I was listening to my iTouch, in shuffle mode, today and came across an old friend. It was Eric Johnson’s “Ah Via Musicom.” That’s what I love about having all these songs on my iTouch. It’s the ability to mix it up and stumble on songs that I haven’t listened to for quite a while. Anyway, time sure does fly and I find it hard to believe that this CD was released almost 18 years ago. A must have then and a must have now.
Highlights:
Cliffs of Dover: The best song on the CD and probably the most recognizable. Fast runs, great phrasing and that incredible violin like tone sets the stage for a terrific listening experience. When I was in High School, I learned how to play the into to this and it wasn’t too bad. If you asked me to play it now, I am afraid how much damage I would do to myself and to your ears.
High Landrons: A great guitar song where Eric throws lick after lick and there never seems to be a place to rest until the end.
Trademark: A smooth, easy listening song where Eric doesn’t show too much flash but the phrasing and tone is incredible. The song features great bass lines provided by Kyle Brock and I find myself listening to him instead of EJ.
Song For George: His only acoustic song and once again, not too flashy but great phrasing and use of the occasional harmonics. I have a bit of a soft spot for this song because it was the song that I played on my first solo performance in a High School talent show.
About 18 years ago, my brother handed me a tape of “Ah Via Musicom” and he told me that I had to listen to it, a must listen. Now I’m doing the same to you. If you play guitar or a fan of great guitar, get it!
Haven’t had much time to play this past week because I decided to paint the room I practice in. I needed change. The nice thing about tooling around the house is that I turn on the iPod and jam on some tunes. I’ve had Colin Hay’s “Man at Work” CD on my mind a lot lately, so it’s my next in my “what’s in my CD collection” recommendation list.
If you are a fan of the 80’s, you are probably familiar with Colin Hay and his band Men at Work. With songs like “Overkill,” “Down Under” and “Who Could it be Now,” I remember watching them on MTV back in the day when MTV actually played music videos. The 80’s were over and Colin Hay seemed to have disappeared.
Maybe Not…
A couple of years ago, I was watching an episode of Scrubs and Hay played an acoustic version of “Overkill” and it was amazing and much better than the 80’s version. Which leads to the “Man at Work” release which such acoustic versions of some of the 80’s Men at Work classics like “Overkill” (my favorite) and “Down Under”. He also has some new stuff that is reflective and thought provoking like e “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” and “Beautiful World.” If you don’t have this, you won’t be sorry if you get it. These are also great to learn to play and sing along. I’m working on “Overkill” and “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” myself.
9.13.08: For those of you that are trying to figure out “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin,” the song is in standard tuning, played in G with the capo at the 4th fret. Most of the song is C-Maj – D-Maj to G-Maj.
In 2001, I stumbled upon a CD that changed my musical life. The CD was called “Drum, Hat, Buddha” by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. My first experience was a 30 second clip, “Disappearing Man,” where the pure, piercing voice of Tracy Grammer captured my attention. I was instantly a fan and got the CD. Upon further listening, I began to take notice of the songwriting of Dave Carter and it truly moved me. His lyrics and honest voice will conjure images in your mind that are so vivid, it feels as if you are experiencing the story personally. I was excited with my new discovery and hoped for a day to experience their music live.
To my dismay, Dave Carter left this world six years ago today and only months after I was lucky enough to discover this treasure. I was disappointed and saddened that I would never see him live or hear any new music. Thankfully, Tracy and a strong community of Dave Carter fans have faithfully kept his music alive for all to hear. So today, like many Dave Carter fans, it is with a heavy heart that I will listen to all my Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer CD’s and celebrate the life of a true American treasure.
In past posts, you have read my recommendations on Pandora Radio offerings. I love listening to the diverse music online and the musicology podcast is the one of the best out there. There was something missing, however. I couldn’t listen to Pandora on the iPhone, until now.
I recently updated my iPhone to the new version 2.0 software and with that we got the new “App Store.” Pandora has written a sweet app that will let you listen to you’re selections on your phone. I know, I know! I have an iPhone with a ton of music on it, why would I need to stream music now? I like it because I hear new music that would otherwise be unknown. Pandora gets me to listen outside the box. Anyway, if you have the new 3G iPhone or upgraded the older one, give it a shot. You would be disappointed.
Note: I did this on the original iPhone so I didn’t need the high speeds of the 3G network to stream the music effectively.
I have decided to start a new “series” of sorts, here at Guitar Musings. Along with giving you my thoughts and recommendations on new CD’s that I have purchasedt, I will also grab some music from my collection and let you know what I think. Why should all recommendations come from new releases when there is so much music to explore that has been around for years?
My first selection is Bruce Cockburn’s “Speechless.” I chose Bruce because it was his playing that inspired me to study fingerstyle guitar with his signature alternating bass lines with that unwavering thumb and his melodies continue to make my draw drop. Speechless came out in 2005 and is a collection of his instrumentals throughout his almost 40 year career. I think every song on this release is wonderful but here are some of my favorites.
Rouler Sa Bosse: He has been performing this live quite a bit now. Took me over a year to get that sucker down.
Sunrise on the Mississippi: Great blues tune. A great example of how his thumb is independent from his entire body. Make you feel like you’re on the front porch down south with some of the old greats.
Deep Lake: Slow meditative song that reminds me of a trip I took to the English River in Canada.
Water Into Wine and Sunwheel Dance: Both of these songs are perfect examples of his mastery of fingerstyle guitar. There is so much happening in these songs, you sometimes wonder if there is someone playing with him.
Mistress of Storms: Another “thumb” song but he adds vibes to this for a more jazzy feel. If you can get a hold of him doing this live, get it! His improv is incredible.
