Hamilton Camp

            On Monday morning I memorized the second verse of the original French “O Canada” and adjusted my translation of the third verse. 

            I tried to use my Kramer electric for song practice but the locking mechanism for holding it in tune doesn’t seem to work. I tried tuning all the strings several times, then locked them down and fine tune them with the bottom dials but the strings would all just go flat every time. I removed the high E string from the broken Rose acoustic that my upstairs neighbour David gave me and learned how to load the string through the back of the Rocker electric. It took a while to get the string in tune but once I tuned all of the strings, they all pretty much stayed in tune for most of a shortened rehearsal. This was the first time for months that I’ve played a guitar that stayed in tune and it was very satisfying. It’s awkward playing an electric though when I'm so used to playing acoustics. My hands didn't always go to the right place. I wanted to get in a bit of all of my songs and so song practice went half an hour longer than usual. But tomorrow morning it will probably end much sooner than usual because I won’t be tuning all the time. I had the amp at fairly low volume and so I probably wasn’t as loud as I am with an acoustic. 

            I weighed 89.8 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I returned to my oven cleaning project. Except for some of edge of the front I’ve cleared away all of the black, caked in grease at the bottom, The sides and the back still have lots to get off but there’s more blue showing through than before.. 

            I weighed 89.2 kilos before lunch. I heated a slice of roast pork and had it with barbecue and hot sauce. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor. Since it was Victoria Day the streets were more quiet than on a Sunday. I weighed 88.6 kilos when I got back. 

            I worked on my poem series “My Blood in a Bug.” 

            I edited the video I’m making of my song “Instructions for Electroshock Therapy.” Yesterday I’d inserted at the beginning the video I’d made of the lightning, snakes and animated electrical cords. Before the insertion the concert video and studio audio were in sync so today I started cutting out unnecessary bits of the concert video to line things up again. 

            For dinner I had a potato, a slice of roast pork and gravy while watching two episodes of Andy Griffith. 

            In the first story Andy is in a barbershop quartet that is representing Mayberry in a competition that is two days away. The tenor is Howard Sprague but he comes down with a frog in his throat and so Andy has to find another tenor. No one he auditions works out but he has a prisoner named Jeff who has a beautiful tenor voice. The problem is that Jeff is a three time repeat offender for theft and pick pocketing. He also keeps trying to escape and despite the urging of the other singers Andy is reluctant to let Jeff out because it’s illegal. But at the last minute he finally relents and the quartet travel to Mount Pilot for the competition. Their dressing room is small and so everyone has to change one at a time. Jess takes the opportunity to escape through the window. He comes across the camp of a solo hobo who welcomes him and when the man learns that Jeff had been in Mayberry he starts talking about what a nice guy sheriff Taylor is compared with all the other sheriffs. He says whenever he leaves the Mayberry jail he always feels like he’s been treated like a person. Jeff feels guilty after this and returns to the competition just before the Mayberry quartet were about to withdraw. They sing and win the trophy. 

            Jeff was played by Hamilton Camp, who was born in England but evacuated to the US during the blitz. He became a member of the influential folk duo Gibson and Camp. Their 1961 album “Gibson and Camp at the Gate of Horn” was a big success. After they broke up Camp recorded a solo album called “Paths of Victory.” He was also a member of Chicago’s Second City troupe. He had guest appearances as an actor on many TV shows and was a regular on two failed sitcoms. In the 70s he joined the spiritual community Subud but in 1999 released the album “Mardi’s Bard” dedicated to Mardi Arquette, the mother of Patricia and Rosanna. His song “Here’s To You” peaked at 76 on the charts in 1968. He wrote the song “Pride of Man” recorded by the Quicksilver Messenger Service. 

            

            

            In the second story a junior league baseball game between Mayberry and Mount Pilot is coming up but the regular umpire is sick. Both sides agree that Andy would be the best choice to take his place but Andy is reluctant because Opie is on the Mayberry team and he feels it’s a conflict of interest. Everyone convinces Andy to take on the role and so he agrees. Near the end of the game Mayberry has only one chance to win and it’s Opie ay bat. He hits a fly and rounds the bases and slides in to home just as the catcher receives the ball. It’s close but Andy calls Opie out. Of course no one in Mayberry agrees and Andy is shunned, even by Opie and Aunt Bee. Howard Sprague is covering the game for the local paper and he writes a column that is swayingly sympathetic with Andy. After reading it the town changes its attitude and is nice to Andy again. Helen took a lot of pictures of the game and shows one to Bee that shows that Andy’s call was wrong, but she swears Bee to secrecy and tears it up.