It’s highschool, the early 90’s and we have some free time during our music/choir class. My best friend an I would bust out our guitars and jam to whatever we felt like. Some songs were just made up others were the pop songs of the time. I remember playing “Tears in Heaven” quite a bit and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” for my friends. Brings back good memories of my Jr and Sr year in HS. But there was one song that was our the top request, especially the girls. If you played guitar in the early 90’s ,this was a must. Can you guess it?! It’s an essential part of the GenX guitarist repertoire.

As I wrote in the video description, if I had a dollar for everytime…. HA! But not complaining at all. It was a blast and fond memories of my early guitar and musical endeavours.

Question: What GenX classics do you remember that were staples back in the day and what are the “More than Words” songs of today that all guitarists need to know?

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.

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.

Dave Carter
August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2002

Learn More About The Music of Dave Carter:

http://www.daveandtracy.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Carter

http://www.tracygrammer.com/

http://members.aol.com/rongrittz/daveandtracy.htm

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.

Links: www.pandora.com

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.

Links of Interest:

Cockburn Project

Rounder Records

1. “Johnny B. Goode”  – This I can agree with.  As soon as you hear that intro guitar solo, you know what song it is.  The guitar makes the song, not the lyrics or singing.  You could argue that this was the first “guitar song.”
2. “Purple Haze”  –  Classic Jimmy Hendrix,  I can’t argue with this.
3. “Crossroads” –  No familiar with the song as much as others so I won’t “yay” or “nay” this.  But it’s Eric Clapton so I’m thinking that it’s probably a pretty good choice.
4. “You Really Got Me”  –  I can see why they chose this because it has great groove that is instantly recognizable.  I prefer the Van Halen version instead of the Kinks, however.
5. “Brown Sugar” – Like “You Really Got Me” I can see the choice but I wouldn’t consider it a top 5 guitar song of all time.
6. “Eruption”  – I had to include this because this is the song by the man that inspired me to learn the guitar.  Eddie Van Halen transcended guitar throughout the 80’s and “Eruption” was his calling card.  Easily, should be 3 or 4 on this list, at least.

I won’t go through the complete list but many songs seemed to be chosen because of popularity instead of how it influenced guitar.  I agree with some choices but cannot believe some of the choices on the list.  Most notably, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which was rated at #10.

What!!!!!

OK, I get it.  This song spoke to a lot of people and many loved/loves the mysteriousness of Kurt Cobain but a top 10 guitar song of all time?  I don’t think so.   Nirvana has it’s place in music history but this isn’t the list.

Anyway…..

I’ve seen this before.  From sports, movies to music there will always be controversy/disagreements in these types of lists.   Who knows?  Maybe Rolling Stone did this to create a buzz on the article.  If so, then it worked.  I have a piece of advice for Rolling Stone, create a “Top 100 Guitarists of All Time” list and put that eight year old kid who got a perfect on Dragon Force in expert mode on Guitar Hero at #10.  That should generate some buzz.

Links:
Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Guitar Songs” list

Other Songs That Won’t Make the List But Could Be:
Tommy Emmanuel (Angelina, Dixie McGuire)
Tommy Emmanuel Arrangements

Once again, thank you for visiting my site. 

Larry McDowell

(5.28.08: survey is closed.  Thanks to all for your responses)

Tommy will be on the top rated National morning radio program BOB AND TOM at
somewhere around 8:30 am EDT on May 20th – from Indianapolis, Indiana.
It is LIVE in 150 cities.
Some cities delay it (Pacific & Mountain time) so they can air as
their morning drive show.
Here is their affiliate list:
http://www.bobandtom.com/gen3/affiliates.htm
Also, here is a pass to their VIP website so you can listen to the show on your computer if Bob and Tom is not broadcast in your city.
Just go to www. bobandtom.com .. and select VIP top right tab.
USER NAME: airheads05
PASSWORD: airheads05
This is a great opportunity to expose Tommy and his music to America. Please pass this information on to others, and if you can…Listen in!
Regards,
Linda

So set your  calendars and alarms so you can wake up in time for a listen.

Enjoy!

Highlights:

• The mix: I know I said this in the last post but it’s so good and really makes the CD’s an experience to listen to.
• Working Man’s Blues:  Good old fashioned blues with Littell on the harmonica.  They played off each other well and had a nice little jam going at one point.  I’m not a huge fan of the harmonica but this was truly impressive.
• Morning Aire:  Beautiful song.  I don’t know if there is more I can say.
• Initiation:  Tommy Does a long version of this where he’s really working the delay but in the end there’s a point where you could tell he just releases and lets the music take over.  “Primal Guitar” as Michael Hedges used to say.
• Questions:  Last track on the CD and all I would write down in my notes was, “Wow!”

Any “lowlights?”  For me, I would say too much harmonica.   The first four tracks felt like they were Tommy featuring Littell.   There was great guitar in those tracks but the harmonica seemed to butt in like a third wheel at times.  My thoughts were, “I bought this CD for Tommy Emmanuel, not the harmonica.”  As I said before, I’m not the biggest fan of the instrument.  Great playing and I have a great respect for Littell’s playing but it was too much for me.

Final Thought:

Once again, if you don’t have it get it!  If you are still wondering and waiting, get it anyway.  You won’t be disappointed.  Can’t wait for the DVD!

Highlights:

• The Mix:  Every song on CD1 was engineered to perfection.  From Tommy’s playing to the just the right mix of crow noise makes you feel like your there at times.
• Nine Pound Hammer:  Great improv solo much like Guitar Boogie.  At one point, Tommy is playing guitar with one hand a moving baseline on the other.   Oh yeah, he’s singing on top of all that.
• And So it Goes:  Beautiful arrangement of a timeless Billy Joel song.  This performance just might bring a tear to ones eye.
• I Go to Rio:  Just love that he plays this.  It’s partially because I performed this in Jr. High choir and he does an awesome job with it.
• Beatles Medley:  Not the best one that I’ve heard but it’s still worth mentioning.  He does like to mix it up so this version had “Here Comes the Sun”, “When I’m Sixty Four”, “Day Tripper” and “Lady Madonna.”

No “lowlights” that I could find.  Some of the Tommy detractors might not enjoy some of the rhythmic montages that Tommy has been known to get into.  I believe he goes into a three or so minute rhythmic trance during Mombasa.  If you don’t already have it, get it.  If you’re still wondering and waiting, my thoughts on CD2 will posted soon.

I did find is the Musicology Show from Pandora. which is a true instructional show that digs inside the nuances of music it’s styles.  One show will teach you about metric modulation (aka time signature changes) and the next week you will learn about aspects of composition or what a madrigal is.  For some it will be a refresher course and for others, it will expose you to different aspects of music that would otherwise stay unknown to you. 

Give the Musicology Show a listen and tell me what you think.  Are there any good guitar/music instructional podcasts you would recommend?

http://blog.pandora.com/podcast/

Technology taketh away and technology giveth back!  Did a quick search on YouTube and found the performance that I once had.  Not to big of a find since YouTube has tons of videos available at anytime but I didn’t want to visit YouTube everytime I need to look at the video.  I want to be able to watch it on my iTouch any time I felt like it.  Thankfully, many have addressed this need  with programs and services that assist me in getting YouTube videos on my iTouch.  It’s called “YouTube to iPod Converter” from dvdvideosoft.com.  It’s a simple little program where you enter the URL of the video, specify where you want the .mp4 video to save and click on the “convert” button and you are set.  I now have my Tommy video back and can reference it any time I like. 

This is yet another great resource for musicians who need to reference music on they fly when they are practicing.  This video conversion method isn’t relagated to just iPods.  You can do conversions for your PSP, Zune, Windows Media or any other kind of media player. 

If only this software could transcribe the song for me and then I would be set.  : )

Links of Interest:

YouTube to iPod Converter

Another YouTube Converter (Online)

Tommy’s YouTube Video