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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Record Shop Days

No, this has nothing to do with the animated comments that followed the Bacon Butty post. In fact, at the time I'm writing about, vinyl was but a gleam in the record companies' eyes.

No, here I'm reminiscing about Gordon Eades Ltd. I don't know who Gordon Eades was or if there ever was such a person but, his name was the name over the door of a record shop on Fawcett St., in Sunderland and, as is relevant to this post, a shop in Jarrow which is now, after several other changes of direction - including another record shop - a Turkish barbers. 


The shop sold records (78rpm), sheet music and pianos - a bit like J.G.Windows at the time and probably many others throughout the country.

The Jarrow branch was run by a rather doddery old gentleman called Mr. Stubbs. My parents were regular customers buying say a recording of Eileen Joyce playing Dohnányi's Rhapsody in C Major (my mum could also knock out a fair version which, in years to come, became her signature dish - I digress!)

I too was a regular customer buying, at first, such things as Tennessee Ernie's Shot Gun Boogie or Frankie Laine's Jezebel before moving on to Louis, Artie, Duke, Benny, Stan etc.

The thing about Mr Stubbs was, if my mum asked for something by Chopin, Mr Stubbs would happily trot along to get the record or the music, humming the melody as he left on his quest, when I asked for a pop or a jazz record he would refer me to his assistant saying, "Serve this young chap will you?"

His assistant was an attractive blonde, so I didn't mind at all! However, she was older and totally out of the range of a 15 year old who had yet to start shaving!

I changed record shops.

In neighbouring Hebburn, there was a small record shop - The Tinkler Music Service - it's now the Citizen's Advice Bureau or something similar.

Back then, it was presided over by a rather attractive girl - Sylvia. She was older than me but, by now, I'd started shaving so the age difference wasn't so noticeable.

We kinda clicked and went to jazz concerts at The Odeon, The Essoldo and the City Hall in Newcastle. I got my records cheap and her dad had a pub. But, as happens ...

After National Service in the RAF I found myself living in London and, needless to say, I was a regular at Dobell's on Charing Cross Rd. but, my most abiding memory is of James Asman's shop on, was it St. Martin's Lane? Among the records were a couple of books - Mezz Mezzrow's Really The Blues and Charles Delauney's Hot Discographie. They were both quite expensive and, I think, first editions so I left to speculate on which one to go for. I drank a pint of Watney's Red Barrel in a nearby pub and decided, what the hell, I'll buy them both. Needless to say, when I returned, they had both been sold.

Eventually, the wheel turned the full circle. Gordon Eades Ltd. had gone but, up in Newcastle, J.G. Windows Ltd. hadn't and, eventually, I spent the next 30 odd years of my life working there.

So, best of luck on Record Store Day, sell lots of albums - irrespective of format and, maybe one or two customers will buy a saxophone or a trumpet or a grand piano.

However, re the bacon butties - is there a Vegan option?
Lance 

2 comments :

Russell said...

Lance- you must take a look at www.britishrecordshoparchive.org. It includes an advert for the Disque record shop chain. There was a branch in Jarrow!

Lance said...

I can't remember much about Disque. Before the Turkish Barbers' sign went up you could still see, in faded lettering - Discount Records.

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