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A road with a view

Posted by Cliff Birchall on July 24, 2008 3:03 PM

Let me take you on a little detour.
The Man on the Moss normally doesn't have the time to ramble but this morning I went on one of my favourite excursions.
Fir Tree Lane is the gateway to the hidden haven that is Clieves Hills in Aughton. It's only a narrow road that twists and turns like a stream which has no idea of time.
You pass one or two farms and the occasional house as you wander along. Hedgerows are neatly trimmed, birds sing and you hardly pass a car [mind you, I did pass a builder's merchants' lorry!].
Turn off into Clieves Hills Lane and you can enjoy a tremendous view. It looks out over the whole of the Sefton coast. To me it is nearly as good a view as that of the West Lancashire Plain from the top of Parbold Hill. Perhaps one day I'll stop and describe what you can see from Clieves Hills.
But do take a trip down there. But don't all go at once. It's not that sort of road!
Music on the Moss: I only ever bought one Little Feat album, their first. But I always liked Lowell George. I've been listening to his first solo album. He had a soulful voice but not in the Motown way. This album showcases a variety of styles - even one track with a Paraguayan harp accompaniment - and shows why he is sadly missed. With Ry Cooder, he was one of the great modern exponents of the slide guitar.

Hedgerow haiku

Posted by Cliff Birchall on July 23, 2008 4:29 PM

There are quite a few contrasts in the hedgerows as you drive over the moss.
Some conscientious farmers have already been out with their flails, trimming the new growth over long lengths and leaving long white slashes against the green of the leaves.
Other hedgerows have a shimmer to them, particularly hawthorn hedges. The new shoots are borne on red twigs and these cast a haze over the hedge, a scarlet veil through which you see the stonger colours of the green leaves and brown branches.
There are still a few pieces of may blossom on the hedges but there is an awful lot of bindweed flowering at the moment. Shakespeare always referred to it as columbine, but gardeners call it other names for its habit of twining tightly around their favourite plants!
Out in its natural habitat, it looks a wonderful flower, its large trumpet poised like a bold white structure among the hawthorn leaves.
Music on the Moss: With ringing guitars and a particular penchant for a particular rhythm, Charlie were a group that could only be English. After all, their lead singer and writer was called Terry Thomas! But success eluded them here and they made more of a mark in America, which is a pity as I think Thomas was as an individual writer, with the ind of style that could only come from an Englishman, as Ray Davies. This 70s guitar band - which even added a second drummer once it crossed the water - produced some really catchy tracks. I've been listening to their second album, No second chance, and I'm surprised at just how good it is still is after all these years. The title track and others has a particular shuffle rhythm that Thomas uses to great effect to move the song along. The guitar breaks are clean and crisp, too, and the lyrics show a deal of sophistication. And only an English writer could pen an anthem to that stalwart of 70s heavy metal concerts, the Greatcoat Guru! You must have seen him in his Army surplus overcoat!

Lifted up

Posted by Cliff Birchall on July 15, 2008 11:46 AM

Work began a few days ago on lifting spuds in Aughton and Downholland.
Soon the sight of monster machines creeping across the green fields will be more common. Already the gulls are enjoying the feast that spud lifting always leaves behind in the turned-over soil.
Cabbages are being planted elsewhere and on Monday I noticed a field of hay had been mown and left to dry in the traditional manner rather than bagged as haylage. It's always nice to see rows of grass drying in the sun or being turned over to ensure even drying.
Not much in the way of wildlife, though. I've been disappointed in the number of hares and have hardly spotted any in the fields. I wonder whether they are finding it harder to survive now they are not protected for coursing?
Music on the moss: Buffy Sainte-Marie has long been one of my favourite singer/writers. Her early career in folk blossomed into some good rock music. I've been listening to She used to want to be a ballerina which features a wide range of songs, from the upbeat title track - I like the notion that "Rock n roll will never be Tchaikovsky, but Tchaikovsky will never be rock n roll" - to a great version of Helpless backed by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Another fellow Canadian that Sainte-Marie helped popularise is Leonard Cohen and she does an evocative version of his The Bells. Even more striking is the portion of one of his novels which she set to an electronic score as God is alive, Magick is afoot on her brilliant Illuminations album. The lyrics are rather dense and you never understand the same way twice but her performance weaves them into a spell. Her voice and guitar were treated electronically to provide soundbite links between tracks, very avante garde in 1969. The other tracks range from really soft fluffy lovesongs to rock tracks which really bite. Try logging on to www.creative-native.com to learn more about her and the sterling work she does for the Native American community and her educational work.

Turn, turn, turn

Posted by Cliff Birchall on July 3, 2008 2:50 PM

This week has seen cereals "turning." You know, when the green suddenly goes just a little bit golden, and a shimmer of colour wash goes across the field.
I've noticed ears of wheat which are just starting to gain faint touches of colour to them, and other fields are beginning to see the green fading away from stems and leaves.
Potatoes, too, are turning. The purple flowers of Maris Peer are starting to show, the leaves already bulked up tremendously in the past couple of weeks.
There does not seem to be much happening on the wildlife front. Kestrels seem common but most other birds must have taken to the nest, although the longer vegetation hides a lot of the birds with youngsters rummaging about on the ground.
Music on the Moss: I've been listening to 5 Hand Reel this week. Scottish folksinger Dick Gaughan is perhaps the pre-eminent voice, though the contribution made by the other group members can't be overlooked. Tom Hickland's fiddle playing matches Gaughan's dexterity on the guitar, while Bobby Eaglesham's vocals and guitars provide a tonal contast. Barry Lyon's bass playing is really good, far heavier and intricate than you might expect for a folk band. And then there is Dave Tulloch in the crash-bang-wallop department. His drumming sets 5 Hand Reel apart from other folk-rockers. It has that distinctive Scottish marching band feel and he really set up a driving, swaying rhythm. The actual marching band drumming is tremendous [but only if you've ever taking part in walking days and processions and had to line up behind the band!]. I remember seeing them live several times and they were great crowd-pleasers. Well worth a listen, though it's handy to have a Scotsman standing by to help understand some of the lyrics. Kempy's Hat is a fine tune, Wee Wee German Lairdie is a fine song, the Haughs O' Cromdale is a particularly fine song very well arranged, and the band do some admirable treatments of Rabbie Burns.

Aerial attack

Posted by Cliff Birchall on June 24, 2008 4:11 PM

THERE is nothing that upsets birds as much as seeing the outline of a hawk or falcon above them.
Obviously this had upset a sparrow this morning when I was passing Lloyd's garden centre at Downholland Cross.
Hovering above was the distinctive shape of a kestrel, its wings beating as it struggled to line up a potential victim in its eyeline.
And battering around it was a little sparrow!
It is common to see birds as small as sparrows or other finches mobbing a hawk as a group but you don't often see an individual bird taking on a predator.
The sparrow had the sense to keep above the windhover, though; it probably knew that it would prefer to keep its position rather than chase after the sparrow. The kestrel is not really built for high-speed aerial chases. Leave the sparrowhawk for that - and the sparrow would probably not spot it coming, either.
Bigger birds are upset by predators, too. Not too long ago I spotted a buzzard making a flog of seagulls uneasy at Greens Lane in Downholland. The gulls were on the ground but still feeling nervous of the big bird.
Mind you, gulls can be just as predatory. The other night I was looking at a field newly-mown of hay in Lathom and spotted a greater or lesser black backed gull quartering the field in the same way that a barn owl would. For 20 minutes or so it kept up this repeated pattern, obviously on the look out for something tasty that no longer had long vegetation to hide in.
Music on the Moss: This week it is an Irish folk-rock group Horslips. Long ago disbanded, they created catchy rock songs from reels and jigs, as well as playing traditional music. Their first album, Happy to meet ... sorry to part, is a brave expedition into celtic rock, paving the way for others to follow. A later album, Dancehall Sweethearts, shows a more aggressive stance, although they can still turn a ballad with the best. Stars is a good anthem while Mad Pat has a really good chorus. So, if you want your rock music tempered with some fiery electric violin and mandolin - not to mention uillean pipes and concertina - Horslips were the lads.

Who do you love?

Posted by Cliff Birchall on June 4, 2008 1:26 PM

IT'S surprising just what a difference a week makes.
And a lot of rain and quite a bit os sunshine, too.
I'm thinking of the humble spud and the fields that have oh-so-quickly turned from barren drills into colourful mosaics.
The tiny wisps of green peeping from the top of the drills have within a week or so really bushed out and pushed up. While there wouldn't be much in the way of tubers underground yet, there is an awful lot of growth going on.
This current weather will really suit them. The sunshine currently encouraging people to walk out without their jackets and coats is doing just the same for the potatoes, powering it and encouraging it to get out into the open air.
Elsewhere, cabbages are being planted in impressive blocks on some fields, with other crops being given the benefit of a plastic coat to keep them ever warmer.
All this is giving the rooks a good reason to rummage round the fields. And am I right in thinking that flocks of wood pigeons are more prevalent this year than last? They seem to be everywhere.
In Lord Sefton Way lapwings are trawling the new corn with partridges, looking particularly handsome when you glimpse them from the road.
Music on the Moss: It would be remiss not to refer to yesterday's sad news about the death of Bo Diddley. I remember saving up to buy my first record player and having no money left over to buy any records! After two weeks of silence I'd saved enough to buy my first LP. It was Bo Diddley's In The Spotlight. For 21/- [or twenty-one shillings, or £1 1s 0d, or a guinea for those who love old money] it was a really good buy. I still have it and still love the music on it.
While at school we had thrilled to the old red-and-yellow Pye R&B label records that featured Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, the latter apparently playing bass on many of the former's hits. They even recorded an album together, Two Great Guitars, with tracks like Jaguar And The Thunderbird.
Diddley's home-grown and much-copied rhythm - say "Shave and a haircut, two cents" and you have it - kept British groups going in the sixties r&b boom when rhythm and blues meant something entirely different to what it does today.
With Billy Boy Arnold on harmonica, Jerome Green on those trademark maraccas - and sly reply vocals on Say Man, reputedly the first rap song even though it was recorded in 1958 - Diddley had a fiercesome stage act. Many people still believe Elvis the Pelvis took his leg moves from the man the called "The Originator."
He was out on his own in employing women guitarists in an age when that didn't really happen. His half-sister The Duchess and then Lady Bo all helped power a catalogue of songs and sounds that kept up with musical fashion and electrical wizardry. Diddley was turning knobs all the way round to maximum long before it was fashionable or psychadelic.
And if you were to ask me to name the real rock-n-roll guitar, it would have to be Diddley's square Gretch. A killer instrument in sound and looks, although he had a stable of similar instruments built by various makers.
His music will live on. You'd be surprised at how many people have covered his songs. My particular favourite cover is Quicksilver Messenger Service's set of variations on Who Do You Love? over a whole side of their Happy Trails album.
A great musician who was under-rated by many people but a legend nonetheless.