Instruments of pleasure: (2) O'Carolan's air, Lady Dillon, by Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman
Instruments of pleasure: (4) The Lark by Moving Hearts. Too hard an act for Clannad to follow

Instruments of pleasure: (3) Leo Kottke and All I Have To Do Is Dream

960px-Leo_Kottke_6-16-07_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone
Image: Anthony Pepitone

For part three of my little series on folk and folk-related instrumentals, I have chosen a recommendation from a friend that is neither folk nor folk-related ...

From about mid-teens, my best friend and occasional protector was Len.

He was confident, worldly wise and tough in ways that I was not. When trips to the North East were rather more regular than now, we'd call in and see Len and Sue at their home in Newton Aycliffe.

They moved away to some out-of-the-way village in the East Riding and even our electronic contact has been established only recently.

Len and I once plotted to run away to London until our parents, mainly his parents, put their foot down.

Only some of our interests were shared.

We both liked chatting up girls but Len was miles better at it. He could handle himself in a tight corner; I couldn't and he got me out of at least one scrape.

I loved football and he sort of tolerated it (my abiding memory of taking him to see Sunderland play at Blackpool is his acute observation of Jim Baxter tracking an opponent all over the field before until a quiet moment came for him to get in some belated retaliation for an earlier foul). These days he prefers rugby.

But our musical tastes, then, were very similar.

We both loved the blues. Len stuck more rigidly to the Mississippi style when I started to lean towards the meatier Chicago variant and the British bands especially John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

But i have never lost my affection for the blues, however played.

And one of my recent lists of favourite tracks - it may have been those by duos, or singer-songwriters - showed our wider musical interests had remained, up to a point, similar.

When this series kicked off. I half expected Len to come up with something from Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Instead, he chose an Everly Brothers cover. "Whenever I need a bit of a lift I play All I Have to do is Dream by Leo Kottke and I can't help but smile," he wrote.

He's right to smile. It's lovely.

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Your Information

(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)