Diary Of A Busker Day 91 Sunday May 1st Bath (city centre – doorway of Topman, opposite Cult, Time: 11:55-1:50pm.)
Once again I stroll down from the hills – where all the people live, to the city centre – where all the people go, and unlike last night, there are a few other buskers about. There’s someone setting up a small drum kit in the open space near the cathedral…and a young lady strumming an acoustic guitar at the same place I made my Bath debut last night, in front of the Pump Room. “Hello there, how’s it going?” I ask politely, even though she’s taken my place! She says it’s ok, she’s collecting for charity – “I’ve got about four pounds.” Indeed, she’s got a hand written note which actually says FOR CHARITY, which I suppose could be her name. I ask her how long she’s been here. Twenty minutes. “Ok, good luck” I say. On the other side of the street are two young strummers – a boy and girl, who I can’t hear – there’s so much noise and hundreds, nay thousands of people. So, where to go…I carry on walking, down towards the train station… back again… and they’re all still there…down the road again – here’s an unused doorway and the shop, a Topman or Topshop looks like it’s closed down. There’s a cafe across the way and down a bit, and a few benches in the middle – it’s a pedestrian road, like alot of this area of Bath. I set up, sit down and look at the pavement around me, covered with pigeon droppings! To hell with it. I start playing, the weather’s fine – not too warm, or cold and there’s a pleasant breeze. A fellow Chet Atkins fan gives me some money after La Vie En Rose. I tell him the arrangement is from a cd of home recordings Chet did but which wasn’t released until after he died. I inform him that I do another one – Ol’ Man River from the same album. “Do you? Could you play that one?” Yes, of course. He likes it, then his wife and child show up and drag him off.
I play The James Bond Theme a couple of times. I’ve noticed people are often surprised to hear this, particularly after something like Mr. Sandman or As Time Goes By. It’s good to do something unexpected – people will suddenly look up from a book or a paper! During Music To Watch Girls By, I suffer another memory blank and fumble around with a few bars of mainly wrong notes then give up. Oh dear.
My time here is almost done when two Polish men turn up. They love my sound but can one of them play a song of his on my guitar? Ok, it’s near the end – I’ve had a good session and one guy even gave me a £5 note – that always makes my day. The Polish man says he’s a singer, and yes, he would love to borrow my guitar to play his song. He plays and sings with great gusto throughout. I haven’t quite got the Polish dialect under my belt and have no idea what is going on in this song, apart from it’s about four minutes long. When he finishes, his friend says that now HE would like to have a play. Ok, but just one minute I say and hold up one finger just to make sure they get my drift. Ok, he says. As he’s playing, I ask the first guy his name and also the name of his song. His name is Greg (which doesn’t sound very Polish to me) and his song’s called We Give Our Heart To Poland, so now I know why he was singing so passionately! And he is very passionate about his song. And his country – “I say to you, I will give my blood (he pounds his chest)…for my country! I will give my heart!” Admirable, although hopefully he won’t have to do that, unlike alot of his fellow countrymen in the past. Greg also plays the keyboards and wants to form a band with me. But there’s a problem, geography-wise. I tell them I don’t live in Bath, I live in a far distant land called Winchester. “How far is that?” he asks. “About forty English country miles” I say. But I don’t really want to be in a group with him, anyway. Not really. So…thank you for your spare change and offer of recruitment, Greg, but anyway, it’s time for me to say goodbye – to my two new Polish friends and also to Bath, with it’s hectic city centre and fine Georgian buildings and crescents. Who knows, I may return one day…
Earnings: £24.07p