(57) 'Jenny From Guildford'

[Ken]

I was having my haircut recently when on the radio came a song, surprisingly sung by Bob Dylan, it was called 'Must be Santa.'  I told Wynn, my barber, that many years ago I had a recording of that same song but mine was by the entertainer Tommy Steel, the famous singer, film star and all round entertainer.  My mind then went into it's time machine mode as I sat there in silence, it took me back to a show I'd once enjoyed which Tommy Steel had starred in. I have often said that my memory was like H G Wells fictitious invention, for it could take me instantly to a place of my choosing.  Suddenly the barbers chair I was sitting in became a front row seat at the 'London Palladium' and instead of the twenty stone hulk I have become, I was once again the smart, twelve stone man I used to be.  My thoughts had taken me back to the early 1970's and sitting there next to me was my lovely young wife, Jenny.  We were both gazing up at the stage and the atmosphere throughout that world famous theatre was electric. We were privileged to be part of it!  

In front of us was Tommy Steele, who had his audience mesmerized by the story he was telling.  In each of his hands he held a section of a coin that had been cut in half.  He had asked if he had any volunteers who would like to sing a song with him and half a dozen hands on either side of us were instantly raised.  I glanced behind me and saw a sea of hands pointing skywards as Tommy spoke to some of their owners. "Who are you," he'd ask, flashing the enormous smile we all knew so well, followed up with, "and where do you come from ?"  We just sat there, our hands firmly in our laps as Tommy continued to walk to and fro, engaging with his adoring fans.  Suddenly he stopped in front of us and looking at my Jenny he asked her the same question, to which she replied in her clear friendly voice, "I'm Jenny from Guildford."  Tommy grinned that grin and said in an exaggerated posh voice, "Oh swipe me, it's Jenny from Guildford," and the whole audience laughed out loud.  "Would you sing a song with me Jenny from Guildford ?" Tommy asked.

I then saw him kneel down on the stage with his hand stretched towards Jenny and, as he beckoned, she walked over to him and held his hand.  In his other hand he held up the two halves of the coin and he handed one half to Jenny as he told us this story.  In days gone past when two people were in love and they couldn't afford an engagement ring, they would cut in half a sixpence.  The young lovers would each keep one half of that sixpence as a token of their love for each other and take it with them everywhere they went.  Tommy obviously new our home town for he went on to say to the hushed audience that he was walking up the old cobbled high street of Guildford town.  He was heading for their famous town hall clock, for under it he had arranged to meet his Jenny.  He held up his half of the sixpence as on his face came a troubled expression as he pretended to gaze all around.  It's an awfully foggy night he told us with much worry in his voice and then, all at once, his mood brightened as he pretended to see his Jenny.  He smiled as he hugged her and they both held up their separate halves of the sixpence as Tommy Steele began to sing his famous film and stage song, 'Half a Sixpence.'  He sang it looking into the eyes of the lady, he'd just called, his Jenny!

Of course it wasn't his Jenny, it was my Jenny, and I was so proud of her when just at the right part of that song, she and Tommy sang it together to the whole Palladium audience.  On that long ago evening, that I recalled so recently in my barbers chair, I discovered yet again what a fantastic performer Tommy Steele was.  But I also found out he'd obviously been to Guildford, for he described to perfection its cobbled high street and the beautiful town hall clock where lovers have met for centuries.  At the end of the song he gave to Jenny his half of the sixpence to go with hers and we still have them, close to forty years later.  Proof that even though she never volunteered to sing with him, Tommy Steele liked the look of my, 'Jenny From Guildford,' more than the more eager volunteers.      
 

[Ken]

A short memory of the night my wife sang to the fully packed audience of the famous London Palladium theatre.