Diary Of A Busker Day 152 Monday September 5th Winchester High Street (opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:15-1:30pm).
A short set – more of a warm-up for an engagement I’m booked to do at a Friends Of The Elderly* home outside Alton, a few miles away. I play a ten minute version of Albatross which one (about 50) man loves so much, he engages me in conversation about how to play it, for quite some time…until Janet – girlfriend of Shadows man, the late Jet Harris turns up. Since I last saw her, I’ve learned Apache – The Shadows “smash” from 1963. Now I can finally play it to her! “Hi, have you learnt Sleepwalk?” – oh yes, I remember she asked for that one, too. “Yeah, I sure have, and Apache. I’ll play Sleepwalk first.” Then, to the man who’s been talking to me – “This lady asked for a Shadows tune a while back, so if you don’t mind, I’ll play something…” “Shadows?”, he says to Janet, “I love The Shadows! Hey, and (looking at me) his name’s Marvin!” Janet; “I was Jet Harris’ girlfriend.” Man; “Really?! Wow!…The Shadows!…I used to play in a band…I remember…” He bombards Janet with his life of music while I go through Sleepwalk. At the end, it looks like she’s making to wander off. “Wait! I haven’t done Apache!” There’s no way I’m letting her run off before I play Apache – after all, I learnt it for her. She stops herself, I play through it, the bloke carries on with his life story, she occasionally says “Yeah?”, “Really?” “Hm” and other monosylables in response. I come to the end of Apache and she walks off, not even giving me some money.
Earnings: £9.25p.
* Played in a Georgian room to 7 old ladies – the oldest said she’ll be 100 in a few days time. At the end of my one and a half hour setI asked if there was any tune anyone would like to hear again. One of them, who had been sitting bolt upright and whose expression remained stern, and frighteningly so, the whole time said to know one in particular “I thought he was going to play We’ll Meet Again.”