My recent bout of imbibing-itis took me to the under-threat-again Crown and Goose last week.
I was reminded of a story I’d taken to be a bit of a myth about one of the UK’s big TV comedy series being partly written in the pub.
I’ve since been assured the story is true but I’d like to get a bit more information before posting the story.
While having a few hairs of the dog on the second day of my ‘vacation’, I bumped into a gent, Louis Vause who I’d talked with briefly before.
Louis and collaborator Seamus Beaghen have just released a DVD, Boogie and Blues Piano – The All New Beginners Guide and parts of it were recorded in the Crown and Goose.
A couple of plugs below:
“Vause and Beaghen make engaging guides – quirky, oddball and opinionated. They know all about the boogie-woogie greats, and even add a nod in the direction of Albert Einstein” Clive Davis, The Times
“From boogie-woogie bafflement to enlightenment in the company of two affable weirdo’s” Paul Whitehouse, Comic writer.
Louis has since mentioned that links to all the ‘lessons’ were filmed in Camden places that they thought should be captured on film before the ‘bloody council got rid of them’.
Here’s a clip from the DVD :
You can buy it here
and you can buy his albums here
A little on Louis below but spend some time exploring his site for much more. It makes for interesting reading – very candid and humorous.
You can also visit his myspace site here
Look in his biography for the story of his visit to Cuba and another when he visited another well-known Camden pub and made a public request for someone who needed a tax loss. Great stuff.
Louis has instructed and worked with a host of people – George Harrison!, Graham Coxon, Beth Orton and seemingly with all the members of Madness but not all at the same time.
He has acted in movies/TV and also performed in a different capacity on the Radio Four’s award winning ‘Down the Line’ with former Norwich punks-in-law Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson.
If you play piano or know someone who does, the DVD may well be of interest. If not, if anyone’s in need of a tax loss…