"IT'S ALL OVER NOW," BOBBY WOMACK OR THE STONES-- WHY CHOOSE?

Bobby Womack with the Valentinos, "It's All Over Now." People like me have heard the Stones cover of this song, which is great, but the playing on this original is less stiff for sure. It's a good example of how soul music and old-school r&b often had other flavors, like bubblegum and country, mixed in.

And here's the Stones version. I love both of 'em. (This illustrates perfectly how the Stones could work magic when they didn't try to slavishly ape a black music performance.)


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NEW FREDDIE 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--

karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2010/01/catalog-of-available-transcriptions.html
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HANK MARVIN'S ECHO SOUNDS

For Shadows fans, here's Hank Marvin demonstrating some of his famous echo sounds.



And here's another clip with a Shadows fan explaining how to get a pretty close approximation of the "Wonderful Land" sound with two delay pedals. I'm still trying to figure this out, but it looks do-able, if I can only get my analog delay pedal to work again--
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RICHARD KISER AND THE MUFFLER GUITAR, "GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY"

The Thunderbird muffler guitar runs a little hot, perhaps, but it gets a great twangy tone. More info at www.rkisermusic.com.
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MICK TAYLOR, WITH THE ROLLING STONES, "LOVE IN VAIN"

Mick Taylor plays ride-out solo on Stones version of Robert Johnson classic.
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TOMMY TEDESCO, KING OF SESSION GUITARISTS

Until I saw this clip, the only footage I'd ever seen of Tommy Tedesco was his Hot Licks instructional video, which I have on VHS because it doesn't seem to be on DVD. (I just remembered-- he was in the band on the old "Fernwood Tonight" show, so if that ever comes out on DVD I'll snap it up.)

Tedesco was, and is, one of my favorite guitarists. It's difficult to assess his impact because his entire career was in the shadows; he played on countless records, as well as TV and film soundtracks. Many of my favorite TV show themes and background music featured Tommy. The TAMI show concert, just out on DVD, has a backup "orchestra" with Tedesco on guitar. I saw this concert film years ago, and remembered that after the Stones segment, the pit band played a long instrumental "raveup" with killer guitar soloing that sounds like Tommy to me. (If anyone can confirm or deny this, please comment!)

Watching the DVD, I was reminded of how years ago session guitarists like Tommy got on my radar, and how I quickly assimilated them into my mental picture of what the guitar could do. I already had the usual rock guitar heroes of the day in my brain, Page, Clapton, Hendrix, et al, but hearing Tedesco confused the issue for me. Those rock guitarists were great, but were they better than this guy who seemed to be able to play expertly in any style?

Recently, I've been planning out my playing for a recording session where I'm playing a version of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight." I've been trying to decide which direction to go on that track, and kicking around some ideas-- Jeff Beck Yardbirds fuzz? Danny Gatton trash with slapback? When I heard Tedesco's playing on the TAMI show finale, it all came together for me. I've never heard any rock guitar better than what he played there-- it's essentially the sound of a jazz guitarist slumming. If I can get some Tedesco-esque picking on this recording, my job will be done. Thanks, Tommy!
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