1 Topic by Peatle Jville (edited by Peatle Jville 2019-07-06 08:29:45)

  • Registered: 2015-07-31
  • Posts: 2,718

Topic: Max And Sin

I will attach a song I put together about Max Dorset who lived for many years just north of  the suburb where Easybeat and I live. Max.Dorset. achieved some notoriety in 1956 when he shot dead his wife’s lover George Grandison as Grandison and Mrs Dorset were leaving his house together. The shooting took place on the road outside the house known as Nott House.Witnesses described him running to their car and firing three shots through the window. The car crashed into a telegraph pole and Grandison died soon after.
Max  was portrayed as a man pushed to breaking point by the end of his relationship.
He went to great lengths to get her back - he went looking for her in Australia where she had gone with Mr Grandison before the shooting. He was wandering the streets of Sydney and Melbourne looking for her. Max wife turned up at his home with her lover on their return from Australia resulting in Max shooting her lover.
In the end, the jurors' sympathy won out. It took them half an hour to find Max guilty - of manslaughter.
Justice Gresson seemed equally moved by Max Dorset. He sentenced him to just one year in prison..Later in his life Max attracted the reputation as an eccentric, sitting naked on his porch in full view of passing trains. He died early in 2011, and his house has since been sold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJuReofhfzk

  • From: Wellington New Zealand
  • Registered: 2010-03-24
  • Posts: 1,343

Re: Max And Sin

great to see a new post from ya     

The King Of Audio Torture

3 Reply by Peatle Jville (edited by Peatle Jville 2019-07-07 00:54:46)

  • Registered: 2015-07-31
  • Posts: 2,718

Re: Max And Sin

Cheers EB  I don't drop by chordie as much as I should but I try and look in at least once a week. I find it hard to think of constructive things to write on here but enjoying reading others comments and stuff people post..

4 Reply by Grah1 (edited by Grah1 2019-07-08 07:08:32)

  • Grah1
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  • From: Cold and rainy Settle UK
  • Registered: 2011-05-12
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Re: Max And Sin

I love a song that tells a story ,I can see this  passed from musician to musician changing slightly each time some one sings it ,Good take on the idea of a blues ballad Peatle

Grah1's Website

  • Registered: 2015-07-31
  • Posts: 2,718

Re: Max And Sin

Thank you Grah  for taking the time to check out and comment on my attempt at putting together a blues ballad about Max. It all came about when Easybeat put a photo of Max's house up on soundcloud to accompany his song "Same Street." Over the years I had heard and read about Max from differant people and a couple of Newspaper articles. I never met Max but have spoken to people who described him as a harmless eccentric character. Apart from his anger outburst with a gun which resulted in the death of his wife lover he was apparently a quiet gentle guy. I found that  intriguing and thought what can make someone like that tip over the edge and make a bad move in a moment of heated anger. I had the radio on and I heard an old Blues guy singing about the Devil made me do it and that is when the idea of "Max And Sin" came to me . It is meant as a blues ballad not some sort of religious message as someone who contacted me today thought. I just thought that there were many factors in the shooting of Max's wife lover that couldn't be put into a short song without using some simple words like temptation and sin. Every day Max would take the train into the city to go for a swim. My mother who is now 98 use to go swimming on many a morning up until she was 80 meet him on a few occasions. She was suprised that this nice old guy was once in prison for manslaughter.     

  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: Max And Sin

That's quite an account of Mr. Dorset, and how the pain of betrayal got the best of him. The video you put together really helps with the storyline.

His former residence looks abandoned and run down. Locally, whenever a murder happens in a particular house (not often, thankfully) the Real Estate value of the place dips significantly. It seems as if the aura of the event clings to the property, and many prospective buyers won't even consider a place where something like this happened.

Is it the same in your area?

  • From: West Georgia
  • Registered: 2006-10-14
  • Posts: 2,557

Re: Max And Sin

Pete, my friend! I left you a note on your YT channel, but I'll say right here, you own this tune - and not just because you wrote and performed it, but because you put so much of yourself into it.  Did you do this on your phone?

STRONG work, my friend!

Bill     

Epiphone Les Paul Studio
Fender GDO300 Orchestral - a gift from Amy & Jim
Rogue Beatle Bass
Journal: www.wheretobud.blogspot. com

8 Reply by Peatle Jville (edited by Peatle Jville 2019-07-10 00:55:03)

  • Registered: 2015-07-31
  • Posts: 2,718

Re: Max And Sin

Cheers TF and thank you for checking out my video. Max Dorset house came with 22 acres of land and got a good price after he died.  His house was built in the 1860’s. The house has not been worked on since then as far as I know and and is now more run down then  what it was when Max died. . December 2013, Max’s old House was allocated $30,000 from Wellington City Council’s Built Heritage Incentive Fund for restoration work. The funding was declined by the owner. The new owner proposed to subdivide the land around the house  and an adjacent block of land into six lots. 
Back in early 1920’s there was  a couple Daniel and Martha Cooper, who lived on a small farm and were well respected in our local community of Johnsonville  and a church which they attended regularly. They came to the attention of the police.  A search of their property by police turned up three tiny corpses. The couple were charged with the murders, two relating to children fathered by Cooper himself with the couple’s housemaid. The trial caused huge public interest with people queuing for hours before it began to get a good seat. Daniel Cooper was found guilty of the murders and hanged  on June 16, 1923. Martha Cooper pleaded that she had only taken part in the atrocities because her husband had forced her to, although it was reportedly her, who had been the one who starved the wee babies to death.She was acquitted of the charges and left the country soon after. Their property became known as the Newlands  baby farm. Their house was demolished in 1973, and despite speculation that more bodies would be discovered, none were. The property after a few years sitting as a vacant section sold for a good price.  I don’t know what has happened to other properties and their values after a murder here in NZ. 

Bill thank you. It was just recorded on my cheap cellphone. I was thinking about John Lee Hooker when I was putting the song together