I deplore the number of Media force fed artists we have thrown at us. Largely untalented, they become famous but with nothing behind them. So after a short period of fame they disappear back from whence they came.
At the same time there are many supremely talented musicians criss crossing our country playing music for the love of playing music and having full time jobs as well. Most never envisage becoming famous, they just love what they do.
Barclay James Harvest were very famous in their day but not in the UK where they flirted with success but never really broke through. They were huge in Europe though and in particular in Germany.
Their concerts in Germany played to hundreds of thousands and they actually played a gig outside the Reichstag as well as in East Berlin.
I first saw them in 1971 and on Sunday night saw them for what could be the last time because they are giving up playing regular gigs and will play just a few one off concerts. The thing that made this remarkable is they played with a 60 piece orchestra in the wonderful setting of Huddersfield Town Hall.
I don't think I have the words to describe this concert. It will be the yardstick for every other rock or classical concert I go to in the future - it was that good.
The rock and classical fused together brilliantly and seamlessly. I won't bore you with the history of BJH apart from to say they were originally four lads from the Oldham area. After the usual musical differences, the band split into two with John Lees' Barclay James Harvest and Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd. Of the other two musicians, the drummer Mel Pritchard joined Holroyd and the keyboard player Woolly Wolstenholme joined Lees. Sadly Pritchard died from a heart attack whilst Wolstenholme took his own life.
John Lees' has always been honest to his classical leanings and wrote 90 per cent of the bands best material IMHO. I happily drove almost 200 miles to see John Lees' with the Slaithwaite Symphony Orchestra. I would only go to see Les Holroyd if he was playing within 10 miles of my home ie Norwich.
But back to Huddersfield. This was the perfect illustration of how rock and classical can fuse. John Lees' has almost always been apologetic on stage, keeping stock still and hunched over his guitar from which he squeezes out the most remarkable licks. He strikes me as something of a withdrawn person but his music speaks for itself as does that of Wolstenholme.
One of the most poignant pieces of the evening was Wolstenholme's piece Moonwater. There was a lovely vocal by a young lady whose name I didn't catch. It brought Wolstenholme's music to life. The conductor went as far as to say that he cannot understand why this piece with its Mahler overtones isn't included in many classical repertoires. Amen to that. The next time Katy Derham and Sandy Toksvig are enthusing over a cacophonous mess of a piece just because it's modern, I will play Moonwater as an antidote.
Lovely to see Laurie Pott at the gig. Laurie lives in Suffolk but I'm still talking to him. We were at journalism college back in the 1970s. It seems a lifetime ago which is because it was a lifetime ago. Laurie's a foolish fellow because he's joined my blog. But then again if you are reading this, you have too.
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I know some of you like my travelogues. Our visit to Yorkshire was a brief one but I took lots of photos which I will share with you in a few days.
They will be of Sunday's visit to Huddersfield followed by Monday's visit to Holmfirth which is all wine and crinkly stockings (TV fans will know what I mean), Slaithwaite which we now find is pronounced Slowwit and not Slewit as we first thought and finally Marsden Moor. That's Marsden and not Marston. Bet you can't wait to read all that?