Author Topic: Birmingham Remembered  (Read 14324 times)

John_Lerwill

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Birmingham Remembered
« on: November 15, 2006, 05:01:26 PM »
A general history about Birmingham with a specialty page on South Birmingham and links to other Birmingham-orientated sites.


Please see http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/homebrum.htm
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

Graham

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2006, 08:41:55 PM »
John Lerwill, thanks for the link. I too was a great fan of Ian Campbell, Thursday nights I was spoilt for choice with Solihull cycling club night, Ian Campbell and The Avengers on TV! Trop est trop.

Pity the 1931 map doesn't have more detail.

John_Lerwill

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2006, 09:33:11 PM »
Ah, Graham, then we weren't that far away from one another - in fact I used to hang around Shirley/Solihull/Monkspath quite a bit when Jasper Carrottt was one of our group, entertaining ourselves at the Plough. Actually, the Carrott was not as much a comdedian as a couple of others in the group in those days...
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

Graham

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #3 on: November 15, 2006, 09:43:22 PM »
J_L, I was a member of three folk clubs in those days, did you go to the Dylan concert at the Odeon, New Street when we all walked out on him?

John_Lerwill

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #4 on: November 15, 2006, 11:26:26 PM »
Ah... that sounds like fun! No, I missed that - I was a bit lukewarm about Bob Dylan. Anyway, WHY did you walk out? Was that when he changed his style to more like pop-mode?
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

Graham

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2006, 12:04:31 AM »
I was proud of being one of Dylan's first fans in Europe and couldn't wait to see the man in action. In the mid 60's he came to Brum at the Odeon and for about the price of a cinema ticket we saw the god in person. He came on stage with his guitar and harmonica and we were soon drooling. After the usual interval he came back on stage with "The Band" and they got stuck in straight away, only trouble was they played so loud that we couldn't hear Bob anymore! After this first bombardment and before they could strike up their second tune, er noise, we started shouting "WE CAME HERE TO LISTEN TO BOB DYLAN, NOT THE BAND!!! Bob didn't seem to take a blind bit of notice and carried on, er singing, I think, couldn't hear him. The audience was having none of it and threw everthing, that they could lay their hands on, at poor Bob. I grabbed my girl friends hand and stormed outside, I heard afterwards that most had followed suit and left Bob standing there. I'm still a great fan of his and think that some of his writings are out of this world. His nomination, a couple of years ago, for a Nobel literature prize came as no surprise to me. He is still one of the few gods that I ever looked up to and worshiped.

John_Lerwill

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2006, 01:22:22 PM »
That's a good story! Now you've told it I think remember the report about that, but by then I was busy-busy doing a lot of things and had put folk-music a bit on one side. I agree, though, that Dylan is an icon in folk music - I used also to be a big fan of Joan Baez, and her look-alike, Julie Felix, though not so much.

But I was more of a follower of British folk than trans-Atlantic stuff - and am still attracted to it, as also the music of Django Reinhardt, replicated by Dizz Disley and Stephan Grapelli. Great artists i.m.o.
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

Graham

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2006, 05:49:02 PM »
J_L, In the 60's I had some records of Django Reinhardt, did you know that he was a Belgian and had some fingers missing, hence the weired chords. Desspite the missing fingers he didn't start the 'HEAVY METAL SOUND' that some bright Brummie did after losing his finger tops in a press. Can't remember HIS name now, someone help me with his story? I think he was with Black Sabbath, I had left Sparkbrook by then.

John_Lerwill

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2006, 06:56:56 PM »
As to the true part of the story, yes, I knew that, Graham - through a documentary I saw about him saw time ago. But he was not "Belgian", per se - he was a Romany, and something of a hero in their community.

As to the second part of the story - don't ask me, guv - weren't me!  ::)
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

Graham

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2006, 11:32:50 PM »
Well L_W let's just say he was a Belgian Romany. No one here is per se Belgian, you are either Flemish, Waloon or from Brussels, not to mention the German speaking area! The "Belgian" Romanies are very proud of their Romany status, but what really gives the game away is the spelling of his name. Ending in 'dt' I would class as typical Dutch or Flemish (the Flemish speaking part of Belgium was once part of the Netherlands [Holland], some 175 years ago, reaching right down into France, as far as Calais. Dunkirk is a Dutch/Flemish name, Duinkerke, meaning 'church in the dunes'. End of sermon) The Dutch 'dt' at the end of words is a real nightmare even for the natives, this is the cause of most spelling mistakes at school and in the press. You can't hear the difference between 'd', 'dt' & 't' at the end of words, only the tense will tell you which one to use. French is of cause an even bigger nightmare, but that's another story.

John_Lerwill

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Re: Birmingham Remembered
« Reply #10 on: November 17, 2006, 08:49:56 AM »
Who's L_W?  ???

Graham, by all means call him "Belgian Romany", but what I was trying to say is that the Romanies - like the Kurds, and nomadic tribes - are essentially a people without a nation. Modern times have changed the situation somewhat, but there are certain groups of people who do not tend to think of nationhood except in the context of their own people, sans boundaries.
We are all ONE - despite appearances!

 

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