It feels like I’m trying to answer ‘What part did family, food, or oxygen play in my early years’. My father was Welsh. He was a wonderful guy and the most musical person I’ve ever known. He sang professionally in Working Mens’ Clubs in Wales and Yorkshire in the 1940s and 1950s and one of the founders of the Australian Welsh Male Voice Choir. He told me that when my mother was pregnant with my twin brother and I, he used to sing to us and gently tap rhythms on her tummy. I feel that music has nourished me for my entire life and since before I was born. Music feels visceral for me and I find it uncannily soothing at the same time as being exciting. I’m one of five sons. My father was a coal miner who worked his way up to being a bus driver, and we were never rich, but our family was full of love and other forms of wealth that money can’t buy. Music was central to the way we communicated. I recall in Sheffield, where I was born, my mother washing our clothes in an old manual washing machine with a mangle attached and singing ‘My Secret Love’. I recall my father lulling us to sleep singing Macushla. I recall being in my father’s choir, (the Victorian Welsh Male Voice Choir), singing pious Welsh hymns, (All Through The Night), luscious traditional Welsh songs (Myvanwy), and raucous singalongs (Sospan Vach). Any gathering of friends at our house inevitably ended up with a sing-along.
My immediately older brother, Mick, was a troubled kid. He drank alcohol and took drugs at a young age, starting at about 13 years old. Even though he was difficult to live with, I looked up to Mick enormously. He had his own sleepout at the back of our house in Mt. Eliza and his bedroom was decorated with stolen road-works lamps, covered in graffiti and had candle smoke on the ceiling. It also had an ultraviolet fluorescent light, and it was cool as hell. One evening in 1970, when I was 12, Mick, who was then 16, called me into his room and said ‘Hey Kev, listen to this’. He opened his suitcase-style record player and dropped a 33 on. It was Bob Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, and I’ve never been the same. I normally listened to my Dad’s music; traditional Welsh music plus Val Doonican, Herb Alpert, Ray Connif Singers … then Mick showed me ‘Highway 61’. There was no need to take drugs. Just listening was like taking drugs. The imagery was astonishing. I can still see the diplomat on a chrome horse with a Siamese cat on his shoulder! The sounds were beautiful and dissonant. The lyrics were like poetry. It felt creative, angry and loving, and talked about a world that I firmly believed must be out there somewhere. The whole thing was totally psychedelic and intriguing. I was hooked. How did this song change your behaviour, your thinking and/ or your view of self? Aside from feeling like I was being accepted into my big brother’s world and finally growing up, I was also breaking free of my father’s musical world into my own. Later that same year, 1970, at 16 years old, Mick died in a car wreck. I still value the closeness I felt to Mick that evening earlier that year, sitting around his record-player and being included in his world. I still feel proud that Mick wanted to share this music with me. I never really understood why he did, but it made me feel bigger, stronger, and more confident.
I survived the incredible grief of Mick’s death because of the support of my family and friends, and because ‘Highway 61’ was with me (and later ‘Let It Be, but that’s another story). ‘Highway 61’ has always been a source of comfort and inspiration to me. I still think of when Mick showed it to me, what an amazing experience it was being included in my big brother’s world and hearing this life changing music. The fact that Bob Dylan went so stridently against the mainstream of folk music at the time made me realise that the rules about music are negotiable. I tend to apply this view to the rest of my life as well, and feel that I am not overly constrained by rules, partly because of the insights I gained through ‘Highway 61’.
There are no particular lines or lyrics, like others have said, ‘it’s the vibe, man’. The lyrics are complex and ambiguous, and none of them are directly relevant to me, but the worldly, clever, smart-arsed, bird-flipping attitude appeals to me, even now. Song 2 – THIS IS ME - key questions Introduction: How would you describe YOU – your goals, personality, attributes, challenges? I like hard work and being creative but am essentially lazy. I love being part of an extended community and I love quieter times, including being alone. I’m generous, and quite selfish. I’m confident, sometimes for the wrong reasons. I love playing music and I love the situations making music with other people gets me into. I don’t think in terms of goals, but my main goals are: To be kind to other people and myself To find connection with as many people as I can To appreciate everything I have To share what I can with others My challenges: Balancing my confidence and enthusiasm with a little humility to avoid being domineering Overcoming my essential laziness
Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’.. It’s not complicated, it just says ‘ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend’. That’s me. I have great friends. I fell in love with Carole King when I heard Tapestry. Her friend James Taylor’s version of this song is just as good as hers. The song is also great to harmonise to.
I think I’m a loyal and reliable friend, which is what the song talks about.
You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running. I am incredibly fortunate to have a small number of close friends who are the embodiment of that. They will literally drop what they’re doing to help me out.
‘Ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend’. It sure is. Song 3 – SHEDDING THE BLUES ( Connecting, Collaborating, Creating ) - key questions
Introduction: How did you come to be involved with Shedding the Blues? I saw it advertised in the local paper, probably three years ago. I was about to retire and was looking to hook up with some other local people who were into music. I went to a public meeting at the Queenscliff RSL where people were talking about getting together to play music, developing a music appreciation group etc and thought that sounded pretty good. It seemed a bit vague. The people involved seemed good, and some people played music on the day, but to me at the time it seemed focused on talk rather than playing music. Still, it seemed a good opportunity to meet up with some locals who might want to play together. I started attending on Tuesday morning, but got a bit spooked during the pandemic so didn’t attend any of the ‘Pavilion’ sessions. I’m now a committed member.
I’ve just spent a day playing music and enjoying seeing the StB Allstars play at Pt Lonsdale Surf Club. The song that best represents my current feelings about StB is ‘I am Woman Hear Me Roar’. That’s not meant to be ironic. I saw a group of people who would not previously have had the opportunity or ability to do something (entertain publicly). They created that opportunity and absolutely nailed it. The people on stage today looked confident and quietly powerful. They were obviously enjoying their own rapidly developing ability and confidence, and showing that if you work hard and collaborate with other people you can achieve great things. STB has opened up a world of possibility for me. I particularly enjoy catching up with the other guys and I feel deeply connected. I enjoy playing music and helping with the sound each week. I enjoy my leadership role and people are generous in showing that they value the work I put into StB.
I chose ‘I am Woman … because it talks about people connecting up to create their own power and confidence. That’s what I see in people more and more through StB
Yesterday at the Pt Lonsdale Surf Club. I was telling someone who played with the Allstars how good I thought they were and he said ‘Yeah, and we only had the one practice’! Afterwards I thought, that’s true but it’s a bit like calling someone who’s played in dingy clubs for 20 years an overnight success. The vast improvement we saw yesterday in people’s ability and confidence has come from StB providing opportunities over the past few years for people to take risks, challenge themselves, occasionally stuff up a song and generally express their love of music by playing publicly, often with other people. The environment at StB is also supportive and encouraging. There has obviously been a slow, progressive development of individual skill, confidence and ability to trust other people to back them up. And now like the song says, they’re roaring.
“Yes, I am wise, but it’s wisdom born of pain, yes I’ve paid the price, but look how much I’ve gained, if I have to, I can do anything’. I’m a strong supporter of the underdog and am particularly inspired by seeing people create something out of nothing. In ‘I am Woman’ Helen Reddy is claiming her spot in life, collaborating with other people to do it and looking at what’s ahead. I think that’s where StB is at present. Maybe it’s where I am too.
8 Comments
GRANT CHAPPLE
2/3/2023 03:43:00 am
Hey Kev , thanks for the insights and the open friendship you give.
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Kev
3/29/2023 03:05:44 pm
Thanks Grant. I really value our friendship and really like playing with you.
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Bud
2/5/2023 09:52:03 pm
An excellent depiction of your journey through the Three Songs. I'm astounded by how much this project has added to understanding how other 'Shedders' tick! It's opened up a whole new level of conversations to be had and the Carol King song, as mentioned, resonates particularly well with what we've built along the way.
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Kev
3/29/2023 03:06:18 pm
Thanks Bud.
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Russell Boustead
2/7/2023 10:25:15 pm
What a terrific way to get to know people in a non - confrontational way with the 3 songs project. All are interesting and thanks Kev for this personal story of grief, resilience and how music helped along the way.
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Kev
3/29/2023 03:08:01 pm
Thanks Rusell.
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Mitch
3/28/2023 03:07:40 pm
I was was thinking about what I could write to say thank you for you welcoming and friendship to StB and then I met JB yesterday and I said to him ‘how do you get to Shedders on a walking frame and he said Kev drives me across and I said ‘he’s a terrific bloke’ and he said ‘if I could choose a brother it would be him’ and I thought what a magnificent thing to say about someone.
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Kev
3/29/2023 03:09:32 pm
Thanks Mitch. You got me a bit choked up there buddy. Thanks for the compliments.
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