A Word in your Ear at the Betsey Trotwood

I went to the Betsey Trotwood, a Victorian pub in the Clerkenwell district of London, to be at a special 'Word in your Ear' gathering. Organised by David Hepworth, who was the founding editor of the wonderful and much missed magazine, The Word, these occasional events allow the former readers of the magazine to stay involved after it had to close about a eighteen months ago. I was an early subscriber and keen listener to the celebrated podcasts which were mostly hosted by David and Mark Ellen, who founded and then edited the magazine.

I recently discovered a wonderful blog, The Blue Moment, created and written by Richard Williams, where he could write about the music he loves. Richard has been a remarkable journalist having started with Melody Maker, which he later edited then becoming a music and sport journalist with a variety of british newspapers culminating with his current journal, The Guardian. He also had a spell as an A&R man for Island Records in the 1970s, so he knows a great deal about music and the people who create it. He is a fan at heart, which resonates in all his work.

When I heard that Richard would be one of the guests at this particular Word in your Ear event, I knew I had to be there. There was the added bonus of Kate Mossman as well, who had been reviews editor of The Word magazine, before moving to her current role as the arts editor of the New Statesman. So off I trundled to London for the evening and met up with my very good friend Michael Cameron, who has also been hugely influential in introducing me to some of the best music I have heard ever since we met at college when I was nineteen. He is still doing so.

Where we arrived at the upstairs room of the pub, David Hepworth was introducing the evening, explaining that he had invited Richard and Kate to 'talk about and play a few of the records that have had the greatest impact on their lives.' The room was tiny with about forty people squashed in on chairs facing the trio, while at the back of the room Andy was in control of the music which he played to us all after the tracks were introduced. David had given them a few subjects to find the music they felt was important, and hopefully the tracks will be listed on their website soon. There were a couple of crackers, which neither Michael or I had heard before, amongst some known to everyone. Most surprising was Richard's choice of Bryan Ferry's recent solo album, where he covers Back to Black. I will be getting that. Another discovery was 'New World Order' title track of the last album recorded by Curtis Mayfield, who Richard had cited in the category of 'most impressive person you have met in the music business'.

I stood at the back of the room and took a few pictures, but as you can probably tell there was very little light available, it being more like a private room than a music venue. So I trusted to luck, the camera and my lens to get something. I had asked Richard and Kate for permission to take pictures which they kindly granted, so I will hopefully make a small collection on my flickr site soon. I do need to tweak a bit though.

I've have changed the picture to this one, of Kate listening to one of Richard's anecdotes, but I can't remember which song this was leading up to. I had a great time and it was well worth the journey to meet them and share some time in the company of other Word aficionados. If you can find access to the old podcasts I do recommend them. I downloaded them so I can savour the wit and many anecdotes of life in and around the music which we all have loved.