rose key fob.

Yes, you read that right. Debra had gone out and got a bunch of key fobs made with a picture of Aurora. If you looked up the word proud in a dictionary, it might well have this photograph alongside by way of an explanation.

When You've Got It, You've Got It! II

2012-01-14T08:55:00.000Z

Jacques Brel

Three In A Row XV Wire

2012-01-13T14:19:00.001Z

Pink Flag (1977)

Chairs Missing (1978)

154 (1979)

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XIII

2012-01-13T07:26:00.000Z

Ditko's Here I

2012-01-12T12:35:00.002Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XII

2012-01-12T08:12:00.000Z

Water Tower Wednesday LXXI

2012-01-11T12:38:00.002Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo XI

2012-01-11T07:08:00.002Z

World Book Night XXIV

2012-01-11T07:08:00.001Z

Eric

Figure in our own eyes for the eyes of the world

Something About The Eyes I

2012-01-11T07:08:00.000Z

Happy Birthday Aurora Rose

2012-01-10T15:41:00.000Z

Say hello to Aurora Rose. She entered this world at 9.25 a.m. today.

Her mother and father, Jo and Sam, are both doing well. Can't wait to see our granddaughter!

Street Life CCXLIX

2012-01-10T15:31:00.000Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo X

2012-01-10T07:26:00.000Z

Remember The Future Then III

2012-01-10T07:22:00.000Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo IX

2012-01-09T07:19:00.002Z

Nominations For God CXVII

2012-01-09T07:14:00.000Z

Frank R Paul

Whitley Bay Daily Photo VIII

2012-01-08T08:20:00.000Z

The Usual Suspects XXII

2012-01-08T06:55:00.001Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo VII

2012-01-07T08:37:00.000Z

Random Penguin LXXVII

2012-01-07T06:35:00.002Z

1977

Cover design by Omnific

Dynamic Duos XIV

2012-01-06T20:56:00.000Z

Keith Tippett & Stan Tracey

Street Life CCXLVIII

2012-01-06T08:49:00.000Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo VI

2012-01-06T06:08:00.000Z

World Book Night XXIII

2012-01-05T20:49:00.006Z

Trevor

It rang on like the burden of his freedom

Whitley Bay Daily Photo V

2012-01-05T06:00:00.002Z

From Nashville To Newcastle

2012-01-04T16:22:00.000Z

It seems like it's been an age since I left the confines of the yellow room and so I hopped on a Metro and went to Newcastle to soak up the life-affirming properties of the Lit & Phil...

Inside, I had a cuppa with David Almond, who also uses the Lit & Phil as a place to restore one's creative juices. Working in a place like this surrounded by all these wonderful books can't help but get you to raise your game.

I'd more or less just settled down when Andi and Adrian came a-calling. I first met them in Nashville in 2008 when they were working on the King Crimson tour.

The pair have recently relocated to the north east from the Midlands and this was their first visit to the place. After giving them a guided tour of the building, we adjourned to the nearby Grainger Market for a cuppa, a butty and a catch-up...

It was good to catch-up on various happenings in the various musical worlds we orbit and inhabit, as well as remind each other that you only get one shot at this world so best make the most of it!

Street Life CCXLVII

2012-01-04T15:23:00.000Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo IV

2012-01-04T07:34:00.000Z

A Class Act I

2012-01-03T22:19:00.001Z

Whitley Bay Daily Photo III

2012-01-03T21:58:00.001Z

World Book Night XXII

2012-01-02T22:01:00.001Z

Neil

We had driven to that coast

Whitley Bay Daily Photo II

2012-01-02T21:52:00.001Z

Bauble And Slightly Slack

2012-01-02T06:57:00.001Z

This morning we went along to see Bernard and Lesley, who were keen to draw my attention to their Christmas tree...

"Very nice and festive as trees go" I said wondering what it was I supposed to be looking at. Then it became clear...

Knowing of Bernard and Lesley's interest in King Crimson, the Fripp bauble had been custom-built for them as a little present by their daughter Verity's partner, Matt. I wonder if he's taking orders for next year?

Time for a spot of lunch...

As we munched and chatted away, catching up on some significant news, Debbie spotted this in the back yard. I had no idea what it was and thought oversize gonks might be making a comeback...

Apparently it's a rabbit belonging to their other daughter, Errin.

After a marvelous meal then some more chatting...

Whitley Bay Daily Photo I

2012-01-01T14:58:00.019Z

Back in May 2010 I started a blog which ran for one year. The title, Whitley Bay Daily Photo, pretty much summed up the aim and ambition for the thing. Each day I uploaded a snap which to my eyes at least, said something about the place where I live or told a story of some kind.

It's important to know that not all the photographs were taken on the day they were posted. Obviously sometimes I wouldn't get out or indeed would be out of town. Instead, the blog drew upon the reserve of the several thousand images I've accrued over a period of time.

I thought it would be nice to resurrect the Whitley Bay Daily Photo idea but incorporate the series here on Postcards From The Yellow Room, rather than going to the trouble of having to maintain a separate blog and then feel bad about the fact that I wasn't doing enough to promote it.

So, without further ado, here's a brand new series for the year ahead.

Street Life CCXLVI

2011-12-31T17:14:00.000Z

Sleeve Notes of 2011 A - Z

2011-12-30T20:44:00.000Z

Here's your handy cut-out 'n' keep guide to my sleeve notes of 2011...

Armada

Beyond The Morning - Unreleased Recordings 1972-1974

David Bedford

Nurses Song With Elephants

Lol Coxhill

Ear Of The Beholder

Isotope

Illusion

Previous Convictions

Speedy Keen

Y'Know Wot I Mean?

King Crimson

Live in Toronto 1974

King Crimson

Live in New Haven 2003

King Crimson

Starless And Bible Black

King Crimson

Discipline

Pierre Moerlen's Gong

Leave It Open

Pierre Moerlen's Gong

Live

Tony Williams Lifetime

Emergency

Tony Williams Lifetime

Turn It Over

Time Is A Thief

2011-12-29T20:45:00.004Z

The view from the office this morning...

The view of what had been the office at mid-day...

Off to Neil and Halina's for lunch...

Lots of chatting and nibbling and then it was time to head to New Street Station and from there, our almost-empty carriage back to Newcastle.

Working on the train, I see the year ahead is filling up and looking very busy already. A good thing of course but already I can see two non-work projects being squeezed out.

New Years resolutions:

improve my attention to details
do something about the state of my health
waste less time on social media

A Blessing In Brum

2011-12-28T20:20:00.001Z

A trip out for Debra and myself...

Leaving Newcastle...

The view from the office...

Into Birmingham on time and into Chez Jules...

And then some retail therapy...

Despite the many tempting sights in the window display, nothing inside caught my eye or ear. To be honest, I've got more music on my desk than time to listen. So, it was probably a blessing in disguise to come away from the shop empty-handed.

Meanwhile, along the Hagley Road...

Then off to Neil and Halina's for a catch-up and some good food...

A lovely evening with lovely company.

Afterwards, Debra and I pushed the boat out and decided to live it large by having a nightcap in the hotel bar. It was about 10.30 - at night!

Quality And Quantity

2011-12-27T18:04:00.004Z

A quiet couple of days should in theory provide me with a chance to catch up on the many albums I've been sent in recent months but not yet had the time to listen to.

There's so much good music available that there are times when one feels utterly defeated by the sheer, ahem, volume (ho ho) of it all.

Part of the reason for doing this blog was / is to share my enthusiasm for some of the things coming across the desk here in the yellow room. I initially did this by posting reviews and in recent times have began podcasting as a way of covering artists and albums that I liked but didn't always have time to write about.

Nowadays, there just isn't the time to keep up with all the music other than perhaps those very short pieces like they have in the back end of Mojo.

That said, I've been reluctant to go down that road as making a few words count and be meaningful can take even longer than bashing out a couple of hundred - as any poet will tell you.

Unless I re-think the purpose of the blog I suppose it means that there's going to be another huge pile of brilliant music going unmentioned or unchampioned on the blog in the coming year - all of which makes me feel slightly despondent and unfocused.

World Book Night XXI

2011-12-27T17:36:00.002Z

Matt

For they keep dancing til they sight the deer

The Usual Suspects XXI

2011-12-26T17:26:00.001Z

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:54:00.002Z

After being up at around 6.00ish I made the mistake of going back to bed and then "slept in" until 8.45 a.m. I say mistake because I fell back into a sleep populated by troubled anxiety dreams in which everything that could be lost was right royally lost. Although I had slept in, others had not and furthermore had been busy...

Alys had baked a tray of beautiful vanilla cupcakes...

After Doris arrived, it was time to proceed from the orange room to the red room for the opening of presents...

And then we eat an unfeasibly large amount of food...

Not long after this, The Quinns arrive for yet another bout of present-giving...

After a savage game of Star Wars Monopoly it was time for folks to go but not before I donned my comedy teeth (a present from Debra). For reasons which seem somewhat elusive now, back in the 60s and 70s Dick Emery, in his Toothy Vicar character, only had to smile and an entire nation would almost wet itself with laughter.

For years I've wanted a set of these comedy gnashers to whip out for exactly this kind of occasion, and now I have...

The Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T19:32:00.006Z

I was up way too early today but had plenty to do so it wasn't so bad. And besides, you get to see this kind of thing...

Later in the day the Christmas Meal Assembly Team began to, well, assemble in its own inimitable fashion...

This year we've been joined by Adam, Alys's partner...

Who was immediately set to work...

After all the preparations for tomorrow were out of the way I cooked a meal for the six of us...

A wonderful day. Cooking together and a sprinkling of light-hearted banter is a surefire recipe for success in any family. I said to Debra at one point - it doesn't get much better than this, does it?
It doesn't, and if I pop my clogs tonight, then this will have been one of the happiest and most contented days on the planet for me. I count myself very lucky indeed.

Listening To...

2011-12-23T19:00:00.001Z

In The Post Today

2011-12-22T18:57:00.001Z

My Favourite Martian VIII

2011-12-21T18:53:00.001Z

The View From The Office This Morning XXI

2011-12-20T18:29:00.002Z

Dynamic Duos XIII

2011-12-19T12:58:00.001Z

Frank Hampson & Marcus Morris

Random Penguin LXXVI

2011-12-18T20:54:00.001Z

1994

In Fine Fettle

2011-12-17T20:02:00.005Z

This last week I've written four lots of sleevenotes for a set of reissues due out next year, and I'm about to start work on another two over the Xmas period. There's a phoner set up for tomorrow and an article to turn around this side of Xmas. To say I'm busy at the moment is an understatement!

Meanwhile houseguest Peter has arrived to check up on The Wilsons...

He judges them to be in fine fettle...

No assessment was made of Min...

who was more concerned with the action going on outside...

Ships

2011-12-16T12:46:00.002Z

Some days you just feel deep-down tired and a bit lost at sea...

Snow Business

2011-12-16T12:44:00.002Z

Lately I've Let Things Slide

2011-12-15T12:26:00.003Z

The view of the office this morning...

I've been busy and when I'm busy I tend to get very messy. Amazingly, Min somehow manages to find a spot to sit in. That's a real talent.

Water Tower Wednesday LXX

2011-12-14T12:09:00.001Z