For a pair of OAP rockney rebels, Chas and Dave still know how to bring the house down. There was a brilliant atmosphere last night at the Royal Albert Hall knees up – ‘ole Prince Franz Albert August Karl Emanuel himself would have been very proud. Here’s a few of my scribbles from the gig. Gertcha!!!
We went to see ‘The Bootleg Beatles’ play the Royal Albert Hall last night. Closest experience I can imagine to seeing the real thing back in the day, and to think I wasn’t even born by the time they’d split up. Lennon was truly brilliant, McCartney was as annoying in spoof as he is in real life, Bongo’s timing was absolutely spot on, and George (whose farewell gig it was) did a very special and soulful version of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. The musicians providing the backing orchestra were amazing too and deserve a mention – they really brought the sound to life especially for the psychedelic era and the latter years. If you ever get the chance, go see them, don’t miss it whack! It was pure joy and a brilliant tribute.
Here’s my inky scribbles and the set list…
Anyone interested in ‘graphic’ design and music ‘notation’ would be hard pressed to find a better example of combining the two disciplines here, thanks to Александр Рытов. Inspiring stuff.
I wrote this little piano piece after a working visit to Stockholm, Sweden. It felt a little like I was taken hostage by the filming job I was working on at the time:
How to play Fables:
– two people minimum;
– decide if you are playing a one, two, three or four word game (there’s no limit on the amount of words played, whatever is manageable given the number of people playing);
– designate who will write the story down (preferably someone with neat handwriting);
– someone start;
– direction of play is anti-clockwise (going against time);
– each person adds their words making a collective story;
– full-stops, commas, paragraph returns, speech marks, general punctuation, etc. can only be added by the person whose turn it is;
– stories can be as short or as long as you like;
– you’ll know when to finish;
– when finished read the story out to the group;
– publish/share or turn into a book if you can be bothered.
Q. Save me Lord from what I love the most… big, round, black vinyl 48s especially imported from Germany but sometimes from the deepest oceans eleven album soundtrack – that sh*t makes me sick hommie, bitch, and I’m tired of being alone cologne, Al (Capone) smells like old sweaty used teen spirit. Once upon a time I died but then I awoke from visions of rubbish rolling down the avenue of remembrance Tuesday but something amazing happened on the sleigh bells ringing made me sound like no ring ‘o’ goes like a bucket of gin, tears of symphony, bitter-sweet and the sweat of Johnny Prince Billy (Connolly) who said more than anything I really enjoy frankfurters up my *rse all day long.
Tinky-tonk-ponkey-bonk lar-de-doh up my ray-far-low-fidelity system that wails Cardiff arms park life like my karate instructor Bruce (Lee’s) fist ‘o’ nuns, collective noun, aches my feet of ingenuity jelly over their black habits aroused by die-hard platoon memories and engaging with Charlie (Adagio) for spring collection of wet, hot, moist leaves in Autumn. Anyway, I mean therefore I am, wait a second, I was saying fist ‘o’ nuns whilst emergency p*ss was had enjoyably by all nuns who love it all day long and I mean all day long scchlong!
Fables by Bongo, St. Inky & The Kat
Performed by Bongo & St. Inky
Giving up
Giving in
Where d’you begin?
What d’you do?
What d’you say?
Where d’you go?
Nowhere to go
Nowhere to be
Woe is me
Nothin to wear
Nothin to do
Nothin to say
So I’m sayin’ it
Half dead
Half empty
Half baked
Hard times
Hard lines
Hard life
How’s yer Ma?
Overweight
Overdrawn
Overdraft
Had yer cake
Had yer nuts
Had a blast
It didn’t last
One day you may wake to discover
Your life is half over and you don’t get another
That day you realise you’re ugly
You may be smarter and older
But still no wiser than your mother
And like the old man said
As he lay dying in his bed
You’re a long time brown bread
Stand tall
Stand proud
Stand your ground
Giz a job
Giz a kiss
Giz a w*nk
With your lips
Love your lids
Love your kids
Love your life
Make love
Make friends
Make amends
Do it now
One day you may wake to discover
Your life is half over and you don’t get another
That day you realise you’re ugly
You may be smarter and older
But no still no wiser than your mother
And like the old man said
As he lay dying in his bed
You’re a long time brown bread
The Art of Letters
Composed and performed by Peter McCabe.
‘How’s yer Ma?’ by Roger Hughes (in homage).
‘Head of a Man with Red Eyes’ by LS Lowry (in homage).
Lots of friends, and friends of friends, have been asking where can they buy my art. I’ve never been one to overly flog my art, prefer giving it away, but in light of recent demand I’ve decided to set up shop. Here it is:
http://petermccabe.co.uk/shop.htm
The biggest sellers have been reproductions of ‘Miss Swan‘ from the Swans collection, red versions of ‘The Three Graces‘ and personalised ‘Make Life Simple‘ posters. Some originals are also available upon request. All reproductions are signed and printed using the giclée process. Giclée is a high quality inkjet (diffusion) spray which is printed onto heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Prices are reasonable (compared to the prices at The Piper Gallery in London). UK postage takes about one week and International postage takes about 2/3 weeks.
NB. Xmas orders placed now should ensure a delivery before Christmas Day.
I recently finished my first (demo) album after a fair amount of time writing, recording and arranging/rearranging. This coincides with doing an evening course studying Apple’s new Logic Pro X music application. Below is the track listing with a sentence or two about each song and the inspiration behind, I hope you enjoy. You can download the entire album on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/inkysporran/sets/rock-is-dead
1. Pints of Love
A friend’s partner was tragically killed in a gardening accident a couple of summers back. This guitar piece came out around the time of the funeral, pretty much in one take. My mate Mark Lea added the lead guitar after I’d told him what had happened. ‘Pints of love’ was what she had for her three boys. RIP.
2. L’espirit de l’escallier
This piano piece expresses the feelings you get after leaving a conversation when you think of all the things you should have said.
3. Jazzy Kipper
I recorded this guitar piece at the kitchen table late one night (directly into the laptop) after a night out. It was a fifteen or so minute jam of a tune I’d been practicing for a while; the section I’ve used is at the end where I’m flowing/playing quite freely.
4. His Royal Majesty
This came from I don’t know where, straight out of the ether. I was getting my head around Apple’s GarageBand and this piece seemed to flow out quite naturally. I picture a herd of elephants on a journey somewhere with lots of greenery and trees.
5. Raindrops
This piano piece was written on a cold and wet miserable (English) afternoon. There was lots of raindrops falling on my window whilst composing it.
6. Compassionata
This piano piece (originally written on guitar) deals with the very difficult subject of alcoholism and how it affects the family unit in all kinds of destructive ways. Writing music is one of my ways of dealing with it positively.
7. Auld Mc
For my dad, in remembrance of trips up to Scotland to see the family when I was a kid. I picture the huge mountains and valleys from the back seat of the car on the way up.
8. Haste Yee Back
Another ode to Scotland. The title is taken from a mug my Auntie sent me one Christmas; the message being hurry back and visit us soon.
9. Feathers Burning
From the ashes comes this accompaniment piano piece written for the ‘SWANS‘ art exhibition at The Swan pub in Liverpool.
10. The Rat Race
One of the first things that came out when I started learning piano. With a little help from my piano teacher we transformed this piece into a big band/swing/jazzy number, mistakes and all.
A little tune I composed on GarageBand. Nothing to do with the new royal baby whatsoever.
Inky Sporran™ 