I wrote the bulk of this last weekend and had planned to post it then but didn’t quite get around to it, and now another week has flown
by and it’s Friday again (how did that happen?!). So, better late than never
(you will have to remember how good the weather was before Easter)…
Friday came and went without me managing
to post this as my regular 45 double header. It’s been a busy week what with
work, decorating the kitchen… and chasing butterflies…
When I was about 10 I developed an
interest in butterflies (and moths). Together with a childhood friend we used
to collect them. Initially that is, we soon felt guilty about that and from
then on just spotted them and recorded our sightings. Over the years I have
retained the interest to a greater or lesser extent and always keep an eye out
for them when I’m out and about. (Mrs Darce sometimes refers to me as
Christopher Robin as when we are out on a country walk I am inclined to
suddenly go diving off down a path or into the undergrowth following some
unidentified winged thing (not with net in hand though). Last year I (re)joined
Butterfly Conservation – probably spurred on by a relatively good ‘butterfly
year’ - and recently they sent through some sighting recording sheets. As a
result I have resolved to formally record my sightings this year and started
this week on my daily lunchtime walk that gets me out of the office. I picked a
good week to start, the weather has been glorious and the butterflies have
responded and seem to be about in good numbers already.
This difference in appearance of the male
and female Orange Tip made me think of the A and B sides of a record. You can’t
have one without the other. It’s the A side that grabs all the attention and
the B side is just lurking there, often completely overlooked.
The analogy in some ways is particularly
true of a 45 that has been on my turntable quite often in the last few weeks. Unusually,
it features different artists on the A and B sides, one is female, the other
male. In this instance though, it is the female - Claudia Whitten – who could
be said to be the attention grabber as she is featured on the A side. The B
side artist – Ned Towns – is the nurturer though as he is the producer of both
sides. This 45’s currency on release (date unknown but probably late 60s/early 70s)
would probably only have been a few weeks, which is about as long as the
average butterfly can expect to spend on the wing.
I am once again indebted to Sir Shambling
for alerting me to this record. This was Claudia Whitten’s only outing on wax
as far as is known, and her inclusion at Deep Soul Heaven, and a mention and
inclusion on an Oxford American magazine CD compilation back in 2009, the only
references I can find to her on the internet. The B side of this 45 is even
more obscure inasmuch as the link to it below is probably the first time it has
appeared online. Ned Towns himself is somewhat more well known. He has been in
the music business for many years and as far as I know is still active (and on
You Tube). He had a release on Atlantic in the mid 60s How Can You Baby Sit A Man which is now another record on my want
list. The wonderfully named Skillet Records is his own label and he continues
to use it for his own occasional releases. The label of this 45 shows a Little
Rock address, and Ned hails from Lost Lake. Two more names to conjure
with.
(The Skillet label is one of those that is very difficult to take a picture of).
