Bill Wellwood - Vinyl Stories

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 3 / 7 / 2023

Article

Well, the world is a small place, but this edition of 'Vinyl Stories' comes from the other side of it. And yet it also has its feet firmly embedded 14 miles down the road from where I am now in my hometown, the world’s best city: Nottingham (if I haven’t mentioned it before). I met Bill Wellwood on a Facebook page in which people celebrate their beloved vinyl. It is a brilliant page with loads of interaction and photos of what these lovely people are playing and what they are playing it on. Bill currently lives in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada but he used to tour over here. My latest victim told me a little bit more and it went something like this: Bill: I spent a weekend once in Nottingham. What a street party on a Saturday! I was there with a touring side. I still have my kit exchange. PB: A touring side? Bill: Rugby. Those lads knew how to party. PB: I had you down as an ice hockey tour or something. Never had you down as a rugby player. Bill: Oh, this was many years ago. PB: Yeah, but still, well done. In this edition Bill tells us about the start of his passion for vinyl. I’m going to stick my neck out here and say we are going to hear a bit more from Bill because his journey is an interesting one, and one that we all, as vinyl lovers, take at some stage. He is typical of a genuine vinyl nutcase. His varied interest in music and his passion for collecting are exactly the right ingredients for the makings of a brilliant 'Vinyl Stories' . Bill: I was born in the mid-1950s and grew up in flats where the radio was always on, so music has always been part of my life. My parents, my friends, and my music teachers all had distinctive musical tastes. Having that variety of influences is evident in the music I have chosen to begin my 'Vinyl Stories'. I mainly bought 45s of pop songs in the early ‘60s because it was what I could afford but the following are the first albums I was able to buy way back when. I went on a school trip to the Toronto Symphony which totally blew me away. The arrangement of so many musical instruments drove my desire to learn about music. Purchasing the Beethoven Symphony no 5 in C minor and Mozart Symphony no 34 in C major allowed me to find the nuances by replaying the tracks. In turn, I paid more attention to movie scores such as James Bond themes and other goodies such as the soundtrack of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. My parents were country and western fans, which is a genre not to be confused with contemporary country music. I loved the haunting, lonesome sound of country blues. Hank Williams epitomized that sound in 'I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry', and Patsy Cline was the female side of that sound, with her serenity, in 'Too Many Secrets'. Those songs are filled with ennui and longing for something better. The working-class upbringing and life in the flats was reflected in this longing. Hank also introduced me to the Cajun sound. These artists were rebellious in nature and another rebel to grace the stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (the Grand Ole Opry’s home until 1974) was Johnny Cash, who opened my eyes to protest songs. His music was about daily life and its struggles. Though he focused on the marginalised, his lyrics struck home. 'I Walk The Line', 'Ballad of a Teenage Queen”'and 'Folsom Prison Blues' stand out. He’s considered more of a crossover artist, but it is that original Cash sound I still love. Over the course of more than 130 years, Ryman Auditorium has transformed from a religious building into one of the most revered music venues in the world. It was originally called the Union Gospel Tabernacle. In 2022, the Ryman officially became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark and later that year the Hall partnered with the Ryman to transform a wing of the building into a tour dedicated to rock history in Nashville. The “Rock Hall at the Ryman” includes artifacts from artists including Elvis Presley, James Brown, Joan Jett, Foo Fighters and Dolly Parton. Bill: On to the Rock ’n’ Roll. My 45s have all long since gone but I kept my LPs and all of these images are of my original LPs. The Beatles were the premier group even though the surf sound and Merseybeat dominated the early to mid-sixties. There was something different about the Beatles. They clearly had the vibrance of the West Coast sound and they also had the Brit Blues sound, pushing optimistic lyrics that always made me smile. The cover of 'Kansas City' and 'Eight Days A Week' demonstrate why their music had such an appeal for me. Perhaps their appearance on Ed Sullivan, or my female cousins who screamed and danced when their music came on, or their formal dress and informal haircuts equally influenced me. However, Steppenwolf was the first real rock band I got into. The radio play of 'The Pusher”'sent me running to the record store. While looking for that song I came across this LP, 'Live at the Matrix'. The recordings on here are also from an earlier version of the band, The Sparrow. 'The Pusher', the full version which is 21 minutes long, reflected a social commentary. My cohorts and I “smoked a lot of grass” but not much else. The lyrics taught me that there are many levels to socio-political rebellion. There is a point where it can become self-destructive. So there you have it, my first LPs. My love of music spans many genres and in the years that followed, I added jazz (a truly rebellious genre) and zydeco and I also delved a little deeper into the blues without losing what held me in awe during my early years. I’m so glad I could pass this along. And I hope it keeps people interested in vinyl. This is a story well worth revisiting later to see where Bill went with his love-affair with the black wax. As we have seen so often with 'Vinyl Stories' it is not just about the music. Granted, the actual records are a massive part of it, and the reason for buying and collecting, but the people who share this passion are the glue for me. People like Bill should be celebrated just as much as the vinyl.

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