ITR - Smokey Joe - The Legend of Festivals & More Interview with Michael Dixon

InTouchRadio.net
Sunday 15 June 2008

The Legend That is Smokey Joe - Charlie
Veteran of the UK Festival Scene
Festival Chef - Photographer - Musician
Historian of Nottinghill - London

Recently I had the pleasure to meet Smokey Joe or Charlie as he's known. If you've been listening to the Interviews on InTouchRadio.net you will undoubtedly have seen the program 'Green Pepper - Red Tomato' about Massimo and his wife Ann who have their own Festival Food Company working in the UK's major festivals where they sell their Mediterranean Pasta dishes.

Massimo moved very close to me and we became friends over the weeks since he arrived, few could resist his infectious laughter and he and Ann's generosity. It was Massimo and Ann who offered to loan me their Camper for the Sunrise Festival which, through weather conditions outside their control, had to postpone till later in the year.

This evening Massimo said that Charlie had arrived and I should talk to him, he's one of the Veterans of the UK Festival scene going right back to the heady days of the 196o's.

What I didn't expect was a man with a wealth of knowledge and stories about life in Nottinghill in London in the 1950's and 1960's. I learned about what it was like to be an Afro Carribean during the post war years.

Not only was Smokey Joe a man of the people and for the people, and still is but he was also a traveller and made his way round Europe ending in Italy, became a press photographer, became a film extra and met up with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra but witnessed the Spaghetti Cowboy films with Clint Eastwood and many others.

He is a wealth of knowledge of the alternative music scene and the English blues culture of the early 60's and a knowledgeable man of the London gig scene too.

Add to this a man who became a Chef and worked in the major London hotels... well the rest is up to you - pop over to www.InTouchRadio.net site - look out for Smokey Joe - Charlie The Legend and have a listen - watch out for Part Two in the mix stage right now - unmissable if you want to know all about the London scene of the 50's and 60's - oh, one other thing - listen out for the late Arabella Churchill, Sir Winston's granddaughter - did you know she was one of the initiators of Squatting? Listen to Smokey Joe's recollection of Arabella - a lady high in my esteem.

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Look forward to your company - and if you have news or people to interview and music to play then please get InTouch and let me know.

Love
Michael Dixon x
InTouchRadio.net
Glastonbury, UK & GLOBAL