‘I moved to be with my mother in Philadelphia. This was 1943. I worked for a year in a signal depot. We had a war, you know. Then I decided to study music again. My mother made many sacrifices to enable me to study music: then I was able to take lessons from the private saxophone instructor.’ ibid. Trane
‘Diz was hearing something in Coltrane’s playing as being promising, as being filled with possibilities, and that this guy needed nurturing.’ ibid. fan
‘He was a compulsive practicer.’ ibid.
‘John Coltrane’s drug habit is getting in the way of music.’ ibid.
‘When he cleaned up, things began to unfold.’ ibid.
‘After working with Thelonius Monk, Coltrane is fully on his feet.’ ibid.
‘I’ve got to keep experimenting. I feel that I’m just beginning.’ ibid. Trane
‘I sensed I was witnessing magic.’ ibid. Doors’ drummer
‘May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain – it is all with God – in all ways and forever. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.’ ibid. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme album dedication
‘He is now going to try new music ideas.’ ibid. fan
He was the first black artist who had his own television show and it was flawless. And every week it was a wonderful thing to watch. Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark, Tony Bennett, Netflix 2014
He only had two lessons but he picked everything up … He was an absolute genius. ibid. wife
A gentleman. He was a class act. ibid. Ivan Mogull, music publisher
Such a fantastic piano player. And a wonderful jazz piano. ibid. Bruce Forsyth
He was loved by everybody. It was something magical about him. ibid. fellow artist
They [neighbours] all had his records in their houses [Los Angeles]. But they signed a petition to get him out. ibid. George Benson
A mesmerising quality to his vocals. ibid. fan
The greatest singer in the world. ibid. Harry Belafonte
Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale. Gore Vidal, The United States of Amnesia, Gore, 2013
His lifelong obsession is with the enthralling decadence of American political life. ibid. dude’s comment
Never offend an enemy in a small way. ibid. Gore
All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself. ibid.
You will never be forgiven for this book. ibid. The New York Times 10 January 1948, op-ed E P Dutton, re The City and the Pillar
One of the most charming men I’ve ever known, one of the most intelligent, and one of the most disastrous presidents I think we’ve ever had. ibid. Gore
That peculiarly American religion, president worship. ibid.
Envy is the central fact of American life. ibid.
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn. ibid.
The good news is the election is over. The bad news – prepare yourself – Ronald Reagan’s library just burned down. Both books were destroyed. But the real horror – he had not finished colouring the cell. ibid.
I have depths of insincerity as yet unplumbed. ibid.
For much of my lifetime the American media has been tightly controlled by a handful of corporations whose main task since 1945 was to terrify Americans into believe the Russians were coming and so we needed more missiles and nuclear warheads and submarines. They have had decades to create a false reality. ibid. Gore Vidal, speech World Political Forum, Venice
We don’t have a republic. There’s nothing left. ibid.
The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country and we haven’t seen them since. ibid.
It is the United States of Amnesia. We miraculously forget everything. ibid.
The most dangerous man in Britain today. Tony Benn, Last Will & Testament ***** Youtube 1.31.36, Daily Mail headline
The whole deterrent argument is a fraud. ibid. Benn
Basically, he’s a dreamer. ibid. Harold Wilson
I met Caroline in 1948 at Worcester College. ibid. Benn
I was brought up in the non-conformist radical tradition. ibid.
It would never be right or practical ever to use the hydrogen bomb. ibid. old black and white film
Nuclear weapons are so dangerous that you have to keep quiet about them, and at the end of the War Attlee continued building nuclear weapons and he never told parliament or the cabinet what he’d done. And so in a way the very existence of nuclear weapons destroys democratic accountability. ibid.
You mustn’t confuse parliament with democracy. ibid.
When I arrived in the House of Commons the speaker wouldn’t allow me to enter the chamber. ibid.
When Mrs Thatcher came to power she sold off the oil we had and used it to pay for redundancy pay for people she’d sacked. ibid.
If I reflect on the way our society is organised – democracy ought to be a means by which we change the system to meet people’s needs: and it’s been subtly transformed into changing people to meet the needs of the system. And that is the great failure. ibid.
It was those cuts that led to the Winter of Discontent that led to the election of Mrs Thatcher. ibid.
Whether you win or lose a battle in the long run doesn’t matter: the question is did you fight it hard. ibid.
When people look back on her [Thatcher] life now, the divisions and suffering she caused and injustice she perpetuated are much more remembered than the triumphs she claimed. ibid.
The period of the press persecution. ibid.
It’s the right that’s always got us into trouble. ibid.
I think of Neil as the grandfather of New Labour. ibid.
It’s all about power and where it is. Too much power is in the hands of too few people … It’s secret powerful people who’ve got positions in industry and in society. And unless that power is exposed, it’ll continue to exercise undue influence and maintain the underclass and the injustices we’ve seen. ibid.
The motorcycle landed short, ripped the handlebars out of my hands, and I bounced sixty yards into the Dunes parking lot. Storyville: Being Evel Knievel, Evel, BBC 2019
Robert Craig Knievel was born on October 17th 1938 in Butte, Montana. Both Knievel’s parents left Butte, leaving him to be raised by his grandparents. ibid. caption
Yeah, I guess I was kidnapped … Danged if we didn’t get married there. ibid. wife
At the age of 19 he starts a semi-pro hockey team. ibid. Johnny Knoxville
He came up with idea of doing a stunt show. ibid. contemporary
He was given that name by the cops. ibid. #2
We were in the business of sports theatre. ibid. ABC Wide World of Sports dude
… To be something a little extra special … And live like a lot of people do that live in a grey twilight world, these kind of people they don’t even know victory or defeat, because they’ve never tried anything … ibid. Evel
This machine is powered by steam … ibid.
There from the muddy banks from the side of the river was Evel waving. ibid. Evel
Stuntman Evel Knievel got a jail sentence yesterday for beating his former press agent with a baseball bat. ibid. television news
Francisco Franco, absolute ruler over Spain, was one of the most enigmatic dictators in European history. Even today the country still bears the scars of his reign. He seized power in a bloody civil war and ruled the country with an iron hand for forty years. A despot not even his trusted followers could really see through. The Truth About Franco: Spain’s Forgotten Dictator I: The Rise tot Power, PBS 2019
His dominant wife – she would survive the despot. ibid.
A shy boy, Francisco was just an average pupil. ibid.
In Catalonia and the Basque country in particular calls for independence grew louder. ibid.
1932: The army launched an attempted coup but it failed. ibid.
‘He started making preparations for a future civil war.’ ibid. Paul Preston, historian and biographer
The rebels made Franco their generalissimo. ibid.
Throughout the country Franco’s nationalist rebels were openly supported by the old upper class. ibid.
The rebels destroyed everything in their path. ibid.