Off to London

In 1963 I moved to London to attend University and study Chemistry. I found the big city intoxicating. There were so many distractions and stimulants. As a result I neglected my studies and dropped out of the course at the end of the first year. I was heartbroken at the time because I felt I had let my parents down, but, as is often the case in life, the forced change in direction was to turn out for the better. With no grant money coming in I had to get a job.  Like so many College drop outs before me I started work as a barman. Eventually I drifted into the kitchen as a cook which gave me great satisfaction.

On the music front I immersed myself in Folk Music. I had a guitar and could strum 3 chords. With the help of a capo I found that I could play in most keys. I could not sing but there were plenty in my social group that could so that solved that difficulty.

One folk musician I admired at the time was Bob Dylan. "The Times they are A-Changin" was the first Dylan album I owned and it was played over and over.  Check out this early version of the title tune from Bob in 1963.

In 1966 Bob Dylan came to London and performed at the Royal Albert Hall. I attended the concert sitting up in the "Gods" (the highest tier in the Albert Hall and the cheapest seats). In the first set Dylan was alone on stage and performed all the acoustic material I had heard on the above album and some new songs. The audience loved the set. Bob was well received.  The reaction to the second half could not be more different. Bob appeared with an electric guitar and a backing group the "Hawks". There was booing and heckling. In 1966 electric guitars and folk music was just one step too far for many English folkies and about a quarter of the audience walked out. The rest of us listened with interest. I left the Hall feeling Dylan was making a mistake - how wrong I was.

It seems to me that folk music, and left wing politics go hand in hand. In London most of my friends were socialists and pacifists and with the energy of youth we dreamt of a better society. When I read that a group of pacifists were on hunger strike in Hyde Park London protesting about the war in Vietnam I decided to see them break their fast. It was a Sunday morning at Speakers Corner London.

There were a dozen or so sympathisers present including the folk singer Joan Baez who was presumably in England to perform a concert or two. She was another artist I admired and I was also able to see her perform at the Royal Albert Hall

Joan Baez

Check out Joan's version of "Rosemary, Lily and the Jack of Hearts"