THIRTEEN BLOWS FOR SUFFRAGE

June, 1913 (somewhere in Kensington)

The first blow struck the King on the back of the head. BANG!

There were just the three ladies tonight. Sally's job was to keep a lookout (in case of unexpected visitors), Lucy would provide wine and cakes and Violet would carry out the treasonous work. As the younger and stronger of the three she was best suited for the job. They chatted comfortably between hammer blows. BANG!

“Wasn't it was heart-warming to see the huge crowds who turned out to watch Emily Davison's funeral parade. They'll have to take notice of us now won't they,” said Lucy hopefully. "I'm so glad that the poor horse and jockey have recovered.”

Another blow to the side of the head. BANG!

“I don't think the politicians will change anything ”, replied Violet, “they're happy enough to drag us in and out of prison with this awful new 'Cat and Mouse' Act. It's even more cruel than force-feeding.” BANG!

June, 1914 (The Marlborough Club, Pall Mall)

The Colonel summoned a club steward. “Two more brandies please Thomas.”

“Shocking situation with Archduke Fritz ….. whatever his name”

“Franz Ferdinand” said Michael, with a polite smile.

“Yes, that's the fellow. It's looking like Asquith will have to take us to war unless the Germans agree to brokering a peace deal between Austria and Serbia – and that doesn't seem very likely.” He waved his copy of The Times. “They're calling it any day now Michael.”

“It's 'a clap of thunder over Europe' according to the Chronicle” the younger man replied. “They do agree that war seems imminent.”

The steward returned with the drinks. “Your brandies gentlemen.”
“Ah, thank you Thomas” said the Colonel, pulling a few coins out of his pocket for a tip.

“Good Lord – what the blazes! Here, Michael – have a look at this. It's outrageous!”

Later that day – Kensington

“How was your day darling?” asked Michael, greeting his wife on his return from the Marlborough. “The Colonel thinks we'll be at war with Germany in a few days” he continued, without waiting for a reply.

“You won't have to enlist will you Michael?”

“Shouldn't think so – it'll all be over by Christmas according to the chaps at the club. Maybe Asquith can still make the Germans see sense” he said with little conviction.

“Oh, I must tell you - the Colonel found something strange today. He was looking for some change to tip the steward when he saw that one of his pennies had been defaced. He was furious – threw it on the floor in disgust.”

Michael reached into his pocket. “Here, I picked it up to show you.”

He handed his wife a penny. She frowned.

“Turn it over”

It was an Edward VII penny, dated 1908. Across the head of the late King, the letters 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' had been crudely stamped.

Violet felt herself flushing. She looked closely. She knew that others were stamping the coppers too but this one looked like hers. Yes, she was sure of it. She'd probably made a couple of hundred of these – although, of late, her clandestine activities had changed to printing leaflets – much less labour intensive and far more effective in delivering the message.

“Well” she replied innocently, gradually recovering her composure, “who'd have thought of something like that? I must show the ladies at our next bridge night.”

“Apparently they are being referred to as Suffragette Pennies” Michael explained. “I've never actually seen one before but a few folk at the club said they find the odd one occasionally. It'll be those Women's Union people who are responsible – I'm so glad you're not involved with the Pankhurst troublemakers darling.“

“Cup of tea dear?” asked Violet.

Living in the Material World

George Harrison followed up 'All Things Must Pass' with a classic album

this is a review which I wrote for Amazon several years ago. I made a couple of minor edits before re-posting here.

In 1971 George Harrison released the excellent and hugely successful 'All Things Must Pass' - his first solo album (excluding the 'Wonderwall' soundtrack and the failed experiment with 'Electronic Sound', both recorded prior to the Beatles break-up). 'My Sweet Lord' was the massive, and controversial, hit from that album. (Listen to 'Isn't It a Pity' for the standout track.) After the major success of 'All Things' the question was could George repeat the feat with his 2nd album - 'Living in The Material World' (1973)?
 
Although he wasn't as strong or confident a singer as John and Paul there was a haunting wistfulness in George's voice that really gave his music a quality that the other two wouldn't match. Just as George couldn't compete with them when it came to belting out rockers so they wouldn't have conveyed the emotion that he did on his first 2 solo albums. For me, the slow ballads were George's strength - his serious reflections on life, fame and spirituality.

There are several standouts on 'Material World' including 'The Light That Has Lighted The World' - a song about resisting change which is melodically strong if lyrically dark. Nicky Hopkins' piano is just outstanding and George shows how far he has developed his guitar skills. In his book 'The Music of George Harrison - While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (a recommended read with many observations, insights, technical comments on the GH songs) Simon Leng says that the song is "not quite fully realised as there is no chorus, and no hook to fix the piece in the mind." I can't accept that - if we really need all of the music that we enjoy to conform to stereotype construction then we should stick to throwaway pop and forget about talented songwriters like GH who are prepared to try something different occasionally - the only question to ask is 'does it work?'. In this case there is no debate. It has no chorus because George didn't want one in and the song does 'fix' in the mind very quickly - it's really excellent - the album's magnum opus.

'Who Can See It' is another ballad which has an unusually complex construction (George brought lots of ideas into his music from his study of Indian instruments and rhythms) but it's such a great piece that it all falls into place very quickly and the haunting vocals just stop you in your tracks. Listen to it without any distractions (get those headphones out) - let the emotions take hold and you might just have to wipe away a tear at the end. This must be George's strongest ever vocal performance - the beautiful line "..... my life belongs to me, my love belongs to who can see it" is presumably the ex-Beatle talking about his desire to step back out of the public gaze - after the traumatic years of hysteria which he so detested. In the book 'I Me Mine' George says that this song reminds him of Roy Orbison. You can tell what he means when you listen to the rising lyrics but Roy would never have got near the emotion that George's vocals convey here.

'That is All' is yet another lovely ballad - nothing too introspective or dark here, just a love song with an interesting construction, a fuller sound and a hauntingly emotional vocal. 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)' was the monster hit single from the album - 'Don't Let Me Wait Too Long' would have been another had it been released as a 45. 'Sue Me, Sue You Blues' doesn't work for me but GH gets to display his skills with the dobro. 'Try Some Buy Some' is dismissed by Simon Leng as an 'obvious filler track' (it has the lush Spector treatment which is out of kilter with the mood of the album) but it works and that is all we can ask!

Rolling Stone called the album "drearily monochromatic" - were they offended by some of the sentiments perhaps? George Harrison dealt neatly with some of the critics "they feel threatened when you talk about something that isn't be-bop-a-lula". The best response to the critics was provided by the album's success - over 3 million copies sold worldwide to go with the No. 1 single. Listen to the whole set and ask yourself how such a talent was stifled during the latter Beatle years when he was made to feel so inferior to the Lennon / McCartney double act that he was nervous and hesitant about offering his own compositions to the band ('Something' and 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' were both turned down initially).

This album saw George emerge as the complete article - song writer, singer and guitarist (there's no Eric Clapton to help out) and it beggars belief to think that he wasn't given more room for creativity in the Beatles. John and Paul must have been blown away when they heard this - if you haven't heard it you should do so immediately. If it is a distant memory from almost 50 years ago then buy the CD and get to know it again - you won't regret it!