Friday, 24 May 2013
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Last night's set list
At The Habit, York: -
Out On The Weekend
Love
Love Song
Heart Of Gold
Another fun-packed evening of open mic music making including some great country fiddle, a Geordie chap managing to get some very tuneful sounds from The Habit's notoriously out of tune piano, covers galore and some excellent original stuff.
Oh and a few pints of Leeds Pale to lubricate proceedings.
Out On The Weekend
Love
Love Song
Heart Of Gold
Another fun-packed evening of open mic music making including some great country fiddle, a Geordie chap managing to get some very tuneful sounds from The Habit's notoriously out of tune piano, covers galore and some excellent original stuff.
Oh and a few pints of Leeds Pale to lubricate proceedings.
Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis
Soul Brothers - review
Richard Bradford: The Odd Couple - The Curious Friendship between Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin (Robson Press, 2012), 373pp. ISBN 978-1-84954-375-0
Richard Bradford is not a man for critical half-measures. Laying his cards firmly on the table in the opening line of his introduction to The Odd Couple, he declares: 'During a thirty-year period between the 1950s and the 1980s, Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin produced, respectively, the finest fiction and poetry of the era.' While the second half of this statement would doubtless find ready assent among readers of About Larkin, the first half is surely more problematic. Bradford's critical certitude is again in evidence when he takes up the cudgels against those in the literary establishment who turned against Larkin following the publication of firstly the Selected Letters (1992) and later Andrew Motion's Philip Larkin - A Writer's Life (1993). Resolutely anti-modernist in his approach, Bradford feels Amis's comic writing is wrongly downgraded by academics in favour of what he calls the 'surreal speculation on the absurdities of the intellect that finds its way into the work of Joyce, Beckett, Pinter and their successors', adding defiantly: 'His work is serious because it is funny.' Similarly, with Larkin, Bradford's broadsides in defence of the poet can sound shrill: 'Academics and other members of the literary establishment dislike writing that is self-evidently beautiful but which does not, like modernism, demand their services as explicators.' Arguing in defence of what he calls 'formal conservatism', Bradford plays the literary reactionary, echoing Amis at his most curdmudgeonly: 'Moreover, they show that the successful command of traditional techniques requires far more skill and intellectual investment than the tired and predictable practices of experiment... In the latter half of the twentieth century they were the torch bearers for writing that tested the intellect and sensibility of its readers without resorting to the self-obsessed preoccupations of modernism.'
This kind of broad stroke critical approach is a feature of The Odd Couple, which drew criticism from Christopher Tayler, in the London Review of Books (Vol. 34, No. 24, 20 December 2012): 'Even some of Bradford's esoteric interpretations could have been made to look more plausible by a less clumsy writer, and the book is hard to fault on detail. The main problem is one of emphasis: Bradford isn't good with humour, and his narrative requirements make him put too much on the idea of Larkin as the surly underdog... If Amis took more from Larkin than Larkin did from him, maybe Larkin had more to give.' Although reviewers have generally been kind to The Odd Couple, commending the book for its detailed analysis of the Amis-Larkin friendship, eagle-eyed satirist Craig Brown excoriated the book for blatant self-plagiarism in The Mail on Sunday, in the kind of withering review which would force most authors into hiding. Calling the book 'a triumph of cut and paste,' Brown accuses Bradford of taking both reader and his publishers 'for a ride', by reproducing verbatim chunks from his previous books on Amis and Larkin. Slamming The Odd Couple as 'a shameless exercise in marketing old rope', Brown demonstrates how often only the linking passages between previously published text are new, cheekily speculating if 'self-plagiarism is an offence in academia?' And Bradford's wholesale recycling can have other, unintended consequences, when previous unforced errors are not picked up. Reviewing Bradford's First Boredom, Then Fear - The Life of Philip Larkin in About Larkin 20 (Autumn 2005), this writer noted that the earlier book had the poet being interviewed – posthumously – by Melvyn Bragg in 1986. Unfortunately, the selfsame error appears in The Odd Couple, surrounded by the same recycled prose Craig Brown enjoyed lampooning.
But for all its cutting and pasting, The Odd Couple does present a very detailed picture of the Amis-Larkin relationship, from its beginnings at St John's College, Oxford, in May, 1941, to its sad and muted conclusion, with Larkin's death in 1985. Bradford reasonably observes that the largely epistolary friendship of Amis and Larkin 'energised, sometimes even shaped, much of their finest writing.' But he cannot resist drawing apparently definitive aesthetic conclusions from literary evidence. So we are told that 'Lucky Jim, the novel that launched Amis's career, could not have been written without Larkin', and that while Amis apparently 'exploited their intimacy for his writing, Larkin's mature poetry was largely a reaction against it.' But Bradford does avoid some of the self-plagiarism charges by featuring unpublished material from the archives, including previously unseen documents from the Hull History Centre and the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
From the moment Larkin spotted Amis faking a gunshot wound and collapsing on some laundry bags outside St John's College, their lives were drawn together. The friendship blossomed in the beery context of 'The Seven,' a kind of disrespectful, debunking literary gang. Both agnostics, Amis and Larkin came from similar social and educational backgrounds. They shared a scabrous, casually obscene sense of humour, a passion for traditional jazz, drink and sex – or, in Larkin's case, fantasizing about sex. And they also shared a secret, coded language in an almost hermetically sealed private world. In terms of literary nous, Amis considered Larkin 'the senior partner', with the latter encouraging his friend to read Auden, Flann O'Brien and Henry Green. The pair peppered their private world with scurrilous, parodic and obscene verses. The Amis-Larkin relationship presented a stiff index finger to academic or literary propriety. Bradford notes: 'It was as though both were in private able to enjoy breaking down the institutionalised borders between comic irreverance and high culture, while in their attempts to produce proper literature they deferred to the humourless conventions of the latter.' But although the bond between the two friends was strong, their literary tastes often diverged. Amis, for example, never shared Larkin's admiration for D.H.Lawrence or his attachment to the psychological theories of John Layard.
Though their friendship endured for more than 40 years, the Amis-Larkin relationship was largely based on letters. Larkin was never keen for Amis to visit Hull, perhaps anxious to conceal the mundanity of his working life or his intimate relationships. Their correspondence was sparked when Amis was conscripted into the Army, while poor eyesight exempted Larkin. Bradford pinpoints this as a turning point in their friendship, calling their letters 'unique in the history of literature,' adding: 'Their correspondence provides an index not only to the progress of their relationship but also to each of them as individual writers.' Bradford draws parallels between certain Larkin poems and specific passages in the voluminous, often sexually graphic correspondence. So he considers a letter by Larkin, dating from February 1947, about his crumbling relationship with Ruth Bowman, a 'prose version' of Wild Oats. But some readers may demur at some of Bradford's parallels. For instance, he suggests The Old Fools is simply 'Larkin's response' to the bleak fictional landscape of Amis's novel, Ending Up. The poem has far more complex roots than this. And apart from such simplistic literary intepretations, Bradford can also be accused of overstepping the limits of biography. After quoting a famous Larkin letter to Maeve Brennan in December 1975 – 'I am very close to Monica and very fond of her... But it's you I love; you're the one I want ' – he states unequivocally: 'He was lying. Within three years their relationship would be over, forever.' Bradford fails to acknowledge the inconsistencies and complexities of the human heart, Moreover the reader may reasonably ask, 'How does Bradford know Larkin was lying?'
Arguably the central chapter of The Odd Couple is that concerned with the development of the classic Amis novel, Lucky Jim. Bradford explores Larkin's influence on and inspiration for the book, and Amis's apparently lifelong antipathy to Monica Jones. According to Bradford's reading of the novel's gestation, Amis was 'scrupulously harvesting key aspects of his friendship with Larkin for the novel.' He believes Larkin was complicit in the creation of the character of Margaret Peel, which is widely considered to be based on Monica, his novelist friend making 'disparaging comments' about the woman who was apparently his soul-mate, while allowing Amis to believe the relationship was far more casual. For Bradford, Monica was 'a threat... to the... unique and confidential partnership' between Amis and Larkin. But even as Lucky Jim was taking shape, Monica was actually displacing Amis as Larkin's 'most trusted adviser on his poems-in-progress'. But after a rejected first book, The Legacy, Amis seemed to find his way again with the novel form via Larkin's letters, which he found much funnier than his own.
Bradford considers the Amis-Larkin correspondence a rich literary storehouse, providing many of the comic set pieces in the novel. Amis called his poet-friend his 'inner audience' and drew inspiration from their private, epistolary style, which remained mostly inaccessible to the outside world. In effect, Amis found a way back into fiction by transforming his private correspondence with Larkin into public literary currency. Echoing Pound editing Eliot's original manuscript He Do The Police In Different Voices into The Waste Land, Larkin cast a cold critical eye over 150,000 words of the nascent Lucky Jim and helped shape the book. But Bradford believes Larkin came to regret his part in its creation, accusing his old friend of plagiarism: 'Sometimes he disclosed his feelings to others but never to Amis, even much later when their friendship appeared to be mutating into quiet antagonism.'
Given his teasing out of the many links sparked by the famous literary friendship, it's surprising that Bradford fails to acknowledge a perhaps veiled or submerged Amis caricature in Larkin's satirical poem, The Life with a Hole in it. Yet for all its recycling and often unsubtle readings, The Odd Couple still provides a wealth of detail about the interlinked lives of two highly complex, hugely talented literary figures. What is also clear is that real love underpinned the Amis-Larkin relationship. As Martin Amis commented in his introduction to his selected Larkin, Poems (2011): 'It was always clear to everyone that Kingsley loved Philip with a near-physical passion.' But Amis fils also recalled his father's comment on his return from Larkin's funeral, after finally getting to visit his old friend in Hull: 'It sounds odd, but I sometimes wonder if I ever really knew him.' Just before he died, Larkin was forced to dictate his final letter to Amis on to a tape recorder, which meant dispensing with their traditional, slightly rude but still affectionate and wholly typical valediction of 'bum'.
http://www.philiplarkin.com/al.htm
Richard Bradford is not a man for critical half-measures. Laying his cards firmly on the table in the opening line of his introduction to The Odd Couple, he declares: 'During a thirty-year period between the 1950s and the 1980s, Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin produced, respectively, the finest fiction and poetry of the era.' While the second half of this statement would doubtless find ready assent among readers of About Larkin, the first half is surely more problematic. Bradford's critical certitude is again in evidence when he takes up the cudgels against those in the literary establishment who turned against Larkin following the publication of firstly the Selected Letters (1992) and later Andrew Motion's Philip Larkin - A Writer's Life (1993). Resolutely anti-modernist in his approach, Bradford feels Amis's comic writing is wrongly downgraded by academics in favour of what he calls the 'surreal speculation on the absurdities of the intellect that finds its way into the work of Joyce, Beckett, Pinter and their successors', adding defiantly: 'His work is serious because it is funny.' Similarly, with Larkin, Bradford's broadsides in defence of the poet can sound shrill: 'Academics and other members of the literary establishment dislike writing that is self-evidently beautiful but which does not, like modernism, demand their services as explicators.' Arguing in defence of what he calls 'formal conservatism', Bradford plays the literary reactionary, echoing Amis at his most curdmudgeonly: 'Moreover, they show that the successful command of traditional techniques requires far more skill and intellectual investment than the tired and predictable practices of experiment... In the latter half of the twentieth century they were the torch bearers for writing that tested the intellect and sensibility of its readers without resorting to the self-obsessed preoccupations of modernism.'
This kind of broad stroke critical approach is a feature of The Odd Couple, which drew criticism from Christopher Tayler, in the London Review of Books (Vol. 34, No. 24, 20 December 2012): 'Even some of Bradford's esoteric interpretations could have been made to look more plausible by a less clumsy writer, and the book is hard to fault on detail. The main problem is one of emphasis: Bradford isn't good with humour, and his narrative requirements make him put too much on the idea of Larkin as the surly underdog... If Amis took more from Larkin than Larkin did from him, maybe Larkin had more to give.' Although reviewers have generally been kind to The Odd Couple, commending the book for its detailed analysis of the Amis-Larkin friendship, eagle-eyed satirist Craig Brown excoriated the book for blatant self-plagiarism in The Mail on Sunday, in the kind of withering review which would force most authors into hiding. Calling the book 'a triumph of cut and paste,' Brown accuses Bradford of taking both reader and his publishers 'for a ride', by reproducing verbatim chunks from his previous books on Amis and Larkin. Slamming The Odd Couple as 'a shameless exercise in marketing old rope', Brown demonstrates how often only the linking passages between previously published text are new, cheekily speculating if 'self-plagiarism is an offence in academia?' And Bradford's wholesale recycling can have other, unintended consequences, when previous unforced errors are not picked up. Reviewing Bradford's First Boredom, Then Fear - The Life of Philip Larkin in About Larkin 20 (Autumn 2005), this writer noted that the earlier book had the poet being interviewed – posthumously – by Melvyn Bragg in 1986. Unfortunately, the selfsame error appears in The Odd Couple, surrounded by the same recycled prose Craig Brown enjoyed lampooning.
But for all its cutting and pasting, The Odd Couple does present a very detailed picture of the Amis-Larkin relationship, from its beginnings at St John's College, Oxford, in May, 1941, to its sad and muted conclusion, with Larkin's death in 1985. Bradford reasonably observes that the largely epistolary friendship of Amis and Larkin 'energised, sometimes even shaped, much of their finest writing.' But he cannot resist drawing apparently definitive aesthetic conclusions from literary evidence. So we are told that 'Lucky Jim, the novel that launched Amis's career, could not have been written without Larkin', and that while Amis apparently 'exploited their intimacy for his writing, Larkin's mature poetry was largely a reaction against it.' But Bradford does avoid some of the self-plagiarism charges by featuring unpublished material from the archives, including previously unseen documents from the Hull History Centre and the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
From the moment Larkin spotted Amis faking a gunshot wound and collapsing on some laundry bags outside St John's College, their lives were drawn together. The friendship blossomed in the beery context of 'The Seven,' a kind of disrespectful, debunking literary gang. Both agnostics, Amis and Larkin came from similar social and educational backgrounds. They shared a scabrous, casually obscene sense of humour, a passion for traditional jazz, drink and sex – or, in Larkin's case, fantasizing about sex. And they also shared a secret, coded language in an almost hermetically sealed private world. In terms of literary nous, Amis considered Larkin 'the senior partner', with the latter encouraging his friend to read Auden, Flann O'Brien and Henry Green. The pair peppered their private world with scurrilous, parodic and obscene verses. The Amis-Larkin relationship presented a stiff index finger to academic or literary propriety. Bradford notes: 'It was as though both were in private able to enjoy breaking down the institutionalised borders between comic irreverance and high culture, while in their attempts to produce proper literature they deferred to the humourless conventions of the latter.' But although the bond between the two friends was strong, their literary tastes often diverged. Amis, for example, never shared Larkin's admiration for D.H.Lawrence or his attachment to the psychological theories of John Layard.
Though their friendship endured for more than 40 years, the Amis-Larkin relationship was largely based on letters. Larkin was never keen for Amis to visit Hull, perhaps anxious to conceal the mundanity of his working life or his intimate relationships. Their correspondence was sparked when Amis was conscripted into the Army, while poor eyesight exempted Larkin. Bradford pinpoints this as a turning point in their friendship, calling their letters 'unique in the history of literature,' adding: 'Their correspondence provides an index not only to the progress of their relationship but also to each of them as individual writers.' Bradford draws parallels between certain Larkin poems and specific passages in the voluminous, often sexually graphic correspondence. So he considers a letter by Larkin, dating from February 1947, about his crumbling relationship with Ruth Bowman, a 'prose version' of Wild Oats. But some readers may demur at some of Bradford's parallels. For instance, he suggests The Old Fools is simply 'Larkin's response' to the bleak fictional landscape of Amis's novel, Ending Up. The poem has far more complex roots than this. And apart from such simplistic literary intepretations, Bradford can also be accused of overstepping the limits of biography. After quoting a famous Larkin letter to Maeve Brennan in December 1975 – 'I am very close to Monica and very fond of her... But it's you I love; you're the one I want ' – he states unequivocally: 'He was lying. Within three years their relationship would be over, forever.' Bradford fails to acknowledge the inconsistencies and complexities of the human heart, Moreover the reader may reasonably ask, 'How does Bradford know Larkin was lying?'
Arguably the central chapter of The Odd Couple is that concerned with the development of the classic Amis novel, Lucky Jim. Bradford explores Larkin's influence on and inspiration for the book, and Amis's apparently lifelong antipathy to Monica Jones. According to Bradford's reading of the novel's gestation, Amis was 'scrupulously harvesting key aspects of his friendship with Larkin for the novel.' He believes Larkin was complicit in the creation of the character of Margaret Peel, which is widely considered to be based on Monica, his novelist friend making 'disparaging comments' about the woman who was apparently his soul-mate, while allowing Amis to believe the relationship was far more casual. For Bradford, Monica was 'a threat... to the... unique and confidential partnership' between Amis and Larkin. But even as Lucky Jim was taking shape, Monica was actually displacing Amis as Larkin's 'most trusted adviser on his poems-in-progress'. But after a rejected first book, The Legacy, Amis seemed to find his way again with the novel form via Larkin's letters, which he found much funnier than his own.
Bradford considers the Amis-Larkin correspondence a rich literary storehouse, providing many of the comic set pieces in the novel. Amis called his poet-friend his 'inner audience' and drew inspiration from their private, epistolary style, which remained mostly inaccessible to the outside world. In effect, Amis found a way back into fiction by transforming his private correspondence with Larkin into public literary currency. Echoing Pound editing Eliot's original manuscript He Do The Police In Different Voices into The Waste Land, Larkin cast a cold critical eye over 150,000 words of the nascent Lucky Jim and helped shape the book. But Bradford believes Larkin came to regret his part in its creation, accusing his old friend of plagiarism: 'Sometimes he disclosed his feelings to others but never to Amis, even much later when their friendship appeared to be mutating into quiet antagonism.'
Given his teasing out of the many links sparked by the famous literary friendship, it's surprising that Bradford fails to acknowledge a perhaps veiled or submerged Amis caricature in Larkin's satirical poem, The Life with a Hole in it. Yet for all its recycling and often unsubtle readings, The Odd Couple still provides a wealth of detail about the interlinked lives of two highly complex, hugely talented literary figures. What is also clear is that real love underpinned the Amis-Larkin relationship. As Martin Amis commented in his introduction to his selected Larkin, Poems (2011): 'It was always clear to everyone that Kingsley loved Philip with a near-physical passion.' But Amis fils also recalled his father's comment on his return from Larkin's funeral, after finally getting to visit his old friend in Hull: 'It sounds odd, but I sometimes wonder if I ever really knew him.' Just before he died, Larkin was forced to dictate his final letter to Amis on to a tape recorder, which meant dispensing with their traditional, slightly rude but still affectionate and wholly typical valediction of 'bum'.
Terry Kelly
About Larkin April 2013 http://www.philiplarkin.com/al.htm
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Trevor Bolder RIP
Trevor Bolder, bass player for David Bowie's 70s backing band, dies aged 62
Member of Spiders from Mars, who subsequently played with Uriah Heep for more than 30 years, was suffering from cancer
Press Association
guardian.co.uk
Member of Spiders from Mars, who subsequently played with Uriah Heep for more than 30 years, was suffering from cancer
Press Association
guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Trevor Bolder, the bass player for Uriah Heep and David Bowie's Spiders from Mars, has died aged 62 after suffering from cancer.
Bolder joined Bowie's backing band in 1971, appearing on classic albums including Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane.
He went on to join Uriah Heep five years later and only stopped playing with the band a few months ago after his health worsened.
Tributes were paid to him on Tuesday night as a "world-class" rock musician.
A statement from Uriah Heep said: "It is with great sadness that Uriah Heep announce the passing of our friend the amazing Trevor Bolder, who has passed away after his long fight with cancer.
"Trevor was an all-time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced.
"His long time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band's music, and Trevor's virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world.
"He joined the band in 1976 and, barring one short break, was a fixture until his ill health forced him to take a step back early this year.
"Prior to joining Heep he was a founder and ever-present member of David Bowie's legendary Spiders from Mars band, performing on all of their key albums and at countless shows. He also performed with Wishbone Ash, Cybernauts and the Rats."
Lead guitarist Mick Box said: "Trevor was a world-class bass player, singer and songwriter, and more importantly a world-class friend.
"He will be sadly missed by family, friends and rock fans all over the world. We are all numb to the core."
Trevor Bolder, the bass player for Uriah Heep and David Bowie's Spiders from Mars, has died aged 62 after suffering from cancer.
Bolder joined Bowie's backing band in 1971, appearing on classic albums including Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane.
He went on to join Uriah Heep five years later and only stopped playing with the band a few months ago after his health worsened.
Tributes were paid to him on Tuesday night as a "world-class" rock musician.
A statement from Uriah Heep said: "It is with great sadness that Uriah Heep announce the passing of our friend the amazing Trevor Bolder, who has passed away after his long fight with cancer.
"Trevor was an all-time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced.
"His long time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band's music, and Trevor's virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world.
"He joined the band in 1976 and, barring one short break, was a fixture until his ill health forced him to take a step back early this year.
"Prior to joining Heep he was a founder and ever-present member of David Bowie's legendary Spiders from Mars band, performing on all of their key albums and at countless shows. He also performed with Wishbone Ash, Cybernauts and the Rats."
Lead guitarist Mick Box said: "Trevor was a world-class bass player, singer and songwriter, and more importantly a world-class friend.
"He will be sadly missed by family, friends and rock fans all over the world. We are all numb to the core."
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Monday, 20 May 2013
J. D. Salinger Documentary - more news...
JD Salinger's secret life exposed in new documentary
Film promising revelations about reclusive Catcher in the Rye author has been snapped up by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein
Paul Harris
The Observer
J. D Salinger, the elusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, was one of America's most famous recluses and guarded his private life with fanatical dedication. Yet even he might have been impressed by the immense efforts being undertaken to keep details secret of a new documentary that has been made about his life and works.
Called simply Salinger, the film is the brainchild of Shane Salerno, who has spent nine years writing, producing and directing the project, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money. The move is a major shift in career for Salerno, best known as a writer of mainstream blockbusters such as Alien vs Predator: Requiem and Armageddon.
But the promise of lifting the lid on the life of one of America's most revered writers has proven a massive lure to Hollywood. Salinger has been bought up by independent film mogul Harvey Weinstein after he reportedly saw a private screening of it at 7.30 on the morning of the Oscars. Even though the screening did not apparently include all of the film's most confidential revelations, he snapped it up immediately.
In fact, so impressed have its backers been with what Salerno and his team have uncovered they are also releasing a TV show based on the documentary and have struck a deal with publisher Simon and Schuster to bring out a book called The Private War of JD Salinger.
With Salerno not giving press interviews, there has been feverish speculation about details of new love affairs and rumours of unpublished manuscripts. One of the few hints is a statement Salerno made announcing the book deal. "The myth that people have read about and believed for 60 years about JD Salinger is one of someone too pure to publish, too sensitive to be touched. We replace the myth of Salinger with an extraordinarily complex, deeply contradictory human being. Our book offers a complete revaluation and reinterpretation of the work and the life," he said.
That is a bold claim to make about one of the world's most elusive figures, who died at the age of 91 in 2010. Though the publication of The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 made him rich and famous, Salinger fled the spotlight. In 1953 he left New York to live in a secluded rural compound in Cornish, New Hampshire. His published literary output dwindled and he eschewed virtually all media interviews. His last published work came out in 1965, and his last interview – which Salinger appeared to have been tricked into giving – was in 1980.
Ironically, many believe Salinger's quest for privacy actually stoked far more fascination. "In keeping himself isolated, it excited people," said Tom Paine, a Salinger fan and the author of a collection of short stories and the novel The Pearl of Kuwait.
Indeed, few authors can claim to have inspired so many people with such a small body of work. His stories seem to have captured the angst of youth and modern life. "He was a writer who was more of a spiritual seeker than just a storyteller. He was trying to use fiction not only to tell a story, but to parallel his own spiritual development," said Paine.
But some have not reacted well to Salerno's project. Though he claims to have interviewed as many as 200 people, Salinger's son, Matthew Salinger, told the New York Times recently that his father's inner circle of friends numbered just a few and none had co-operated with the project. "There were barely enough people to form a circle in the last 30 or 40 years," he told the newspaper.
That comment has drawn a swift rebuttal. In a statement, the Weinstein company said Salerno had gained "unprecedented access" to people around Salinger. "With due respect to Matt Salinger, he has not seen the film. We've seen the film, and unfortunately Matt Salinger does not have accurate information," it said.
Either way, speculation about the film will stoke massive interest in its subject: something that many fans see as a double-edged sword. Certainly, not all intend to watch it, out of a belief that Salinger himself would have been horrified by the idea. "I am very much in two minds about the documentary. It seems deeply wrong, carnivorous and hurtful, even though I am perhaps hungry to know what is in it," said Paine.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/18/jd-salinger-secret-life-exposed-documentary
Film promising revelations about reclusive Catcher in the Rye author has been snapped up by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein
Paul Harris
The Observer
Saturday 18 May 2013
Called simply Salinger, the film is the brainchild of Shane Salerno, who has spent nine years writing, producing and directing the project, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money. The move is a major shift in career for Salerno, best known as a writer of mainstream blockbusters such as Alien vs Predator: Requiem and Armageddon.
But the promise of lifting the lid on the life of one of America's most revered writers has proven a massive lure to Hollywood. Salinger has been bought up by independent film mogul Harvey Weinstein after he reportedly saw a private screening of it at 7.30 on the morning of the Oscars. Even though the screening did not apparently include all of the film's most confidential revelations, he snapped it up immediately.
In fact, so impressed have its backers been with what Salerno and his team have uncovered they are also releasing a TV show based on the documentary and have struck a deal with publisher Simon and Schuster to bring out a book called The Private War of JD Salinger.
With Salerno not giving press interviews, there has been feverish speculation about details of new love affairs and rumours of unpublished manuscripts. One of the few hints is a statement Salerno made announcing the book deal. "The myth that people have read about and believed for 60 years about JD Salinger is one of someone too pure to publish, too sensitive to be touched. We replace the myth of Salinger with an extraordinarily complex, deeply contradictory human being. Our book offers a complete revaluation and reinterpretation of the work and the life," he said.
That is a bold claim to make about one of the world's most elusive figures, who died at the age of 91 in 2010. Though the publication of The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 made him rich and famous, Salinger fled the spotlight. In 1953 he left New York to live in a secluded rural compound in Cornish, New Hampshire. His published literary output dwindled and he eschewed virtually all media interviews. His last published work came out in 1965, and his last interview – which Salinger appeared to have been tricked into giving – was in 1980.
Ironically, many believe Salinger's quest for privacy actually stoked far more fascination. "In keeping himself isolated, it excited people," said Tom Paine, a Salinger fan and the author of a collection of short stories and the novel The Pearl of Kuwait.
Indeed, few authors can claim to have inspired so many people with such a small body of work. His stories seem to have captured the angst of youth and modern life. "He was a writer who was more of a spiritual seeker than just a storyteller. He was trying to use fiction not only to tell a story, but to parallel his own spiritual development," said Paine.
But some have not reacted well to Salerno's project. Though he claims to have interviewed as many as 200 people, Salinger's son, Matthew Salinger, told the New York Times recently that his father's inner circle of friends numbered just a few and none had co-operated with the project. "There were barely enough people to form a circle in the last 30 or 40 years," he told the newspaper.
That comment has drawn a swift rebuttal. In a statement, the Weinstein company said Salerno had gained "unprecedented access" to people around Salinger. "With due respect to Matt Salinger, he has not seen the film. We've seen the film, and unfortunately Matt Salinger does not have accurate information," it said.
Either way, speculation about the film will stoke massive interest in its subject: something that many fans see as a double-edged sword. Certainly, not all intend to watch it, out of a belief that Salinger himself would have been horrified by the idea. "I am very much in two minds about the documentary. It seems deeply wrong, carnivorous and hurtful, even though I am perhaps hungry to know what is in it," said Paine.
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Keith Crombie: The Jazz Man
Newcastle Jazz Legend Keith Crombie To Be Featured in Forthcoming Doc
Newcastle legend Keith Crombie is to be the focus of a new documentary, The Jazz Man, from North East producer/director Abi Lewis of Agogo Films. Crombie, who ran Pink Lane’s Jazz Cafe for over 20 years, died aged 73 in December last year after a short illness; the club was open until shortly before his death.
Lewis has just released a teaser for The Jazz Man, and is developing the project with funding from Northern Film & Media. She said of her decision to embark on the projected 60 min film: “like Keith himself, the Jazz Cafe was becoming old and worn and my gut feeling told me it was time someone documented Keith and the history of the venue before it was too late. I wanted to capture the venue for posterity and all that it means to all the people who regularly go there.” With footage shot over a two year period, the film will draw not only on contributions from the club’s regulars but on Lewis’ deep knowledge of her subject (Crombie was also also her Godfather).
Lewis has worked in the television industry for nearly a decade on television dram and online content, largely for 21st Century Media. The Jazz Man will be her debut film.
To watch the official teaser click here. You can follow Abi’s progress on Twitter @TheJazzManDoc or on the film’s Facebook page.
http://www.northernmedia.org/news/newcastle-jazz-legend-keith-crombie-to-be-featured-in-forthcoming-doc/
Newcastle legend Keith Crombie is to be the focus of a new documentary, The Jazz Man, from North East producer/director Abi Lewis of Agogo Films. Crombie, who ran Pink Lane’s Jazz Cafe for over 20 years, died aged 73 in December last year after a short illness; the club was open until shortly before his death.
Lewis has just released a teaser for The Jazz Man, and is developing the project with funding from Northern Film & Media. She said of her decision to embark on the projected 60 min film: “like Keith himself, the Jazz Cafe was becoming old and worn and my gut feeling told me it was time someone documented Keith and the history of the venue before it was too late. I wanted to capture the venue for posterity and all that it means to all the people who regularly go there.” With footage shot over a two year period, the film will draw not only on contributions from the club’s regulars but on Lewis’ deep knowledge of her subject (Crombie was also also her Godfather).
Lewis has worked in the television industry for nearly a decade on television dram and online content, largely for 21st Century Media. The Jazz Man will be her debut film.
To watch the official teaser click here. You can follow Abi’s progress on Twitter @TheJazzManDoc or on the film’s Facebook page.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
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Friday, 17 May 2013
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Monday, 13 May 2013
Shepard Fairey's Going Underground...
Shepard Fairey's paintings to be displayed in Newcastle's Victoria Tunnel
The artist behind one of the best known paintings of the 21st century is heading to Newcastle – for an exhibition in an underground tunnel
12 May 2013
Skateboard artist Shepard Fairey sprang to prominence in 2008 when he produced the famous Hope poster that featured on the front became a symbol for Barack Obama’s first election campaign and was eventually bought by America’s National Portrait Gallery.
Fairey’s work has also featured in the Iron Man films and he appeared as himself in an episode of The Simpsons while in 2003 he designed the album cover for will.i.am’s second solo album Must B 21.
Now Fairey is one of 12 artists who will be showing off work in the Victoria Tunnel, which runs under Newcastle from Ouseburn to the Town Moor.
The Into the Dark event on June 12 will feature a dozen artists from around the world.
Curator Danny Hughes, from the Newcastle-based street art collective Unit 44, said he wanted to stage the event to introduce new people to the Victoria Tunnel.
He said: “There’s a been a few projects underground in America and that was at the back of our minds. With this project, it emerged from a meeting we had with the Ouseburn Trust.
“They’re getting a lot of people down to see the tunnel but it tends to be older people. It’s such a wonderful place and we wanted to tell its story with a modern voice.
“We always had 12 artists in mind because only 12 people can go down the tunnel at any one time. With a site like that people were really keen to get involved.
“Shepard Fairey is one of the most celebrated artists on the planet at the minute because of the Obama poster.
“We’d done a show with an artist from San Francisco who knew him and he put us in touch. There were emails back and forth and it turned out he knew Newcastle because of the Spank the Monkey show at the Baltic a few years ago. It’s great to have him involved.”
The Victoria Tunnel is a subterranean wagonway that was built between 1839-42 to transport coal from Leazes Main Colliery in Spital Tongues to riverside staithes ready for loading onto boats for export.
The colliery closed in January 1860 and the tunnel was abandoned until the start of the Second World War when it was converted for use as an air raid shelter.
The Ouseburn Trust runs regular tours of the Tunnel, which has featured on a number of TV shows.
As well as Shepard Fairey, the Into the Dark event will feature work from Australian artists Meggs and Stormie Mills, German Hendrik Beikirch, who is known for huge spray-painted murals, plus local artists Hush and Candice Tripp.
Candice, a South African-born painter who has lived in Newcastle for the past seven years, said: “It’s an exciting challenge to be able to produce something that will work with the tunnel, as opposed to just existing within it.
“I had been living in Newcastle for four years before I found out that the Victoria Tunnel existed. I’m glad I waited, although I can’t say why I did!”
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/shepard-faireys-paintings-displayed-newcastles-3658869
Skateboard artist Shepard Fairey sprang to prominence in 2008 when he produced the famous Hope poster that featured on the front became a symbol for Barack Obama’s first election campaign and was eventually bought by America’s National Portrait Gallery.
Fairey’s work has also featured in the Iron Man films and he appeared as himself in an episode of The Simpsons while in 2003 he designed the album cover for will.i.am’s second solo album Must B 21.
Now Fairey is one of 12 artists who will be showing off work in the Victoria Tunnel, which runs under Newcastle from Ouseburn to the Town Moor.
The Into the Dark event on June 12 will feature a dozen artists from around the world.
Curator Danny Hughes, from the Newcastle-based street art collective Unit 44, said he wanted to stage the event to introduce new people to the Victoria Tunnel.
He said: “There’s a been a few projects underground in America and that was at the back of our minds. With this project, it emerged from a meeting we had with the Ouseburn Trust.
“They’re getting a lot of people down to see the tunnel but it tends to be older people. It’s such a wonderful place and we wanted to tell its story with a modern voice.
“We always had 12 artists in mind because only 12 people can go down the tunnel at any one time. With a site like that people were really keen to get involved.
“Shepard Fairey is one of the most celebrated artists on the planet at the minute because of the Obama poster.
“We’d done a show with an artist from San Francisco who knew him and he put us in touch. There were emails back and forth and it turned out he knew Newcastle because of the Spank the Monkey show at the Baltic a few years ago. It’s great to have him involved.”
The Victoria Tunnel is a subterranean wagonway that was built between 1839-42 to transport coal from Leazes Main Colliery in Spital Tongues to riverside staithes ready for loading onto boats for export.
The colliery closed in January 1860 and the tunnel was abandoned until the start of the Second World War when it was converted for use as an air raid shelter.
The Ouseburn Trust runs regular tours of the Tunnel, which has featured on a number of TV shows.
As well as Shepard Fairey, the Into the Dark event will feature work from Australian artists Meggs and Stormie Mills, German Hendrik Beikirch, who is known for huge spray-painted murals, plus local artists Hush and Candice Tripp.
Candice, a South African-born painter who has lived in Newcastle for the past seven years, said: “It’s an exciting challenge to be able to produce something that will work with the tunnel, as opposed to just existing within it.
“I had been living in Newcastle for four years before I found out that the Victoria Tunnel existed. I’m glad I waited, although I can’t say why I did!”
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Gateshead on the change...
Remember When: Images of a changing town - Gateshead
6 May 2013
The Town Hall clock
These never-before-seen pictures will spark the memories of folk in Gateshead.
Photographer Steve Wood recorded the demolition of the town centre during the major redevelopment years of the 1960s and 1970s.
Saturday saw the first showing of photos taken around the Riverside, High Street and West Street areas – in a talk given by librarian John Boothroyd.
They formed part of a presentation called ‘Central Gateshead disappears’.
John is in the process of restoring hundreds of slides that were discovered almost by accident – and hopes in the future to present them in book form for the people of Gateshead to enjoy.
The Town Hall clock
These never-before-seen pictures will spark the memories of folk in Gateshead.
Photographer Steve Wood recorded the demolition of the town centre during the major redevelopment years of the 1960s and 1970s.
Saturday saw the first showing of photos taken around the Riverside, High Street and West Street areas – in a talk given by librarian John Boothroyd.
They formed part of a presentation called ‘Central Gateshead disappears’.
John is in the process of restoring hundreds of slides that were discovered almost by accident – and hopes in the future to present them in book form for the people of Gateshead to enjoy.
Central Methodist Hall, Gateshead
Senior librarian at Gateshead Libraries John said: “Steve Wood’s work is similar to that of Jimmy Forsyth’s iconic pictures of Scotswood in the 1950s.
“But whereas Jimmy took pictures of people, Steve took photographs of places.
“Plus, they’re in colour and they show a town centre in the middle of an intense period of change.”
Steve Wood was a Whickham resident who managed Turner’s photographic shop near the Central Station in Newcastle.
His work covered the transformation of the townscapes he knew both north and south of the River Tyne.
Senior librarian at Gateshead Libraries John said: “Steve Wood’s work is similar to that of Jimmy Forsyth’s iconic pictures of Scotswood in the 1950s.
“But whereas Jimmy took pictures of people, Steve took photographs of places.
“Plus, they’re in colour and they show a town centre in the middle of an intense period of change.”
Steve Wood was a Whickham resident who managed Turner’s photographic shop near the Central Station in Newcastle.
His work covered the transformation of the townscapes he knew both north and south of the River Tyne.
Shephards in Gateshead
As well as the planned book, John is hoping to host a major exhibition of Steve’s work in November.
The pictures here show Shephards, the vast department store which attracted generations of shoppers until the late 70s when the new Metro system’s easy access to Newcastle saw the store fall out of favour with shoppers.
The Central Bar has recently been renovated and is attracting a whole new clientele after decades of decline.
The view down towards the Tyne Bridge with the Town Hall clock remains unchanged, apart from modern shops and Gateshead Interchange on the left.
The view of Central Methodist Hall, High West Street and Regent Terrace from the Regent Court Flats is, alas, no more.
As well as the planned book, John is hoping to host a major exhibition of Steve’s work in November.
The pictures here show Shephards, the vast department store which attracted generations of shoppers until the late 70s when the new Metro system’s easy access to Newcastle saw the store fall out of favour with shoppers.
The Central Bar has recently been renovated and is attracting a whole new clientele after decades of decline.
The view down towards the Tyne Bridge with the Town Hall clock remains unchanged, apart from modern shops and Gateshead Interchange on the left.
The view of Central Methodist Hall, High West Street and Regent Terrace from the Regent Court Flats is, alas, no more.
Central Hotel and Half Moon pub
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/remember-when-images-changing-town-3414316
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Loudon Wainwright at the Sage, Gateshead
Loudon Wainwright III at the Sage, Wednesday 8 May 2013
AMERICAN troubadour Loudon Wainwright III likes to joke that "death and decay" are his main songwriting obsessions these days.
But in truth, there's far more to the 66-year-old musical master than jokes about the Grim Reaper.
As a fan for more than 40 years, I've seen Wainwright in concert numerous times, but his gig at The Sage revealed a new side to his stagecraft.
Promoting his latest album, Older Than My Old Man Now, Wainwright punctuated the concert with readings from his late father's columns for Life magazine.
His word-perfect recitations were not only an amazing feat of memory, but also a moving reflection on a father-son relationship which has often fed his songwriting muse.
Wainwright also delighted yours truly by pulling out some archive classics from a career stretching back to his 1970 debut album, including Prince Hal's Dirge, Whatever Happened To Us and Red Guitar.
But he also treated us to some new songs, including Man With a Dog in the City and Back In Your Town, proving his unique songwriting skills remain finely tuned.
He also dedicated Five Years Old to his now very much grown-up songwriter daughter, Martha Wainwright, who celebrated her birthday on the same day as her father's gig at The Sage.
Highlights included the haunting Dead Man, the family saga, Half-Fist, White Winos, Human Cannonball and the old Marty Robbins' song, At the End of a Long Lonely Day, where he duetted with another daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, who was the support act and provided warm vocal harmonies throughout a very special show.
Terry Kelly
Friday, 10 May 2013
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