I remember buying a live Yes double album once, from Smith's Records in Coleraine. I think I bought it because they were recommended to me by someone at school who I was trying to impress. I listened to it once and traded it for a second hand copy of 10cc's Deceptive Bends, I think... The end result is that I sat in the Waterfront last night without a CLUE as to whether they were playing any of the material well or not. It brought back the same feeling of confusion I had when I listened to the live album... Er, is it supposed to sound like this? Are they doing it well?

I sat all night waiting for Wondrous Stories, which was the standout track from the old live double. And they didn't play it. I recognised Owner of a Lonely Heart, but then even my mum would probably have recognised Owner of a Lonely Heart.

The sound was very muddy - but that might have been thanks to the occasional vagaries of the Waterfront Hall acoustics. There were times when Alan White rattled off a long fill across his toms and the two in the middle seemed to be inaudible. The bass drum was nowhere to be found. It hadn't shown up by the end of the gig, either.

There were wonderful moments, mainly centred on the startling harmony vocals, with Benoit David sounding UNCANNILY like Jon Anderson. But it ranged from being incredibly tight to alarmingly loose, sometimes within the same song. One for the faithful, I think. Let's just say I haven't gone rushing to Amazon today to pick up the back catalogue.

And the smile slowly melted off my face, as I realised with a chill that something AWFUL had happened to my old friend, and I had NO IDEA what it was.

Our circles - that used to overlap so closely - had floated apart. We had no-one left in common that could have told me what had happened. It had somehow passed me by. And yet we had known each other for so long that I was embarrassed not to know, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask – what happened to you?

And so I breathed in sharply and I nodded with a stern look and murmured some platitudes: it’s hard... god, yeah, I can imagine... And we patted each other on the shoulders and off we went, with me none the wiser.

I climbed back into my car with a mixture of regret, shame and embarrassment and wondered: what else could I have done?

So it was with some relief that I found I could not put this one down. He's a superb writer - really capturing the atmosphere of this amazing place, its people and customs. And it's peopled with amazing characters - any one of whom could sustain a novel or short story on their own. It's whetted my appetite for Andy White's 21st Century Troubadour, which combines music and travelling! But I have to finish the new Malcolm Gladwell yet. And I also have James Ellroy's American Tabloid waiting (signed by the man himself during his recent reading at the Waterfront - how cool is that?). So, no books for me for Christmas, by the sound of it...

Michael turned 18 recently - and he's a regular at songwriter gigs all over the city. He was with us in Nashville and Austin earlier this year, and it's always a pleasure to see him in the audience.

It's even better when he's up on the stage like this, giving us a hug!!

I slowed down and pedalled past. Just as I did so, the eldest said to the other two: "What kind of software do you prefer, Apple Mac or Windows?"

The Planter’s Daughter

by Austin Clarke, 1929

When night stirred at sea

And the fire brought a crowd in,

They say that her beauty

Was music in mouth

And few in the candlelight

Thought her too proud,

For the house of the planter

Is known by the trees.

Men that had seen her

Drank deep and were silent,

The women were speaking

Wherever she went –

As a bell that is rung

Or a wonder told shyly.

And O she was the Sunday

In every week.

I was in the car the other day listening to The Music Group on Radio 4 – a panel of three guests choose tracks and have a discussion on them. And Neil Innes (the genius behind The Rutles) chose ‘Old Tige’ by Jim Reeves, from Reeves’ album of monologues, Talkin’ to Your Heart. Just look at old Jim on the cover there, smoking his pipe in front of that old rustic brick fireplace, just itching to impart some folksy down-home wisdom to you all. Sitting comfortably?

‘Old Tige’ is the tale of a boy coming home from the war, to be met in the night and the fog by his faithful old dog (Tige), who guides him home through the darkness, avoiding the dangerous chasm of a new dam under construction in the area.

But when he gets home, he finds Old Tige is no longer there beside him. And his old mother tells him that Tige died three years ago, heartbroken after he had left to join the army. So - (gulp) - it was the GHOST of the dog that had guided him home.

The track was released in the UK as the B side of ‘Distant Drums’, which was a huge hit for Reeves. Neil Innes said when he was on the road with the Bonzo Dog DooDah Band, they used to find ‘Distant Drums’ on the jukebox of every cafe they went into, then select the B-side for ten plays, fill the jukebox with change, and leave – imagining the consternation of the poor customers left behind in a stew of sentimentality.

I remember my uncle and aunt had a copy of the Talkin to Your Heart album. It always kind of gave me the creeps. They had a load of that cornball stuff in their collection – Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner singing that dead daughter song ‘Jeannie’s Afraid of the Dark’. Tom T. Hall records, in among the George Hamilton IV and the James Last LPs.

Anyway, get your hankies out – here are the lyrics to ‘Old Tige’:

(Tige you were faithful faithful to the end
Tige how I miss you you were my best friend)
Three years of Army Service done and I was headin' home at last.
I got to thinking bout my dog and things long gone and past.
How old Tige pulled me from the creek when I had no pulse or breath,
and how he saved me from the chargin' bull that gored my Dad to death.
As a kid I'd dream of bears and tremble to my toes
Till old Tige come up to my bed and nudge me with his nose.
Then my fears would melt away and Tige would go lie down,
I'd drift on back to sleep without another sound.
The big bus stopped I got off - it was awful dark and thick with fog.
Then something gently nuzzled me and there stood Tige my dog.
I wondered if my faithful dog had met the bus each day
And all the dreary winter nights since I'd been away.
To have Tige meet me here like this, I was...I was really glad
'Cause I hadn't needed Tige so much since the day they'd buried Dad.
Two long miles still lay ahead, but what I didn't know
A giant Dam was being built where the old road used to go.
I thank the Lord for sending Tige and I followed where he led,
Knowing well without his help that I'd be good as dead.
Tige inched along this way and that, going rough and slow,
And I could hear the water lappin' at the ledges far below.
Then through the mist I saw a light and mother in her chair,
I reached down to pet old Tige but he wasn't there.
I'm thankful Mom you had old Tige these three lonely years
I owe my life to him tonight, I couldn't help my tears.
You say you wrote me bout the Dam, well, God was sure with us
I didn't get your letter, Mom, but old Tige met the bus.
I hate to tell you son, she said, but now you've got to know.
When you left it broke his heart...Tige died three years ago.
(You were my best friend)

The Bob Dylan Collected Interviews (recommended to me by Ben Glover, and looking very enticing, coinciding as it does with a flurry of Bob-related news and product);

Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks' new work on music and its effect on the brain and psychological diseases;

Lowside of the Road - Barney Hoskyns' new and much acclaimed biography of Tom Waits.

By the far the most interesting though, is The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross, a huge volume that looks at the history of 20th century composition. The book grew from a blog that Ross writes as a sideline to his day job as music critic for the New York Times. At its peak the blog has pulled in 50,000 readers in a single day. The blog is here at www.therestisnoise.com

The book has picked up rave reviews, and if you're reading near a laptop, you can link to an audio section on Ross' website that has audio samples of the works he is talking about. Who said technology was killing reading? Here we have a synergy that shows how well the two media can work side by side, if the relationship is put together with imagination and easy navigation.

I can't wait to get started.