Yet more from 53 and imploding Kindle/Paperback

Posted on by Opher

Another little glimpse into the world of this biographical novel – a biography of thoughts, feelings and observation; a snapshot in time.

53 and imploding 

That’s why we had to make rules.

I’m quite in favour of most of the rules. They limit the things that the evil fuckers can do. You see, I use the word evil. We invented that to describe the vicious cruelty of a percentage of humanity. We imagined it as a cosmic battle between good and evil. It is not. It is merely life. It is a fundamental feature of humanity. We enjoy violence, pain and are excited by blood and death. We adore cruelty. Of course, most of us have blotted this out because we have been taught that these things are wrong. Only evil fuckers do these things because they are deranged. We are the good people. We believe in the rules. We do not want to be seen as evil fuckers and we do not even want to see ourselves as evil fuckers. The evil fuckers do these things. They have penetrated the restrictions and given vent to the feelings inside. They enjoy the power of being evil fuckers. They like the fear they engender. They get a buzz out of cruelty.

Bear baiting, cock fighting, dog fighting, bull fighting, gladiatorial fights and stoning to death are all cruel activities carried out by evil fuckers in the past or evil barbaric fuckers in uncivilised countries. Except these evil fuckers are or were considered ordinary people by everyone and themselves. Those cruel displays were eagerly visited by the masses of ordinary people. They sat and ate their equivalent of popcorn and oohed and aahed as the victims got ripped to pieces before their eyes. That’s real. Our civilised revulsion is a thin veneer covering a festering propensity towards violence.

There are no rules.

We make it up as we go.

We probably need the rules because deep down in our genes we are all evil fuckers.

I have to check down into myself to see if I can find the symptoms. I crane my neck at accidents.

53 and imploding eBook : goodwin, opher: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

53 and imploding Kindle/Paperback – another extract

Posted on by Opher

Here’s another short extract from my antinovel:

The first rule is that whatever starts off in idealism usually ends up bogged down in practicality.

That is the way it is planned.

            We have rich social lives – all those friends, all weaving their strands into that tapestry, changing and going their own ways. We have shared many seconds, many values and much fun. It would be so fine to go back and be there again. These memories are so flawed. I would like a taste of the real thing to savour one more time.

Events seen from different perspectives can seem incredibly dissimilar. Taken together could they possibly reveal a greater view of those seconds of reality? Would anything alter your own subjective experience? I hope not!

The first thing you have to understand is that there are no rules.

You just read that. It did not cause you to drop to the floor in horror.

It should do.

There are no rules. You can do whatever you want.

Apart from the physical laws of nature that permeate the whole of this universe there are no rules. You can make them up. There is no morality. There are no rights and wrongs. There is no evil. There is no good.

We made them up. That is good. We have both compassion and intelligence.

There are no rules.

You can live your life exactly how you want. There was no God handing down a structure or a blueprint on how to live your life. We made all that up.

There is no ultimate reason why you shouldn’t fuck your children and then eat them. There are no reasons not to be cruel.

We can decide.

Why not give this unique book a go? You will find it shocking.

53 and imploding eBook : goodwin, opher: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

A few Reviews to cheer me up!

Posted on by Opher

Thank you so much for your kindness in going to the trouble of leaving a review!!

Writing is hard – long hours and loneliness. A book will take around a thousand hours in the gestation! That’s a lot of one’s life to invest. I’ve been writing for some fifty-five years during which time I have created over a hundred book on a great range of subjects – fiction and non-fiction. I enjoy writing but sometimes it does become intrusive and often I wonder whether I should be spending my time in some other way. When I get those moments and feel it’s all pointless I just have to read your reviews and it raises my spirits. Thank you for keeping me insane!

Roy Harper

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT READ ABOUT A WONDERFUL ARTIST

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2021

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I have had a most enjoyable week reading Opher Goodwins’ book about Roy Harper’s songs while relistening to my own albums or streaming those not yet acquired via my favourite service. The book gives new insights into familiar tunes and lyrics, brings knowledge about recently heard gems and adds a greater depth to our collective knowledge about one of the most loved singer/songwriters of his generation.
The author’s easy, readable style and deep knowledge, based of hundreds of attended gigs and an almost life-long friendship with Roy, helps take the reader through each album track chronologically, including any associated singles and B-sides.
I came to Roy’s music via 1970’s Flat Baroque and Berserk’s ‘I Hate The White Man’, a fiery, almost contemporary, song, condemning those too rich or powerful to care. I’ve been lucky enough to see several equally emotional gigs. The associated paragraph’s detailed description of the song, the background to its live recording at the then home of English folk music, Les Cousins and the discussion about Roy’s desire to preamble the song, has given a greater depth to my understanding. This skill, to inform, educate and entertain, and in a lively way, is one of the strong points of the book, and will have the reader, leaning into its pages time after time when exploring one of Roy’s twenty-four described albums.
As an added bonus – as such – the author details many of Roy’s live recordings and radio sessions, compilations unreleased tracks, guest appearances and rarities as well. The book contains a fine selection of carefully chosen colour and B&W photographs of Roy in performance, socializing, his album covers and other memorabilia.
This book is a great read and a credit to a wonderful artist.

Phil Ochs

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Book

Reviewed in the United States on 19 December 2024

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Phil Ochs was a contemporary of Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Joan Baez and other well known denizens of the folk scene in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and 1970s. Ochs was a singer-songwriter who, unlike Dylan, remained true to his political beliefs throughout his career. From melodic renditions of poems by Alfred Noyes and Edgar Allen Poe to classic social justice songs like I Ain’t Marching Anymore and There But for Fortune, Ochs was a lesser known giant in the folk music scene.
Opher Goodwin has written the definitive book about Ochs’ songs. For those new to his subject, it is a wonderful introduction to the breadth of what Ochs achieved and longtime fans will find new dimensions to familiar lyrics. Opher writes with clarity, insight and ultimately, a love of Ochs that shines through, without fawning. I recommend it without hesitation.

Captain Beefheart

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic book !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2022

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This is such a brilliant book.I have been using this as a reference book to check which musician played on which album ! A lot of research has gone into it and the book is very informative ! The author loves the band,but isn’t afraid to speak out against something he doesn’t like (The Tragic band !)
It has me listening to the albums more intently now !
Nice to see some of the Captain’s lyrics about the state of our planet ! ( I wonder what he would think of mother earth in 2022!)
Highly recommended.

In Search of Captain Beefheart

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a ride!

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We move from the rock of a 2004 White Stripes gig to the deep blues of Son House performing in 1968 in the very first paragraph, which gives some idea of the huge range of personal and musical experience covered in this always lively and thoroughly engaging personal testimony. We are taken on a freewheeling and cheerfully anarchic journey across time and space from the earliest days of rock’n’roll through the vibrant 60s and its many musical offshoots and current influences, with every anecdote giving ample evidence for the author’s central idea – that music transforms and inspires like nothing else, forging an organic link with our own lives and even the politics and beliefs we live by. There are sharp, vivid, honest and cheerfully scatological portraits of his musical heroes with warm praise and candid criticism providing the salty ring of truth. The book has wry down-to-earth humour, a breakneck momentum, mostly good musical taste, fascinating gossip, strong opinions, passionate loves and equally passionate hates – and there’s not a dull moment in it. Written with a warm and generous spirit, in the end it amounts to a radical critique of much more than music. It captures the modern zeitgeist with zest and courage. Recommended.

Neil Young

5.0 out of 5 stars Forensic Examination of Neil Young’s early career

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2024

Another book in the fantastic On Track series from publishers Sonicbond.
Opher Goodwin’s book is indispensable to anyone who has an interest in Neil’s music or in 1960s music in general. This book deals with Neil’s formative years and has a very thorough 10 page introduction setting the scene before we even get to the first recordings. Neil’s life is described in detail and each LP track ( and single) is forensically described. Mr Goodwin obviously has a very deep love and understanding of his subject having been a fan since day 1. Neil Young is an enigma but Opher gets behind th rock star persona. He describes Neil’s early bands, The Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse and of course Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Thoroughly recommended.

Bob Dylan

5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed track by track analysis of Dylans formative years.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 2023

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Dylan 1962 to 1970 is another book in the marvelous On Track series, published by Sonicbond.
It concentrates on Bob’s early career which is when he wrote most ( not all) of his best songs such as Like A Rolling Stone Blowing in the Wind, All I Really Want To Do, It Ain’t Me Babe etc. Opher Goodwin knows his subject inside out. He was around in the 60’s and saw many of the 60s legends.
This book goes from Dylan’s first album in 1962 up to New Morning in 1970. I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in Dylan or 60s music in general.

Nick Harper

5.0 out of 5 stars Two old friends, one take newly told.

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This is not just a book, it is a Labour of love. Other has known Nick for most of Nick’s life. He has a pride in him like a father, or at worst the best of teachers (though he will deny having taught Nick anything.) The book was intended as a companion to three L.P. Collection. It is more than that. Much more. It is the story of a songwriter, musician and maverick. It tells of a man who is committed to two things, his family and his musical integrity. The former should be the first consideration for any person with a family, the latter the method to support and provide for the former. Music is love. I have known Nick since 1984, but not as Opher does. I do not have bragging rights, but I know who he is. Looking back I realise he was enigmatic. I watched him over the years. I saw him to from passenger to team player to engine driver in his musical journey. Biscuits playing from very good to superb and peerless. His songs have taken a simi?at journey. His style has woven down many lanes, albeit closely linked. Through them all you hear Nick’s character.This story was familiar to me, like talking to an old friend. But there was more. The story is bigger than what I knew, the songs more complex, and intellectual.
If you know Nick Harper’s music, this book is essential. If you don’t, this is a guide to some of the most satisfying stuff you will hear this side of Killing Joke, classic 60s and 70s songwriters, modern day guitar wizzkids. A great read in easy style, with delightful interview responses from Nick himself to put flesh and blood to the story. Designed as a companion, but stands up by itself as a great little biography. Not just another chord in your song.

A few of my Roy Harper bootlegs

Posted on by Opher

I do enjoy listening to a classic Harper performance from the days gone by – just to remind myself and bask!

53 and imploding Kindle/Paperback

Posted on by Opher

I called this an anti-novel. It’s a semi-autobiographical rant that I wrote twenty-two years ago (where does the time go). A curmudgeonly old fart (me) is sitting in his study writing, having a mid-life crisis and seriously looking at the state of his life and the world around him. It’s a dark insight into a state of mind and the ridiculous mess we have made of things. I wrote it as a stream of consciousness. The ideas flowed. I summoned up the spirit of Kerouac and Henry Miller (if not the skill). It’s not like anything else. I enjoyed writing it and, here, twenty-two years later, I’m enjoying visiting with my old self.

It’s available on Amazon if you want to visit with my younger self. I was an angry man. Believe it or not – I am a happy optimist!

Extract from 53 and imploding

How can you be happy when a moronic footballer’s salary is hundreds of thousands a week? Stupid, selfish, greedy Rock Stars, actors and actresses earn millions while elsewhere babies lie bloated for want of a bowl of rice? A millionaire buys a trip on a spaceship while a whole nation festers in their own excrement?

            How can you be happy when you’re sitting there gloating, smug, arrogant, superior and pampered, thinking that your wealth, power, beliefs, abilities, intelligence, make you superior?

Don’t you realise that you’re just a rich, wealthy, arrogant, empty fool whose whole life is built on greed and is utterly, destructively hollow? You are burning your seconds. You are no better or worse than the green slime on my pond, except the green slime performs a worthwhile function. It produces oxygen. You selfishly exist to make your vain self feel important. Are you cultured? – Knowledgeable and superior?

Pah!

I sit on the bench and you all rush to the shops without thinking about the state of affairs around you.

            How can you be happy living in this pointless little existence?

            How can you be happy putting you £2 sop into Oxfam when government policy necessitates the starving of millions of third world children for the good of our economy? Don’t you realise that the G7 could eradicate poverty and inequality if they really wanted? But then that might mean you can only afford three tellies and one car, mightn’t it? You might not want that!

53 and imploding eBook : goodwin, opher: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

All Right!

Posted on by Opher

All Right!

All right! Alright!

                I’ve been better!

All right! Alright!

                Water’s wetter!

Shazam!

                Magic word!

Sesame!

                Phoenix bird!

All life in a sunset.

All dreams in the night.

All possibility

In the spectrum of twilight.

Opher – 15.12.2014

I always find that an open fire or the glow of a sunset release the mind so that it can wander free. That’s magic.

It opens doors into thoughts and renews the spirit.

Fires and sunsets heal.

Your mind can wander through memories and thoughts, drift effortlessly, at peace.

That glow is magic.

The life of a writer.

Posted on by Opher

Firstly, you have to have lived a life full of experiences. That’s the grist for the mill. You have to know and have lived what you write about.

I only write about the things I love.

Next, you have to have an imagination that enables you to think up plots, story-lines, characters, settings and stories. You need a wealth of pressing ideas. I’ve always had so many thoughts buzzing round my head that I don’t need a net to catch them; I just need the time and energy to write them down. They generate the obsessive enthusiasm.

Thirdly, you have to have an ability to string words into interesting patterns. That is not merely grammar, spelling and mechanics; it’s a magic that causes words to come together in a synergetic pattern that illuminates wonder. Some call it style. It comes out of nowhere. A lifetime of writing. Some just have it. Others have to work for decades and put in thousands of hours before it comes together.

Fourthly, you need to be obstinate and able to endure the tedium and exhaustion, to become a completer finisher. A book can take a couple of thousand hours of work. You work alone, late into the night, and press on even when all the enthusiasm has dissipated. Then you start editing.

Fifthly, you have to have a thick skin to put up with the indifference, knock-backs, petty nit-picking and rude put-downs.

I have written some hundred and twenty books. I dread to think the number of hours. Fortunately I enjoy writing more than reading. It’s been worthwhile. The cost has been the time not spent with friends, family and other pursuits.

That’s the life of a writer.

Allow me to introduce myself….

Posted on by Opher

I was introduced into the suburbs of post-war London in 1949. My father a returning dispatch rider stationed in Naples, my mother worked in the War Office in Churchill’s bunker.

As a child I ran free in the countryside, in the midst of nature, with pet crows, snakes, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice and rats. As a sun-bronzed hyperactive ragamuffin I spent my life up trees, building camps, in ditches and ponds and hunting lizards. Idyllic and free.

As a pre-teenager I discovered rock ‘n’ roll, then blues, girls and excitement. I found myself booted out of cubs, scouts, cadets and seemed to annoy certain people in authority by not wanting to behave or look like they wanted me to look. I was scruffy and wild.

As a teenager I grew hair, was constantly being sent home, had numerous girlfriends, was mad about the Beatles, Who, Pretty Things, Small Faces, Kinks, Yardbirds, Stones and Bob Dylan and started going to live gigs (the Birds, Them and Downliners Sect) and was reading Sci-fi.

By the mid-sixties to late-sixties I was reading Kerouac, Ginsberg and Henry Miller. I’d scraped into college to do a Zoology degree and was firmly entrenched in the London Underground scene – Middle Earth, UFO, Marquis, Les Cousins, Roundhouse. Three gigs a week. I saw almost everyone. Now the likes of Captain Beefheart, Roy Harper, Frank Zappa, Hendrix, Cream, Son House, Jackson C Frank, Country Joe and the Fish, Neil Young, Incredible String Band, Phil Ochs, Velvet Underground and Joni Mitchell joined the fray. Words were my thing. I was a sucker for good lyrics, poetry and clever wordsmiths. I was frequenting Abbey Road studios as a friend of Roy Harper with hair down to my arse, a motor-bike and a head swirling with idealism and wild dreams. I met and set up home with my life-long sweetheart.

For four or five years I was in the centre of the storm. It swirled around me and through me. My evenings spent with friends, sharing, toking, arguing, discussing and listening to music I a mad whirl of interaction and revelation. The music was central. I started writing.

By the mid-seventies the sixties dream had long died and reality hit home. Then Punk hit and I was surging on the tsunami of Sex pistols, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello Stiff Little Fingers and Gang of Four. We had four great kids and I needed an income. I spent thirty-six years in teaching and had a great life opening young minds and expanding horizons. Teaching was a joy. I became a Head Teacher in a Comprehensive Secondary School. The energy and idealism of the young kids gave me nourishment. I kept writing.

We travelled the world, kept gigging and discovering and I started publishing my books.

Now I am here.

27.12.2024

Last Chance to buy a Ron Forsythe book. Next day delivery. Love Sci-Fi? Last-minute Christmas Present? Or just want to treat yourself to a great read?

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Neanderthal: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798393554262: Books

What happened to the Neanderthals 40,000 years ago?They had larger brains and were more intelligent. Why did they disappear?When the President of Brazil begins a project to build a highway through the middle of the Amazon he knew that he was going to provoke a response – little did he envisage what earth-shattering results it would end up becoming.This story delves into the very psyche of humanity and how people might respond when confronted with an alien invasion from a superior race. A Science Fiction story like no other.

God’s Bolt: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9781092713597: Books

Helen Southcote is looking for a purpose to life through her Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence work on the United Nations Space Station when she watches the Earth destroyed by an asteroid. What can she do next?

Reawakening: The Sequel to God’s Bolt: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9781094954585: Books

This is the sequel to God’s Bolt.Helen Southcote, the sole survivor of a stricken Earth, is alone on the Space Station.This is the tale of her journey through space and time towards Tau Sagittarii, 122 light years away.This is also the story of the aliens who live in the system around Tau Sagittarii and their reaction to the destruction of Earth.After dealing with the rigours of isolation, mental illness and hopelessness there is the hope of awakening. Then there are the questions about the purpose of life, altruism and the nature of consciousness all in the course of an epic adventure.

New Eden: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798637512867: Books

How do you solve the problem of a world that has been ruined with overpopulation?What part do a small group of genetically mutated children have in the future of mankind?How might an eccentric genetics engineer be involved?New Eden tells the story of dystopian disaster and unlikely renewal.

Star: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798647632906: Books

It’s the sixties – the three thousand one hundred and sixties. The Federation is in conflict with the Confederation. The Troman war rages. There is a civil rights issue with the Androvians. Youth all across the galaxy are in revolt. Rock Music, on an intergalactic scale, is the medium of the rebellion. Zargos Ecstasy and the Terminal Brain Grope are providing the impetus for the rebellion. Zargos, a larger than life character based on Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Jagger, Jim Morrison and Bowie, struts the stage, putting his poems to music and rousing the spacefreaks to seek social justice. If you lived through the sixties you’ll recognise it all.

Quantum Fever eBook : Forsythe, Ron: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The System is made up of thousands of planets housing trillions of people in tiny doms arranged in tiers. The people are fed drugs to keep them happy and are plugged into immersive tridee.The Consortium are a group of wealthy capitalists who live above the metropolis in floating mansions.The name of the game is expansion and profit. The Quships cross quantum space in search of planets to either colonise or plunder for resources in order to maintain the system.Quantum Fever is a disease that affects people who jump the weird reaches of quantum space. Was Tahsin Roeg suffering from Quantum Fever or were the Consortium seeking to control her?What of the alien planet she discovers?Were the Primitives going to achieve their dream?

Schizoid: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798630523839: Books

The sequel to Quantum Fever. Three hundred years have passed. The aliens are ruining the planet Terra and are on the brink of war. Children of the Primitives on planet Hope are rebelling. President Woud of The System is angered. The Consortium is stirring up trouble………

Green: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798648134003: Books

A Sci-fi novel set in the distant future.Elspin is born without a nervous system; a brain with no connection to the world. She is locked within her dreams. She should have withered into nothing but against all the odds she prospered.Politicians and Business-people are at each others throats. The world is in crisis. The Greens are split into factions. Passions are explosive.They find a way of contacting Elspin. What happens when universes clash?

Will the world survive?

The Gordian Fetish: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9781981947973: Books

How important is consciousness? How rare is it in the universe? It is incredibly rare but not many people here on Earth seem to care about that. But the Gordian’s do – they value it – they seek it out and look to protect it. They have an institute funded by their government that is geared to the conservation of endangered alien sentient beings.Unfortunately a new Gordian leader has come along who believes in austerity. He is threatening to close the institute.Humans are sentient and have a modicum of intelligence. They can hardly be termed endangered though. There are 4000 billion of them. But they are incredibly interesting. They have sex. They also have politics and religion. They pretend to be clever and civilised but they are nowhere near as clever and civilised as they think they are.Most Gordian’s are intrigued by humans. They find sex astounding and humans cute.

Being cute and having sex might just be their saving graces.

Conexion: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9781729561782: Books

In the future it is still all about power.General Secretary Rheen holds the reins but does he hold the power?What about the shadowy Consortium who supply the money to get him elected?The separatists who are prepared to use violence?The Unification Movement who would bring the opposition together?Or the people who democratically vote?What of the stranded Starship?And what of the new drug Conexion that opens genetic memories to unlock an unexpected past?The new Gaia religion?Or the three massive spherical objects heading for earth?

How will it all come to a conclusion?

The Pornography Wars: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798814934413: Books

The Pornography Wars takes political satire and social comment (with a liberal dash of humour) into a new dimension.
Sex is the essence of everything.
Is human history contrived by aliens?
Are we in a film set for an alien pornographic soap opera?
Is all human culture nothing more than an alien psych-master’s program?
What happens when the aliens argue over the future of pornography on their tridee sets?
What is going to happen to the future of human beings?

Farm 703 – The Human Project: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798634914367: Books

Farm 703 where humans are controlled by bacteria.

Farm 703 where we are a project created by the Farm Manager.

Farm 703 where there is a move to terminate the human project.

Farm 703 where Head Office will decide on the fate of humanity.

They are allowing me to write this story. They do not think you will believe it.

Elect Billionaires – they really care!

Posted on by Opher