im•ped•i•ment |ɪmˌpɛdɪm(ə)nt|
noun
a hindrance or obstruction in doing something.
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Latin impedimentum, from impedire (see IMPEDE).
I am more drawn to the crippled gait of Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, I must confess, than the music it propelled. There is something mildly heroic in its caliper splinted drag; the insistence of a three legged pit bull to get right in one's face.
Ian Dury, of course, summed it up perfectly in his unrequited poem set in song, "Sweet Gene Vincent".
Knotted and twisted by poliomyelitis contracted at the height Britain's post-war (1949) Polio Epidemic, he formed his first band, Kilburn and the High Roads in 1971. The year Vincent died. It is hardly surprising Dury - the child and teenager - should have idolized Vincent. The leather clad American made it easier to stand apart and face the taunts. He demonstrated that it is the thing which burns within that makes the man, that impediment is merely that: a hindrance to be stared down and overcome.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Their stature alters through the years. We are speaking of role models here; the great, the gifted, and the defiant. He - or she - might be a poet; an idiot; a thief. The f@cking Green Lantern even.
Fathers tend not to possess the stuff out of which heroes are built. They are all too obvious in their failings.
Bukowski detested his. Most of us do, for a while at least. Often unflinchingly.
▼ IAN DURY: SWEET GENE VINCENT from "New Boots And Panties!!" LP (Stiff) 1977 (UK)
▼ IAN DURY: MY OLD MAN from "New Boots And Panties!!" LP (Stiff) 1977 (UK)
10 comments:
I read the Bukowski bio Ham on Rye and I could see why Chuck detested the old man. Not exactly the sensitive, supportive type!
Speaking of Dury, I picked up a gently used copy of New Boots & Panties last week at a thrift store for a buck. I rarely spend more than a buck for an album anyway, just like to add to the vinyl collection incrementally, 10 or 15 records a year.
"New Boots & Panties" is a fine LP. I still have it on Stiff vinyl.
$1 for an album seems fair. I hate those Recording Industry c*nts. All too often, scarcely a penny finds its way into the hands of those artists responsible for making the music anyway.
Right now, MJ is on the tv as I type. That fucking sucks. Big time.
I really wanted to post "Sweet Gene Vincent", but truth be told, beyond that first eloquent verse I am not besotted with it much.
Still. It is an album deserving to be listened to its entirety. Over and over, until it ceases to irritate.
It rewards infinitely in the end.
By the way. That funeral is f@cking creepy.
At lest Stevie Wonder is unable to see what a circus it truly is.
Fantastic words IB, very well said indeed
ib: There's a firestorm here in the States over comments a NY congressman made about MJ being a "low life pedophile unworthy of mass adoration." The pol, Peter King, is a right-wing nut in most cases, but he's speaking for an awful lot of people. Just saw creepy Joe Jackson, his dad, announce he's forming a record label, Ranch Records. Classy. Nice to see the gruesome exploitation continue after death. This whole circus reflects very poorly on the culture and media as a whole.
Thanks, Löst Jimmy; although I'm not entirely sure whether you allude to the comment regarding MJ, or the post itself.
I should've been more clear ib - it was the post I referred to, it was well written
Cheers!
Just a little note of appreciation from me ib for the songs.
Thanks, dickvandyke. Your feedback is appreciated in turn.
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