Don't Want To Know

Been a bit low for a while, trying to find work for the last three months and getting absolutely no-where, nothing much out there (unless you are a teacher (no) or a social worker (no no). It's all incredibly depressing. I had no fixed ideas about what I'd be doing at this stage in my life, but I guess I figured I'd be working in some professional capacity up until retirement. Two careers down the line, I'm hearing the sound of doors shutting behind me and seemingly none opening in front of me. I'm also of an age which probably rules out re-training (again). We've made some lifestyle choices along the way which haven't helped in terms of work (largely living in the country away from centres of work), but everything else has been very positive. However, some (only some) of the things we want to do require more money - curses! Richard works three days a week and I work at home, doing piece-rate research work, plus selling a few things online. We make do and mend on about £12,000 a year, which is pretty tight. The beloved camper van (of which more later) has been off the road for 18 months, as we can't afford to repair it (or justify having two vehicles, even in the country). She sits, ageing gently, in the drive but is being given a new lease of life as our room in the garden ...

So in these somewhat challenging times, it's time to dig deep. The great reviver is, of course, music and the aptly named "Don't Want To Know" from the fabulous John Martyn's "Solid Air" album is the latest obsessional constant play. With fantastic keyboards from John Bundrick, guitar by the man himself and the incomparable Richard Thompson, sublime vocals, ah! 3.01 for pure gorgeousness. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stRmPH0PbPs for a much later and very different version and for a magnificent performance of the title track from the album, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmSPv-rtSQ&feature=related, with Danny Thompson playing a blinder on double bass. Ooooh, I feel tons better already. And I've just found him singing the very lovely "May You Never" with Kathy Mattea. Oh, how I love YouTube.

An earlier album of Martyn's, "Bless The Weather", has been an all-time favourite since first hearing it in the mid 1970s. It's followed me around from university days in Moseley, through to Preston and now rural Sussex. The Island anthology "Sweet Little Mysteries" is highly recommended for catching up with his albums from 1971 through to 1987.