Diary Of A Busker Day 489 Tuesday January 7th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:17-3:50pm).
Near the end of the second song – Girl, one of my nameless regulars – a woman, late 60s: which seems to be the average age of my ‘fans’ – comes up and says ‘I knew it was you’, which I take as a compliment. I ask how she is, and she says she’s busy – ‘…if you remember, I have some grandchildren to take to school…’ Well, I’ve got a terrible memory and I don’t remember. Anyway, it’s nice to see these regulars again, whatever their name’s are!
That guy who stood next to me the other day when it was raining, stands across the road. He gives me the thumbs-up when I start Albatross and hangs around for fifteen minutes. I thought he might come over and do the decent thing – a donation, of course!, but he didn’t.
Near the end of Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Phillip turns up: he loves that one – ‘and is it only the three chords – D, A and E minor?’ he says. It is mainly, I say. He loves it but can’t remember the name so I tell him: the opening song off Pet Sounds, 1966. Phillip has bandages on the ends of all his fingers: a side effect of the cancer treatment, along with – he takes his hat off – no hair. He says his fingernails have fallen off, apart from one. Jesus. He says ‘You wouldn’t believe it, would you? Two years ago, I was a happy sandboy, and now…’ It’s terrible. But he says the treatment’s working. He does look well, apart from the fingernail and hair stuff.
Right after Phillip leaves, George turns up, who owes me £10 for the CD he sold to his friend. He stays for a few songs and chats, asking if I’ve got any gigs and how he really needs to come round for another guitar lesson. I keep thinking ‘Is he going to mention the £10? Is he going to give it to me? Has he forgotten?’ I play his favourites: Borsalino and Yellow Bird, then he tells me about an amazing Japanese guitarist – Kotaro Oshio – who he’s heard. He’s done a great song – Twilight, and one called Dear, which he thinks I should learn. Of course, I know of him: the zither-like Third Man arrangement I do, that’s one of his!
George goes to move off, saying again he really must come round for a lesson – and it’s obvious he’s not going to mention the £10, so I say ‘Yeah, that would be good, and you can give me that £10…for the CD?’ Jackpot – he says ‘Oh yes! I can give you that now!’, and he does. Good bloke. So we arrange to meet on Friday morning. But that’s not all. He goes off…but comes back and puts a £5 note in the bucket – ‘Watch out that doesn’t blow away, won’t you?’ Nice one, George.
It’s quite a long set – an hour and twenty minutes – and my fingers have had enough. This is during Jesu, which I’m able to do, but I abort Black Mountain Rag – it’s too fast. Then this old guy wearing a woollen hat and shades – and a moustache even whiter than mine – suddenly appears in front of me. He says ‘Can you do Blackbird – Paul McCartney?’ Well, this means tuning three strings up and I was going to pack up, but what the hell. So I say ‘Sure, just let me tune these three strings up’, and a minute later I’m ready. I say ‘Yeah, it’s a nice piece, even just the guitar’, and he says ‘Yeah, it is’.
So I start it, and there’s something wrong, and it takes me half a minute to realise what it is: I’ve tuned up only two strings, so I have to stop and sort it out, apologising, of course. What does he expect – my brain is frozen! So then I’m ready. I do the song and at the end he says ‘Thanks’, and while I’ve got my head down, tuning up again, he’s rummaging around in a bag…he hands me a tangerine! ‘Here, you can have this tangerine – I haven’t got any money!’
Earnings: £17.50p (+ 3 Russian coins, totalling 5 Ryb then a weird symbol then a backwards capitol R)