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Jim on the streets of Florence • • • #florence #streetstyle #pitti #manstyle #florencestreetstyle #thearmoury #jimparker #baseball #hat #suit (presso Firenze, Tuscany, Italy)

Sir John Betjeman was the British Poet Laureate from 1972 to his death in 1984. He was a much-loved cultural figure, featuring regularly on TV and radio, championing architecture, Victoriana and English towns. I was aware of him at an early age since he had a bit of a thing for Diss, my hometown from the ages of 8 to 18. So much so, that he filmed a television documentary on it in 1964. For reasons I have yet to discover, he also recorded albums of his poems set to quite magical musical accompaniment composed and arranged by Jim Parker. The first of these was Banana Blush. It was followed up in the same year (1974) by this one, Late Flowering Love. There were a further two in 1977 and 1981. I was aware of none of this when I came across this LP at a Utrecht Record Fair for €1. I bought it on curiosity alone and can honestly say it’s one of the best random purchases I’ve made. It’s released on the Charisma label, whose Mad Hatter logo I’m familiar with from all my Genesis records. It’s a more apt pairing than you might expect, with something of the English psychedelic folk whimsy of Soft Machine and the Canterbury scene. Betjeman is quintessentially English, and the subject matter here is quintessentially Betjeman. It wouldn’t have worked without Betjeman’s brilliantly characterful delivery, and Parker’s quite masterful accompaniments – expertly deploying brass band, string quartet, and jazzy rhythm sections as befitting the nature of the poem. Interestingly, the poem of the album’s title is actually called Late Flowering Lust, but presumably even Charisma thought that the lust of a 68 year old Poet Laureate may be too much for the public to take. #sirjohnbetjeman #poetlaureate #jimparker #latefloweringlove #charismarecords #poetrysettomusic #vinyl #recordcollection #nowplaying #nowlistening #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/CEkP8OOJeNM/?igshid=1byc5j4p7a0ev

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