We were into the Last Couple of Days of June 1987, it was the Day of my Father's Funeral he was being Cremated at the Local Crematorium. What a Week that was before the Funeral, Probably (up until then) the Worst week of my Life, I had Not experienced too many Death's in the Family before this, I Remember about a Year before my Father's Death, his Father Died (my Grandad) but I Never went to his Funeral and I Cant Remember Why I Did Not, it's Funny How you Remember Somethings and Not Others!
One thing I always Remember was when Leaving the Family's House on the Day of his Funeral, in the Procession Car, I was Looking at all the People going about their Business Laughing and Joking as we Passed them, and I recall Thinking to myself, you are all Laughing about etc and my Father has just Died! I really cant Remember to much about the Service, in fact I cant Recall Hardly Anything, I don't know why this is the case, you would have thought on such a Day like this, I should Remember Everything!
But One thing I do recall, (and it always Stuck in my Mind) was Something I was told by a Married Couple at the Funeral, who had Known my Parents for Years (in fact as a Child I stayed at their House for a Couple of Weeks in the early 70's) They Both told me that "Your Father has Died from a Broken Heart" The Couple who Told me this, I have Always gotten Along With, and I Believed what they said, but Never Understood them at that Time!
Now they Obviously Knew Something (about my Parents) I Didn't know Back then, but in the Coming Month's and Year's, I was to find a lot that I Did Not Like about my Mother and Her Life, and Within the Following Year of my Father's Death, my Mother was to Re-Marry and we were to Stop Talking for Years to come! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for some Music, a Band I Really Liked in the Late 70's was Raydio, they had some Great Music back then, One of my Favorites Track's was "You Cant Change That" Released in 1979 and Taken from their Second "Arista" Album "Rock On" It Featured Ray Parker Jr and Arnell Carmichael ( and Here) on Vocals, it Reached Number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and Number 3 on the US R&B Chart. Between 1978 and 1981 Raydio Released a Total of 4 Albums, before Ray Parker Jr Broke up the Band and go on and have a Successful Solo Career!
As I said in Previous Post, I was Working about 2 or 3 Nights Per Week, when I First Started my New Job at "King's Casino" but that soon Changed to more Nights, and then I remember going into Work one Night and was Told the "Second Chef" had Left!
This Worked out right for me, as they took on a New Second Chef and I was asked by "Peter" to do more Shifts, this I Accepted!
The New Second Chef was a chap by the Name of "Steve Green" he had Previously Worked with the Head Chef "Peter"at a Hotel in nearby "Norwich"
So I was back Working as a Full Time Chef within about 3/4 Months of Finishing on the Rigs!
I knew my "Wife" Susan never liked me Working Nights, but I was a "Chef" and didn't have too much Choice (but to Work Night's)!
I suppose when I Look back to our Earlier Lives nearly 30 Years ago, concerning our Marriage and "Our Kids" I should have tried some other Sort of Work (so I could have been Home, more in the Evening's), but all I had been was a Chef and a Butcher, and I had Worked at Most of the Butcher's in Town (there was only about 3/4 different Companies).
By this time, around early Summertime in 1984, me and Susan had been Married 6 Year's and "Nathan" was nearly 6 Year's Old and "Natalie" was 4 Year's old.
Back to Work, the New Chef "Steve" was a Decent Bloke and I got on Well with Him, his only trouble was He followed the Local Football Team "Norwich City" and I also remember he did not go Much on Soul Music!
Anyway Working with them 2 Chefs was Great, I cannot remember too many Disagreements with Either of them, although they did Talk about "each other" a fair bit to me, as they were Like an Old "Married Couple" having known each other (and worked together) for a Few Year's!
In this Series of Posts, I will writing about a Particular Classic Soul/Funk Album from the 60's 70's and 80's
The one's that stand out in my Mind, as The Best Soul/Funk/Jazz/R&B Albums ever Released. All of them, I purchased as Vinyl many Years ago and also I have them on CD today.
You may have a Differing view (as we all do) on these Choices, but these are my Favorites!
1981 saw the release of "The Poet" by Bobby Womack, this was classed as a Comeback Album, after B.W had fell out with several record labels (United Artists, Columbia and Arista) and he also fell out of Favour with the R & B buying public!
There were also some personal Tragedies in the 3/4 year period leading up to this release, for example, Bobby's Brother (Harry) was Stabbed to Death by his then Wife, He also found his New Born Son Dead in his cot, not to mention plenty of money Troubles!
So with all this happening to Bobby Womack around this period of time, its a wonder that this Album, was ever finished not to mention being Classed as Bobby Womack's Best and one of R&B Greatest Albums of all time!
The Album was on Beverley Glen Records and was Self-Produced. It reached Number 29 in US Pop Chart, but it got to Number 1 in US R&B Chart.
The Stand Out Track on the Album for me was "If You Think You're Lonely Now" I don't know whether I prefer Poet 1 or Poet 2, I will Feature that Album at a later date!
