Avid followers of this blog (you know who you are, Maureen) will have been wondering why peace has fallen over the land and there has been a dearth of posting. The reason is this.  My mother.

She has been in hospital for 4 weeks with a fractured hip.  She’s 91 and has dementia so her stay required many long hours sitting by her bedside, by members of her loving family.  And now she has come to live with us.  And that also requires long hours of attendance.

This post was going to be a discussion of the issues that arise, caring for an ageing parent.  I thought of the title – Momma Don’t Allow, because in spite of everything there is plenty that she don’t allow – and thought I’d illustrate the piece with a bit of music.

And then I found these Youtube clips.  There is so much of interest I thought they should stand on their own.  Here is Chris Barber’s band playing at the Wood Green Jazz Club in 1956 in the Fishmonger’s Arms.  Just up the road from here!  But look at the clothes, duffle coats, duster coats, cinched waists, suits and ties, a few Teds in their drape jackets.  Marvel at Lonnie Donnegan playing with Chris Barber.  Watch the posh nobs, slumming it in Wood Green, who arrive in their Rolls Royce and carefully remove the mascot (the Spirit of Ecstasy) from the bonnet of the car before they enter the club.  Notice how many people are smoking and how many are wearing pearls.  And the dancing – watch and learn – such excellent jiving, the moves, the twirls, the casual skill.

The films were funded by the BFI’s Experimental Film Production Fund, and were written and directed by Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson.

The actual song Momma Don’t Allow doesn’t start till halfway through the second clip. More about my own mother later.