Incomplete Memory

Half the people in the world and some elsewhere had a copy of Tapestry. The other half of human kind didn't get one because some of us had more than our fair share.

I am not sure how I ended up having three copies of this album. It is not as if I could play more than one copy at a time. I was still using a Dansette record player with a wonky spindly thing in the middle. You know the thing I mean, it holds the records on the spindle and drops them onto the turntable at the end of each record. Worked great on singles, each one dropped down at its allotted time but on LPs it was an absolute disaster. I suppose it was the weight. Well, they either all fell down at the same time with a big crash or it thought the records were singles whatever they were. So it played just the last few tracks every time.

Then I had this great idea. A cunning plan. I would record the LP onto a cassette and play it in the little car known affectionately as little PUB. No, it did not have a drinks cabinet or even space for more than the odd coca cola can. The boot was in the front under the bonnet and very small. The car was very small. It was a choice between carrying the baby or the shopping. It was called little PUB because it was little and the registration plate began P U B. Anyway the baby came later and really has nothing to do with the story.

Right, back to the memory. The record player didn't work very well so I did a cassette copy for the car. So went to the shop, as you do, to buy a blank cassette, as you do, and came home to do the recording. Microphone in hand, over the side of the record player. Yes, I know its primitive, we made do in the 70s.

Anyway I completed the recording and it didn't sound toooo bad. I didn't Feel The Earth Move but it was quite good so not So Far Away from perfect.

So off I went in the little PUB, cassette in hand, driving to Newcastle, Sunderland, Whitley Bay or some other place up North. Really enjoyed the music until it came to Tapestry it got to the ˜Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree And his hand came down empty.

It stopped. Midsong. Every time it stopped midsong. Well I didn't know that the album lasted longer than 60 minutes. It never said a time on the record sleeve and it never occurred to me to time how long it was. It did not seem to last as long as an hour, ever.

For years, in little PUB, I listened to my Tapestry cassette, singing away. Yes, I know all the words except for tapestry when I always sing to And his hand came down empty and hum the rest.

One of these days I will learn the rest of the song, honest.