BARNEY KESSEL AND HERB ELLIS, "FLINTSTONES THEME"

Barney and Herb interpret the Flintstones theme, written by the great Hoyt Curtin. (It's a little out-of-sync, sorry!)

Thanks to Charlie McCardell for sending me this.
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BARNEY KESSEL AND JULIE LONDON, "CRY ME A RIVER"

Here's the classic studio version, a high-water mark for sultry jazz-influenced pop. Obviously Julie London is the main event, but this is a guitar site, damn it! So check out Barney Kessel's hip guitar accompaniment.

and here's a TV version from 1964 with the Bobby Troup Quintet. I'm not sure if it's Kessel on this version, but it's pretty much the same arrangement. In fact, it may be Julie lip-syncing to the original. I keep getting distracted by her shiny dress--


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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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GUITAR DUET INTRO, "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE"

www.last.fm/music/The+Beach+Boys/_/Wouldn't+It+Be+Nice+(stereo+mix)

here's a transcription of the guitar duet intro to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys's classic "Wouldn't It Be Nice." aside from being a stellar piece of music, the high part (guitar 1 in the transcription) is a great picking exercise for both hands. sort of like my perpetual motion etudes, except of course much better. both guitar parts are way up above the 12th fret, but the top part is written an octave below where it should be, with the designation 8va up. this means play an octave higher, but it's written this way to make it easier to read. (it's always wise to avoid leger line "snow blindness" if you can.)

TIPS--
guitar one--
first bar is all in 14th position.
2nd bar, reach up with pinky for the high B note, ring for G 17, index, pinky, ring, index, pinky, then reach down with index to move back to old position on last note of the bar.
3rd bar, same as 1st.
4th, middle on G13, then index, pinky, index, middle, pinky, index, middle.

guitar two all in 12th position.

IMPORTANT-- the eighth notes here should be played in the manner of "swing eighths," which is the way jazz musicians generally interpret eighths. the feel here is not exactly swing, but it's sort of a stiffer kind of swing. the first of a pair of eighths should be interpreted as two eighth note triplets tied together, and the second of the pair is a single eighth note triplet. the attack should also be extremely clean, and I recommend alternate picking-- each pair of eighths is played with a downpick followed by an uppick. listening to the Beach Boys recording is essential here.

historical note-- the guitarists listed for the session, according to the notes in the Pet Sounds box, were Jerry Cole, Barney Kessel, Bill Pitman, and Ray Pohlman. if anyone out there knows which guy played which part, I'd love to hear about it. (if you're reading this, Pete Kennedy, get right on it!)

if you're looking for Pet Sounds info, check out this blog, which even includes podcasts about Pet Sounds.
http://petsounds40.blogspot.com/

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