David replied:
'What I learnt is to never trust anything somebody else writes or
says, to always go back to the primary sources and to always try and
figure out myself what they mean.'
You certainly have to remember that there is an agenda/point of view/
purpose in everything written or made, but this applies to the primary
sources as well as the secondary. It's why historians are expected to
read around so much and examine a range of sources, for corroboration
and depth, but ultimately it is just an, informed, opinion. A sweet
old Irish supervisor of mine at university (catholic priest, innocent
blue eyes, vague and bumbling manner, mind like a steel trap) said
'There's no such thing as a right answer in History, only a good one.'
David added:
' also thinks the musicians are the nicest crew to hang around with.
Did you notice they also know best about food and drink?'
One of their main attractions! Apart from the best conversation! They
could smell out a late opening restaurant in an unknown town like
blood hounds (I worked long days in Frocks, i.e. costume, so didn't
have time for the research). When I first started doing theatre tours
in the UK, in the late 1970s and 80s, a restaurant open after a show
was a real find, much more civilized now - but if you wanted a late
drink (silly old licensing laws) you searched out the pubs that the
police drank in, they never had to close (and going with a bunch of
guys carrying instrument cases was safe).
Karen
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