John Everard

Been to the Horti a couple of times now and missed another due to SkegVegas weekender. What a lovely night out, brill hospitality, nice friendly crowd and a fab balance musically. Count me in whenever I'm available.

Having attended on and off for six years, for reasons outside of soul music. I can categorically state that in my humble opinion the one word I'd use to qualify/ describe Boomerang is "Quality"!

Great to see Richard getting back into mainstream radio. I've been an admirer of his radio stuff ever since he did Soul Sauce on Radio Hallam in the late 1970's, he always provides good informative shows.

The Canal Tavern was and still is a fantastic soul venue. Now run brilliantly in a similar vein by Maria O and my old friend Arthur Fenn. If you enjoyed Pitches, Phoenix and Thorne previously, give it a go, you won't be disappointed. It's now called Boomerang incidentally. Incidentally, it was the first place that I can ever remember having Caffrey's on draught. This was in the old days when it was around 5% in strength. Usually 6-8 of us would go up from Barnsley, all couples. It took the wives about three years to work out that every time the Canal Tavern was on, it was their turn to drive! Great times.

Totally brilliant! There's gotta be a book in there Ian.

I can attest to a brilliant afternoon out at the above said event! Definitely on my calendar now.

I have to say that having come back onto the scene a couple of years ago, I was both amazed and dismayed by the way prices had gone up! Never mind a mortgage, you wouldn't have a huge collection for a million quid the way things have gone. Where does a young kid or someone returning to the scene begin to assemble a collection? I've been around the scene since the mid '70's and obviously have seen prices spiral, arguably out of control. I remember for instance Flowers 'For Real' when it appeared at the Canal Tavern at Thorne under either Fish or Rod Dearlove. I seem to remember seeing around thirty copies together at around £30 each. John Manship recently sold one for £2600! Brilliant as I think it is, £2600 for a tune that's not particularly rare! We had some fantastic nights at the Canal Tavern in Thorne near Doncaster, helped along with the draught Caffrey's which in its original form was true Amber nectar. The Canal Tavern currently hosts one of the best rare soul events in the country, 'Boomerang' hosted by Maria O and regularly guested by Arthur Fenn, is an awesome musically, but friendly connoisseurs night out. A case in point re record prices: I was chatting to Arthur Fenn, just last week. He related how Don Garner was set aside in his pile at £100 when he went to Soul Bowl around the end of the 1970's. Brilliant, brilliant record that it is, certainly in my top choice, what's is it now, £10,000 ish?

Great effort, some good tunes in there too. How much is the brilliant Cheryl Berdell? Played at Skegness Weekender last week and was very well received in the modern room!

Good set, hope to get down there from Barnsley sometime soon.

Just found this, if it's been posted previously or should be elsewhere I apologise in advance. It's an 11 part series, produced by a certain Frank Wilson. Parts 1 & 2 are available on demand and Parts 3 & 4 are on this weekend.

Doesn't that rule apply to almost any commodity that people attempt to trade?

Thank you for enlightening me Arthur. That's true belief indeed.

To me this kind of input is like gold dust! I believe that it really all should be documented, so that it can be enjoyed by others and passed on. There's sure to be a book in it, may be more than one. I for one would also be interested to know more about "Sam's big 60's for 70's swap" too. As passionate as I've always been about soul music, both Northern and Modern, I find the anecdotes and stories behind the finds and trades absolutely fascinating. Please tell us more!

Love Committee - I Made A Mistake Bobby Womack - How Could You Break My Heart Carol Anderson - Sad Girl David Ruffin- I've Gotta Find Myself a Brand New Baby Linda Jones - I Just Can't Live My Life Five epic slabs of solid gold soul, that epitomise emotion.

Thank you so much for this. I haven't had the opportunity to listen yet however. We had many, many brilliant nights at Pitches. It's a event and venue this is sadly missed. Time for a Pitches reunion, methinks!

I looked for remaining 2014 dates, non appear, looked like a venue worth visiting in 2015

Nice set.

Well said: single mindedness and determination will be two of the key tools in recovery. For sure Ian has always displayed both in spades! I'm currently involved in helping my friend through a stroke which occurred almost a year ago. I meet up and take him out 2-3 times a week. Staying motivated and having and maintaining interests seems to be of paramount importance. It's great to see everyone put politics aside. I'd like to send by very best wishes to Ian, Keep the faith in recovery.