I have such fond memories of the Yam Parlour in Penzance. It was probably the first vegetarian restaurant I had heard of in Cornwall, and besides some great food it was simply a great place to hang out. Chris and Lyn made amazing chocolate pots, and used spirulina in their smoothies before most people had heard of superfoods. It remains the only place in England that I have had a decent macchiato.
Part of the vibe was the eclectic mix of music Chris played. It never really intruded but it was always notable, and introduced me to a lot of artists I had never heard before. There was often world music playing, and although time has dimmed my memory, I think I probably heard Ali Farka Touré and Momo Wandel Soumah for the first time there. I do remember creating a couple of compilations of my own and burning them to CD, hoping Chris would play them in the Parlour. I can't remember whether I got them done in time before Yam Parlour closed, but they lived in our car for years and entertained us on many long journeys.
With the advent of Spotify, I'm able to (almost) recreate the compilation as a playlist, and you can find it below. I realise in hindsight that caféballad was an odd name, as there aren't really any ballads in this collection, but I named it in contrast with a second compilation funkycafé that may feature in a later post. The main vibe was downtempo, with a focus on voice, so I had no problem including songs in foreign languages. One of these was the version of Caetano Veloso's 'Cucurrucucu Paloma' that Pedro Almadovar used in Hable Con Ella. Sadly this version isn't on Spotify and I've never heard a version even close to that recording. You can find it on YouTube though, provided no one has it taken down...
I was tempted to add new tracks to this compilation. There are many songs I have stumbled across over the years since that would definitely fit the mood of this playlist, and make it a better length. However, on balance I decided adding tracks spoiled my memory of the way this compilation 'should' sound. Play a homemade CD in your car a few hundred times and the track order becomes fairly set in your mind. Even not having Caetano Veloso feels odd, never mind the thought of introducing new material.
Hopefully I can put together enough of these later tracks to create a second caféballad playlist. This will have to be a playlist for an imaginary café though, as Yam Parlour sadly no longer exists. Chris and Lyn have gone on to greater projects (see Growing Links), but Yam Parlour still features firmly in my memories of Penzance.
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