Sunday Morning Tune

I have been set a challenge to look out for a single or an LP with a particular track on it,  as a friend of my brother wants the said piece of vinyl. It is by the Chris Barber Jazz Band , featuring Lonnie Donegan, and is called "Precious Lord Take My Hand", an old gospel tune. As it is Sunday here is that track.

It appeared on the B side of Tiger Rag (from 1954) and has appeared on a few albums by them too. It will be a tough search but hey ho the kudos i will get if i find the track. Anyway, enjoy.

I have a Chris Barber Pye Nixa Anthology 2 CD set (from Sequel) which has Petite Fleur on it but alas not this one. I am wiling to sell it for £6 to anybody interested.

Book 39 - Damon Galgut "The Quarry"

Damon Galgut "The Quarry" (Atlantic Books)



The focus of the novel is a nameless man, who appears to be on the run from an unspecified crime. He is picked up in the rural high veld by a minister, Frans Niemand, on his way to a new posting in a township church. In the grip of drink, he kills the minister and hides the body in a quarry, stripping it of its vestments and assuming Niemand's identity.

Arriving in the township, the man is unquestioningly assumed to be the new minister, and proves to be surprisingly good at his job. Only the local police captain, Mong, suspects the new minister is not what he seems, especially when the body is recovered from the quarry. The crime is initially, however, pinned on two local brothers, Valentine and Small, who are tried while the circus is in town (rather heavy handed imagery there!). Valentine, however, manages to escape before a verdict is reached and, his conscience getting the better of him, the fake minister also confesses and leaves, pursued by the policeman during a solar eclipse.

As I hope you can tell from that precis "The Quarry" is not a naturalistic novel. Images such as the bloodstain on the man's shirt and the fact the case is tried in the church suggest the author's primary concern is to give the story a mythic quality. However, description is kept to a minimum - this is tough, lean prose with page long chapters. Even so, I was able to imagine filmic images in my head for this book more strongly than for many I read, a testament to the power of Galgut's writing to do a lot with a little.

Galgut handles the legacy of apartheid in an elliptical way; it hangs over his novels without being their central focus necessarily. Here, the colour of most of the characters is not made explicit; it is easy to assume the murderer and the police captain are white and that Valentine and Small are black but the brothers' speech is peppered with phrases in Afrikaans, where the murderer and the captain speak only English.

Galgut's approach reminded me strongly of Cormac McCarthy's most recent work, in terms of the setting in stifling rural heat similar to "No Country for Old Men", the punctuation (Galgut uses more than McCarthy did in "The Road" but seems to have an aversion to commas in particular), the dark, almost apocolyptic tone and the elemental simplicity of his story. If you have read McCarthy's two books you'll find "The Quarry" a satisfying, powerful read.

May The Fourth Be With You

Yeah , i know. That pun of this month  is well known but i could not resist it.  It has been a day of reading and then catching up with TV programmes  in particular, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D , which has a gripping dark edge to it, and i was shouting at the screen for Sky not to let that turncoat into the secret Canadian basement. I get so wrapped in it.

I also watched the last part of Rule Britannia !  Music, Mayhem and Morals In the Eighteenth Century on BBC 4 which showcased Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation plus this original British bawdy version of the Star Spangled Banner -

The song was written for the Anacreontic Society, probably around 1771. The tune is now thought to have been written "collectively" by members of the society, led by John Stafford Smith. The society met every two weeks to get drunk, sing songs and to indulge in some debauchery. Anacreon himself was a Greek poet from about 570BC who was noted for his erotic poetry and his drinking songs. Here is the full lyrics of the song.

1
To Anacreon in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee,
A few Sons of Harmony sent a petition
That he their Inspirer and Patron would be;
When this answer arrived from the Jolly Old Grecian:
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute, no longer be mute,
I'll lend you my name and inspire you to boot,
Refrain
And besides I'll instruct you, like me, to intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
2
The news through Olympus immediately flew;
When Old Thunder pretended to give himself airs.
"If these Mortals are suffered their scheme to pursue,
The devil a Goddess will stay above stairs.
Hark, already they cry, in transports of joy,
Away to the Sons of Anacreon we'll fly,
Refrain
And there with good fellows, we'll learn to intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' Vine."
3
"The Yellow-Haired God and his nine fusty Maids
From Helicon's banks will incontinent flee,
Idalia will boast but of tenantless shades,
And the bi-forked hill a mere desert will be.
My Thunder no fear on't, shall soon do its errand,
And dam'me I'll swing the Ringleaders I warrant.
Refrain
I'll trim the young dogs, for thus daring to twine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
4
Apollo rose up, and said, "Pry'thee ne'er quarrel,
Good King of the Gods, with My Vot'ries below:
Your Thunder is useless" — then showing his laurel,
Cry'd "Sic evitabile fulmen[7], you know!
Then over each head, my laurels I'll spread,
So my sons from your Crackers no mischief shall dread,
Refrain
Whilst, snug in their clubroom, they jovially twine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
5
Next Momus got up with his risible Phiz
And swore with Apollo he'd cheerfully join —
"The full tide of Harmony still shall be his,
But the Song, and the Catch, and the Laugh shall be mine.
Then, Jove, be not jealous of these honest fellows."
Cry'd Jove, "We relent, since the truth you now tell us;
Refrain
And swear by Old Styx, that they long shall intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
6
Ye Sons of Anacreon, then join hand in hand;
Preserve Unanimity, Friendship, and Love!
'Tis yours to support what's so happily plann'd;
You've the sanction of Gods, and the Fiat of Jove.
While thus we agree, our toast let it be:
"May our Club flourish happy, united, and free!
Refrain
And long may the Sons of Anacreon intwine
The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."



Note - Myrtle translates to clitoris in the song. Told you it was bawdy.