"Long Guitar songs"
All right, folks. The time is here to find out what you space to. I realized after putting this out the other day that there are so, so many songs in my head. With an arbitrary length of 8 minutes (which I will violate because I can ;-p ), I have narrowed the options. I will list 10 songs in no particular order and would love to hear your ideas and feedback. These are mostly studio cuts, so I have eliminated many live Dead recordings. I don't find the Grateful Dead to be particularly guitar driven anyway, although Jerry's playing on some tracks demonstrates virtuosity commensurate with some of the instrument's masters on this list. I also plead guilty to not having knowledge enough of Stevie Ray Vaughan's discography to have one of his recordings here. I know that I love to listen to him. I also tried not to have multiple selections from the same artist, so as to broaden the list. Otherwise, there could be 10 Pink Floyd songs!
*Ride Across The Water - Dire Straits (alright, so it is only 7 minutes. But I love Mark Knopfler's style)
*Onda - Los Lonely Boys (gosh, these guys can kick it!)
*Maggot Brain - Funkadelic (George Clinton) - many lost times here....
*Dog - Pink Floyd (from Animals, when they were still raw. I didn't care for The Wall)
*In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - The Allman Brothers Band. some of the most beautiful interplay between Duane Allman and Dickie Betts ever
*Like A Hurricane - Neil Young (the other side of Neil Young
*Layla - Derek & The Dominos. Hello? Eric Clapton?
*Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin. The easiest Zeppelin choice, not necessarily the best song
*Three Days - Jane's Addiction. I only heard this 2 weeks ago and realize I have wasted more than 10 years....who knew?
*One Word - Mahavishu Orchestra yeah, I know. But the list is about diversity, too.
Also, this isn't necessarily a "true" song, but jenn has a Tool mashup linked to here that is pretty cool, too.
Ok, so if you follow up and listen to all these, you will have wasted about 5 hours this weekend. Tell me thanks later, and let me know what you thought of. BTW, Bruce, now would be a good time to post this comment!. Or you guys could just follow the link to see his excellent contribution.
*Ride Across The Water - Dire Straits (alright, so it is only 7 minutes. But I love Mark Knopfler's style)
*Onda - Los Lonely Boys (gosh, these guys can kick it!)
*Maggot Brain - Funkadelic (George Clinton) - many lost times here....
*Dog - Pink Floyd (from Animals, when they were still raw. I didn't care for The Wall)
*In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - The Allman Brothers Band. some of the most beautiful interplay between Duane Allman and Dickie Betts ever
*Like A Hurricane - Neil Young (the other side of Neil Young
*Layla - Derek & The Dominos. Hello? Eric Clapton?
*Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin. The easiest Zeppelin choice, not necessarily the best song
*Three Days - Jane's Addiction. I only heard this 2 weeks ago and realize I have wasted more than 10 years....who knew?
*One Word - Mahavishu Orchestra yeah, I know. But the list is about diversity, too.
Also, this isn't necessarily a "true" song, but jenn has a Tool mashup linked to here that is pretty cool, too.
Ok, so if you follow up and listen to all these, you will have wasted about 5 hours this weekend. Tell me thanks later, and let me know what you thought of. BTW, Bruce, now would be a good time to post this comment!. Or you guys could just follow the link to see his excellent contribution.
posted by Kurt at 9:08 AM
20 Comments:
I'll only list five. Thought about Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Led Zepplin like Kurt, but no particular song came to mind so I didn't choose one. Same goes for Pat Metheny. Even considered listing Peter Frampton's pop hit with "voice guitar". You can tell from my list that Kurt and I have influenced each other through the years. But unlike his list, mine tends towards much more mellow tunes. So, without a lot more words, here's my #1:
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - Allman Bros from Live at the Fillmore
Others on the list, in no particular order:
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash, studio version rather than Woodstock version
Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
Just in Time to See the Sun/Song of the Wind - Santana from the album Caravanserai
China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider - Dead from March 28, 1973 concert at the Springfield Civic Center. This is an INCREDIBLE Dead show blending jazz and bluegrass influences while the band was at their peak. Downloads and streaming audio available at archives.org Listen to Eyes of the World from this show, too. The interplay between Jerry, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh is amazing. And the Dark Star in the 1973 shows was more jazz fusion than space rock.
Final song on the list isn't a guitar lead, but violin -- hey, it's a string instrument! -- but had to include it because Linda LaFlamme plays lead with it like a guitar lead on this cut.
White Bird -- It's a Beautiful Day from the self-titled album of the same name.
You make me proud. The other day when you posted this, I was thinking 'he'd better have Pink Floyd and Zeppelin on that list.
Could use some Metallica in there. Though, you are much forgiven with the Jane's Addiction. Have you read the story behind Three Days? It makes the song THAT much more intriguing.
I just bought an Eric Clapton's From The Cradle when I was in LA. Oh, and Los Lonely Boys are great.
I can't think of anything right now 'cause I'm listening to Chris Cornell and you know how it is trying to think of other songs when you're listening to others.
Oooh, It's not long, but the guitar playing on Mind's Eye by Wolfmother is awesome!
myspace.com/wolfmother
Oh, that last one is good because it's the new stuff and it's good. It's hard to find good new stuff. We all know that.
Oooh, Santana! That man is a legend.
Okay, I'm done. Don't blog about music or I'll spam you.
wake - OH YEAH! Phase Dance by Pat Metheny with Lyle Mays!!! DURH! and Frampton yep, missed that one too... Good Vibe, Godd Vibe haha
jenn - my day is complete if you are proud....kudos from the master, afterall
Kudos indeed.
Hahah! Master! Bow down.
OH! And thanks for the linkage. For anyone that listens to that mashup, you need to read the theory behind it. It's the last post on my blog. Some really intriguing stuff. And the album just shreds all that is. Speaking of long guitar work, that album is all about it. The whole CD is like one long track.
OK...it's Friday, right? My choices are "Stranglehold" by Uncle Ted Nugent, and Stevie Ray's version of "Voo Doo Chile(Slight Return)". I'm a major league SRV fan, so that last one is for you, Kurt.
Oh, one more...
from the first Operation: Mindcrime, "Suite Sister Mary" by Queensryche.
Donna, I'll hog what ever I WANT to hog. And I AM the master. Bow down.
Well, here's the thing, maybe not the master at the board because it is after all a MUSIC board, but here in blogland, bring it! Biznatch. (Quit making me cuss on Kurts blog.)
I am the master of all things imperative to... well, just all things imperative. Shut it, Donna and just go with the flow.
Dude, just bow down already. I'll even take a courtesy.
In my mind is all that matters, baby!
ok wake, while the ladies argue you have proved to be a Deadhead to the core....only Deadheads will be able to point to a particular live recording of a particular song! Others don't get it, but for us Deadheads, we understand totally what living in the now is, and realize there is never going to be THIS TIME again.
So while NIN and The Panic Channel have mastered their set lists and performances of them for the current tour, delivering exactly what you can buy on a CD, jam bands are out there looking to see what influence today's events have on the music. Hmmm. Reminds one of the movie Groundhog Day, no?
Funny, now that I'm a sober responsible adult homebody I've turned into a Deadhead? In the day when I actually went to see them in concert (only twice by the way) I never would have been called a Deadhead. Usually the term used by others was freak.
Donna, don't feed the troll! Kurt = troll.
Wait, let's feed the troll. Kurt, Kurt, Kurt. Oh what a can of worms you've opened up. Purposely so, I'm sure.
Now, now. I just flew to LA to see TPC play live. Master their setlist? Excuse me, but they haven't even released their album yet. Let's not forget to mention that Chaney and Dave are also members of Camp Freddy, the one and only jam session type of group. Just to throw that in there.
TPC has four amazing artists as individuals. I don't care who you are, you must give them even their individual credit as a group. For one, three of the memebers were members of Jane's Addiction. The lead singer, Steve Isaacs is only now showing us music lovers his talents. He doesn't only sing, he plays.
NIN, well they're NIN. They are masters. Therefore there is no 'mastering' needed.
Do you know the music of either of the bands or their history?
And hey, if they tried doing what was done in your 'Deadhead' days, they would be deemed not good enough. Because well, let's face it. Times have changed and are forever changing. So something then, is not now. And some people just have a hard time excepting that! Now, fastfoward to 2006 and we talk TPC or NIN.
Oh yeah, how easily I stray off topic. Anyhow, whether or not they 'master' their setlist is neither here nor there. If they can play live, they can play live. 'Nuff said.
I'm not gonna talk bad about any bands but I am gonna stick my nose in this dogfight.
"Jam" vs. "set list" has been a music fans debate for ages. And it crossed lots of styles of music. Consider one of the major differences between C&W and Bluegrass: improvisation. And that's what we're talking about here. Never having seen the bands Jenn mentions live, I have no clue whether they are skilled at improvisation, or are only masterful musicians playing a predetermined score.
This distinction between the skills and abilities needed to improvise, and the skills and abilities that make one a masterful player of a musical instrument really, really, really come into play in worship in American churches. I've seen classically trained, incredibly gifted pianists who could just blow you away with their mastery of the piano who were totally incapable of making the needed shifts, on the fly, that make for lively, interactive worship experiences.
So, to me, what makes a truly gifted and great guitarist is one who not only has mastered the skill of playing the instrument, but who also has incredible performance skills, demonstrating an ability to play off both other musicians and the audience in a way that enlarges the technical skill being demonstrated.
If I hear Jenn right, she's saying Chaney and Dave exhibit that when you see them in concert. Even if it is, as Kurt says, simply mastering the set list. Ok, Jenn, I defended you. Now you have to explain to me how these guys show both mastery of the instrument AND improvisational skills. Doesn't seem to fit if basically their set lists are live "repeats" of their studio performances.
Or, to put it another way: one of my friends wonders why so many baby boomers spend money to go see old, broken down rockers badly perform their ancient hits. Why not just dig out the CD of the original recording and groove to it? Or go hear a new band that can still actually play?
donna, i have some Phish and gotta say i didn't quite get them. nice tunes, i can listen, but they seem kinda similar to me. i know, the same can be said about the Dead...
i encourage everyone to go see live music. there is an energy there that is impossible to "record."
glad i got your attention with the comments and the bands i picked. i mean, i coulda said the same things about Fall Out Boy and Good Charlotte, but then my daughter would be mad (as if she reads my blog!)...
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