Saturday, November 28, 2009

JERRY REED, "STAGGER LEE"



On this clip, Reed is in more of a burning mode than usual. Which is not to say that it's hotter than his usual fingerstyle acoustic playing, but it's just hot in a different way.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009

BARNEY KESSEL, AUTUMN LEAVES



I admit it-- I've been neglecting this guitar site, in favor of its country cousin, the Telecaster site. straubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/

Sorry about that-- I've been in a country groove for a while now, and for some reason there seem to be a ton more old country clips on youtube than there used to be. At any rate, to tide you over, here's some Barney Kessel. There's some breakup on the original source tape, unfortunately, (making some bits hard to listen to) but some beautiful playing from all. It starts out with nice chord melody stuff, then gets a little more bluesy--
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Friday, November 13, 2009

"WILDWOOD FLOWER," MAYBELLE CARTER



Here's Maybelle Carter, with one of the later editions of the Carter Family. This arrangement is "slick" by comparison with the austere classic sides with Sara and A.P., but the quality picture makes it relatively easy to see Maybelle's unusual technique up close. Check out the solo-- I've always been skeptical when I've read that she used fingerpicks for up and down strokes, but apparently that's exactly what she was doing. I didn't go back to check the original recording for comparison, but it sounds to me like she's playing the same way she always had. (If you're quicker on the draw than me, and notice any differences, please post a comment.)
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