Judy Dyble, ex-Fairport Convention and less famously, ex-Giles, Giles & Fripp, released The Whorl in July which featured the talents of one Robert Fripp – who also happens to be an ex-member of GG&F.
Since then Judy has been working with Songs from the Blue House, with whom she has a gig (“my first properish gig for ooooooh 5 years I think” says Judy) at the end of the month at the High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex.
She’s also working with Jackie McAuley at resurrecting the cultishly revered Trader Horne whose 1970 album, Morning Way, is something of a collector’s item. They’re hoping to perform in Japan at the end of the year.
With all of this activity you might think Judy hasn’t any time for reading but you’d be wrong.
“The last book I read was Dr.Xargle’s Book Of Earth Hounds, translated into Human by Jeanne Willis and illustrated beautifully by Tony Ross.
An alien schoolmaster’s look at Earth and it’s inhabitants for the benefit of his class and it contains the immortal prose: “Earth Hounds have buttons for eyes, a sniffer with two holes and a long pink flannel. With the pink flannel they lick their undercarriages.”
The illustrations are just so fantastic. This book is part of the sweetest set of books (Earthlets, Earth Tiggers, Earth Mobiles etc.) that I have read for ages.
I am giving it to the parents of 21-month old twins, who are probably a bit too young for it yet, but it’ll give the parents time to practise reading it without laughing themselves silly."
And how about the last album you bought?
"Ashley Hutching’s Rainbow Chasers - ’Fortune Never Sleeps’ . Ashley is brilliant at finding new young talented people and working with them. There are some gorgeous songs on this and the harmonies are lovely. Not at all ’folk’ - honest!"
