Coffee-Table Notes

J ulie Felix – Singer Born, June 14, 1938; died, March 22, 2020 Julie Felix, who has died aged 81, was once described as Britain’s first lady of folk. This was despite the fact that Felix was an American who had played in Los Angeles coffee bars and hit the hippy trail before landing in swinging London. It was in England, however, where Felix’s career blossomed, moving through the burgeoning folk club scene to a record contract with Decca, then into the mainstream as a regular on David Frost’s TV satire show, The Frost Report, and on her own show, Once More with Felix. The latter first appeared on BBC 2 in 1967, and was the first TV series to be broadcast in colour. Running until 1969, the show was also notable for its run of guests, who included Dusty Springfield, Donovan, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Spike Milligan and Leonard Cohen. Felix had met Cohen while back-packing around Europe, and on the programme duetted on his song, Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye, which she

Basil Kirchin - composer and musician Born August 8, 1927; died June 18, 2005.   When Abstractions Of The Industrial North was released by cult maestros Trunk Records the week before its composer's death of cancer aged 78, it was the first record to be released by Basil Kirchin for more than 30 years. That this concept album about a northern factory landscape's impressionistic pastoral jazz tones was recorded in 1966 showed just how far ahead of his time this one-time big-band drummer turned avant-garde adventurer actually was. Listening to the record now, with the once-thriving factories he so eloquently landscaped long since razed or converted into designer flats, Abstractions Of The Industrial North, featuring future Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page sessioning, conjures up a little piece of kitchen-sink England long since past. Yet, even as he funded his pioneering explorations of sound by scoring low budget British horror films, Kirchin was alrea

Things have moved on since Stina Tweeddale started her online music sessions on the Honeyblood Facebook page. Originally broadcast live from the Glasgow-based singer and song-writer’s Iceblink Luck studio, Tweeddale’s half-hour nightly solo sets augmented by occasional guests were some of the earliest events to rethink how artists can get their work out there during the Covid-19 pandemic. With all live dates curtailed till further notice, the driving force behind Honeyblood across three albums since forming the band eight years ago began the shows as a practical way of filling the gap, as well as supporting herself and fellow musicians. Tweeddale set up a GoFundMe page, inviting those tuning in to donate, with all proceeds split between those who took part in the shows and Help Musicians Scotland, the independent charity set up to support those on the frontline of such an insecure profession. In the current climate, especially, with the everyday physical and mental well-being unde