March 11th, 2010 by jeffstunes
I’m putting my dad’s story on hold for a few posts. I’ll finish it off at some point in the future.
It’s been quite some time since I uploaded my last vid, but the video views are still as strong. I’ve recorded a few songs that were requested, and this is the first of that batch.
It’s one of the many well known songs from The Carpenters. I was watching a documentary about their rise a couple of nights ago. That’s probably the reason why it’s going first.
The song is called “For all we know”, and here is my take on it.
Jeffstunes cover of For all we know by The Carpenters
Here’s the latests on the statistics. They have certainly advanced.
The subs are healthily up at 1,368.
My channel has been seen 31,758 times.
Finally, the overall video views are 648,469.
I’m hoping to upload a Neil Diamond classic relatively soon. Then my second Fray cover. That’s coming up 
Tags: all, carpenters, cover, edwards, for, jeff, jeffstunes, know, video, we
Posted in Music | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010 by jeffstunes
Youtube video 91, and astonishingly one of my choices. I thought I’d give myself a little treat. I’ve been hearing a song for a while, but haven’t really paid that much attention to it until recently. Then when I did get around to having a sing-a-long, I discovered that it was pretty simple to sing, and very enjoyable at the same time. So I had to give it a go. The song is called “Use somebody”, and it’s originally by “Kings of leon”.
Here it is:
Jeffstunes singing use somebody
I thought I’d use the video opportunity to pump a website I made. It all came from answering my comments on Youtube. If you attempt more than 4 comments in 10 minutes, you get challenged by Captcha. You get asked to type in made up words that are sometimes very amusing. You can make it generate loads by continually clicking “Can’t read”. Virtually all the words do not exist in real life, and pretty soon i started dreaming up dictionary definitions for those words. I was thinking of how amusing it would be if someone made a website with the fake Captcha words and fake definitions in a disctionary. It would be so funny. I couldn’t wait for that to happen, so I quickly put together my own site and called it “Captchionary”.
I sat down for a day going through some of the captcha images I’ve collected and added them to the site with definitions. I’ve made it so that anybody can submit their own captcha definitions. The more I get the better. I can’t wait to see what other people come up with.
So keep an eye out for those amusing Captcha words. If you see one that brings an amusing definition to mind then right click on the Captcha image and save it to your computer. Then visit the Captchionary website at:
The Captchionary
Fill out the form at the bottom and upload your image, or just provide another definition for one of the existing words. Then leave up to the vetting process. While you’re on the site. Why not check out some of the existing words and definitions. You can click the “Hit me” link for random words. I have abdominal pains from too much laughter. That’s from writing and reading them.
Now down to the Youtube business. Here’s the state of play with the stats.
Subscribers = 1,208
Channel views = 28,081
Total video views = 537,056
Until my next post…
Tags: cover, edwards, jeff, jeffstunes, kings, leon, of, somebody, use, version
Posted in Music | No Comments »
March 7th, 2010 by jeffstunes
My request list is way out of control now. There are more than 300 songs at the latest count. I get many more requests than I can possibly do, so I’ve decided to pick and choose from the list. My first selection is “You’ve got a friend” by “James taylor”. People have compared my voice to many vocalists over time, and James Taylor is one of those comparisons. I don’t believe I sound anything like him but that’s my opinion.
Can you hear any shades of Taylor in this:
You’ve got a friend - A Jeffstunes cover
My Dad part 12
The two other drunks apart from my dad that I’ve told you about, worked for a while with my father at a company called “Taylor woodrow” in Greenford. I got the distinct impression that the company were winding up operations on the site they were working on. I remember once being invited to their annual summer party. It was good fun, but I didn’t really know anybody there. I visited his place of work on a number of occasions. I think he was employed in the capacity of some sort of security guard. The site was very larger, with many many buildings. Office and storage. There seemed to be a lack of staff though. It was a bit like a ghost town. I’d say that was probably the perfect environment for my father to work in. Nobody to see him drinking, and he did at work. There were many objects around his place of work, and if they weren’t nailed down, then he would take them. Actually he probably also took some things that were nailed down. By the time his appointment was over, his house looked like a bit like the offices
I’m not sure if he ended up getting fired or made redundant from there, but it doesn’t really matter in the end.
My father used to like to give. His gifts consisted of all sorts including precious and valuable items. The problem was that he didn’t buy any of these items. He took them. Something I found out at a later date. So what was bequeathed to me. Let’s see now. After adding it all up it amounts to nothing. He stole them from me, probably to buy more alcohol. I’m not too bothered about that. I’m not really a wearer of jewellery, and i never considered them mine. The brutal truth is that he didn’t have a right to give them either!
So, what does it feel like to be the son of a common thief and an alcoholic?
I imagine it’s no different from anybody else. Most of us disagree with some of our parents actions, it’s just that those of my father were illegal
To be continued…
The Youtube figures have been climbing steadily. My average daily viewing figures are roughly between 1,100 and 1,300. Oddly enough though. Occasionally one of my videos gets a boost in viewing figures for no apparent reason. Like one video getting 4,000 views in 2 days. I’m still scratching my head.
The subs are healthily up to 1,183.
The viewing figures for my channel are 27,367 and finally, the overall video views have stormed past the half a million mark and now stand at 521,210.
The current plan for the next vid is another cover version. I’m in the process of doing another duet so I’m not sure if that’s going to come first.
Tags: cover, edwards, friend, got, james, jeff, jeffstunes, taylor, video, you've
Posted in Music | No Comments »
March 5th, 2010 by jeffstunes
A break from the music vids for a short while. Here’s something a little different. I thought it would be a good idea to bring the new year in with some humour. I was going through some old video of my daughter, and found the tape I made of her first year. There were a number of clips on the vid that still make me laugh out loud, so I thought I’d put those moments on youtube for all to see, and hopefully to be as amused as I was.
As my daughter was settling into solids well, I tried many different foods to see if she liked them or not. Around her first christmas she was introduced to Nectarine with very funny results. She shuddered with each taste, but wanted more. I’m so glad I captured it on camera. It never fails to amuse me.
Here’s a summary video on my Jeffhasspoken channel:
NECTARINES!!
Now for more about my dad.
My Dad part 11
As I mentioned before, my father was an alcoholic. I think it was this that was a key player in the demise of his relationship with Sheila. The two children adored him, but Sheila was getting fed up with the other alcoholics that he brought into the house. The two I remember the most were Bernie and Adam. Bernie passed away a few years ago due to the abuse of alcohol. His great love was his football team Manchester city. Kashif liked Bernie and the love of Manchester city rubbed off on him. Now my father was never a big man. In fact he stood about 5 foot 5 and was very slim. I remember an occasion in Sheila’s house where Bernie was in one of his regular drunken stupors. I’m not sure how the conversation started, but at one point he started talking about how he could easily take me at any time (in a fighting sense). Something I seriously doubted, considering he couldn’t even walk straight, and I was the sober one. His suggestion amused me, but my father was less than impressed having overheard the conversation. Dad rushed in the living room in rage and put one hand around Bernie’s throat and physically lifted him off the ground with one hand telling him “Never, ever threaten my son”. It did surprise me because Bernie’s weight probably exceeded 12 stone, and my father was a mere 9 stone. It is astonishing what adrenaline can do for your strength. The other alcoholic friend of my father’s that I got to know was Adam. He was a guy that could handle his drink. A Scotsman that totally enjoyed a good debate. Especially with me. It didn’t matter what your opinion was about anything, he would always find another way to look at it. Talking with him was entertaining. The last I heard, he was still alive. I also heard that he had given up the drink. That’s fortunate for him. When I knew Adam he had a partner, who was also a lover of alcohol. I got a call from the police one morning, telling me that they were holding my father and Adam for an alleged rape of Adam’s partner. I considered that I knew my father well enough to come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t have done anything like that. It turned out that Adam’s partner had a history of falsely accusing people of rape. Those are the people that make life more difficult for the genuine rape victims. That’s just another one of those gifts from alcohol. It can make you do the strangest things.
To be continued…..
Here’s the regular Youtube statistics digest.
I now have 1,109 subscribers.
My channel, Jeffstunes has now been seen 25,766 times.
The total viewings for all my videos is fast approaching the half a million mark at 470,388.
The next of my video uploads is another funny clip from my daughter’s first year. Until then….
Tags: baby, christmas, eating, edwards, funny, jeff, jeffstunes, nectarine, nectarines, veronica
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 4th, 2010 by jeffstunes
89 videos and counting.
The title of this one is “Beautiful freak” and it comes off the album of the same name which was put out in 1996 by the band “The Eels”. It’s one of my all time favourite albums. At the time their music was cutting edge and I was a big fan of their lyrics. I do plan to do another one from this album in the future. The music is very much the same except I only used Piano, Bass, Cello and Strings. This is the result of my efforts:
Jeff Edwards singing Beautiful Freak
Now for part ten of my dad’s story.
My dad part 10.
When I finally caught up with my dad, he was involved in a relationship with a lady called Sheila, who was the mother of two children called Sima and Kashif. She originally came from Tiger bay in Wales, although she certainly had asian roots. The two children absolutely adored my father. From my perspective it seemed like a strange relationship, but then maybe it was just me. His side of the family criticised the relationship, but as I saw it, if they were both happy then it must have been ok. I believe that everybody should be allowed to live the life they want, and befriend the people of their choice. Sheila resided in Southall with their dog Ruffles. Southall being west of London. If you didn’t already know, the bulk of people living in Southall are Asian. From being at the house many times, my father appeared a little bigoted, with negative comments about those from an Asian background. Yet he was having a relationship with one. I can only think that the comments were drawn from the people he mixed with in the past, because he obviously wasn’t a racist. He walked proudly with them among the streets of southall, as did I.
It is possible that his comments may have originated from those walks with the family though, because he told me on several occasions about the dirty looks and insults he received from Asians in the street because he was with an Asian woman. That wasn’t exclusive to him. I experienced a bit of that too, because I also walked with them. So if there was any racism, then it was coming from the Asians in the street who in my opinion were narrow minded to even consider such insult. We are all human beings. They just have a better tan than I do
To be continued……
I got out the feather duster and started to do something with my Myspace page. Seeing as it’s been sitting there for a few years now. I thought I’d let people know it’s there So here it is if you want to add me:
Jeff Edwards Myspace page
Also I’m going to try and do something with my Facebook page. When I first joined up, it was a very quiet place. Not like now I’ll broadcast that too. Here it is:
Jeff Edwards Facebook page
Now the lowdown on the current state of play on Youtube.
My Subscribers have raced forward to 1,061.
The channel views are up at 24,867 and the overall viewing figures for all my videos are 442,298.
Coming up next. I’m not really sure. I’ve got that other Eels song in my mind at the moment, but I have a habit of changing my mind
Tags: beautiful, cover, edwards, eels, freak, jeff, jeffstunes, Music, version, video
Posted in Music | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2010 by jeffstunes
I’ve reached video eighty eight. This is my cover version of a recent Coldplay song called “Lost”. More than 10 subscribers have rquested this song of me so I thought it would be a good time to do it.
Have a listen:
Jeff Edwards singing Lost by Coldplay
My dad’s story will resume in my next post, because there was something I wanted to cover that was quite current. If you are in the UK then you may know about a TV programme called “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here”. One of the celebrities in the show was a man called “David Van Day”. I first noticed he was in it when I was visiting a friend. My friend enquired who he was. I told him that he used to be in a group called Dollar, who had some success in the eighties, and that I didn’t think too highly of him.
I came to that conclusion because of an event when I was younger. When I was about 17 I worked in a shop called CRS (Co-operative Retail Services) in Uxbridge. During my lunch I popped into WH Smith to buy a few records. The title of one of the purchases was “Videotheque” by “Dollar”. Quite by chance, as I was about to pay, who should walk in but David Van Day and Therese Bazaar. Collectively Dollar. They happened to be there to sign copies of their new release, Videotheque. David was vertically challenged, and Therese was even shorter than him. She moved up the counter to me and picked up the records I was buying, complimenting me on my musical taste. Then we had a little chat. David grew more and more impatient, and asked her to get on with the signing. So she asked me for my name and signed it with love, and then shoved the record in front of David, saying “Sign it”.
I paid for my discs, said my goodbye’s and went back to work. Therese smiled and bid me goodbye, and David said nothing. My impression of him was that he was quite selfish.
I’ve seen him on “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here” and it looks like he hasn’t changed much at all. Therese made time for people. I think she enjoyed the conversation, and that made me feel happy.
Back to the Youtube stuff.
At last I’ve passed 1,000 subscribers. The figure now stands at 1020.
There are 24,010 channel views and my total video viewings are 414,193.
I haven’t yet planned my next vid, but it’s probably going to be another cover. There’s also another duet with Kareneng coming up soon
Tags: celebrity, coldplay, david, day, edwards, jeff, jeffstunes, lost, van
Posted in Music | No Comments »
March 1st, 2010 by jeffstunes
This is the third of 5 Original songs, and it goes by the name of “She freaks”. It came out of an afternoon of experimental jamming with my pal “Steve Morgan”. I had the outline for the song beforehand, and by the end of the day we had all the necessary elements. A composition about two partners who were very different. One partner was laid back and relaxed, and the other would go into a rage at the drop of a pin. Some people can identify with this situation, and it can be the other way around to. Take a listen and make your own mind up.
Jeff Edwards and Steve Morgan - She freaks
Another no show on the album, but still a good song in my eyes. Maybe because there was such a large choice, and the production wasn’t really up to scratch. Fifteen songs did make the grade though, and you can check out most of them by visiting my website:
http://www.jeffsmusic.co.uk
My Dad. Part 7.
Nan always adored my father. Regardless of all the things he did. Just about everyone else in the family were angels compared to him. He was a loveable rogue. I was unaware of his existence until I was 18 years old. After I found out, I pondered over it for a little while and then left it until I was 21. I traced him through Lily, my Grandmother. Someone else I hadn’t met. I found out where she lived and just went and knocked on her door. I didn’t really know what to think as I was waiting outside the door. I used to watch families being reunited on TV shows. The tears and everything, but I have to say that I felt very little emotion at all. The only feeling in me was that I was curious. When the door opened I was greeted with a little white haired lady who just said “Hello”. I think I said something like “Hello, are you Lily?”. To which she replied yes. I then said to her “I’m John’s son. Jeffrey”. She just smiled and invited me in. That was surprising. The neighbourhood she lived in wasn’t the most secure I’d seen. I could have been an unsavoury character, but she just invited me inside. Maybe she saw the resemblance. I have been informed on more than one occasion that my father and I look alike. She put the kettle on, and got the biscuits and old photographs out to view. During my visit, she called my father on the telephone to arrange a meeting with me in a local public house. Amazing with hindsight because he avoided other offspring.
The time finally came to meet my father. I made my way to the pub. First entering into the wrong bar. When I finally went into the right bar, there was a crowd of people in the corner, and he was among them. I just walked straight up to him and said “Hello Dad”, and gave him a little hug. For me, there was virtually no emotion in that embrace. After all, this is first time I’d encountered this person. He was a stranger in my eyes. He was quite nervous, but after the introduction the mood changed into a party mood.
There’s more on his life in future posts. Plus some celebrity stuff too.
To be continued…….
It’s Youtube time again. Here’s the latest numbers.
There’s 970 subscribers so far. Ooh it’s getting so close the the ever important 1k barrier.
The channel viewings keep on rising. Now up to 22,617.
The viewing figures for all my videos is currently increasing at well over 1,000 a day and now stands at 382,179.
My next video is another collaboration song with a great Swedish keyborad player going by the name of “Ulf”!
Tags: album, edwards, freaks, jeff, jeffstunes, john, lanham, she, sight, sound
Posted in Music | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2010 by jeffstunes
Another original song that didn’t get onto the album “Sight Or Sound”. The title of this song is “Movement”. I was asked to compose something about the state of the world, by a friend. I thought over it for a while, and then came up with the idea of a global situation from the perspective of an animal. We sometimes use the movements of animals to help us to detect things, because they just seem to know.
So this is what I came up with.
Jeff Edwards - Movement (Original)
Again, this one didn’t make the cut for the album. There were other better quality songs that took precedence. I noted before that 10 songs from my album are on Youtube. I got lots of wonderful comments about my original songs that were uploaded to Youtube. Some of those comments now feature on my CDBaby purchase page. The small selection of comments are available to read at:
Jeff Edwards - Sight Or Sound
My Dad. Part 6.
Lulu wasn’t exclusively in my father’s bad books. P.J.Proby also made it into his hall of infamy. I was told that my father decked him for making advances to one of his girlfriends. Shame on him. I’m sure that sort of stuff went on all the time. It could also be that my Dad was opposed to his pretentiousness. He said that P.J used to wear tight trousers on stage, and that he had a bit of hosepipe tucked inside to give the impression that he was well endowed. I would imagine that any of those ladies that considered that sort of thing important, must have been met with disappointment. The truth will out, as they say. Literally.
Dad also used to do DIY for the family. His sister needed a bedroom painted, and Dad suggested that he would of course get his brushes out. For payment of course. It seemed that all went smoothly. He showed her the bedroom afterwards, and she was happy with what he had done. The pleasure was short lived though. A few days had gone by and because the room was freshly painted, she decided to arrange the room differently. That’s when she found out that all my father had done was painted around everything. There were large unpainted areas behind all objects that were against a wall. I have no idea what she said to him about it afterwards. Those comments seemed to have slipped his mind.
To be continued…….
Back to the present and the Youtube progress.
961 subscribers.
There has now been 22,480 Channel views.
378,848 video views.
The next original song features the talent of my good friend and guitarist Steve Morgan. It’s a song that’s been playlisted on a few internet radio stations!
Tags: album, edwards, jeff, jeffstunes, movement, proby, sight, singing, sound, youtube
Posted in Music | No Comments »