Diary Of A Busker Day 63 Saturday March 19th Winchester High Street (1. corner of Marks And Spencer, Time: 2:15-3:15pm, 2. opposite Clinton Cards, Time: 3:30-6:25pm.)
Arrived in town at 1 o’clock but couldn’t get a pitch until over an hour later. Talked to Frank down at the noisy corner, waved to Bertie the flowerman across the way. In half an hour Frank says I can have his spot for an hour, so I walk up and down the street…talk to Rob who I insulted in the article by saying he was American! He was waiting at the famous gathering spot – The Buttercross – for Bob Jackson’s rockabilly trio to finish so he could take over. Rob made an interesting observation – whenever he busked with a bass player they always got more money when they were playing a stand-up bass than when they had an electric bass. It certainly looks more impressive, I agree. Rob sings the praises of in-ear monitors when I mention I’ve had to give up playing in groups due to the loud volume. Maybe I should have had some years ago – I could still be playing in those so-called ‘tribute’ groups now and I suppose I could have carried on for another five or ten…or even fifteen(!) years, in complete anonymity – known only as someone who dresses up as someone else. Thinking about it, I don’t think I could do it anymore. At least with the busking, I’m pretty much my own boss. I turn up when I want. I pick the songs I want to play. I play them when I want and in whatever order and play however long I want. And being solo, I haven’t got to put up with egotistical and impossible to get along with musicians…and they don’t have to put up with me!
My alloted time arrives and I do exactly one hour. The pitchs’ proprieter – Frank, the man himself, listens to my final few minutes from the bench opposite. He comes over to say he hasn’t ever heard any arrangement similar to my, or rather Leo Kottkes’, Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring. Frank appears quite knowledgeable about music – or he thinks he is, and has mentioned a couple of times that his mother used to play Chopin, so I take his remark as a compliment. Actually, this arrangement has been getting a bit of notice recently and is proving a popular part of my repertoire, my thanks again to The Great Kottke.
Later on, up the road as I’m bringing my act (Ha!) to a close, a couple in their 40s suddenly appear in front of me dancing what a man standing near me identifies as the Tango – the South American dance born in the lower class areas of Buenos Aires and Montevideo… Yes, dancing the Tango – to La Vie En Rose. They seem comfortable with the rhythm I’m providing so I extend the tune by a couple more verses – somewhat deftly, I like to think. The Tangoists(?) still appear to be having a good time so I again rather deftly start into The Theme From The Third Man – retaining an identical rhythmn and extending it, like the first song, by a couple more verses… After a few more minutes, I’m beginning to wonder how long this is going to go on for, when the male dancer says “Can you stop now – we’re bursting!” Ha! Ha! Isn’t it funny how polite we all are, I think. Me – to stop playing, and them – to stop dancing.
Earnings: £35.01p
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