What I found in the loft

[merciful-evans]

Was cleaning the old house yesterday (my son has just moved out). I myself moved out 17 years ago to care for my mother. I remained in the family home after she passed. So readying the old place for sale now.

I was pleased to find that I can still hoist myself into the loft at 67 (no ladder there). Among a few old curios such as a bayonet, my old swimming goggles (rubber all perished) I also found my old reel to reel tape recorder and a bunch of tapes.

Among them were these two commercially produced small reels by Derek Bailey. I had entirely forgotten all about these. They cost 60 pence each in 1973. The back of the boxes show the Incus logo and phone numbers (who puts phone numbers on anything now? ). So these are unusual I reckon.

I have a couple of vinyl albums by Derek Bailey and other 'Free Music' performers among the thousand or so LPs I still have to find a home for. Warning: If you research Derek Bailey or 'Free Music', you could be in for a shock. 

[jdgm]

Hen's teeth! 

I have some old reels I want to digitize.  The tape recorder they were recorded on was an old Philips N4419 (I think) which had the heads in a 4-track configuration; 1&3, 2&4.  At the time I never understood what that meant, but really I need to find another working reel to reel with the same head configuration to get the sound off those tapes. 

[merciful-evans]

I cant recall what my one is but it could be the same. Its still in the loft at present because it was too heavy to pass down to Cherry. When my son comes over, we'll get it down and I'll try to figure it out. 

If its the same config as yours, you can use it. 

[Whitefang]

4 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

Warning: If you research Derek Bailey or 'Free Music', you could be in for a shock. 

 

Don't know what "shock" you think we could be in for.  MY quick research found this.

Pretty interesting

Whitefang

[sparquelito]

Now THAT is some free music. 

😬

[slimt]

There could be a very good reason for that being in the loft.  Are you sure its worth the effort to torture yourself?  That was not what I expected when the vid was shown.    
 

Jumanji comes to mind.   Put it back where you found it.  🤭

[merciful-evans]

7 minutes ago, slimt said:

There could be a very good reason for that being in the loft.  Are you sure its worth the effort to torture yourself?  That was not what I expected when the vid was shown.    
 

Jumanji comes to mind.   Put it back where you found it.  🤭

Actually, that recording Whitefang posted was one of the better ones I've heard.

TBH I have not listened to that stuff for an age. I did once see Derek Bailey in London (at the Roundhouse?) together with Han Bennink (percussion)and Evan Parker (sax). It was the sort thing I exposed my self to at that at 18 years old. I wanted a handle on every sort of music. The live element added a lot to it. Bennick was amazing to watch. I remember a couple of little kids actually dancing to it in the aisles. 

Cecil Taylor was another. Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers etc. On the Classical side I listened to Charles Ives & Arnold Schoenberg. All challenging stuff. Have I still the belly for it? Yes but in small infrequent doses. 😜

Probably listen to Merle Haggard this evening.

[WhitePunkOnDope]

"Derek Smalls..he wrote this" - free jazz..

[efj2008]

JHC, that was bad

[MissouriPicker]

I suddenly came to realize that maybe I ain’t that bad at playing guitar.....😂

[jdgm]

55 minutes ago, MissouriPicker said:

I suddenly came to realize that maybe I ain’t that bad at playing guitar.....😂

He was actually a technically superb guitarist in the late 1950s who was reputedly driven almost insane by his job accompanying a popular female pianist of the era who played singalonga pub medleys, that sort of stuff.   He went back (almost) to conventional musical form on the series of 'Ballads' recordings he made not too long before his death; extraordinary solo guitar renditions of standards.  An unique figure.  

[merciful-evans]

I finally got the recorder down from the loft. I brought it home and had to prise the lid off with a hammer & chisel. I've just plugged it in & tried it out.

Sadly, its not of the config jdgm needs. This one is 1-4 and 2-3 track.

The pots are really noisy. It does work. I did manage to listen to one a the Derek Bailey tapes. So it works - but only just! Yes, all the knob discs have fallen off.

Truvox of London England. Model R 104

Its destined for the tip. Sad but useless. The smell of ferrous oxide brings back memories though.

[jdgm]

4 hours ago, Fish Crumpet said:

Would that be Winifred Atwell? She had a drummer named Colin Bailey.

Yes I think it was.  It came up in a conversation with guitarist Ed Speight in 1993.

EDIT- I can't confirm the above (so far) but his Wiki entry states he backed Morecambe & Wise  ( "all the right notes" etc), Gracie Fields, Bob Monkhouse and Kathy Kirby!

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by jdgm

[merciful-evans]

23 hours ago, jdgm said:

Yes I think it was.  It came up in a conversation with guitarist Ed Speight in 1993.

EDIT- I can't confirm the above (so far) but his Wiki entry states he backed Morecambe & Wise  ( "all the right notes" etc), Gracie Fields, Bob Monkhouse and Kathy Kirby!

 

 

Well with regular gigs like those, I suppose Free Music was inevitable.

I'd have loved to have seen him do his 'own thing' on a 60s variety show as a guest artist.