Thursday 23 February 2012

52: The Mother(s) of all bands part 2

Of all The Beatles it is John Lennon’s relationships with his mother Julia Stanley Lennon and Mary (Mimi) Stanley Smith, the aunt who raised him from the age of five has received most attention. Indeed it has been the basis of a film ‘Nowhere boy’ which I reviewed in one of my earliest posts.

John would also publicly document his feelings for Julia on several occasions. She would inspire the songs ‘Julia’, ‘Mother’ and ‘my mummy’s dead’. Ian McDonald has perhaps written with most sensitivity about the effect that Julia’s early death would have on John in his acclaimed ‘Revolution in the head’.
Having read Hunter Davies’ biography, what strikes me about Mimi Smith is her treatment of John as male. Mimi told Hunter Davies she was so delighted when Julia gave birth to a boy, she could only think of baby John and forgot Julia. John (as generations of men before and since) would have received the message that a male he was deserving of a privileged position within society. At the same time, Mimi’s strong personality was dominant within the Smith household. John, as many generations of men and women before him received extremely mixed messages about the role that women should play in relation to men.

Mimi Smith, like Mary McCartney, trained to be a nurse. She also shared Mary’s aspirations to be middle class and placed a high premium on social respectability and education. It can be argued therefore that Paul and John were raised by very similar women. This would be repeated when Paul and John would later marry women who shared many similarities (but more of this in a later post- I hope!).

There is the additional issue of John’s unsettled childhood. I will not over the events of John’s childhood. As Gould put it in his book John had an aunt who acted as a mother and mother who acted as an aunt. Mimi Smith has been portrayed as something of a battleaxe, but she gave John a stable home, particularly through his tempestuous teenage years. It is also important when considering Julia’s role in John’s life that she fell foul of  the rigid morality of the post war era (having to give an illegitmate daughter up for adoption and losing sutody of John). She was however able to eventually make a home on her own terms with her partner and their daughters and began to rebuild her relationship with John.

The memory of Juliawould haunt John for years after her tragic early death. Several of John's songs dwell on absent/non-responsive women (Yes it is/No reply) and jealous men (Run for your life). Ian MacDonald in his book ‘Revolution in the head’ discusses John’s desire to find a highly intellectual, artistic, assertive woman who would provide him with a fulfilling and equal partnership.  John would eventually find this woman in Yoko Ono.

There are additional formidable women in the early story of The Beatles. There is Mona Best, who was Pete’s mother and who ran the Casbah where the Beatles would play some of their early gigs. She would become very embittered about the way Pete was treated by his own time band mates. Hunter Davies was finally reveal in the 2009 edition of the Beatles biography that Mona had been in a relationship with Neil Aspinall, the Beatles school mate and road manager. There was also Queenie Epstein, Brian’s mother.

Astrid Kirchherr was also arguably a mother figure to the group. The band lived in squalid conditions with little money while in Hamburg and Astrid and her mother made sure that they got a decent meal and wash whenever possible. Astrid would also help the band develop their image and greatly assisted their intellectual development by introducing them to intellectual concepts (such as existentialism) that they had not previously been exposed to She also helped the band develop their image (giving them their trademark page boy haircuts) . This care was repaid when Stuart Sutcliffe died of a brain aneurysm in 1962. She remains protective of the band, and has refused many offers to tell her story and artefacts connected to the band. She did act as advisor on the film ‘Backbeat’ which told the story of her relationship with Stuart and the Beatles and helps with Beatles events in Hamburg.

However, as I wrote at the beginning of this post, having a strong female role model for a mother does not translate into viewing women as equals.  This will be shown in the relationships that the Beatles had with their first wives. I hope eventually to look at the way that the Beatles partners/wives have been treated by the media

Monday 20 February 2012

51: The mother of all bands Part 1

OK time to justify some Beatles love..

I have recently read Hunter Davies’ official biography of The Beatles and am reading Jonathan Gould’s ‘Can’t buy me love’. Both these books have got me thinking about the role John, Paul, George and Ringo’s mothers (this includes Mimi Smith) played in their son’s musical development.

It has been noted by Gould that Liverpool has a strongly matriarchal culture (at least in the domestic arena). This is due in no small part to the fact that it is a port city. In many households the men earned their living in the shipping industry and would be at sea for long periods of time. Women would both step in the role of heads of household and breadwinners during these periods. Both Alf Lennon and Harold Harrison spend periods working in the shipping industry. In addition Liverpool has a large Irish population. Ireland has a strong domestic matriarchal culture of its own. Both Mary Mohin McCartney and Louise French Harrison were or Irish descent. However while a matriarchal culture may equate with respect for the mother within the domestic sphere it does not necessary translate to respect and equality for women generally!

Richard Starkey aka Ringo Starr was born to Richard Starkey and Elise Gleave Starkey in July 1940. Ringo was brought up in Dingle, one of the most deprived areas of Liverpool. Ringo’s father left the family when Ringo was three (He would send maintenance to Elsie). Elsie was left to raise Ringo by herself. As a result a close bond developed between Ringo and his mother. Elsie worked in a variety of jobs to make ends meet (As Ringo mentions – with respect- in Anthology she would take any down home job to ensure this) . Ringo also spent a lot of time with both his grandmothers as a child, who acted as caregivers while Elsie was working. Ringo had two serious long term illnesses as a child (peritonitis when he was six and pleurisy when he was 13, and found it difficult to settle in at school due to the long absences caused by these illnesses. Elsie got remarried to Harry Graves when Ringo was 13 and Harry and Ringo enjoyed a good relationship. Harry would actually buy Ringo his first set of drums and help Ringo find work when he left school. Ringo would buy a luxury Bungalow in Merseyside for Elsie and Harry. Elsie would live to the age of 72.

Mary Mohin McCartney was the one Beatles mother who managed to establish herself in a career as a nurse and midwife. She also married Paul’s father James at the relatively old age of 31 in 1941. She would become a health visitor upon her marriage to James She managed to combine her role as a health visitor with raising two sons Paul (born June 1942) and Michael (born 1944). She eventually returned to midwifery when Paul and Michael were older.

Mary would be a formative influence on her sons, particularly Paul. She had a strong work ethic and placed strong importance on self improvement (not least in correcting her sons scouse accents), and of being sociable. It is interesting to note the number of similarities between Mary McCartney and Mimi Smith. Mimi Smith had trained to be a nurse, aspired to be middle class and tried to get John to speak with more of a ‘received pronunciation’ accent. Tragically Mary would die of breast cancer when Paul was 14. James McCartney was left to raise two lively teenage boys and run a household by himself. The family also had a considerably reduced income without Mary’s wages. Davies relates the difficulties this period brought for James McCartney. Not least of these was having to take a mother’s role of providing emotional support to Paul and Michael. He also relates how James found it difficult to adapt to chores such as cooking. However he must have done a good job as he always enjoyed a warm and close relationship with his two sons. James McCartney perhaps provided Paul with a more rounded and nurturing version of masculinity, which would allow Paul to form a strong partnership with Linda.

Mary would be remembered with deep affection by both her sons. She is the ‘mother Mary’ of Let it be’ ‘speaking words of wisdom’ comforting her son ‘in my darkest hour’. As I noted in my post about Paul McCartney it is a sign of his particular genius that he takes such a personal experience and turns it into something universal. Paul has explained in interviews that the song was inspired by a dream he had about his mother during the stressful breakup of the Beatles. However some listeners assume that 'Mother Mary' is Mary the mother of Jesus (more about this anon).

George Harrison was not only the youngest Beatle (born February 1943) but the youngest of four children born to Harold and Louise French Harrison. Louise Harrison noted George’s independent nature, intelligence and desire for privacy at an early age. Louise was apparently a no-nonsense person who did not suffer fools gladly – traits that George inherited. Louise was the one parent out of all the Beatles parents who was encouraging towards the band in the early days. She would allow the band to rehearse in the Harrisons small home, despite the noise! James McCartney and Mimi Smith wanted Paul and John to pursue further education. Harry Harrison persuaded George to take on an apprenticeship as an electrician. He did not see a future career in music. Davies notes that the Harrisons had gone through tough times during the depression and Harold was keen to make sure his children had secure futures. Louise however was an ally. Davies writes of her ‘Unlike all the other Beatle parents, she is one of nature’s ravers’. There is a delightful picture in the recent ‘Living in the material world’ book of Louise and a teenage George enjoying a beer together at home, with George proudly showing off his guitars which proves this point.

Davies notes in his book that Louise was the one person in the Beatles circle (apart from maybe Ringo’s wife Maureen Starkey) who took an interest in answering fan mail and interacting with fans. There is a lovely story which appeared in the Guardian about the pen pal relationship that developed between Louise and Lilie Ferrari http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/mar/26/popandrock.georgeharrison?INTCMP=SRCH

The Harrisons always enjoyed the celebrity that came with being George’s parents (ironic given George’s own famous dislike of fame) unlike the other Beatles parents. This won Louise a special place in the hearts of Beatles fans.

George remained close to his parents. He would buy them a house outside Warrington in 1965. ‘Living in the Material world’, the recent documentary and book about George’s life contains extracts from several letters George wrote to his mother about his experiences while in The Beatles. In particular the letter George wrote to Louise to allay her concerns when he became involved with the Maharishi shows how much he cared about Louise’s opinion and respected her.

Louise died of a brain tumour in 1970. She was 59, not much older than George was when he himself died of a brain tumour. George helped look after Louise in her final months and was with her when she died. He wrote the song ‘Deep Blue’ about the experiences of watching her decline. There is also a song which has only ever appeared on bootleg in demo form called ‘Mother divine’ which George recorded in 1970. While it is obviously informed by George’s religious beliefs it is clearly also inspired by his grief for Louise. It is interesting that both Paul and George wrote songs about their Irish Catholic mothers that drew however unconsciously on Catholic devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus,   These songs also fit in with an Irish tradition of songs praising the mother figure, who is ususually portrayed as self sacrificing and devoted to her children (particularly male) at her own expense.

I will discuss John's relationship with his mother Julia and aunt Mimi in my next post

Sunday 19 February 2012

50: 10 Tracks from my 1998

This was the year I studied for my MA in librarianship- too many memories!
Many of these tracks I was introduced to by the Mark and Lard radio show on Radio 1 but a couple I was introduced to By the Keith Cameron show on XFM and some by John Peel

1: Richard Davies-Cantina. Saw him live three times this year- he was awesome. Enjoyed hearing this song on Mark and Lard show as I was walking along Brighton sea front

2: Pernice Brothers- Clear spot

3: Elliot Smith- Waltz#2 (X0)

4:Future Bible Heroes- Lonely days

5: Fuzz Townsend- Smash it

6: Ultrasound-Best wishes

7: Salako- go on enlighten me, why doncha

8: Mercury Rev- Goddess on the highway (loved this single- was not so keen on album)

9: Gomes- 78 stone wobble

10:Delakota- The rock
Bubbling under

High Llamas- The sun beats down

Derrero- Radar invader

Delgados-Pull the wires from the wall

Sea Nymphs- Appealling to Venus

Hopkirk and Lee- My line is short

Couple of biggies that are bubbling under-

Space feat. Cerys Matthews- Balld of Tom Jones

The Cardigans- My favourite game

49: Ten Tracks from my 1996

I heard the Bluetones’ Slight return’ in a cafe yesterday. This brought back instant memories of my period looking after an elderly day in rural Suffolk. In honour of this here are some tracks that evoke this period and my first few months in my graduate trainee librarian post.
I got into most of these thanks to Mark Radcliffe and his night-time shoe in Radio 1. Kept me sane in this period!

1: Richard Davies- Sign up maybe for being

2: Bluetones-Slight return

3: Super Furry Animals- Hometown Unicorn

4: Combustible Edison- Alright already

5: High Llamas- Sparkle up

6: Divine Comedy- Something for the weekend (saw this on Top of the pops!)

7: Fire Department- Achaeopteryx

8: Ben Folds Five- Underground

9:Lionrock-Fire up the shoesaw

10: Urusei Yatsura- Kewpies like watermelons

And bubbling Under-

Minty- That’s nice

Delgados- Under cover under wraps

And some oldies but oh what goodies!

The Impressions- This is my country (from excellent reissue of two late Impressions albums 'This is my country' and 'The Young Mod's forgotten story'

Beach Boys- Cabinessence- From another great 'double feature' reissue of 'Friends' and '20/20'

Young Holt Unlimited: California montage
Wigan Casino story Vol. 1 (my job allowed me to develop my budding love of Northern Soul!)

Sunday 5 February 2012

48. George Harrison- My personal top ten

My favourite five with The Beatles

1: Long, Long, Long

2: Old Brown Shoe

3: While my guitar gently weeps (although prefer the acoustic demo on Anthology 3)

4: Something (Obvious but classic- love Smokey Robinson and Isaac Hayes’ versions of this)

5: The inner light
Special mention for ‘It’s all too much’ and original Beatles version of ‘Not guilty’

My favourite five George Solo tracks

1: All things must pass

2: Try some, buy some

3: Lay his head ( this and the three other tracks that George was made to remove from  'Somewhere in England' such as 'Sat singing' and Flying hour are great - one up for George)

4: Isn’t it a pity (nb Bettye Lavettes’ awesome verison which I posted a performance of as an earlier post!)

5: Cheer down (a great James Bond theme alike)

Special shout going out for George’s productions for Billy Preston (‘That’s the way God Planned it’ and ‘Encouraging words’ albums) and Doris Troy.  Kudos also for having The Stairsteps and Keni Burke on the Dark Horse label

47: 25 Years of listening to the Dark Horse

I am going to make no bones or apologies for this- George Harrison was my teenage idol and he is still a musician who means a tremendous amount to me.
But first some context

As any child born to children of the 60’s Beatles music was always around me. For me it was like having four singing uncles. I remember getting excited about watching ‘Let it be’ on television when I was three. I would always listen intently to their music as a child. 'Yellow Submarine' was my favourite film when I was very young (I particularly liked the 'sea of holes' section). One of the most idyll memories of my childhood is listening to the Beatles on long car rides through the Irish countryside. The Beatles music became synonymous with sunshine, nature and joyous movement.

One of my earliest memories is of seeing Steve Harley and Cockney rebel playing ‘Here comes the sun’ on Top of the Pops in the summer of 1976 around the time the older of my two sisters was born.
When I was about 8 I got hold of my parents Beatles LPs and asked my Dad to tell me who each of the Beatles were. I examined carefully the front cover of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Abbey Road’ and obsessively read the story book inside the Magical Mystery Tour album. Even this age I found George the most intriguing. I always feel guilty I was not more sad at John Lennon’ death.

Fast forward a few years to 1987. I was a teenager of 14 who did not particularly get on with the pop music of the time (well- I did not get on with 80’s in general!). I was beginning to realise I had considerably more affinity with the music of the 1960’s. The Beatles were always part of this. I became completely enamoured of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ when it was issued on CD that year and watched the documentary about the making of the album ‘It was twenty years ago’ with my Dad. I remember thinking how handsome George was in the documentary.

But I began to love George’s music without realising it. In the summer of 1987 I heard Peter Young (my all time favourite disc jockey!) play ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ from the White Album when it was issued on CD. I was haunted by it all the next day. About this time I also aw George perform the song at the Prince’s Trust concert on television.

But it was not until October 1987 that I was truly smitten. The late, great, Roger Scott played ‘Got my mind set on you’ three mornings in a row. The second morning it began to stick in my mind. The third morning the sound of Jim Keltner’s drum intro became the sound of my adolescence kicking in. I promptly went out and brought the single in WH Smiths Streatham (making it the first record I brought in a shop- As an aside the B-Side ‘Lay his head’ is an underrated gem). It was wonderful to see ‘Got my mind set on you’ rise to number 2 in the charts. I also adored the video where George sits in an easy chair. Over the next few months I listened to the ‘Cloud 9’ album several times, and enjoyed hearing George get a considerable amount radio play and have further chart success. George had not issued a solo album for five years and would not issue any further solo albums in his lifetime. Listening to the album again recently I am stuck with how it managed to sound contemporary to the late 1980’s (particularly ‘That’s what it takes’) and how confident it sounds. I particularly like the title track which begs for a soul queen such as Bettye Lavette to bring out all its’ bluesy qualities.

I next came across the ‘White Album’ on an old tape of my parents which I found in our utility room. This is still one of my all time favourite albums and I have even attended an event about the album at the British Library (as it happens I caught site of Gabriel for the first time in a year that night which goes to prove George’s belief that nothing is coincidental). This album contains my favourite George and favourite Beatle track ‘Long, Long, Long’. This song expresses a soul’s (however you view that) yearning to return to its’ creator (whatever you view that as) more beautifully than a library full of theology books (and I should know having studied theology).

In January 1989 I had a vivid dream in which I saw the cover of the‘ Living in the material world’ album (which I had seen in a book about the Beatles). Then only a few days later, when I visited my guide pack brown owl’s house to tape some records I found a copy of it! I adored it from first listen. My favourite track was ‘Try some, buy some’. I also heard ‘Revolver’ for the first time and particularly liked ‘I want to tell you’

I purchased three of George’s solo album on tape (I could not afford CDs!) To celebrate my GCSE results in August 1989 I purchased ‘All things must pass’ on tape. I was with my grandmother and delightedly discussed George with her. George’s masterpiece is full of beautiful, graceful songs which had been stacking up while he had been in The Beatles. It is gratifying to know George had the last laugh and that many critics think this is the best solo album by an ex- Beatle. The only small caveat I have in recommending is that there is more to George’s solo career than this album!

I will regret until the day I die (and it is one of my main regrets) that I did not somehow make it to George’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall in April 1992- goodness knows I really wanted to go but did not have the confidence to ask my parents for the money.

George’s music helped get me through my complex adolescence and was a companion in my university years (which were the happiest of my life).  When I felt psychically lost and disconnected from things around me due to a number of events that had occurred in my early teens (namely moving back from Ireland and my TS diagnosis) the music of George and the Beatles was one of the main things that brought me back to myself. As with whatever music and musicians adolescents adopt as ‘their’ music and musicians, George and his music helped me explore and develop the type of person I was and who I wanted to be. I found a place within myself of belonging, comfort, wonder and empathy. As you can tell from other entries in this blog music means a tremendous amount to me. I have had so many wonderful experiences and made some great friends through music. Music informs my politics, social outlook, spirituality, and the way I treat others. This is a direct result of being a fan of George in my teens.

In the years after I left university I began to get more into soul music and contemporary ‘indie’ music. However I thoroughly enjoyed the Anthology programmes (I joke that I like other women in the UK spent six Sunday evenings in the winter of 1995 enjoying watching a of handsome enigmatic man with a huge country estate on TV only for me it was George in Anthology and not Colin Firth in ‘Pride and prejudice’). I also made a visit to Liverpool in August 1997 with Lucy and I got quite emotional seeing 12 Arnold Grove where George was born.

I confess that I did not really listen to George’s music as much after 1996. But I was always a fan. I was as concerned as all his other fans when his treatment for throat cancer was reported in 1997. I spent new years’ eve 1999 in a state of disbelief that George and his beloved wife Olivia had been attacked at Friar Park (I knew how much Friar Park meant to George and his family and was saddened that this refuge had been violated in the worst manner imaginable). I kept an eye on the press coverage of the trial of the Harrison’s attacker the following year (I may write more about this in a later post!). Finally in 2001, the headlines about George’s cancer screamed out at me as I was passing through Victoria to work. Earlier that year George had reissued ‘All things must pass’ on CD and seemed to I couldn’t bring myself to read or follow news about George’s cancer, partially as an act of respect for George and his family’s hard earned privacy but mainly because I did not want to think about it as it was too upsetting.

I was sitting at work and had a quick look on the Guardian website around lunchtime on 30 November 2001 (I had taken to checking the news during my lunch hour after the events of 9/11 that year). There was the news that George had died the previous day. I had tried to kid myself that this news was not coming. I meekly said ‘Aw, George Harrison has died’ to my colleague. I then found myself heading for a news stand to get an evening standard. I listened in a stunned state to my favourite radio show of the time Mark and Lard on Radio 1 (who had been expecting Paul MacCartney as a guest that day) and they played ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ in George’s honour.

A few days later I made my way up to Abbey road for the first time and left a note of condolence outside Abbey Road studios. I even kept the minutes meditation for George that Olivia and Dhani Harrison suggested for his fans even thought I was in the middle of a meal with my colleagues!

I have to confess here that I brought ‘Living in the material world’ and the white album on CD soon after George’s death. I feel ashamed that it took his death to remind me how much those albums had meant to me. I also confess that I only occasionally listened to George or the Beatles music in the ten years after his death. It was as if for the time being George had done his job. But on many a Friday’s summer evening after work I would walk from my work through Regents park to Baker street and think how close I was to where the Beatles made their music.

Last September I saw a poster for ‘Living in the material world’ the documentary that Martin Scorsese has made about George with the assistance of Olivia Harrison at Baker Street underground. My heart leapt for joy when I saw it. I was annoyed I could not got to see the documentary at the cinema as it was on either too early or too late. But I certainly watched it when it was on BBC 2. It only took one viewing to re-ignite my respect for George as a person and my love for his music. I made sure I got the DVD for Christmas (and the accompanying book!). I dug out George’s albums and made sure I marked the tenth anniversary of his death. I finally got round to viewing the copy of ‘The concert for Bangladesh’ I was given some years ago and purchasing a copy of ‘Brainwashed’. This little post is just one clue that the George Harrison fest is ongoing! (helped in no small part by Youtube)

I am so grateful to George Harrison for making music which played such a helpful role at a critical time of my life. I am so grateful for the memories that this music brings back. But more than that I am grateful to George for making music that will remain a part of who I am and how I want to live my life always.
 Thank you George

46. A game of old maid or independent women?

As I said in the post below my youngest sister got married last year. My other sister married six years ago. This officially leaves me as an old maid!

Or so I though as I went for a stroll on the morning of my sister’s wedding. I made sure I gave myself time to consider this situation away from the family.  I am delighted that my sister has married and I wanted to fully participate in the happy day, without dwelling on any regrets of my own.

This year I am going to be 40. I own my own flat and have a good pension. I have a masters in librarianship and have been settled in a career I love for over 12 years. Yet I frequently feel that others see me as a failure because I am not in a relationship, not a parent and not financially wealthy. It has been hard realising that the principle person who I have to justify  myself to is myself.

I have no desire to get into a relationship just to fit in with others. It took me almost 20 years to find someone I liked as much as Gabriel. I feel incredibly damaged by the way he behaved towards me and I am not prepared to be treated that way by anyone else.

I have realised in the last year there are worse things than being alone. As I begin to evaluate where I am actually am in my life and begin go have a far more feminist understanding of societal pressures on women I have learnt to let go if the idea that I am a failure because I do not have a partner.

I know a great many single women over 30. Only some of these women have TS. A great conversation I had with one of these friends has made me reflect on some of the issues we all face.

Yes it is difficult knowing that as you will get older, there will not be a partner there to share the joys and challenges that will come. But there can be even more painful things than being a single woman and there are more painful ways of becoming single. I have seen this in the last few years.

There are a lot of benefits to being independent- the main one being that in the end I answer only to myself!