She Asked My Why the Singer's Name is Alice

Since my last post, I obviously got a bit sidetracked; instead of any of the names mentioned in the last post, I'm giving you "Is It My Body" by the Alice Cooper Band.  Before I talk about the song, I give you a picture of the original band.  This is before Alice became a born-again Christian, golf pro, republican.  As you can see this was early 70s rock n roll sleaze at its finest.   

The Alice Cooper Group, 1971

This original Alice Cooper Band recording featured Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce on guitar, both of whom are highly underrated and underappreciated guitarists.  As a composition, this is a near perfect rock song.  It features a very cool riff and the build into the chorus is ear candy.  Buxton's solo begins with that slow bend and resolve before moving up the neck for a few classic licks and an equally satisfying bend at the end.  It's a perfectly greasy addition to the song rather than a self-satisfying note fest - and that's why I LOVE it.

My performance isn't perfect of course.  Most obviously, I miss the bends a bit and I rush the first ascending run into the chorus.  The second was more an issue of a brain fart than anything.  Either way, it's ok.





I will post Synchronicity II and the BB King song soon.  The BB King song will likely be solo as the tuning on the recording I've used to learn the track is a little off...not uncommon in 1960s recordings.  But, when you play along with it, it makes for a bit of an unpleasant listening experience.  

Triple Attack! BB King, Jimmy Page, and Andy Summers

I'm back in LA after a relaxing spring vacation visiting family in Indiana.  I suppose Indiana doesn't seem like much of a vacation spot.  But I love my homeland.  I've been in LA for a little over a decade now.  But, quite frankly, it's an ugly and dirty place to live.  By contrast, Indiana is green and clean.  It may not have a reputation for a progressive-minded populace, but the people are genuine, which I can't say is always the case in Los Angeles.

Now that I'm back, I'm again focused on my guitar player improvement plan.  I've decided to work on multiple songs at once - mainly I have trouble maintaining focus on one thing without getting bored.  I need multiple things to work for.  So, I'm working on three different songs.

1.) BB King's "The Thrill is Gone" - I know this song now, but I really want to master the voicings HE uses more adeptly before I video post.  Otherwise, I'll have a tendency to slip into my own versions of his licks, which I'll probably do anyway.  But, I don't want that to be the result of not having worked toward mastery of his licks.

2.) Led Zeppelin "Good Times, Bad Times" - This isn't on my original list.  But, I started messing around with this song while I was in Indiana and decided to work it up.

3.) The Police "Sychronicity 2" - I love this song and it's challenging in a way that is very different from the two previous numbers.  It's a very different style of playing than I typically employ and I can't wait to get really into those chorus arpeggios.

Stay Tuned!

     

The Thrill is Gone

I am away from my guitars this week...visiting the folks in the Midwest.  So, I won't be posting any videos for a bit.  But, I'm in the midst of working on BB King's "The Thrill is Gone." 

The song was composed in 1951 by Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell and recorded by Hawkins in the same year.  It ultimately reached #6 on the Billboard R&B charts that same year.

BB King recorded the song in June,1969 for his album Completely Well.  Released as a single in December of 1969, the song went on to become the biggest hit of King's career when, in 1970, it reached #3 on the Billboard R&B charts and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop charts.  It also earned him a Grammy Award for Vocal Performance in 1970.

I will be working with a version of the song that appeared on the live album The Thrill is Gone: an Evening with BB King.  The exact version I'm working on is available on Amazon.  But here's version that's a little different for anyone not immediately familiar with the tune. 
 



I'm really focusing on those bends and that vibrato.  Both are areas of my playing that I want to improve.  Strong bends and signature vibrato are key to expressing the unique soul of a player.  They are fundamental to making the guitar cry...and BB does both with a signature fluidity.  My goal is to add a bit of that fluidity to my own playing.

Hopefully, I'll have a video up by mid-April, when I get back to the west coast.   

Nirvana "Come As You Are"



Kurt Cobain

I'll be honest, I didn't completely "get" Nirvana when they came out.  I was a junior in high school and while I was obsessed with Led Zeppelin and Monty Python - two things still worthy of obsession - I'd also had my head up the ass of hair metal for the last four years.  When "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit the airwaves, I couldn't deny the catchy spirit of the song...but I was resistant; and then Come As You Are came out.  That song really did it for me.  The dark riff and refrain "and I swear that I don't have a gun..." - I loved it.

I'm pretty sure that I learned that riff way back then...but never finished the song.  So, I decided to include it in this project and took it on yesterday.  It's not too hard and it took me about 20 minutes total to learn and play.  I almost don't feel like it's worth doing a video documentation of it as the constraints of my apartment lifestyle will make it hard to approximate the fuzzed out tone and it's just not necessarily that impressive of a song to watch played in such a context.

There are people who argue that Kurt isn't a great guitarist.  But, his influence is undeniable; and the great lesson of his playing is that less is more.  Moreover, his body of work is a great reminder of the real goal of playing an instrument - to create and play great songs.  Writing a great song will always be more important than wowing someone with speedy finger gymnastics.  Moreover, sometimes music simple in construction better allows the complexity at the emotive heart of the song to shine.  As a player, my goal is make the instrument capture a feeling - an emotion or a sense of time and place.  Kurt's playing captured the feeling of my generation's youth better than any other.

 

Step 2 "Gimme Shelter" The Rolling Stones

Here's my attempt at "Gimme Shelter." 


One thing that sucks is playing along as the song is being piped out of laptop speakers in an apartment.  It essentially makes it near impossible to get good tone AND a good mix.  But, you can hear the parts pretty well.  I'm still working on the rhythm during the verses.  There are a couple things going on...and it was hard to choose what to focus on.  There are little leads throughout and then there is the feel of the rhythm.  So, there's still room for improvement there.

Also, I made a couple little mistakes in the lead at the beginning...in part because I'm still fishing out exactly how it goes.  I have most of it...but a little section in the middle, I haven't quite grasped exactly what Keith plays.

Lastly, I tried to stay true to the solo and the fills.  But I couldn't help but go off a little bit on my own at the end.  This style is my favorite style to solo over and I just had to take a shot at a little fun.  I think it sounds pretty good at the end.

Anyway, I will continue to work on the parts mentioned above but I think I'm ready to move on to a new song too.  AND Wes Montgomery's "Four on Six" is an ongoing project.       

The Artistry of Keith Richards

Currently, I'm working on two pieces from my list of 50.  The first is the Wes Montgomery song "Four on Six."  Like me, Montgomery is a native of Indiana and he is a mean cat on the six string.  The tempo is breakneck and mastery to my satisfaction is going to take a bit.

In order to keep things moving - I'm working on "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones as well.  This is one of my favorite songs of all time...in part because of the lazy way Keith Richards plays those licks at the beginning.  His bends feel like a 3 am drive through LA - when the streets feel haunted and nothing good is gonna happen and something bad probably just did.

Recorded in Feb/Mar of 1969, the song's dark urgency is a perfect reflection of the violence and social unrest of those times...and its lyrics, a cry for shelter from that storm, remain sadly relevant.  And Merry Clayton...your a stone cold heart if her vocals don't induce a chill or two. 

Keith, 1969

I think the most difficult part in learning this song has been nailing the timing and feel of the intro chords and the verses.  The solo bends haven't been too difficult for me...my bluesy lead style lends itself pretty well to a decent replication of Keith's style.  In general, Keith is about feel more than technique and his sense of rhythm is really the thing that can be difficult to perfect.           

RELEVANT NOTES

I am using standard tuning, 11 gauge strings on a Fender Esquire to learn this.  Still working on the amp/pedal combination to best mimic the tone.  And I may switch to a Telecaster as the Esquire has a replacement humbucker which makes its tone a little too dirty for the song.  More specifics on this when I commit.  I should have it up later this week.

The Rolling Stones Performing Gimme Shelter, 1969

Step 1 - Learn to Play a Classical Piece of Music - J.S. Bach's "Bouree"

As a first assignment in my quest to become a better guitar player, I decided to learn this classical piece by  Bach.  Sadly, I don't know the full title - but it's from a Bouree.  While it's not a piece by a specific guitarist, it is a great workout on guitar.  So, behold - Step 1.  I feel like it could be played with a little more musicality than it is here.  I'm continuing to work on that aspect of this piece.  But I think this good enough to post and move on to Step 2 - learning one of my favorite songs of all time "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones.  Oh to add a little Keith Richards soul to the guitar lexicon from which I draw.

Until then here is Bach's Bouree