An unexpected meeting
By Len Morgan
I've met more people over the last nine months (walking my dogs) than I've met over the last 20 years living in Hullbridge. There seems to be a friendly atmosphere (almost wartime comradery) did we need to endure such adversity to bring out the best in us? There must be a million stories out there...
I’ve not left home other than dog walking, most of the people I’ve met recently have been on YouTube.
So, I got to seeking old acquaintances from my youth. In my teens I was a singer with a pop group in Barking, ‘Tony Nelson & the Colts’ we played local pubs, clubs, & Weddings, but we split up in the 60’s and went our separate ways. I hardly remembered their names, but slowly through the mists of time, they began to return. It’s quite a process trying to remember a forgotten name:
I start by picturing faces, and when I have a likeness firmly in mind I begin to compile the information I recall, adding little details as I go. Then two days later, in the middle of the night, I wake up with a first name ‘youreeka’. I write it down then a few weeks later I read what I’ve written and the Christian name just pops into my brain by osmosis (the gradual, often unconscious, absorption of knowledge or ideas through continual exposure rather than deliberate learning). It’s not a fast process, it takes weeks but eventually, it comes. What can I say, some people have quick brains, mine works by slow assimilation.
So with a name in mind, I Google it and I’m
astounded at how many people have the name ‘Paul King’. So I trawl through the entries, looking for a
All those old fogies, why couldn’t they have stayed young & handsome like me? Then I look in a mirror. So, I gave up and went back to walking the dogs, maybe I’d try the other members of the band when I get time.
June said, “the kids are getting tired of the same old walk, let’s take another route for a change!”
“Okay, to be honest, I was thinking along the same
lines.”
So, we varied our route, wishing everybody we met a good afternoon, as usual.
One chubby old baldie said, “Aint you Tony Nelson?” (stage name).
I stopped two meters away, “How d’you know that?”
Then I looked closer ”Stevie Oliver?”
“That’s me,” he said. He was the group’s bass player.
“Can’t believe you live two hundred yards away from me.”
“The others don’t live far away. Paul King has a guesthouse in Shoebury, and
Glen Dethridge has a string of pet shops in
“You’ve stayed in touch with them?”
“Of course, we meet up on Skype on a regular basis, here’s my email,” he produced a piece of paper, got a pen Tony?”
I produced a pencil. Now when Covid is over we plan to meet every Thursday for a Jam session.
June still want’s to know who this Tony Nelson is!
Len Morgan
That's amazing Len. I suppose it helps if you have remained living in the same county for all your life (or have you?). Afraid, all my old acquaintances have vanished into the unknown.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about a jam session, I only like marmalade. I think they were a group long ago, or am I dreaming?
ReplyDeleteId like to tell you I was a groupie but I wasnt. But I did see the Rolling Stones, The Kinks and the Who when I was 16 and The Small Faces at Dorking Halls.Oh and that Group who sang Fire Ill Teach You to Burn...was that Arthir Brown. Like you Len...all such a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story and a reminder of what magic can be waiting when we make a few simple changes and mix-up our routine a bit. Thinking I need to change my walking routes now - I briefly did some backing singing in a band many years ago not sure I nor the rest of the world need a revisiting of that - but I do own a tambourine!
ReplyDelete