Thanks, Dan - really enjoyed this post. I also am a big fan of Tim Rogers and You Am I, so it was extra cool to read. Hi Fi Way and Hourly Daily are amongst my all time favorite albums. And I also enjoyed the Ferguson Rogers Process track quite a lot. A very cool track. Thanks for putting that in the post!
A fine and resonant piece about a righteous pub. Sorry I couldn’t put you up that night because I had my own Aussie mate in the guest room and sorely needed a bed to myself after an international flight.
But I bet the bus ride home was sweet with conversational replays and the bus had a loo that worked. If it didn’t I’m really sorry. Goodonya. 👍🏻
Luckily, I took care of all necessary loo-ing before I boarded the bus! And it was nice to wake up the next morning in my own bed, so no worries there.
More wonderful history of NY...and music, of course. Doubt I will ever cross the McSorley's threshold but now feel as if I have spent an afternoon sipping an absorbing the McSorley life.!
While a middle aged onset of some manner of anaphylactic reaction to something in beers and ales has ruined any appreciation of such a spot as McSorley’s, the post was well worth the read, especially as I’m unfamiliar with Tim’s work … and even if Thumbs is not typical … wow. Thumbs. I’m intrigued.
But … the reason I was going to comment before I listened to the outro … was a little detail you mentioned that I miss so much … *reading* a new record. Most of my listening these days is via streaming (I know, I know, “Bad Timmy!”) at the office. Relaxing at home with tunes doesn’t happen. So … tunes at work. I have made new discoveries over the years … either through recommendations from friends, my daughter, or various music newsletters. But, y’know … work. Like … sometimes I put on an album (yup … streaming … but the body of work remains, through LPs, cassettes, CDs, and … this … an album) and then some work thing happens and … I’m getting to the final track of the album I hardly remember hearing over the previous forty minutes. Sometimes it works … sometimes it doesn’t. Such is life and all that. I have thought, over the years, and have been lately … that simply *reading* an album … holding it … having a pre-listening experience … a tactile initial introduction … is the kind of luxury my version of modern times hasn’t allowed. Reading a record over a pint in a pub. A glorious detail.
A lovely piece Dan. Dive bars come and, sadly these days, more often go, but McSorleys will always be there. The place, and your piece, makes me think of The White Horse - aka Nellies - in my birthplace of Beverley, Yorkshire. Look it up if you dare. I've been in NYC myself for 24 hours and love how certain bars cling on despite it all. There is also something to be said for a bar that plays no music but where you can talk it all you like....
Thanks, Dan - really enjoyed this post. I also am a big fan of Tim Rogers and You Am I, so it was extra cool to read. Hi Fi Way and Hourly Daily are amongst my all time favorite albums. And I also enjoyed the Ferguson Rogers Process track quite a lot. A very cool track. Thanks for putting that in the post!
Right on, Brady!
Succulent 🥰
At least I know there is at least one thing about New York City that hasn't changed since 1854.
Side note: flights to Sydney/Melbourne can be had for as little as $1400 round trip. And Melbourne is lovely in January.
Good to know — but I'm gonna need some more paid subscribers before I can justify that kinda expenditure! ;-)
A fine and resonant piece about a righteous pub. Sorry I couldn’t put you up that night because I had my own Aussie mate in the guest room and sorely needed a bed to myself after an international flight.
But I bet the bus ride home was sweet with conversational replays and the bus had a loo that worked. If it didn’t I’m really sorry. Goodonya. 👍🏻
Luckily, I took care of all necessary loo-ing before I boarded the bus! And it was nice to wake up the next morning in my own bed, so no worries there.
More wonderful history of NY...and music, of course. Doubt I will ever cross the McSorley's threshold but now feel as if I have spent an afternoon sipping an absorbing the McSorley life.!
Excellent piece! I know I say that often, but it is always true.
Thanks, my brother!
While a middle aged onset of some manner of anaphylactic reaction to something in beers and ales has ruined any appreciation of such a spot as McSorley’s, the post was well worth the read, especially as I’m unfamiliar with Tim’s work … and even if Thumbs is not typical … wow. Thumbs. I’m intrigued.
But … the reason I was going to comment before I listened to the outro … was a little detail you mentioned that I miss so much … *reading* a new record. Most of my listening these days is via streaming (I know, I know, “Bad Timmy!”) at the office. Relaxing at home with tunes doesn’t happen. So … tunes at work. I have made new discoveries over the years … either through recommendations from friends, my daughter, or various music newsletters. But, y’know … work. Like … sometimes I put on an album (yup … streaming … but the body of work remains, through LPs, cassettes, CDs, and … this … an album) and then some work thing happens and … I’m getting to the final track of the album I hardly remember hearing over the previous forty minutes. Sometimes it works … sometimes it doesn’t. Such is life and all that. I have thought, over the years, and have been lately … that simply *reading* an album … holding it … having a pre-listening experience … a tactile initial introduction … is the kind of luxury my version of modern times hasn’t allowed. Reading a record over a pint in a pub. A glorious detail.
Sometimes there were liner notes to read… and sometimes I’d just sit there looking at the song titles and imagining what they’d sound like…
Oh, exactly. Lots of times I’d read everything before listening to a note.
Outstanding.
A lovely piece Dan. Dive bars come and, sadly these days, more often go, but McSorleys will always be there. The place, and your piece, makes me think of The White Horse - aka Nellies - in my birthplace of Beverley, Yorkshire. Look it up if you dare. I've been in NYC myself for 24 hours and love how certain bars cling on despite it all. There is also something to be said for a bar that plays no music but where you can talk it all you like....