Merle Travis and Scotty Moore

I've been working on a style of guitar playing known as "Travis picking". Named after Merle Travis. It's a finger-picking style in the right hand that alternate's bass notes and keeps a 1, 2, 1, 2 kind of rhythm, while the fingers pluck out the melody. Piece of cake. I've been playing my whole adult life this shouldn't be a problem. Uh, right, think again junior. Here's how it goes.

So, Merle Travis was a early country and western singer, songwriter, guitarist. His influence ranges from The Everly Brothers to Leo Fender to Chet Atkins. Here's a sample of the "Travis picking" sound on his own song, "Sixteen Tons".

But, Scotty Moore passed earlier this year and that's what really got me recently interested again in this style. Scotty was the guitar player for Elvis during his early years. Scotty is the guitar of  "That's All Right", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Mystery Train", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", and many more. It's "Mystery Train" that's really gets me and I'm still working on it.

Here's what it looks like in guitar tablature:

I'm loving the adventure, and humbled by so many great players. Here's a Wiki link if you need Moore. The Rolling Stones' lead guitarist Keith Richards has said of Moore, "When I heard "Heartbreak Hotel", I knew what I wanted to do in life. It was as plain as day. All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty."

Scotty Moore wiki

Beatles final album

May 8th is the anniversary of the release of the LAST studio Beatles album. "Let It Be" released in 1970, almost a month AFTER they broke-up and was actually recorded before the "Abbey Road" road album, but released in reverse order. They only recorded as "The Beatles" for 7 years ?!

Also, on January 30, 1969, the "Let It Be" rooftop concert was the final public performance of the Beatles. The audio was recorded by engineer Alan Parsons (yes, THAT Alan Parsons!) and film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg brought in a camera crew to capture several angles of the performance—including reactions from people on the street. The performance was cut short by the police after complaints about noise. The concert came to an end with the conclusion of "Get Back", with John Lennon saying, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we've passed the audition."

The Beatles official website

Beatles Influences

The Beatles influenced a lot of groups after them, but who influenced the Beatles? Since they grew up in post-war Liverpool (a seaport), the sailors would bring vinyl from the USA. The Beatles were drawn to acts like Chuck Berry (Roll Over Beethoven), Carl Perkins (Honey Don't) and Little Richard (Long Tall Sally). Their vocal harmonies were very much influenced by American Motown groups like The Marvelettes (Please Mr. Postman).

For extra bonus fun, check out each of these songs by the original artist and writer (linked above) and then The Beatles version (linked below).

Roll Over Beethoven

Honey Don't




Long Tall Sally




Please Mr. Postman

The Beatles debut

I want to post a few items about The Beatles. I've been thinking about them lately and just need to share.

Their first album was released March 23, 1963 (in the UK). The oldest of The Beatles at this time was 23 years! Did you know they recorded their debut album in ONE DAY! Because they had so much experience performing live, they just went in the studio and laid it down. It's estimated they had played 1200 live shows before "Please Please Me" album. Lennon-McCartney writing team had many great songs on this album, but it still included several covers, including one written by Carol King (Chains), and another by Burt Bacharach (Baby It's You).

Initially, George Martin had only a morning and afternoon session booked; the evening session was added later. Therefore, at 10:00 am on Monday, 11 February 1963, the Beatles began working their way through their live set song by song, the number of takes varying on each, and finished at 10:45 pm—less than 13 hours later— capturing in essence an authentic representation of the band's Cavern Club-era sound. The day ended with a cover of "Twist and Shout", which had to be recorded last because John Lennon had a particularly bad cold and Martin feared the throat-shredding vocal would ruin Lennon's voice for the day. This performance, caught on the FIRST TAKE!, prompted Martin to say: "I don't know how they do it. We've been recording all day but the longer we go on the better they get." Mark Lewisohn (historian/author) would later write: "There can scarcely have been 585 more productive minutes in the history of recorded music".

The first 3 links below are tracks directly from the album, the last track, Twist and Shout is a LIVE video performance in Sweden in 1963 !

 Please Please Me
 Chains
 Baby It's You
 Twist and Shout

Grammys 2016

It's a great thing that the music/entertainment industry recognizes and supports its own. I watched all of the Grammy's last night and really enjoyed (some of) it. I must say I almost turned off the whole thing when the first award was for "Best Rap Album". Isn't that an oxymoron? I've tried to understand and even enjoy rap and hip-hop, but I just can't. I didn't want to be like "the old generation" that didn't like rock 'n roll and all that gyration. But, alas, I am. So there ya go. Here's what I DID LIKE from the show last night (in no particular order)

• James Bay and Tori Kelly: This performance was possibly the best of the night. The guitars and vocals were amazing!
• 12-year-old pianist Joey Alexander: jaw drop... 
• Winners
• Chris Stapleton Wins Best Country Album
• Alabama Shakes Win Best Rock Performance
• Tributes
• Chris Stapleton, Gary Clark Jr. and Bonnie Raitt in tribute to B.B. King: Bonnie Raitt is sooooo smoooth 
• Lady Gaga tribute to David Bowie: who better to play this role?! Gaga was perfect! And she the last song "Heros" I've had stuck in my head for about a week now! I've got to learn it.
• Eagles tribute to Glenn Frey: the intro/cut to this was terrible, well non-existent, but the performance was moving.
• Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry): love love love Alice. This is performance music! We actually saw Alice and Motorhead some years ago.
• Commercials
• Lady Gaga + Intel
• No smoking and no cat videos

There was a message from the Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, about supporting and paying artists a true value for music was right on! I do "demo" some music here and there. But if I like it, I'll buy it. I'll buy the vinyl, CD, download or stream. I love music and understand the value of paying the artists and everything required to get that deleivered to me.

“When you stream a song, all the people that created that music receive a fraction of a penny,” Portnow said on stage after a performance by 12-year-old pianist Joey Alexander. “Isn’t a song worth more than a penny?

“Listen, we all love the convenience, and we support technologies like streaming, which connect us to that music. But we also have to make sure that artists grow up in a world where music is a viable career.”

Not Christmas music Christmas CD reviews

Santa brought these CD's (yes, we still buy actual CD's) for our stocking stuffers. We've had a chance to listen a couple of times and here's my observations.

• The Brian Setzer Orchestra: Songs from Lonely Avenue
• (2009) Setzer is an amazing guitarist, jazzy and heartfelt. The tone and stylings of the music is haunting. The Setzer Orchestra also adds so much to this album. These songs cover a wide spectrum.
• Wylie and the Wild West: Bucking Horse Moon
• (2007) I've been intrigued and drawn to the lap steel guitar country sound since Santa got me one of my one several years ago. While listening to a streaming music channel over the course of a few weeks, I kept hearing this artist. Real Sons of the Pioneers kind of country. A simple earthy tone.
• Dr. Hook: Greatest Hooks
• (2007) This one is kinda fun, and funny how I came to get it. I had the vinyl out not a week earlier and was ripping it for play on our iPods.  When I went shopping for Santa this just happened to be sitting at the end isle and only had 2 of the songs on the vinyl I'd just ripped. Anyway, it has good, polished songs. Nothing too spectacular, though I do still like Cover of Rolling Stone, and Carrie Me Carrie a lot.
• Adele: 25
• (2015) Uh. Yeah. Wow. This girl can sing!
• Leann Rimes: Lady and Gentlemen
• (2011) And this girl can sing too! Great country. Kinda a cover album. Some of the guy/gal parts are swapped out the other way. Lots of familiar songs with super vocals and arrangements.

In Memorium: 2015

We have lost more strong influences of music this past year. I focus mainly on Rock and Roll and directly related genres. Early bands like The Kingsmen, The Electric Prunes and Big Brother broke the ground for REO Speedwagon, and Yes. Blues and R&B lost giants this year.

• Gary Richrath, lead guitarist and songwriter for REO Speedwagon (September 13). Richrath wrote many of the REO's songs including "Ridin' the Storm Out". In 1977, he and other members of the band took over production, which resulted in the band's first platinum album.
• Country singer Lynn Anderson passed away from pneumonia at the age of 67. An iconic voice in the 1970s, Anderson's hits like "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden"
• Rock bassist Chris Squire passed away from a rare form of leukemia at the age of 67. Squire, who was co-founder of the iconic band Yes, was the only member of the band to play on every one of their studio albums. In addition to being a self-taught bassist, he also co-wrote many of the bands biggest hits, including "I've Seen All Good People," "Starship Trooper," and "Owner of a Lonely Heart."
• Blues legend B.B. King passed away at the age of 89. Known for bringing the blues into the mainstream, the expert guitarist got his start in music after hitchhiking to Memphis in 1947. He landed a job as a disc jockey for radio station WDIA-AM, where he settled on his nickname, "Beale Street Blues Boy," which was eventually shortened to "B.B."
• "Stand by Me" and "Spanish Harlem" singer Ben E. King died at the age of 76. The R&B legend got his start in the 1950s with the band The Drifters, with whom he sang lead vocals on iconic classics like "Save the Last Dance for Me," "There Goes My Baby," and "This Magic Moment." 
• "Louie Louie" singer Jack Ely passed away at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer's hit reached the top of the charts in 1963 and even sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene. Ely and his band broke up soon after the song was recorded, and he spend much of the remainder of his life training horses in Oregon. 
• "When a Man Loves a Woman" singer Percy Sledge died at the age of 74 after a battle with liver cancer. The soul singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 thanks largely in part to his 1966 hit, which topped the US and UK charts for two weeks. 
• Keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon lost his battle with cancer at the age of 67. The Three Dog Knight musician, known for playing on songs like "Easy to be Hard" and "Joy to the World" died of metastatic melanoma in Gaithersberg, Maryland, five months after announcing that he was struggling with the disease. During the course of their career, Three Dog Knight had 21 top 40 hits, including three number one singles. 
• Best known for her iconic hit "It's My Party," singer/songwriter Lesley Gore passed away at the age of 68. According to her longtime partner, Lois Sasson, Gore had been struggling with cancer. "It's My Party" was released in 1963, followed by "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me." 
• Sam Andrew, the founding Big Brother and the Holding Company guitarist who powered many of Janis Joplin’s biggest hits, died in February after a heart attack. He was 73.
• Allen Toussaint was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Artists in nearly every major genre recorded Toussaint's songs or collaborated with him, including the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Herb Alpert, Glenn Campbell, Robert Palmer and Alison Kraus and Elvis Costello.
• Preston Ritter, who drummed on the Electric Prunes' hits "I Had to Much to Dream (Last Night)" and "Get Me to the World on Time," died on March 30. He was 65. Ritter had a history of kidney problems. After he left the garage-rock band, he played with Linda Ronstadt, the Beach Boys and Dobie Gray.

 Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen