So tonight I got together with the great Stan Lassiter, my new guitar teacher. His method is steeped in Taoism, and it literally immediately changed my approach to guitar. I seriously walked out a different musician than I walked in. And the timing couldn't have been better.
I went down to Tootsies to see Mark Matejka play (same guy from the ass-whipping I wrote about two weeks back). I said hello, and he asked me if I wanted to play. He did this right after doing "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" sans fiddle (he covered those part verbatim). So Headley said "Yeah... eh... sure...", and proceeded to go to the bar to get any alcohol I could get a hold off, to help me deal with DEF CON 5. It went relatively well, but it was another ass-whooping nonetheless.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Blues Songwriting 101
If you're new to blues music, or like it and never really understood the why and wherefores, here are some very fundamental rules:
1) Most Blues begin with: "woke up this morning..."
2) "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick with something nasty in the next line like "I got a good woman, but she's got the meanest face in town."
3) The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes - sort of "I got a good woman, she got the meanest face in town. Got a good woman, she got the meanest face in town. Got teeth like horse and she weighs 500 pound."
4) The blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch... well, you stuck in a ditch. Deal with it.
5) Blues cars: Cadillacs, Fords, Chevys and of course the beat up pick-up truck. Blues doesn't travel in Beamers, Volvos of Escalades. Most blues transportation however , is a southbound freight train or Greyhound bus. Jet planes and state-sponsored Prevosts are out of the question. Walkin' is also acceptable in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6) Teenagers can't sing the blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults can sing the blues. Adulthood means being qualified to get the chair after shooting men in Reno, just to watch 'm die.
7) Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or anywhere in Canada, let alone The Hague, The Netherlands. Hard times in Seattle or San Fransisco are probably nothing more than clinical depression. Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN , 'Nawlins, LA and Buttcrack, MS are the still the best places to get the blues. Also, you will not get the blues where it doesn't rain, ie; Phoenix, AZ.
8) Breaking your leg while skiing is not an acceptable form of obtaining the blues. Breaking a leg 'cause a gator be chompin' on it is.
9) You can't have no blues in a mall or an office. The lighting is wrong. Go outside and sit next to the BFI dumpster.
10) Good places for the blues:
-a jail house
-highway 61
-empty bed with a silvertrail you don't recall
-bottom af a whiskey glass
11) Bad places for the blues:
-Target
-Birkenstock store
-Art gallery
-Ivy League institutions
-Golf courses
12) No one will believe you have the blues if you wear a suit. Unless you're old. And you slept in the suit.
13) Do you have the right to sing the blues?
YES:
-you're blind
-you shot a man in Reno
-you can't be satisfied
NO:
-if you have all your teeth
-you once were blind, but now you can see.
-the guy in Reno lived
-You have 401K
14) Blues is not about color. It's a matter of bad luck. OJ can't sing the blues. Sonny Liston could have.
15) If you ask for whiskey and your woman gives you gasoline, it's the blues. Other acceptable blues beverages are:
-cheap wine
-rot gut whiskey
-corn liquor
-muddy water
-black coffee
The following are not blues beverages:
-Perrier
-Chardonnay
-Slim Fast
-Scotch
-Starbucks chai latté with vanilla shots, chilled
16) If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's the blues. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another bluesy way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a piece-of-shit cot. You cannot have a blues death during a tennis match or liposuction.
17) Blues names for women:
-Sadie
-Big Mama
-Bessie
-Fat River Dumplin
18) Blues names for men:
-Joe
-Willie
-Big Willie
-Little Willie
19) People with names like Amber, Michelle, Heather, Patrick, Matthew or Pepé can't sing the blues. No matter how many men they shot in Reno.
20) Blues name starter kit:
a) name of physical infirmity (blind, criple, lame, etc)
b) first name (see above)
c) last name of a president (Jefferson, Fillmore, Johnson, Jackson
example: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Pegleg Lime Johnson, or Cripple Peach Fillmore.
1) Most Blues begin with: "woke up this morning..."
2) "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick with something nasty in the next line like "I got a good woman, but she's got the meanest face in town."
3) The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes - sort of "I got a good woman, she got the meanest face in town. Got a good woman, she got the meanest face in town. Got teeth like horse and she weighs 500 pound."
4) The blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch... well, you stuck in a ditch. Deal with it.
5) Blues cars: Cadillacs, Fords, Chevys and of course the beat up pick-up truck. Blues doesn't travel in Beamers, Volvos of Escalades. Most blues transportation however , is a southbound freight train or Greyhound bus. Jet planes and state-sponsored Prevosts are out of the question. Walkin' is also acceptable in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6) Teenagers can't sing the blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults can sing the blues. Adulthood means being qualified to get the chair after shooting men in Reno, just to watch 'm die.
7) Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or anywhere in Canada, let alone The Hague, The Netherlands. Hard times in Seattle or San Fransisco are probably nothing more than clinical depression. Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN , 'Nawlins, LA and Buttcrack, MS are the still the best places to get the blues. Also, you will not get the blues where it doesn't rain, ie; Phoenix, AZ.
8) Breaking your leg while skiing is not an acceptable form of obtaining the blues. Breaking a leg 'cause a gator be chompin' on it is.
9) You can't have no blues in a mall or an office. The lighting is wrong. Go outside and sit next to the BFI dumpster.
10) Good places for the blues:
-a jail house
-highway 61
-empty bed with a silvertrail you don't recall
-bottom af a whiskey glass
11) Bad places for the blues:
-Target
-Birkenstock store
-Art gallery
-Ivy League institutions
-Golf courses
12) No one will believe you have the blues if you wear a suit. Unless you're old. And you slept in the suit.
13) Do you have the right to sing the blues?
YES:
-you're blind
-you shot a man in Reno
-you can't be satisfied
NO:
-if you have all your teeth
-you once were blind, but now you can see.
-the guy in Reno lived
-You have 401K
14) Blues is not about color. It's a matter of bad luck. OJ can't sing the blues. Sonny Liston could have.
15) If you ask for whiskey and your woman gives you gasoline, it's the blues. Other acceptable blues beverages are:
-cheap wine
-rot gut whiskey
-corn liquor
-muddy water
-black coffee
The following are not blues beverages:
-Perrier
-Chardonnay
-Slim Fast
-Scotch
-Starbucks chai latté with vanilla shots, chilled
16) If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's the blues. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another bluesy way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a piece-of-shit cot. You cannot have a blues death during a tennis match or liposuction.
17) Blues names for women:
-Sadie
-Big Mama
-Bessie
-Fat River Dumplin
18) Blues names for men:
-Joe
-Willie
-Big Willie
-Little Willie
19) People with names like Amber, Michelle, Heather, Patrick, Matthew or Pepé can't sing the blues. No matter how many men they shot in Reno.
20) Blues name starter kit:
a) name of physical infirmity (blind, criple, lame, etc)
b) first name (see above)
c) last name of a president (Jefferson, Fillmore, Johnson, Jackson
example: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Pegleg Lime Johnson, or Cripple Peach Fillmore.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The Crossroads.
So the "Selling-Your-Soul-To-The-Devil-For-Dummies" Manual kinda puts it like this:
You show up right before midnight at the Crossroads (where Hwy 61 and Hwy 49 meet in Clarksdale, MS). Bring your git-fiddle. At midnight a clean-cut black man wearing a nice suit will show up. You hand him your guitar, which he'll tune and then he'll pick you a song. Then he'll hand you your guitar back, and walk away. Congratulations!!! From here on out you'll have hell-hounds on your trail!!! Happy Travels!!!
But from what I understand, as of lately, the Devil doesn't go there anymore. He just sends an associate down to the crossroads, with a written message:
"Dear Aspiring Guitar Slinger,
I got a bit tired of all these white boys that don't want to practice.
Best Wishes!
-The Devil
PS: Marilyn Manson freaks me out ."
You show up right before midnight at the Crossroads (where Hwy 61 and Hwy 49 meet in Clarksdale, MS). Bring your git-fiddle. At midnight a clean-cut black man wearing a nice suit will show up. You hand him your guitar, which he'll tune and then he'll pick you a song. Then he'll hand you your guitar back, and walk away. Congratulations!!! From here on out you'll have hell-hounds on your trail!!! Happy Travels!!!
But from what I understand, as of lately, the Devil doesn't go there anymore. He just sends an associate down to the crossroads, with a written message:
"Dear Aspiring Guitar Slinger,
I got a bit tired of all these white boys that don't want to practice.
Best Wishes!
-The Devil
PS: Marilyn Manson freaks me out ."
Guitar Tone
I've been talking with some people lately about guitar tone. My take on it is this:
"Tone is a guitarists awareness of his sound"
His "sound" is the musical manifestation of who he is, whether he's playing on Lower Broadway, eating a burger, taking a crap or gets his hair done. Gear therefore are tools that help him to a) get that sound out (thus preventing him from having to fart into a microphone) and b) manipulate that sound. This is why Eddie Van Halen will always sound like Eddie Van Halen, even if he's on SRV"s rig. Point in case, Ed Beaver and I crashed a private party in Clarksdale, MS (yes... we live on the edge) where a blues band fronted by Mississippi Slim was playing. His guitarists gear was a guitar, a cable and a transistor amp. He blew us away...
And now you also know why I think you will not sound like SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Brent Mason or Brad Paisley, even if you were to play their rigs. You are not your idol.
As for my personal tone, I was talking with Ed about how I really enjoyed playing Bettie, my Fender Strat. She has a really cool vibe, and it comes out through the way she looks, feels, plays and sounds.
As I wrote before, this guitar spent some time on a grill, and that burnt the guitar and melted the plastics, which I've obviously replaced. As far as the wood finish is concerned, I sanded it off, exposing the wood, so now the wood is not constrained by the sealing lacquer anymore: Bettie breathes. So she has the same sound whether I play through an amp or unplugged. I dig that.
So what I'm looking for in my basic live tone, and Ed verbalized this, is that I want my electric guitars to sound like acoustic guitars, just louder and with more gain (but with not much or no distortion). The effects I buy I judge mainly on their transparency. If they mess with the sound from a guitar, I don't like them. The same for my amps. Both amps and effects can have their flavor, but the guitar itself needs to come through.
"Tone is a guitarists awareness of his sound"
His "sound" is the musical manifestation of who he is, whether he's playing on Lower Broadway, eating a burger, taking a crap or gets his hair done. Gear therefore are tools that help him to a) get that sound out (thus preventing him from having to fart into a microphone) and b) manipulate that sound. This is why Eddie Van Halen will always sound like Eddie Van Halen, even if he's on SRV"s rig. Point in case, Ed Beaver and I crashed a private party in Clarksdale, MS (yes... we live on the edge) where a blues band fronted by Mississippi Slim was playing. His guitarists gear was a guitar, a cable and a transistor amp. He blew us away...
And now you also know why I think you will not sound like SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Brent Mason or Brad Paisley, even if you were to play their rigs. You are not your idol.
As for my personal tone, I was talking with Ed about how I really enjoyed playing Bettie, my Fender Strat. She has a really cool vibe, and it comes out through the way she looks, feels, plays and sounds.
As I wrote before, this guitar spent some time on a grill, and that burnt the guitar and melted the plastics, which I've obviously replaced. As far as the wood finish is concerned, I sanded it off, exposing the wood, so now the wood is not constrained by the sealing lacquer anymore: Bettie breathes. So she has the same sound whether I play through an amp or unplugged. I dig that.
So what I'm looking for in my basic live tone, and Ed verbalized this, is that I want my electric guitars to sound like acoustic guitars, just louder and with more gain (but with not much or no distortion). The effects I buy I judge mainly on their transparency. If they mess with the sound from a guitar, I don't like them. The same for my amps. Both amps and effects can have their flavor, but the guitar itself needs to come through.
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