My pub juke box
Julian Grocock,
chief executive of Siba, the Society of Independent Brewers
I hereby declare my music credentials as a founder member of the not-quite-legendary Fat Chicken Blues Band, so my secret history as a slide guitarist and blues pianist is out at last. Fat Chicken? — that's how an exchange student once translated my surname from French to English.
In a previous life, I presided over two of the greatest pub juke boxes ever. Which might add to my qualifications, but also makes choosing 10 tracks totally bloody impossible. So here goes...
1. EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE Ella Fitzgerald
This was playing in the car on the way home from Sheffield last week. My student daughter, her friend and I all agreed that writing just one song this good would be a life fulfilled. Cole Porter didn't stop at one.
2. I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY Hank Williams
Haunting, sad, and you'll believe every word from a country singer who was tragically dead at 29. And even the health lobby can't argue with the title of his final record - I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.
3. GOING UP THE COUNTRY Canned Heat
You'll recognise this from ads for the supermarket that's big on buying local. Singer Al Wilson was a fanatical environmentalist ahead of his time, who would surely have approved of localism and sustainability.
4. TINY DANCER Elton John
"Reg" opened with this at the first live gig I ever went to (Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 1972). Just him and his piano. He's done nothing better since.
5. CAROLINE Status Quo
First heard at lunchtime in the Pack Horse, opposite Leeds University, 1973. Pint of Tetley's, pot of mushy peas with mint sauce, and the Quo at full blast. Education, education, education!
6. NO WOMAN, NO CRY Bob Marley and the Wailers
Emphatically not the interminably slow, self-indulgent and ganja-fuelled live version. This catchy, rhythmically disciplined original, from the Natty Dread studio album, is far superior. My 16-year-old daughter says so, anyway.
7. GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE Earth, Wind and Fire
I'll have no truck with anybody who doesn't agree that this is the best Beatles cover ever produced. How brilliant was it to fashion this from the original?
8. BABY I Joan Armatrading
My wife insisted from the start that I share her love for Joan's music. The first time she left me, to work at a Canadian summer camp in 1982, this beautiful song soothed my lonely aching heart. Or was that the Pedigree?
9. DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES Paul Simon (with Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
Here's irony: refused permission to play in South Africa, Paul Simon had to stage his Graceland concerts in Zimbabwe. Watching this being performed live, I couldn't help being moved, both by the power of the music and the unadulterated joy of the performers.
10. CRAZY IN LOVE Beyoncé
Even these more modern times can produce a song that combines all the ingredients that go to make a pop classic. It just goes to show that music doesn't have to be pretentious to be perfect for a pub juke box.
