I put on the first LP I ever bought to day.
I would have been six or at the most seven years old when I bought it. So the disc is 68 years old now.
I bought a couple of Garrard 301 turntables dirt cheap in Winnipeg in 1972 and 1973. Both were tossed in bins, one in an audio dealer in Winnipeg, the other in an old recording studio in Winnipeg, that had been removed from a radio station and tossed in the bin. These turntables were produced from 1958 to 1965. Now they are worth a small fortune. The Decca H4E I bought in 1972. So almost all of this is over the half century mark. It is playing through a tube Quad 22 preamp.
The disc is of a couple of Handel organ concertos. Concerto No.2 in B flat major, and concerto No 4 in F major. The performers are Geraint Jones, organ, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Schooter. This was all long before the early music groups came into being, so this performance sounds really dated now.
As a young child Handel was my favorite composer and idol. Shortly after I bought this record I went a Promenade concert where Geraint Jones performed a Handel Organ concerto on the mighty RAH organ. Such an undertaking would be totally unthinkable today.
Talking of Handel, the tyrannical "Woke" brigade are venting their spleen because Handel had shares in the South Sea company. The South Sea company had some association with the slave trade. I doubt Handel knew that. I was furious with the SPCO who dredged all this nonsense up prior to their last broadcast of Messiah. So we had a bunch of talking heads contemplating their navels and largely airing drivel prior to the performance.
I can tell you I registered my severe disapproval with the SPCO leadership. None of them had the first clue as to the history and conditions of eighteenth century London and England. What I do know is that Handel was the first composer to earn a fortune from his compositions, and his performances as impresario. He was a tremendous benefactor and very generous to multiple institutions, especially hospitals and orphanages. He left his fortune to charity in his will.
It is issues like this that make me truly livid, with all this "woke cancel culture." I regard the whole lot of them as a clear and present danger. I don't care who I offend by opposing it. I will continue to fight it with vigor.
