HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN. Story by Helen Askew.
Gary wore his hair long and lank, as was customary for young men at the time. He rode a motorbike and played guitar.
MOVING UP IN CLASS by THE NIGHTHAWKS. Story by Luke Davies.
No sending a link on your phone back then. It took time and dedication to record a LP to a tape for one of your mates.
VOODOO CHILE by JIMI HENDRIX. Poem by D. R. James.
Rural Illinois, 1969 Kissed-Off Lord knows I’m a voodoo chil’. —Jimi Hendrix Until that night a girl had only kissed me. Not I a girl. I was fifteen and for over a year Jimi’d been telling me he was a voodoo chil’, yeah, and I wasn’t. No moon had [...]
UP WILSON in IRELAND. Story by Robert Lastdrager.
The Fender Stratocaster guitar sat propped up vertical on a barstool at waist height, like a ventriloquist’s dummy, the strings facing the audience.
LONELY MILE by RORY GALLAGHER. Story by Lauren O’Hagan.
I knew that the only way to achieve full closure on this difficult chapter of my life was to go to London and retrace Rory’s own steps by walking his Lonely Mile. It would be a strange form of pilgrimage for me.
BOOM BOOM by JOHN LEE HOOKER. Story by David Oke.
In viewing the John Lee Hooker guitar I was taken straight back to the many years of joy the Blues Brothers movie had brought me.
RECYCLE AND REUSE by LUKE DAVIES. Story by Luke Davies.
I had been making instruments from reclaimed objects for a few years by then and came up with the mad idea of getting a band together to play them. I had to make a few more instruments often with bits sourced from op shops and garage sales.
The Blues collection
Our 18 stories about blues songs travel far and wide but it’s no surprise that some are set in the home of the blues.
PILGRIM by ERIC CLAPTON. Poem by Brian A Salmons
...just happy/to be free again, talking about whatever with anybody, standing in line/with impunity on a Saturday for an Icee.
BLACK RAT by BIG MAMA THORNTON. Story by VM
The long essays in the music editions were lessons in quality journalism. How to take your time, set a scene, evoke a place, draw a character, tell a fine story. And the CDs took me to places I’ll never see.