Guitar
Educating myself on Clapton-era Yardbirds today. Join me, won't you?
"Boom Boom" by the Yardbirds. A nice document of the band as a cohesive unit. Some of the live clips on YouTube are rather dire. The weak link, to me, is Keith Relf, the singer/harmonica player of the band. While his limitations as a singer are readily apparent in the live clips, his harmonica playing is somewhat better.
The British blues rock boom yielded, in my opinion, few truly great native English blues singers. Those few that come to mind for me are Van Morrison (though he's technically Irish) and Mick Jagger. And by blues I don't mean necessarily the blues form or the blues repertoire, but the mode of singing practiced by certain African-American musicians starting around 1900 that was derived from slave work songs, and Islamic prayer chanting before that, in the Muslim areas of West Africa that supplied the slave trade. We're talking about a significant degree of cultural difference from suburban England in the 1960s. As a blues singer, Relf is just passable, but as a more waiflike version of Brian Jones, he's got the look of English rock in the mid 60s.
The Yardbirds again, with "Louise" from 1963. Clapton is fleet with a variety of authentic blues licks, yet his performance is somewhat mannered - there is flash lick after flash lick, but little of his later restraint.
And the one that according to rumor served as the final straw to Clapton's dissatisfaction with the musical direction that the Yardbirds were taking. The main issue seems to have been that the tune was composed by pop hack Graham Gouldman, who also wrote for Herman's Hermits and the Hollies. The trendiest element of the record is the harpsichord, here represented by Jeff Beck's acoustic guitar with metal soundhole pickup. Other than that, it sounds structurally at least like blues-rock-pop of the London ilk, circa 1965. There's a good documentary clip here, featuring surviving Yardbirds Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty and Eric Clapton.
"All Your Love" from the Bluesbreakers' 1966 album, nicknamed "Beano". Clapton was featured in this band, and better represented than ever before. His cult in London had built up to this point, fed by his studied virtuosity and cool charisma. Clapton had by now traded his Tele and Vox AC30 for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul and Marshall combo.
- Roy Buchanon - High Quality Video Of A High Quality Guitarist
Roy Buchanon may just be the most respected blues guitar player that nobody ever listens to. His life and death are so swamped in controversy that it is easy to forget just how incredible a player he really was. This half hour segment showcases several...
- Orianthi... Just Because That's All.
She may not be vintage (she's only 24 years old) but I must say this gal from Australia is a legitimate Blues guitar monster - and not so bad looking either. Apparently Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana agree. Check her out on YouTube....
- Peavey Delta Blues Amp In Colubus, Oh For $295
It sounds like this amp has been compeletely checked over and updated (resoldered and checked all 65 solder joints?) even though the Delta Blues is known as a very solid and reliable pro amp to begin with. Nice swampy reverb and tremolo on these. DELTA...
- Earning My "badge"
Working today on some of Eric Clapton's music. I was only a casual Clapton fan up to about six months ago, when I bought the Complete Clapton set. I've been working out of the excellent transcriptions in the accompanying book Complete Clapton...
- Experience Hendrix Tour - Sony Centre, Toronto, Oct. 28, 2010 Part 2
Next out was former teenage blues phenom Jonny Lang, now 27. His was one of only two Teles seen that night - almost all of the guitars played were Strats. No one sported a Flying V, and in fact Gibsons were completely absent from the show; no wonder,...
Guitar
Clapton-era Yardbirds: the rough guide.
Educating myself on Clapton-era Yardbirds today. Join me, won't you?
"Boom Boom" by the Yardbirds. A nice document of the band as a cohesive unit. Some of the live clips on YouTube are rather dire. The weak link, to me, is Keith Relf, the singer/harmonica player of the band. While his limitations as a singer are readily apparent in the live clips, his harmonica playing is somewhat better.
The British blues rock boom yielded, in my opinion, few truly great native English blues singers. Those few that come to mind for me are Van Morrison (though he's technically Irish) and Mick Jagger. And by blues I don't mean necessarily the blues form or the blues repertoire, but the mode of singing practiced by certain African-American musicians starting around 1900 that was derived from slave work songs, and Islamic prayer chanting before that, in the Muslim areas of West Africa that supplied the slave trade. We're talking about a significant degree of cultural difference from suburban England in the 1960s. As a blues singer, Relf is just passable, but as a more waiflike version of Brian Jones, he's got the look of English rock in the mid 60s.
The Yardbirds again, with "Louise" from 1963. Clapton is fleet with a variety of authentic blues licks, yet his performance is somewhat mannered - there is flash lick after flash lick, but little of his later restraint.
"All Your Love" from the Bluesbreakers' 1966 album, nicknamed "Beano". Clapton was featured in this band, and better represented than ever before. His cult in London had built up to this point, fed by his studied virtuosity and cool charisma. Clapton had by now traded his Tele and Vox AC30 for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul and Marshall combo.
- Roy Buchanon - High Quality Video Of A High Quality Guitarist
Roy Buchanon may just be the most respected blues guitar player that nobody ever listens to. His life and death are so swamped in controversy that it is easy to forget just how incredible a player he really was. This half hour segment showcases several...
- Orianthi... Just Because That's All.
She may not be vintage (she's only 24 years old) but I must say this gal from Australia is a legitimate Blues guitar monster - and not so bad looking either. Apparently Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana agree. Check her out on YouTube....
- Peavey Delta Blues Amp In Colubus, Oh For $295
It sounds like this amp has been compeletely checked over and updated (resoldered and checked all 65 solder joints?) even though the Delta Blues is known as a very solid and reliable pro amp to begin with. Nice swampy reverb and tremolo on these. DELTA...
- Earning My "badge"
Working today on some of Eric Clapton's music. I was only a casual Clapton fan up to about six months ago, when I bought the Complete Clapton set. I've been working out of the excellent transcriptions in the accompanying book Complete Clapton...
- Experience Hendrix Tour - Sony Centre, Toronto, Oct. 28, 2010 Part 2
Next out was former teenage blues phenom Jonny Lang, now 27. His was one of only two Teles seen that night - almost all of the guitars played were Strats. No one sported a Flying V, and in fact Gibsons were completely absent from the show; no wonder,...