A Memory for a Friend from Wales

 

A friend told me a story yesterday and said she had others and wanted to start writing them down. Well, her story has been tossing around in my head and though I didn’t take notes I can get her started.

The story goes that when this woman was just a young girl, she had an affinity for horses. And not too far from her Welsh home was Sylvia Gardner’s Riding School and stables on a large horse farm in Monmouth, Wales. The farm was about a mile off the paved road.

A little back story on the farm. The farm was originally part of a family’s home The Hendre a Victorian Gothic country home owned by Rolls Family. The Victorian country home is now the Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club clubhouse. If you are wondering yes, it is the Rolls of Rolls Royce that we are talking about.  The Golf Club commemorates the aviation and motor pioneer Charles Stewart Rolls. Charles was the first Brit to be killed in a powered aircraft aviation accident. He was flying his Wright Flyer and the tail broke off. He was only 32 years old. The land was passed on to his sister and then in 1958, the Amberly Court Farm was sold to the Ward family dairy farmers. 

The Ward family had two sons Charles and Kingsley and at that time they and a lot of other young people were into that new Rock and Roll music. These two learned to play music and sing and started a band called the Charles Kingsley Combo, one of the first Rock and Roll bands in Wales. The two had to travel to London, first to EMI recording house but they were told to come back with more material in 6 months. Then they were spotted by Joe Meek a record producer in London but since the brothers were still working the farm it was hard to travel back and forth to London 140 miles but back then before there were highways this was quite a long slow drive.

 In 1961 the brothers then came up with the idea of creating a recording studio in the attic of their parent's home. As they grew they moved the studio to the upstairs of a grain storage building and began recording under the name Future Sounds Limited. They later moved the studio downstairs in the grain building now known as the Coach House Studio.  In 1973 they also converted a stable to a studio now called The Quadrangle Studio. 

This is a house of firsts because one of the first groups to record there was an American group Elephant’s Memory from New York (later known for backing up John Lennon and Yoko Ono) the Ward parents let the group stay at their house, the first Residential Recording Studio.  The property is now known as Rockfield Studios and is still a Residential Studio.

Now the part that she remembered was later in the 1970s Queen recorded at the Rockfield Studios. They were one of the first groups to use The Quadrangle studio. Recording in 1973 hits like Killer Queen and in 1974 yes, you guessed it Bohemian Rhapsody. 

But from such humble beginnings did these Welsh brothers and my friend come. I think it is pretty cool that not far from where she grew up were such geniuses as an inventor like Charles Rolls and the ingenuity of two brothers trying to make a dream come true. And she is pretty amazing on her own right.

Other bands that have recorded at the Rockfield Studios you may have heard of Adam and the Ants, Robert Plant, Coldplay, Rush, Annie Lennox, Blonde a regular who's who or Rock n Roll. 

Photos from the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments and the Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club. 

Twice in one week

 Here I am late at night up when I should be sleeping. I sat on the couch scrolling through videos it always starts with a dog video. Tatum... He talks about loving to eat nuggets. But other dogs use the same voice are they the same family? It confuses me I keep scrolling. Now somehow it is Susanah Hoffs singing an acoustic Manic Monday. I really like that. Instead of these silly videos playing again, it should have a continue button so you can see more of that song or video. Then I see she is 65 and she has written a book. I don't need a life story just because I like the song. Then Pink singing Learn to Love Again. This song has so many memories attached but I only know why. So then two more videos and more Pink and then more Pink why? Now Robin Williams pops in and back in the day I never thought he was on drugs. I guess I should have known but I don't know many people that did drugs so how would I know. And then how do we get to Jim Carey talking about being depressed and Depression is your body saying you need a deep rest or so he says and I think, this could be something but I don't really care for Jim Carey and then Robert Downy Jr talking about recovery and Ben Affleck talking about it as well and this guy Jelly Roll I have heard the name but had no idea who he was. Again. I don't drink or do drugs so why a focus on recovery?

The more I scroll we have John Denver and Carly Simon, Phil Collins and I am starting to believe I am in the right space but where the heck did Hansen come from. Acoustic MMMBop. What in the world, that is from 1997 I thought it was after 2000, for sure. What do I know about boy bands, I was 30 years old then.

The more you scroll the weirder it gets. I am not sure how the thing works. Sometimes I relate and sometimes I don't but that doesn't mean it isn't going to keep sending me the same message. Which is weird because I keep scrolling oh thank goodness finally another Tatum video, or was it Apollo really do they belong to the same family? So, I googled it. Still don't know the answer. Same voice or very similar. Does it matter not really. Just funny they love their nuggets and Princess loved nuggets so I love them. 

At 1:30 in the morning, the only thing that matters is getting this stuff out of my head and on the screen so my brain can go to sleep.  I know they say you should put down your devices before you go to bed but I had already slept a few hours before I woke and couldn't fall back asleep. Richard Prior talking about God and now I know I have gone down a rabbit hole with Robin Williams playing Moses, where the heck is Billy Crystal and Whoopi? Where is REM or am I finding my religion or Losing it? Then some Matchbox 20 and Carly Simon. It is a Landslide... I love that song but again. I would like to hear the whole thing. Seasons in the Sun sung by a family not the original moving on but thanks I do love that song. Now the funny thing is if Facebook and Youtube are all owned by the same people and Google is always watching what I am doing. Don't they know I like the original Seasons in the Sun and of course, I love 90s country but none of that tonight just a version of Olivia Newton-John singing Country Roads when it was new. 

I am sure if you are still reading you are wondering why I continue typing. Why does this big muscular guy tell me I am a valuable human being. How does he know? What does he know about being a girl but he did tell me he would help me carry the weight that I carry by saying look at these shoulders. They can carry anything and along with me so can you. I am tough. I am weak. I am sad and at times I am depressed. I don't think I need to recover from anything but maybe I do. I know being funny is a coping mechanism. I have been doing it my whole life. I now get a much bigger laugh because I am quiet and when I say something that is truly ironic or funny or sarcastic it is a surprise, to most. I just think there she is... 

Well it is 2am. I know that isn't the Matchbox 20 song but how about Maroon 5 Hears to the ones that we lost. Oh and Creed. I didn't realize how much 90s music I like. Now again. I would have thought Creed much earlier than Hansen but not really. But did people who listened to Creed listen to Hansen? I leave all these videos with more questions than answers. And a great place to end a little carpool karaoke with George Michael. Man oh man. Now let me sleep. Please.