This piece has been done to death, but Jeff Beck just makes it his own. Beck performing Puccini’s “Nessun dorma” from Turandot. Beautiful!
Category: Licks
NPR’s web site has a feature on guitarist Jeff Beck and Beck’s new album Emotion and Commotion. From now until the album releases on Tuesday, you can hear the whole album streaming from NPR’s site. Go here to read the article and listen to the album.
What am I listening to?
“See the Light” – Aldo Nova
Yeah, I know. It’s Aldo Nova. But his debut album was kind of ahead of its time. He offered a pop-metal mix that was several years ahead of Bon Jovi. How interesting then that he would go on to work with Bon Jovi a few years later. Nova’s guitar solo on this song is outstanding: full of taste, great tone, and flash.
“All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye” – John Mayer
There are no two ways about it: John Mayer is an outstanding guitar player. But for me this track is all about the sumptuous slide playing of Robbie McIntosh. This is slide playing of the highest order, full of beautiful tone and tasty note choices. It fits the song perfectly.
“Amsterdam” – Van Halen
One of the better of Eddie’s latter-day Van Hagar riffs and guitar tones. Alex Van Halen’s drumming is also exemplary on this tune, as well.
Grand triumvirate of tone for this week
Michael Landau on Tales from the Bulge, Pat Metheny on (Still Life) Talking, and John Scofield on Blue Matter.
The goal here is to feature five songs from one year starting from the year that I was born and moving forward. This week is a look at 1978.
I want to feature things that inspired me and still inspire me to this day. I have plenty of blind spots and holes in my listening experience, so if one of your favorites from one year doesn’t make my list, leave me a comment and tell me about it.
I encourage you to listen to some of the stuff I will list here and purchase a few tracks and/or albums by the artists listed in the coming weeks. Finding new music is fun.
Without further ado, here are my picks for 1978:
“Phase Dance” – Pat Metheny Group (Pat Metheny Group)
My entry point into Pat Metheny’s music was the American Garage album, but the “white album” is still an amazing piece of work. “Phase Dance” is such a deceptively simply tune performed with such devastating beauty. No one it became a big “hit” for the Metheny Group.
“I’m the One” – Van Halen (Van Halen)
There really are no bad tracks on the first Van Halen, but “I’m the One” has always stood out as one of my faves. It features two of Eddie’s most blindingly technical guitar solos and the rhythm guitar part (kind of a distorted jump boogie rhythm) is outstanding.
“My Song” – Keith Jarrett (My Song)
The two albums that Keith Jarrett recorded with his “European quartet” in the mid-1970′s (Belonging and My Song) are among my favorite albums in any style. I played in a jazz quartet in college that covered “Country” off of this album and I’ve always thought “My Song” is one of the great jazz ballads ever.
“(It Was) Only Yesterday” – Larry Carlton (Larry Carlton)
It is difficult to pick a favorite song off of Larry Carlton’s debut album. Carlton burns things up one side and down the other from start to finish. But his playing on this ballad is so affecting and pure that it really should be required listening for guitarists that want to play a ballad.
“Goodbye Girl” – Toto (Toto)
My favorite song from the debut Toto album. Jeff Porcaro’s groove pushes things along so well and Steve Lukather’s guitar solo is one of his best. Oh, and the impossibly fast guitar run at the end is amazing. If only it were mixed a little louder.
I didn’t expect 1978 to be so musically rich but once again it proved difficult to whittle this list down to only five songs. Songs that I left off that are still inspiring to me today include “Lights” by Journey, “Feelin’ Satisfied” by Boston, “Just What I Needed” by The Cars, “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits, “Odyssey” by the Dixie Dregs, “Brother To Brother” by Gino Vannelli, “Lights Out” from UFO’s amazing live album Strangers in the Night, and “Cygnus X-II: Hemispheres” by Rush.
It is no secret that Pat Metheny is my favorite musician. His musical vision, affinity for stripped shirts, and an upbringing similar to mine (suburban Midwestern) has always given me an affinity for his music. This is video of the original Metheny Group (with Lyle Mays on keyboards, Mark Egan on bass, and Danny Gottlieb on drums) performing the song “San Lorenzo.” This song appeared for the first time on the Pat Metheny Group’s self-titled debut album (also known jokingly as the “white album”). The best performance I have ever heard is on the Group’s Travels album. That performance is full of grace, perfection, and a slow-burn that doesn’t quit. The perforamnce here is a little rush, full of passion and youthful enthusiasm. You can’t go wrong either way.
The goal here is to feature five songs from one year starting from the year that I was born and moving forward. This week is a look at 1977.
I want to feature things that inspired me and still inspire me to this day. I have plenty of blind spots and holes in my listening experience, so if one of your favorites from one year doesn’t make my list, leave me a comment and tell me about it.
I encourage you to listen to some of the stuff I will list here and purchase a few tracks and/or albums by the artists listed in the coming weeks. Finding new music is fun.
Without further ado, here are my picks for 1977:
“Bat Out of Hell” – Meat Loaf (Bat Out of Hell)
I’m not sure that I have ever heard another song (or album) Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell.” To call it “over the top” is really a disservice. The whole thing is epic, over-the-top, silly, and unabashedly overdone. Which is exactly why the song is so charming. Songwriter Jim Steinman said it was his goal to write the “ultimate car/motorcycle crash song.” He achieved his goal and then some. This song succeeds so beautifully because no one would have the guts to make another like it. It should have turned out to be a mess. And it is a mess. But it is a glorious, overwrought masterpiece of a mess. Steinman’s bombastic songwriting, Todd Rundgren’s outrageous production skills, and Meat Loaf the vocalist all combine in a perfect storm of rock perfection.
The music video of “Bat Out of Hell” (above) is, in my mind, one of the best music videos ever. Yeah, I know they are lip-syncing but the band’s enthusiasm and Meat’s manic performance still give me chills.
“Afterglow” – Genesis (Wind & Wuthering)
One of the most beautiful of Genesis’ post-Gabriel/pre-Invisible Touch ballads (it runs neck-and-neck with “Entangled”), “Afterglow” was a forgotten gem from the Wind & Wuthering album until it was inserted into the “In the Cage Medley” and took its place as a truly magisterial Genesis moment in concert. The live version has everything that made mid-period Genesis so powerful: a beautiful chord progression by Tony Banks, Phil Collins’ emotional singing, a great drum performance by Chester Thompson, and one of Mike Rutherford’s sneaky great bass lines. The lyrics of “Afterglow” have always haunted me although I’m not really sure what they mean. It functions as a “love lost” song but seems to be reaching for something deeper with lines like, “But now I’ve lost everything/I give to you my soul” and “The meaning of all that I believed before escapes me.”
“Running on Empty” – Jackson Browne (Running on Empty)
Jackson Browne’s song “Running on Empty” is a song that I never seem to tire of. Whenever it comes onto the radio I always turn it up. A great world-weary lyric, a spirited performance by Browne’s band, and David Lindley’s KILLER slide guitar solos. What’s not to love?
“Aja” – Steely Dan (Aja)
Steely Dan’s masterpiece, the song “Aja” is a sprawling eight-minute epic that dumps every trick in the Fagen/Becker playbook into one song. It’s all here: the studio perfection, the sprawling chord changes, the obtuse lyrics about “angular banjos” and “double helixes.” And the icing on the cake has two be the two spirited solos by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the performance throughout the track by drummer Steve Gadd. Gadd’s performance in particular has achieved mythical status with drummers.
“Havona” – Weather Report (Heavy Weather)
Quite possibly the greatest tune in Weather Report’s storied career, “Havona” is a tune written by bassist Jaco Pastorius that ends up closing out the Heavy Weather album. The song is light on melody but abounding in interesting chord textures and that magical groove provided by Pastorius and drummer Alex Acuña. Bandleader and keyboardist Joe Zawinul takes an inspired turn on acoustic piano but, for all intents and purposes, this son is about Pasrtorius. The bassist quotes Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” near the beginning and builds things into a furious climax. It is simply one of the greatest bass solos ever and a fitting ending to a stone-cold five-star album.
What a rich and varied year for music. It truly was difficult to pare this list down to five songs. I left off some songs that still seriously inspires me to this day including “Man in the Wilderness” by Styx, “Distant Hills” by Ralph Towner, “Baltimore” by Randy Newman, and pretty much anything off of Jean-Luc Ponty’s Enigmatic Ocean or Kansas’ Point of Know Return.
Phil Keaggy was 58 when this was recorded. His birthday was yesterday (March 23) so he is 59 now. Regardless, it is hard to think of another 58/59 year old that is singing and playing better than Keaggy is these days. This song is from Keaggy’s 1976 album Love Broke Thru. Happy belated birthday, Mr. Keaggy. May God grant you many more years.
What am I listening to?
“Evil Walks” – AC/DC
What a power-packed tune. Angus and Malcom knew how to dial in some massive Gibson/Gretsch/Marshall tones back in the day.
“I’m a Believer” – Giant
Oh man, I feel so bad for Giant. They came along about four years too late. By 1989 (when their debut album was released) Bon Jovi-esque pop-metal was receiving last rites. But Dann Huff threw some massively great guitar (and vocals) out there, nonetheless.
Indian Summer – Go West
The album that contains the tune “King of Wishful Thinking.” That tune pales to some of the other songs on the album like “Faithful,” “Still in Love,” and “Tell Me.”
Grand triumvirate of tone for this week
Joe Bomamassa on Black Rock, Angus Young on For Those About To Rock We Salute You, and By a Thread by Gov’t Mule.
The goal here is to feature five songs from one year starting from the year that I was born and moving forward. This week is a look at 1976.
I want to feature things that inspired me and still inspire me to this day. I have plenty of blind spots and holes in my listening experience, so if one of your favorites from one year doesn’t make my list, leave me a comment and tell me about it.
I encourage you to listen to some of the stuff I will list here and purchase a few tracks and/or albums by the artists listed in the coming weeks. Finding new music is fun.
Without further ado, here are my picks for 1976:
“Kid Charlemagne” – Steely Dan (The Royal Scam)
How interesting that so many tunes from 1976 upset my apple cart, although not necessarily at the time. I was a young EVH/Yngwie shredder in the early 1980′s when one of my guitar teachers recommended that I listen to Steely Dan’s The Royal Scam album, specifically Larry Carlton’s guitar work on “Kid Charlemagne.” Like so many others, Carlton’s jazzy, distorted masterpiece utterly mesmerized me. I HAD to learn that first guitar solo. I still go back and play it now to marvel in how beautiful it is. Maybe someday I will learn that second solo.
The above performance is an audience video from an August 1, 2009 Steely Dan concert at the Beacon Theater in New York. Dan played the album Aja in its entirety that night and then played a set full of audience requests. Carlton was on hand to reprise his solos from “Kid Charlemagne” and other tunes. The audio on the video is pretty atrocious but Carlton comes through loud and clear as he completely nails the first solo and embelishes beautifully on the song’s second solo.
“Peace of Mind” – Boston (Boston)
Pretty much every song on Boston’s debut album has been played to death by album rock/classic rock radio. When most of the tunes from that album come on the radio I smile and change the channel. But never for “Peace of Mind.” There is just something about that tune that grabs me every time. Is it singer Brad Delp’s delivery? The infectiousness of the chorus? The hip bass line? The wall of Tom Scholz’s guitars? I dunno but, man, do I like it.
“Flight Over Rio” – Al Di Meola (Elegant Gypsy)
Probably my favorite Al Di Meola track. The tune features Di Meola on guitar, Steve Gadd on drums, Anthony Jackson on bass, Jan Hammer on keyboards, and Mingo Lewis on percussion. Now that, my friends, is a jazz-fusion supergroup. The middle section of this song completely burns as Di Meola and Hammer trade solos while Gadd and Jackson push them ever higher. This is one of the most exciting moments of the early jazz-fusion movement.
“The Wall” – Kansas (Leftoverture)
So many Kansas songs spoke to my sense spiritual confusion and alienation as a teenager. This song in particular was very important to me. I still get a lump in my throat when hearing it today. “The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall/And with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost.” Little did I realize that the Church that I was either, a) running from; or b) constantly criticizing was the place where peace, contentment, and hope were to be found. I’m glad that Kansas’ Kerry Livgren returned to the Church and I’m thankful that his music and lyrics kept me near to God through my teen years.
“Donna Lee” – Jaco Pastorius (Jaco Pastorius)
Bassist Jaco Pastorius simply exploeded onto the scene in 1976, releasing his groundbreaking debut solo album and playing a huge role on Joni Mitchell’s Hejira. I went back and forth as to which song to include but, in the end, chose the opening track from Pastorius’ debut album. I wasn’t a bass player in 1976, so I can only imagine the seismic impact that this performance had. It must have been like a complete unknown coming along and raising the bar a few hundred feet from what was happening previously. I learned “Donna Lee” on the bass for my senior recital in college and Pastorius’ performance was always the touchstone from which I operated.
Egad! Such a great group. The groove never stops and Scofield solos like a madman.
BRING BACK THIS QUARTET, SCO!
