I’m almost 63 years old, and therefore I count myself lucky that until very, very recently, I still had both my parents.

Dad passed away on 19 March and his funeral service will take place a few hours after this post is published.   He was 90 years of age, and hadn’t been in great physical health for quite a while, although his brain and mind remained razor-sharp until the end.  In many ways, it was quite remarkable that he lived such a long life given that back in 1991, at the age of 56, he was diagnosed with lung cancer (the result of having been a very heavy cigarette smoker since he was in his teens), and went through major surgery to remove the diseased organ.

He made a full recovery, learning to live and function with one lung, with the operation minimising the risk of the cancer spreading elsewhere.  His illness caused him to retire from work early, and my mum did likewise.  Financially, they were fine as both had made good plans in terms of pension schemes, and for the next 30 years or so, they enjoyed life to the full as much as their ages and health would allow them.

Back in 1991, the surgeons didn’t, and indeed couldn’t, say how long dad would live, advising that everyone reacted differently to the surgery.  But his previously active lifestyle proved to be a huge help, and his body adjusted quickly to his breathing capacity being restricted.  To everyone’s delight, he was back on the golf course within a matter of months, and out and about doing his singing and dancing in the pubs and clubs that he and my mum and their pals frequented in Glasgow. Oh, and then he was away overseas on holidays again.

About seven years ago, however, he really began to slow down as his body aged. The lung capacity issue led to him having mobility issues and affected his leg movements. Some days were better than others, but increasingly, he was unable to get out and about, particularly over the past couple of years, and for the first ever time we could see it having an impact on his state of mind. He was frustrated by it all, but he was determined that he would regain the power in his legs, buying all sorts of specialist exercise equipment that he would use in the hope he would regain some strength.  Mum, who is three years younger than him, took on the role as his named carer in the eyes of the authorities.  Between them, they were determined that dad would remain at home and not go into anywhere for specialist care.

The arrangements worked, albeit chest infections and respiratory issues (including COVID) saw him hospitalised a few times, but only for short spells. The most recent of these came last September when, unfortunately, he was admitted just two days before his 90th birthday which meant we had to cancel the planned party in a local pub. He was back home after a five-night stay and once again in the care of mum.

He was of an age that he was on a regular schedule of check-ups and scans at the local NHS hospital.  One such scan earlier this year, in early February, would show up that he had developed a small cancerous growth in his kidney that was spreading.  His age and the fact he had just one lung meant that there was little that could be done in terms of treatment. He was given palliative care, at home, with specialist nurses coming in once a week to check on him and advise my mum on how best to look after him.

If he was scared, he didn’t let on.  He said he wasn’t in too much pain – more a discomfort – and his medication was nothing stronger than over the counter tablets.  No timescale was asked for, nor was any given.  I don’t think any of us wanted to contemplate him facing a slow, lingering and what ultimately would likely be an undignified deterioration over a period of months, but it was something we were prepared to deal with, and dad did accept that at some point, he would need to be put fully in the care of those who knew best and had the experience of dealing with cancer patients.

But things changed unexpectedly on the evening of Thursday 19 March, which was some four weeks after he had been given the diagnosis.  At 8pm, he collapsed at home and passed away almost in the blink of an eye, despite the best efforts of a friend who lived nearby and the paramedics who were there within ten minutes. We are grieving our loss, but it comes with a sense of relief that he died without pain, and at home, with mum being the last person he saw and spoke to.

I’ve been busy over the past two weeks in terms of the funeral and sorting out dad’s estate, with a priority being to make sure that mum’s life can go on as best is can as she faces up to a life alone after nearly 64 years of marriage.  The funeral will, as these things always are, an occasion to reflect and remember, and my hope is that any sad moments find themselves far outweighed by the thoughts of the happy times – that will certainly be the message throughout the eulogy later today at the crematorium.

Talking to the funeral director about various things, and indeed having to go out and buy myself a suit for the occasion, has seen me think a fair bit about one particular video and tune.  I hope you don’t mind me sharing it.

mp3: Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top

From the album Everything’s Getting Older, released on Chemikal Underground in 2011.

The Copper Top is, indeed, the nearest pub to the crematorium in the town in which Aidan grew up.  It’s an astonishing piece of writing, to which Bill, best known as a jazz pianist, has written the most perfect and moving piece of music.

RIP Dad.  Thanks for everything.

 

 

JC

I’ve been to more funerals, or heard about the passing of people who I know, in 2022 than in any other year.  And none of the deaths have been COVID related,  It’s an indication I suppose of my own age and those of some of my peers.  It’s led to me thinking about this on a few occasions recently.

The bar’s busier than it should be on a weekday afternoon as the door swings shut behind me, but I’m the only one wearing a suit. No-one seems to notice my entrance though, I suppose they must be used to mourners in the nearest pub to the crematorium. I don’t think I could’ve coped with the wake, I had to make a quick exit to be alone with my memories, I was sick of hearing everyone else’s. I buy a pint and sit down.

“See, the trouble with you is that you’re top heavy”, said the tailor as he measured me up. They don’t get asked much for three-piece suits these days, so my choice was limited. I went for all-purpose black, or ‘charcoal grey’ as he called it. Looks black to me. This is the second time I’ve worn it, the first was a wedding and there’s a christening next week, so I might as well get my money’s worth. Birth, love and death: the only reasons to get dressed up. I loosen my tie.

Halfway through my pint and a text message from John says he’s waiting outside, sooner than I’d expected. I down what’s left and step out into the bright afternoon and get in the car. I look up and see the pub’s once brilliant copper roof has oxidized over the years, and it’s now a dull, pastel green. Everything’s getting older

mp3: Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top

Astonishingly beautiful, haunting and poignant.  I well-up every single time.

From 2011’s Everything’s Getting Older, which was deservedly named winner of the Scottish Album of the Year in June 2012.

There’s a lovely video to accompany it.

JC

In June 2012, before a packed audience at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, it was announced that the winner of the inaugural Scottish Album of The Year Award was Everything’s Getting Older by Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat.

It was a hugely deserved and popular win as it is a quite extraordinary record, combining the talents of one of our premier jazz pianists with our modern-day indie bard who had come to our attention via Arab Strap. The allmusic review captures it well:-

Somehow an Aidan Moffat album starting out with a piano part courtesy of collaborator and longtime Glasgow music fixture Bill Wells that could almost be Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ “Endless Love” seems weirdly appropriate.

It doesn’t quite stay like that, but Wells’ shift to include brushed drums and acoustic bass atmospheres doesn’t change the fundamental sense of the duo finding a split between elegant melancholy in and of itself and, courtesy of Moffat’s lyrics, often vivisecting what the ideas of it could be. It’s something Moffat’s long been interested in, so to have the first song with vocals, “Let’s Stop Here,” tackle ideas of teenage fantasy, adult possibility, and rejecting a one-off experience while still struggling with the idea of it, is only apt.

Throughout, Wells’ arrangements are excellently matched with Moffat’s lyrics and performances song for song — his rhythmic, softly altering piano part on “The Copper Top” is stellar, a steady backing for Moffat’s short story in miniature, and just one element of a lovely piece that builds up to a conclusion led by muted trumpet. That it’s immediately followed by the rhythm-heavy click and punch of “Glasgow Jubilee” — a chance for Moffat and Wells to do their own turn on breaks and MC’ing — seems right, especially given the tale of a slew of boozing, shagging, and more. Thus this exchange between a pickup of the narrator’s and the narrator himself: “Your lyrics are the ramblings of a lonely solipsist”/I said, “I’m playing Sunday night, shall I put you on the list?”

“Ballad of the Bastard” couldn’t be more of an on-point song title from Moffat either, while his capturing of a combination of self-pity and exculpatory explanations manages the neat trick of being both attractively compelling and utterly loathsome. Moffat’s occasional spoken word delivery is in full effect as ever, splitting the difference nicely on “Cages,” taking the full story-telling stance on “Dinner Time” against a backing that couldn’t be more jazzily film noir — unsurprisingly appropriate given the story of a somewhat unsettled visit home.

There are moments of light breaking through here and there, as in the minute-long jaunty rollick of “A Short Song to the Moon” — a song of praise and thanks for said heavenly object for putting up with the narrator in all his moods — that ends with “Who needs the troubles of love/When you’re still glowing above?”

The troubles may not be needed, but Moffat and Wells both deserve credit for finding ways to capture them just so.

It’s an album that I can’t recommend highly enough and in the words of the label’s MD, contains the greatest ever song released on Chemikal Underground.

mp3 : Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top

Sad songs say so much.

The above image has nothing at all whatsoever with today’s friend electric other than it is same as the name of the site.

Manic Pop Thrills (MPT) is the place where you will find the musings of Mike Melville, a man with who I have much in common, not least our obsessions with alternative music with Raith Rovers Football Club.

MPT is very fine blend of music, book and gig reviews. I used to post gig reviews on TVV but I stopped as I found myself not able to enjoy what I was seeing and listening to as I was too busy trying to frame the proposed review in my head. And then when it came to trying to capture the moment on-line the following day I found that the reviews were far too lengthy to be of any interest other than to those who were there. Mike however, has a great knack for it as demonstrated by this piece :-

I’ve Fallen For A Monster

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat / R.M. Hubbert – Twa Tams, Perth – Friday 23rd November 2012

I’ve actually seen Bill and Aidan perform several times before but never as a headline act in their own right. So, last night’s show was something to look forward to.

I’d only been to the Twa Tams once before but I quite liked it’s layout. The gigs seem all to be free but there’s only about a third of the pub given over to the venue with the room with the main PA accommodating only about 100 people (although there’s a screen and secondary PA in the main room). Of course this set-up guarantees that there’s going to be people in the pub who aren’t there for the gig.

Which threatened to be a problem for R.M. Hubbert. Indeed when he started it was difficult to hear him over the chatter from the next room and I briefly worried that the whole evening might have been spoiled. But stepping closer to the speakers helped and the distraction quickly disappeared.

I’d not heard much of him before and even the descriptions of his music, to be honest, didn’t sound too enticing. Yet I actually found his guitar playing quite hypnotic and soothing and, structurally, the handful of pieces he played seemed almost post-rock with an almost drone-like approach. His half hour was over far more quickly than I thought it should have been, which was undoubtedly a good sign.

Fortunately Bill and Aidan didn’t suffer from distractions from next door as a) there were more people to hear them, and b) their set-up was actually a fair bit louder.

For some reason, every time I’ve seen them perform, it’s been in the stripped back 3 piece with Bill and Aidan enhanced by Robert on trumpet. It’s an approach which suits the tunes but this time out Aidan also played percussion throughout which changed the basic dynamic somewhat – in a good way.

The set was essentially based on the award winning LP with a B-side, a cover and, for the encore, no fewer than 3 new songs. Yet there was no feeling of over-familiarity and, despite the melancholic nature of some of the tunes, I found myself feeling quite elated by the whole show.

Maybe because they’re operating some distance away from the MPT motherload, I think I underestimate them sometimes but it’s nice to be reminder that actually the songs ARE fantastic and that seeing them played in person is a rewarding experience.

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Mike makes this live review lark  look so very easy but I know from bitter experience that it’s not.

He didn’t post any songs with the review, so that allows me to take advantage and include an early version of one of the standout track from the award-winning Everything’s Getting Older LP – a version only made available via the luxury boxset

mp3 : Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top (Take 1)

Ever since Google took down the original TVV blog this time last year, I’ve tried not to link to any videos on YouTube, but I really do have to draw your attention to the promo made to accompany the final version of The Copper Top.  One of the best and most memorable ever made.

 

More Friends electric after the weekend regulars.