Keeping Up With The Joneses
Leighton Buzzard, UK
On Saturday, March 27, 2010 I was given a gift and a memory that will be with me for a good long time. I spent an afternoon with Nic Jones and his wife, Julia.
Nic Jones was an icon in the British Folk Music Scene from the late 1960s until 1982 when a major auto accident ended his music career. Some of his recordings have been re-released as CDs, but much of Nic’s recorded work is tied up in a complicated legal SNAFU which I won’t go into here.
I arrived at Nic and Julia’s in West Devon and Nic immediately showed me his ongoing GO game that he plays with a friend via computer and internet. He is also very enthusiastic about the game “Draughts” which we in the States know as Checkers. We played a short game where it was quite obvious that he was going to beat me quite handily and quickly. It appears that he loves games with strategy .
I wanted to show him my Voyage-Air Guitar that I had with me as I was sure he would be fascinated by it. When he saw the titanium hinge, he exclaimed that when he goes they could take his “titanium knee” and make a guitar out of it. He then proceeded to bring out the Fylde Oberon guitar that he has played for many years in the numerous live gigs and recording sessions that he was involved in. It’s a bit battered, but he recently had the frets re-done and the entire guitar has had a new set-up.
But the best bit was when he began to play. He started playing a C chord and then began to sing “Sometime between ice ages…” It was the first line to “Ruins By the Shore” a song that Nic wrote way back when. I adjusted the capo on my guitar and we played the song together. I was a bit misty-eyed when I finished.
Julia returned from shopping and we had a nice chat, then ventured down to to the pub for lunch. I had only meant to spend a couple of hours in West Devon, but ended up not leaving until 4:30 that afternoon.
Listen to “Ruins By the Shore” from “Fond Desire Farewell”
