Born in Atlantis’ blog

 

Never saw Cliff cover this before.

 

I first heard King Creole by Cliff Richard in Oh Boy - my dad had the Oh Boy album with it on. It wasn't until later I discovered it was an Elvis song. Pretty good cover I thought!

 

 

And the Elvis version from the film of the same name.

 

MEANDERING ON DOWN STREAM

by Trev Teasdel (Inspired by some of Ann's Riverside Photos

her new blog - Here)

 
Walking along the streams of conciousness, through buttressed leaves in

 

kick crumble rouge, past sloping off boats tugging at their moorings,
past gates to huge houses, slipways slipping into the Thames to feed u
bend swans fresh baked breadlets, past bent backed hedges with
tangle-hair dreams and lean over fences and trees that reach up to the
giant's nest and the blow-bubble clouds with tingle-drop raindrops that
fall on caught out blouses and coffured hair-scapes, while dogs chase
the illusions of rabbits that spill from a cast off top hat jammed in
the hedgerow awaiting the applause of a Drury Lane matinee, while taxies
cut corners to pick up cut-out commuters from their brief-cased
compartments and deliver them quickly to lap-top lovers with micro-soft
thighs and drop-down menus before evening news and  dinner for two on a
punt down near Windsor while couples tell lies that neither believes as
a matter of ritual and just to fill in time till the call of the duvet
and feather down pillows in the lovertime night with it's dreams of long
winding rivers with trees that look like people and ducks that talk
Norman and swans that sell cakes to passerby joggers in trainers and
leggings that bounce on the leaves where rabbits lure dogs with the
illusion of food and magicians lose hats in  a spell under the stars and
back by the streams where conciousness rushes before walking by the
banks of the Thames flowing home to it's mansion of the sea with it's fish-maid servants and butler whales and ships that just seem to pass in the night..

 

 

 

 

TREV'S NEW ALBUM ON THE GNOME LABEL
AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON USA HERE
AND IN THE UK TUNECORE - I TUNES HERE

Gnome Label wrote -
"Songs from the Coventry Underground Is a collection of the earlier songs from poet and performer Trev Teasdel.  It is very apt that he should feature at the very beginning of our Retro-Cov platform.
 This is the guy that played an important role in the development of  Coventry's musical conciousness. He kept an alternative voice alive with the production of Hobo magazine that continued the trail from where the fading footprints of the Gnome could still be identified. Taking over the booking of live bands at the Arts Umbrella, he continued the policy that allowed many of the new local bands an airing as well as bringing in some excellent but not often seen names from outside of the City.
He also created one of the cornerstones of the Coventry Music scene, with the inception of the open jam sessions at the Holyhead Road Arts centre.
He left Coventry to study and has since been as active as ever, with an impressive workload of teaching new writers, running poetry magazines and venues from his Teesside home while still writing and performing his own material.
But that's not the only reason for choosing his work for this release. He is a master craftsman of his artform. His lyrics are carefully honed with the occasional surprise. The working of the words "under the Speenhamland scheme" into the lyric of Captain Swing, written some 20 years before the arrival of Billy Bragg, is phenomenal and deserves a place in the record books.
Aside from that, his work reverberates with the angst and expectations that many living in Coventry at the that time will have felt. Often written on long walks home up the London Road after the last bus, or in teabreaks while working at the GEC. The collective lyrics paint a picture of youthful exhilaration and myradiacl inspirations with echoes of revolt. Some might suggest that they could have been written in and about any city in those times. No they could only come from one place....Our Coventry. Trev has posted many of his lyrics and the thought and activities behind their writing on this Vox space.
17 tracks on Songs From the Coventry Underground - Shortly After Midnight / Well I Don't Know / The Phoenix / The Isolate / Mrs Stress and Strain / Just Before Dawn / A Lotta Rain is Fallin' / Throw Down My Pack / Scarf / A
Teardrop in the Tees / Tonight (Loneliness Surrounds me Like the Dark of Night / Back in Winter Town / With Someone Nice Like You / Captain Swing / Shortly After Midnight (Early version) / Postcards of China / Visions of a Brighter Day.

Some interesting bits abridged from an article that appeared in The Birmingham Broadside in the mid 70's -

Although Christmas (Cristes Maess) is the highpoint of the church calender, it has more in common with Saturnalia, a week long Roman Celebration, a period of general licence, excess and generosity to the poor.

Mithra's Birthday
The idea of holding Christmas on January 25th (until the 4th it was held on January 6th) was to supercede an old heathen festival and it is the relic of a long struggle between Christianity and Mithra (the Roman Soldier's god). The 25th was regarded as Winter Solstice and also the birthday of Mithra, identified with the unconquered sun. The dates were made to coincide in an attempt to transfer the devotion of the heathen to the true light of the world - the sun of righteousness.

The Yule Log
This is a vestige of the ancient pagan fire festivals of Europe, the winter

solstice. Bonfires were lit to help the sun rekindle its dying light. The logs remains were generally thought to protect the house from fire and lightening and to have mystical properties. Should the log go out during  the twelve days of Christmas, it was thought to be a bad omen.

Evergreens
Were a symbol of undying life and have always been used to decorate dwelling places, a pagan practice which the church tried to stamp out. Mistletoe is still banned in some churches though was once a custom in Wolverhampton for it to be placed on the alter by the priests and then distributed for its medicinal properties.

Another local custom was to hang a bag of mistletoe round the neck to ward off evil spirits. Similar beliefs about the power of mistletoe existed as far a field as Japan and Africa. In Gaelic it means "All-healer"

The Bilston people had another way of keeping evil spirits at bay - they drew chalk marks across either end of the street at Christmas. Mistletoe was held to be a cure for barrenness, but this has no connection with kissing under it, a purely English custom.

The Christmas Tree (Kissing Bough)
The kissing bough, a crown of greenery hung with decorations, was the forerunner of the tree which first appeared in the early 19thC, originating from Germany and coming to Britain via America.

Turkey
Turkey did not appear in Britain until 1542 and did not really become popular until much later. Goose, pork, beef, venison, swans, peacocks in their feathers (with gilded beaks) and above all - the boar's head, were it's predecessors.

Christmas Pud
Plum porridge was the forerunner of Christmas pud and like the original mince pies contained meat as well as fruit and spices. Traditionally Christmas pudding had to be stirred by everyone in the making and wishes made with a few small charms thrown in.

Father Christmas
Has a long history. He was once Odin, a Norse god who went around at Yule on his giant horse, rewarding or

punishing followers. When Christianity did away with the old gods, the part fell to St. Nicholas, a generous bishop in the fourth century. The real giving of gifts should take place on Boxing day, the feast of St. Stephen, when the contents of alms boxes were distributed to the poor. In the 16thC. it was common for the working people to carry a box for contributions.

Wassailing
An old practice stemming from Saxon days was Wassailing - a mild form of revelry. The poor went around singing with a bowl for contributions of money or drink, to drink one's health with. The favourite drink in the Black country was elderberry wine or warm ale sweetened and spiced, containing roasted apples. Cattle in their stalls were also wassailed  on Twelfth night. In the West Midlands there was also a big celebration with dances and bonfires. Everyone in Walsall was entitled to Moseley's dole. This was a penny loaf given out annually, first recorded in 1539.

Staffordshire is particularly famous for its 'Clogg Almanacks'  - a system introduced by Danish invaders in the Saxon times which did not die out until the

seventeenth century, 200 years after the introduction of the printed calender. It was log or square  piece of wood with three months marked off with notches. As in other parts of the country the 'first foot' to enter the house should on no account be female, and fair or dark according to local custom is a hangover from the battles of supremacy between the native Celt and Saxon invader.

It is no longer the custom tocelebrate throughout the twelve days of Christmas despite a law of King Alfred to that effect. Few would be up to it anyway! Parliament did try to abolish all these goings on in 1644 but Christmas reappeared after the Restoration.