Guest Post! My G/F’s, “A London Attraction Sonata: London, rain, saxophone”

Components (ingredients) of salad (translated from her Russian words)…

1. London evening (the backdrop of this dish) accents!
Behind a window of our pleasant first meeting’s evening,
The rain drizzles behind a window sill and underscores that I am in London!
2. Add some leaves of green salad
3. Some thin slices of meat – (on Spanish sounds as jamón)
4. A little grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
5. Three olives
6. Three cherry tomatoes
It is necessary to dress the salad with music from Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Dean Martin.
7. Muffled soft room lighting
8. A bottle of Merlot wine
9. A little bit gentle and sensual kisses
And Music, music flew throughout our room,
Softly and unostentatiously enveloped us is similar the warm plaid weaved from various notes and sounds of a saxophone. It is an atmosphere it was similar to hypnosis … Sounded soul and blues, replaced an easy jazz, and popular music again sounded. All this has got mixed up in pleasant musical mix skillfully and competently created on radio to a wave from Capital FM and our favorite became Magic 105.4 FM.

It is so lovely to relax after a stimulating excursion in Great historical places of London on a sofa in beloved embraces with a glass of vino and having the London salad supper, having covered by a musical blanket.
I feel sweet heat on my skin from their gentle kisses. The rain, a fine rainy drizzle, an easy fog behind a window … Yes, of course – this is London; also is his style!
The door of a balcony is ajar; we can see the shiny wet sidewalk of the evening street. Dim streetlight reflects against mysterious patches of sidewalk and then back to us on our balcony. Pleasant damp and slightly raw, prickly air creeps to us in our room. In this rainy pleasant London evening, music made our evening happy. It is charming; Music has acquainted us (via our first conversation in the record shop in Boston) three years ago. Music has pulled us together; we have many things to tell the friend and to share a musical stock and sensations!

I think, “we do not make music, but music makes us!”

We live in our own separate small world for these chosen moments! And it is unexpected for us that we see that we have chosen this hotel, not knowing, that rooms are decorated on a theme of popular known musicians, “The Rat Pack”… It was an unexpected, pleasant surprise! When she has seen these portraits on the walls of our room, she told Naphtali, “You all life worked on radio, all your life is connected to music and music accompanies with you all your life. And suddenly a surprise for you….! I and you, we did not know, that we an apartment – hotel in London will be decorated by portraits of well-known musicians! You see, music pursues you! It means – Music is still your destiny!”

My Sleeping Beauty sleeps as I am still on EST USA and party solo…she needed the rest.

Pickhitt: What A MAGICAL experience! “Brilliant!” “Cafe` Skype”…the real, international relationship love deal.” Comments encouraged as always and thank you [who know who you are] for the content!

“Mind Your Head” – London, UK Through Our Eyes, Part One

Well, We DID IT! да!да!да!!! In the spirit of our three-year old saga, the “Cafe` Skype” story, Inna and I rendezvoused in the great, historic city of London, England (United Kingdom) for one (too short) week, two weeks ago. It was the first time there for both of us!! London was magical, mystical, majestic, awesome, historic and inspiring among other emotions!

What do you make of THIS London statue? lol

The following are some of the hundreds of pictures that we took there! This photo-blog is submitted with deep, protective and profound love and admiration for Nina who, by-dint of her finding me three years ago, found a soul-mate and partner for life. Kudos to Virgin Atlantic for majestic flights (and landings) on my round trip. I love the brand!! We also enjoyed “Magic 105 FM” in the apartment that we had run of during our stay. I now know where the late mentor of mine, Frankie Crocker, got some of his ideas to bring back to WBLS-FM, New York in 1990.
I found the sign “Mind Your Head” particularly amusing and “punny” because our “minds” are said to be in our heads and in The States we say “watch your head” (or any other body part or thing) in order to convey similar warnings. So thus the lead title of this post.
As I did with my Kiev, Ukraine impressions https://achilliad.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/kiev-ukraine-through-my-eyes/, I will let the pictures speak for themselves and try not to comment except for the captions – it will be much more difficult to restrain myself this time, lol..

Me and my “Big Ben”…lol

The “Big Wheel” in background and “Big Ben” fore…

Once these smoke stacks represented a fireplace in every room – and huge smog problem for London!

Parliament on the banks of the Thames!

Heading out on the Red Tour Day I

Winston Churchill hung out here often – his face in the middle of the sign!

A WWII Brit fighting man surveying the targets

London Lion In Zion, lol

Queen Anne Slept here

The famous inspiration for the song, “Winchester Cathedral”

One of the biggest domes in Europe!

A New York City Jazz club is named after this, the only gift Egypt ever sent to London.

View of the “stacks” from our apartment (flat”) in West Ealing.

This Gargoyle looms over the route menacingly…

“Arrrrk!!” (scary…)

Just like in the Bond movie – Hello, Sean Connery!

Bond got his Aston Martin here?

Buckingham Palace Old Horse Stables.

I’ve always been fascinated by…castles!

I bet there once was a moat where the grass is, lol!

Trafalga Square Lion

Inna spots Shakespeare in the Tube station and knows I am a student of his…

Blue Rooster in Trafalga Square.

You know WHO…

We together in Piccadilly Square, London. She is “My Boo”, says my Aunt! lol

Our Fave tour bus driver, “Big Rastamon” lol

Fountains of Hyde Park

Remember to “Mind Your Head”!

Tower Bridge

Peace-out, from “Guv’nor” Naphtali, til next time from the London “Big Bus”!

Between the two of us photo-nuts, we shot about 500 snaps. If you want to see more through our eyes, let us know in your comments and we will post a “Part Two”!! Cheers.

My love, co-producer and soulful soul-mate doing her best “Miles Davis” on-stage pose and her camera thing. lol

PICKHIT: Special Thank you to London “Big Bus Tours” for finding and holding my camera case (with the $5USD note and sim cards enclosed) until I could collect it. I doubt that would have been the case here if the similar situation happenstanced in New York City.

**SureShott: Due to her family elder issues and apparent nervous breakdown, this would sadly be the last time I see Inna. She contacted me two years later, saying her Doctor in the mental clinic had spirited her off to Russia and married her, which she was not comfy with. SMH

“FAB” Has Beatles Covered – Pt. 2 of Nashville Jus’ Ain’t Country!

Whether you are old enough to  recall the day the Fab Four touched-down at the newly named John F. Kennedy airport in Queens, New York City (in glorious black and white TV) on their way to The Ed Sullivan Theater

or joined, as I was mid-set while watching this band, by a kid half-my age who was totally into them or not, you will awesomely dig “FAB”!

It was a rainy night in “[Georgia – Brook Benton]” aka this time,  Nashville, as record-breaking (pun INtended, lol) flood waters accumulated nearby, unbeknownst to we who were about to be taken back through the time tunnel by FAB, an aggregation who succinctly sings the Beatles catalog. By the time it was over, some might have indeed needed a “Yellow Submarine” to get back home safely!

            They begin with a precise Ed Sullivan  introduction on pre-recorded audio, and then “Bam!” right into “All My Lovin’.”    As I peeked over my shoulder at the TV that showed flooded interstate highways and unmoored schoolhouse trailers floating upon it, all in attendance were enthralled with the accuracy with which FAB authentically represented the former Quarrymen’s catalog of hit music.

They deftly segued between short tunes like “From Me To You”, a very authentic-sounding  “Thank You Girl”; “Get Back” featuring drummer Tim Buppert singing while he precisely plays the skins, as we wondered at the bar, “how does he DO that??”  Mark, sitting next to me commented, “Tim is Nashville’s Phil Collins” LOL

From that they jumped into  into “Taxman” (the new anthem of the Tea Party movement, by the way), “Help!”, and “Paperback Writer” (me – thanks!)  Impressive energy in that most of The Beatles hits were less than three-minutes long, and FAB kept them comin’!

The venue, Third and Lindsley, is very  intimate and multi-leveled; the band played underneath a cozy overhead fan to loving catcalls from the mostly female mezzanine, and those of us down front on the main level.  It is very interesting covering “cover bands” especially when they are so tight as FAB is and damn GOOD!  Heretofore I would not have used the term “cover band”, but it seems to be acceptable here in Nashville amongst the musical performance crowd – to me they are just a group  recreating The Beatles hits to the max, all in the exact same key, with every quirky note down pat.  This was especially true for Alison Prestwood, the lady version of Paul McCartney ( maybe channeling “Linda”?) on bass.  In-fact, I was so very impressed that the guitar she played looked just like Paul’s!  Alison chimed-in precisely on time, every time. Major Kudos to her stage presence and showwomanship making the fabulous FAB Four now = five! LOL

There were plenty of sing along moments this night as they moved through the whole ‘Hard Day’s Night” album down to the last precise chord and vocal, into and instrumental bridge that led us to “today its you Birthday!”; “Eleanor Rigby” which held a special significant personal moment since that is my former “Back To The USSR” g/f’s name and my secret nickname for her. That was also was a jam-boogie episode for the audience, and it was about that time that I again detected the ambiance and din of 3rd & Lindsley amidst the irony of the wierd weather updates on the bar tele over my right shoulder. 

A particularly cool intro was when they paused let the audience know that a “BMW had its lights on in the parking lot” and then segued right into “(baby you can) Drive My Car (beep, beep, Yeah!)”.  Yes, intentional or not, I caught that!! LOL

The FAB are: Ted Hewett on lead guitar, John Foster on rhythm guitar, Bill Roberts on keyboards, David Kent using all the little percussive tools, including tambourine and wooden hand-clap blocks and “loud sticks” on their rendition of “Revolution” that evolved the Beatles’ sound and on vocals;  the aforementioned Alison Prestwood impersonating succinctly Paul McCartney, and of course Tim Buppert on the “kit’ and vocals.  I played a little game, trying to imagine which of these players fashioned themselves as which particular Beatle member.  I came up with the equation that it takes at least three of these cats to sound like one John Lennon at times, especially on the classic “All We Need Is Love”, and it works.

Throughout it was obvious that the assemblage was having fun doing what they do, and they made me miss my drum kit and trumpet that I sold and trashed in favor of playing turntables over time, as well as tossing my original Capitol Records Beatle 45rpms from the mid-sixties  during our militant  “f-the white-boy music” phase.  [A totally different post]. FAB isn’t just another band playing Beatles’ music, they recreate it, appropriately-timed cowbells and all!

Meanwhile, a lady at the bar tried to “Cougar” me thinking I was younger than she is. “Psyche!!” LOL   I  just “Saw Her Standing There” (blocking my view) while taking notes for this write-up and since FAB never played “Please Please Me”, there was no deal to be struck. “Whew!”

Their only lame moment this night was on the finale, “She Loves You”, I guess because they expended so much energy on all of the previous songs.  My only disappointment was that they didn’t perform my all-time Beatle fave and the first 45rpm I ever bought by the Beatles,  “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”.

So, “Do you Want To Know A Secret”? I hope that you get to enjoy and relive the magic with FAB very soon at a music venue near your place to free yourself of any “Misery”.