Last Wednesday I went to the Muddy Waters memorial gig at the Oval in East Croydon. It was very well attended. Various musos got up and did mostly Muddy Waters songs. Naturally I did something else, Robert Johnson, Little Walter and so on. Well somebody has to be a pain, so it might as well be me. Of course, I did get off to a bad start (it must have been the free beer).

When I was called up, I picked up what I assumed was my harmonica case, opened it, took out the D harp, called the song and blew. Wrong Key. A closer look at the harp case revealed it to be Giles Hedley’s. Now this is a guy who blows a nose harp at times. Of course, he later assured me, well, tried to assure me, that it wasn’t the particular harp, but I still have my doubts. To think I’d believed him to be a gentleman. Anyway, the night was a great success and thanks again to John O’Leary and landlord Graeme for organising it. Of course I managed to stay on a bit late, well you have to socialise, don’t you? However I did manage catch a late train back to Victoria and a night bus home.

Friday, I met up with Mel Wright, Bernie Pallo and Chris Youlden from the Waydown band that we’d put together . It was great to see Chris out and about again and able to resume our regular Soho get together. This was the first time the other guys had seen Chris since his illness, so they were really pleased to see him. The only problem was that because he was on the wagon for health reasons, some of us felt that we had to drink for him. Life is always full of tribulation.

Mel and Chris had to leave so Bernie and I stayed for a while and then also left. We only got as far as the next pub before we decided to have a couple more, then reason took over and we separated, he to cycle home and me to go home on public transport. I almost made it home but ended up in the Skiddaw, the pub on the corner of my street. Well the bus stop happens to be outside. Whilst I was there, my mobile rang. Surprise, surprise, it was Bernie.

He mentioned that he was just about to cook (he is French and a great cook) and he also happened to have some wine open. I thought that was an exaggerated ploy, because he’s always got some wine open, but I succumbed because it was now half past Midnight and the Skiddaw was closing. I walked around to his pad and spent an hour or so (It was all a bit hazy by then) and enjoyed a tasty meal and some tasty wine. He only plays vinyl but he has some great records, so another late night ensued. Criminal, isn’t it. Tonight Im off to the King’s Head gig. Dino Coccia, our drummer, phoned earlier today to say that he had just arrived back from the States and would definitely be there. We’ll see….