TASHY HEARS

ROCK AND ROLL I GAVE YOU ALL THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE

And this song says it all about my career in the music business although I'm not convinced, today, that it was the best years of my life. If you have been following this from the beginning you will have noticed that of the songs I have uploaded so far, they were ones I used to sing and play when I was in my teenage years.

I think I had two dreams when I was young. One was to be a racing driver and the other was to write songs and sing them. In neither case did I want to be famous. I didn't want to be the next “Beatles” (pretty difficult on your own), I just wanted to sing in pubs and clubs, anywhere. Funnily enough I came closer to my first dream than the second. I spent 4 years competing in rallies and I can still drive, hopefully for a good few years.

But, as I said, I have realised that I can no longer play guitar. I tried. I spent a couple of months practising and, at the end of it, all I achieved was chronic shoulder, wrist and finger pain. The cervical spondylolysis and a few other injuries which nature, and indeed I, have inflicted on my little old body mean that fingering a guitar is not only painful but also, according to the doctor, incredibly stupid. I have, effectively, been banned. Luckily, for my sanity, Badminton and sport are still OK.

However I realised back in 1973/4 that my folk singer days were over. I had a holiday in Cornwall in 1974, just before my daughter was born, and went to a pub in Mawgan Porth and heard a duo singing. They were called, I have an amazing memory, Pete and Dorian. They sang there for a couple of hours. I particularly remember an acapello version of Neil Young's “After the gold rush” which Dorian sang. It was stunning and, apart from Judith Durham, it was the purest voice I had ever heard. They sang there most nights but none of the people I was with wanted to return so I just heard her once. They were wanderers, singing wherever they could and I was now, or shortly would be, a family man with responsibilities.

Shortly after, I bought this song which seemed to sum up how I felt. No I wasn't ever going to play wild stuff and I never ever found my “Susan” (I am still looking) but I did give up on it. Listen to the words. I'm sure many of you have been there.