Legendary blind singers, one-eyed racehorses and other musings on music and writing.
Music references are scattered throughout my first novel. I believe that mentions of songs by Oasis, Edwyn Collins, Pulp and the Pogues reinforce and authenticate the atmosphere of mid-90s Nottingham. I reference music is in my second novel Manvers Road Star too, albeit in a different way.
Music has always played a part in my life, albeit a background one. It began as a child, when I was forced into taking clarinet lessons by my parents. That’s the way I remember it, anyway. But by the time I became a teenager, I had ditched the clarinet for the B flat tenor saxophone. The highlight of my musical career remains playing an open mike gig at the Running Horse Pub in Nottingham where with two friends, a guitarist and a flautist, we played three songs by Gilberto Gil. Our set culminated with a note perfect rendition of ‘The Girl from Ipanema.’ The reason I mention the quality of our delivery is that our audience was dominated by greasy bikers, anticipating an evening of Motörhead cover versions. I think we did well to hold our nerve and play in tune.
The first time I got anything published in print came fifteen years earlier. I was living in Bournemouth, where I spent much of my time watching new wave bands. One night at a club called the Midnight Express I got talking at the bar to the editor of an indie publication called Coaster Magazine. We got along well and he asked me if I was interested in sending him gig reviews for consideration? I said I’d give it a try. I shall never forget the thrill I felt when my first review of a band called Doll By Doll appeared in print.
Occasionally I regret not having continued playing a musical instrument into adult life. If I had, I’d have chosen the stand-up or electric bass, but I never made the time for it. Nevertheless, an interest in music accompanied me through every stage of my life, one that began with the sounds coming out of my sister’s bedroom, in suburban London of the early seventies. Her copy of ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ by Stevie Wonder perhaps had the biggest influence on shaping my own musical tastes. Wonders' musical proficiency despite complete blindness fascinated me. A few days before writing this blog, on September 23rd in 1930, Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia. Unlike Stevie Wonder (who lost his eyesight shortly after birth), Ray Charles was seven years old when he lost his eyesight. It impressed me that his mother was keen that the young Ray continued with his piano lessons despite this set back and – well - the rest is history.
On the subject of eyesight, horses make for interesting reading. This is because they enjoy a panoramic field of vision of approximately 350 degrees, because their eyes are positioned on the sides of their heads. The British racehorse trainer John Dunlop once trained a horse called Belper who lost his sight in his right eye - not ideal in the life of a thoroughbred. Faced with the unenviable task of ringing his owner to tell him that his pride and joy’s career was over, Dunlop was struck by an idea. He delayed the phone call and led the one-eyed Belper to his left-turning oval training track, where he asked his stable jockey to gently canter him. Guided by his good left-eye and with the curvature of the white inner rail to guide him, Belper broke from a canter into a gallop. Within a day or two he was thriving. From observing Belper on his gallops, Dunlop knew he had saved his career. The expression ‘horses for courses’ could have been invented with Belper in mind. From that moment on, Belper would run exclusively at left-turning courses. Not only did he race competitively for many years, he went on to win six races at Brighton Racecourse – the left-turning course of left-turning courses where to this day, he still holds the course record.
Losing the sense of sight at such a young age, Ray Charles not only compensated with his remaining senses but flourished and went on to become one of the leading R&B performers of all time.
Ray Charles and Belper overcame the disadvantages inflicted upon them to thrive, and it is their example that lies at the heart of Manvers Road Star, their experiences that set the theme of the book. Whether human or equine, every one of us possess within ourselves the ability to overcome the challenges life puts in our way - even when the odds appear to be stacked against us.
#raycharles
#belper
#books
#bookstagram
#bookstagrammers
#blindness
#bookreview
#fivestarreview
#recommended
Music has always played a part in my life, albeit a background one. It began as a child, when I was forced into taking clarinet lessons by my parents. That’s the way I remember it, anyway. But by the time I became a teenager, I had ditched the clarinet for the B flat tenor saxophone. The highlight of my musical career remains playing an open mike gig at the Running Horse Pub in Nottingham where with two friends, a guitarist and a flautist, we played three songs by Gilberto Gil. Our set culminated with a note perfect rendition of ‘The Girl from Ipanema.’ The reason I mention the quality of our delivery is that our audience was dominated by greasy bikers, anticipating an evening of Motörhead cover versions. I think we did well to hold our nerve and play in tune.
The first time I got anything published in print came fifteen years earlier. I was living in Bournemouth, where I spent much of my time watching new wave bands. One night at a club called the Midnight Express I got talking at the bar to the editor of an indie publication called Coaster Magazine. We got along well and he asked me if I was interested in sending him gig reviews for consideration? I said I’d give it a try. I shall never forget the thrill I felt when my first review of a band called Doll By Doll appeared in print.
Occasionally I regret not having continued playing a musical instrument into adult life. If I had, I’d have chosen the stand-up or electric bass, but I never made the time for it. Nevertheless, an interest in music accompanied me through every stage of my life, one that began with the sounds coming out of my sister’s bedroom, in suburban London of the early seventies. Her copy of ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ by Stevie Wonder perhaps had the biggest influence on shaping my own musical tastes. Wonders' musical proficiency despite complete blindness fascinated me. A few days before writing this blog, on September 23rd in 1930, Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia. Unlike Stevie Wonder (who lost his eyesight shortly after birth), Ray Charles was seven years old when he lost his eyesight. It impressed me that his mother was keen that the young Ray continued with his piano lessons despite this set back and – well - the rest is history.
On the subject of eyesight, horses make for interesting reading. This is because they enjoy a panoramic field of vision of approximately 350 degrees, because their eyes are positioned on the sides of their heads. The British racehorse trainer John Dunlop once trained a horse called Belper who lost his sight in his right eye - not ideal in the life of a thoroughbred. Faced with the unenviable task of ringing his owner to tell him that his pride and joy’s career was over, Dunlop was struck by an idea. He delayed the phone call and led the one-eyed Belper to his left-turning oval training track, where he asked his stable jockey to gently canter him. Guided by his good left-eye and with the curvature of the white inner rail to guide him, Belper broke from a canter into a gallop. Within a day or two he was thriving. From observing Belper on his gallops, Dunlop knew he had saved his career. The expression ‘horses for courses’ could have been invented with Belper in mind. From that moment on, Belper would run exclusively at left-turning courses. Not only did he race competitively for many years, he went on to win six races at Brighton Racecourse – the left-turning course of left-turning courses where to this day, he still holds the course record.
Losing the sense of sight at such a young age, Ray Charles not only compensated with his remaining senses but flourished and went on to become one of the leading R&B performers of all time.
Ray Charles and Belper overcame the disadvantages inflicted upon them to thrive, and it is their example that lies at the heart of Manvers Road Star, their experiences that set the theme of the book. Whether human or equine, every one of us possess within ourselves the ability to overcome the challenges life puts in our way - even when the odds appear to be stacked against us.
#raycharles
#belper
#books
#bookstagram
#bookstagrammers
#blindness
#bookreview
#fivestarreview
#recommended
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