Monday 2 February 2015

A MUSICAL PILGRIMAGE TO YESTERYEAR


Well, I'm in a state of shock, truly.

     Cleaning my basement yesterday, I found several cases of photographs which contained duplicates of portfolios which had been submitted  (and sometimes sold to) the National Film Board in the 70's.  Now, there are a couple of those images I wouldn't mind seeing again but, for the most part, I was planning to chuck the whole lot. I got way too much stuff, which is why I was cleaning in the first place. I put the lot of 'em in the  fast growing "toss out" pile.

      Later, around midnight, I succumbed to my curiosity. I carefully lifted the lid of one of the old cases, avoiding the mould, mildew and general unpleasantness of the exterior. The first thing I saw was a clear plastic envelope containing colour photos. I was shocked! I knew what they were although I hadn't seem them in decades. My trip to England in 1973!

     I'm very thrilled to have found these long lost personal treasures and have decided to share because of their relevance to music. Pics from my first gig, no less!
     Most are of me with my musician friend, Alvin.  We were in a duo briefly during my six months in England. 
     Last year we touched base for the first time since 1973, via text.  One of the things Alvin asked me at that time was if I had any photos of the two of us.  He was disappointed that I learn that although I remembered having the photos, I had no idea as to their current whereabouts.  To me they were lost. We both remembered a really cool pic of him in a chair......
     Here's what I found :


arriving on stage for my first concert ever!
Liverpool, England
gettin' it going
cool dude...
even with that Martin D-28,  I'm still lookin' about 12 yrs old!

really can't believe I went for the ivories first time out

off to London--guess you know where
we tried THE shot but the cars weren't stopping!

singing away.....
and apparently getting attention...
nice wheels...
oops...almost forgot

     It's hard to believe that I only used 1 roll of film over a six month period--but it's true : half of it shot one day in Liverpool and the other half in London, again one day.
     And guess what, for my last month of this trip, I hitchhiked through Belgium, France then down to Spain. I loved it there, instantly.
A sign, it seems, of things to come....