Sounds fantastic. Always regret I never did those things when I had the chance, and now I'm stuck (that sounds horrible, doesn't it? I don't mean stuck) looking after my sick sister for, I guess, the rest of my or her life, I'll never get a chance to. Oh well, at least I'm doing so good and can live with myself.

John Martyn, eh? Can't think of anyone more appropriate to accompany such a pilgrimage. I reviewed "Glorious fool" a while back: what an album. If you haven't heard it yet I urge you to remedy that situation (pm me if you need the album). Magical tale, magical music. Just one question: to where was this pilgrimage?

TH

Well, I don't really know what to say my friend...I hope everything turns out for the best.

On another note, I only have three John Martyn albums: Solid Air, Bless The Weather and One World. I suppose the latter is a bit closer to Glorious Fool in sound?
And thank you! The "pilgrimage" was in an island called Terceira in the Azores, which is an archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It won't really help you much, I believe, but it was from "Angra do Heroísmo" to "Serreta".

I should really start posting relevant write-ups instead of cheesy melodramatic descriptions designed to attempt to make people feel gooey inside. And which most certainly don't.

On the other hand, here's my favourite Beatles song:


The White Album is full of interesting tracks, and I always feel like this one is always left standing in a corner, sobbing its eyes out because nobody loves it. Perhaps it gets a bit overshadowed by Helter Skelter, but I actually quite like the fact that such a quiet and beautiful song follows an absolute pounder.
Long, Long, Long is an absolutely brilliant track. It sounds as if George Harrison had an epiphany which elevated him to heights unknown to most, as if he finally found what he was searching for, be it love, God, or whatever. The hammond organ, Ringo's drumming bursting through the track, the hammering of the piano, the rattling bottle of Blue Nun, the simple acoustic guitar, the quiet bass...all of these elements created something which is unmistakably unforgetful, and inherently beautiful. Listening to this song is effectively cleansing one's spirit.

Oh look, I've done it again.

Long Long Long's a bloody great song. I love weird wailing, cascade-drumming thing that takes the song to its conclusion as well...the last 10-15 seconds, namely, which I read somewhere was improv'd on the spot. On the whole though, it's always been one of my favourite White Album tracks. Oddly enough, I've never really liked Helter Skelter all that much. It's a decent song, sure, but far from a favourite of mine (and I say this as someone who's basically an obsessive Beatles fan).

The White Album gets a bit weaker for me by, from what I remember, the last 4 songs. Certainly quite a few classics on it though. Harrison's vocal here doesn't sound that dissimilar to Lennon at times, and I wonder about the influence they may have had on each other (particularly Harrison's more spiritual side on Lennon). Lennon also used Indian instruments like Harrison often did on an early track like Norwegian Wood. I do love the wide variety of pop from McCartney and the rest of them but it was nice to have this spiritual / experimental side which was added to their sound, and I wonder if it started more from Harrison than any of the others.

I like Helter Skelter quite a bit and I think it sounds surprisingly fresh, but it's no Long, Long, Long :)
Can't say it's one of my favourites either.




You know, I'd say that it's correct to assume that George Harrison was chiefly responsible for the development of spirituality within The Beatles, and I think Long, Long, Long illustrates just that. I can't really think of any other song that's as emotionally engaging as Long, Long, Long in the Beatles catalogue, and they're anything but devoid of emotion.

Regarding the White Album, I think it's a bit too sparse. I'll just go with the pretentious opinion and say it sounds like a compilation and not like a true album. A very good compilation, however.

My, my, what a surprise, he's going to talk about a few songs and what they sound like!


While I can't really say I'm a massive Portishead fan - perhaps because I haven't listened to Dummy with enough care - I find myself enjoying this song thoroughly.
I was incredibly excited when I first discovered it, and I thought of making an effort to discover more music that had this sensual sound to it. Quite accidentally, however, I ran into Tricky's Hell Is Around the Corner one day, which is also a great tune, and it sounded a bit familiar:


Has a bit of a swagger to it, eh? Well, immediately thought that he had perhaps sampled Portishead: I had no bloody idea that both bands had sampled Mr. Isaac Hayes' Ike's Rap II:



In fact, I had never heard of that man my whole life. Quite a nice song, really.

What really blew me away, however, was the fact that I didn't in any way associate these songs with this major hit:


It's this kind of thing that makes me feel absolutely clueless sometimes.


Which is the better song? Well, I can't really say, but I listen to Glory Box the most out of all of them. I love the jazz guitar in it, it has such an immense sound. It's the perfect balance between smooth and gritty.
Throw Beth Gibbon's voice into the mix and that timeless bassline and you've got a classic tune in your hands.

And did I mention that John Martyn covered the song? Oh yes...: