NEW FREDDY KING TRANSCRIPTION NOW AVAILABLE, "NICKEL-PLATED"

I just finished a new transcription-- one of Freddie King's great blues instrumentals. Excerpt at right, the whole thing is six pages. See the catalog for ordering info--

straubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/2010/01/catalog-of-available-transcriptions.html

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EVAN JOHNS, "MADHOUSE"

This vintage clip of Evan provided "another piece of the puzzle" for me, to use Jim Stephanson's phrase. Years ago, around the time of this video, I used to go watch Evan play. An Evan show at the old 9:30 club in D.C. was a real experience-- dark atmosphere, plus a whole lot of trash and twang for a couple hours.

Evan used to do a lot of this kind of playing, especially in the key of E, where he'd get a raunchy howling effect by holding notes. At the time, I had no idea how he did this-- but it crawled into my DNA somehow. Now I can see that he focuses this kind of solo around certain bends that can give you an intensity in your playing. I believe this is what Robbie Robertson referred to as "that stinger thing" he got from Roy Buchanan. (Whether Evan was influenced by Roy, I don't know for sure, but it certainly seems likely. These three players, Evan, Roy, and Robbie, are all related to my ear because they rely more on intensity of expression than flash.) Sometimes Evan attacks a note with an extreme right-hand pick-dragging technique-- this technique enables him to get a similar "stinger" effect without bending.

It's hard to see a lot of either hand in this clip, unfortunately, but look for Evan
using positions where he can bend 4 to 5, and b7 to tonic. The G string gets a lot of bending, and E positions both low and high are used. This jumping between low E open position and the high one 12 frets up is a crude but effective gimmick. Easy to do, it perfectly illustrates the different emotional and coloristic effects of the two registers. Low, you can get snarling and guttural-- up high it's more of a screaming effect. When Evan uses the pick-drag technique without bending, it's often the b7 or b3 blue note, with a little vibrato.
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ROBBIE ROBERTSON WITH BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND, "LAY, LADY, LAY"

www.wolfgangsvault.com/

From the fabulous live music site Wolfgang's Vault, here are three different versions of this arrangement. Each one has lots of Robertson fills, plus a solo. I believe the first is the released version from 1974's "Before the Flood," but Robertson fans will find a few new ideas on the other versions here. Robertson gets a lot of mileage out of the high G position, but even though it's basically all pentatonic he never sounds stale, and he doesn't really sound like anyone else. (Aficionados will hear a little Roy Buchanan in Robbie's pinched harmonics, but the phrasing is his own.)
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WAYLON, TELE, AND PHASE SHIFTER, "CAN'T YOU SEE"

Here's some phase shifter, for Marty Lynds and anyone else who digs it. Nice Ralph Mooney solos, and nice chunky gloopy Waylon breaks too. It was country guitar in the 1970s, when twangy met gloopy--
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JEFF BECK, "CAUSE WE'VE ENDED AS LOVERS"

This Stevie Wonder tune is the vehicle for some of Beck's best ballad playing. I'll admit there are aspects of this performance that I don't love-- while Beck has always used crazy excess as an element of his playing, arguably there's more of that here than necessary. I'd also make the generalization that the crazy excess was used in shorter bursts in his earlier work, and with more humor. But regardless of whether you agree with me on that, a few things remain clear about Beck's playing, from any period. He consistently demonstrates a large number of virtuoso techniques, enabling him to mix unusual sounds with unusual phrasing and articulation.

In his more contemplative moments, some of his idiosyncracies lead to very beautiful and expressive playing. There are some of those here if you listen for them.

It's also important to note that Beck's basic approach here is taken from Roy Buchanan-- the use of volume knob to create a variety of "faded-in" attacks was the main ingredient in Buchanan's soulful sound, and Beck incorporated this approach into his own sound after hearing Roy. Beck often plays a Strat, and heavy whammy-bar use colors his tone much of the time. Here you can see him working to get some of the same effects without the bar. It's interesting to hear the different tone he gets on a Tele.
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KEITH RICHARDS BRAINS FAN WITH TELE, (BLACK PICKGUARD)

Classic moment.
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