THE BLUES. By Bryn Fortey

the first Blues I knowingly heard

was Frankie Laine’s West End Blues

which he recorded in 1947

if memory serves me right

it was paired with

I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me

on an easily broken 78rpm record

I’m not sure when it gained a UK release

or exactly when I bought it

I liked Mr Rhythm, as Frankie was known

buying many of his singles

but there was something different

about West End Blues

not that I knew what, at that young age

nor did I know anything of its musical form

Francesco Paulo LoVecchio

to use his real name

had a strong liking for Jazz and Blues

but his big-voiced ballads sold so well

they were what he mostly recorded

all I knew back then was that I experienced

a sort of tingle when I played that song

and it became a favourite record

later I started to investigate further

discovering a branch of music

that has remained part of my

regular listening patterns ever since

so thank you Frankie Laine

your version of West End Blues might not

have been the best ever recorded

but it was enough to set me on a lifelong 

love affair with the music

and I can still listen to it today

with gratitude and enjoyment

Bryn Fortey is a veteran writer from Wales in the UK. Widely published

over the years, he has had two collections published by The Alchemy 

Press, both featuring a mix of short stories and poetry. He is grateful that

in old age he is still able to put pen to paper and finger to keyboard