While touring lovely left coast
British Columbia, Joe Hall was asked to do the CBC radio program
NXNW. Since British Columbia was home to Malcolm Lowry, one of
Hall's favourite writers, it was decided that a location recording
of Joe's tribute to him - Dollarton Blues - at the location
of Lowry's beachfront shack, right on Dollarton Beach was in order.
Long-time friend, Harvey Burt,
now in his 80's, was the guide.
Hall performed the song with a stoic Burt listening to the poignant lyrics in a moving and dramatic finale to the show.
It was only after the wires had been collected and the mics put away that Harvey leaned over and presented Hall with Malcolm Lowry's ukulele. The instrument has hung on a wall of Burt's home for many years. "This belongs in the hands of a musician," he told Hall. "Take it. Enjoy it and pass it on to another worthy musician before you move on," he said.
Malcolm Lowry was a writer of fiction and poetry (best known for his novel Under The Volcano that was made into a major motion picture staring Albert Finney) whose love for alcohol lead to a tragic and fateful early end.
While Joe was performing at the beautiful Tofino Botanical Gardens on Vancouver Island, Malcolm Lowry's ukulele found its way into the arms of this handsome "Venus de Milo".
Lowry, an impassioned man who loved beauty and especially beautiful women, would have approved.
The feather, seen attached to the ukulele, was an added bonus to an already wonderful gift from Harvey Burt. It is actually the quill Lowry used to sign his books and poems. You can listen to "Dollarton Blues" in RealAudio or MP3 format.
Rick Dennis, a local TV host,
had his interview with Joe Hall in a most peculiar place... a
tree outside Duncan, British Columbia. Joe was quite comfortable
sitting in a chair woven from living, breathing leaves. Most people
who have interviewed Hall can tell you it is a memorable occasion.
Hall's release of "Travelling
Without Deodorant - Best of Joe Hall" on Cordova
Bay/Ragged Pup Records features 21 of his best loved songs
between 1972 and 1988.
All
Photos by Roger Brant
This page was last updated - September
17, 2001.