Tuesday, July 28, 2009

BLUES ALLEY: SLIDE ON IN

A guitar howls in the distance...could it be the vicious torment of a small farm animal being maliciously whupped? Nope...its the sparklen sound of a gunslinger in full tilt screech. No matter, the air is ripe with a plethora of fresh flames of fire andthose lingering smells. It sure is hot as hell! You gut me on my knees!

So maybe this aint the Mississippi Delta, but there's no denying that signature slide guitar sound: the unmistakable cry of the old fashioned bottleneck, wailing above the steady buzz of townspeople beyond wafts of rich tobacco to hang awkwardly in the air. You sure someone aint torturing a woodchuck? I could use some BBQ. From a musician like slide master, Duane Allman, the spacing arrives with perfect pitch in just the right amount of notes.

You talkin' 'bout your woman? I wish ta Gaaawd you could see mine. Every time she gets to loving, she brangs eyesight to the blind! Rally round the flag peoples. For our purposes today...nylon strings will be deemed evil and the devil hisself. The key is to resonate and to do so deeply with a fine creative blend bordering on compulsivity obsessions. This in fact may or may not reference slide guitar work...so lemme slide a shot glass or two, a pipe, a stone not rollin, and maybe a spoon...cross the old six strings and see what it brings. Cigarette lighters always work too as do a great many other materials, some unmentionables, ladies, to procure just the right intonation, which tends to really stimulate the soul whether you reside in Chicago or Grand Central Station, or ryour papa was a rollin stone.

Easy as 1-2-3, the sound is primitive and powerful and keeps 'em a-comin' for the fruit off that same tree.

Blues Power of consciousness determines pedigree. Holy coricidin medicine bottle o blues blazing! The muting sounds as bad as Leroy Brown on a ripping bender or placebo bootleg liquor after losing that long lost friend. I believe I'll dust my broom. Parallel to the frets! On pitch! With no hesitation. Gimme one reason...

Liggety liggety...lemme sliiiiiiide on ennn to the light of your love....but the train...it left the station...so NOW...I look you in the eye; creating continuous transitions in pitch without lifting a finger from the string.

Didn't no-one seem to know me....everybody passed me by. ...soze I gut ramblin on my mind fit for a king with a passion for joy. Rhythmic and melodic. The healer. Blues with a feeling.

Caaaaan you dig iiiiiiiiiiiit?

CHOOSE YOUR SLIDE: The Pinky-the version of stick and move....stick and move. Smaller slides are used and were favored by the likes of Johnny Winter, EC, and a man named Muddy. Whoa, yea! The Ring-Duane Allman. The ever popular...Middle Finga-fat sound on a power slide.

Get sum!

CHOOSE YOUR SLIDE PLAYER:(*this list is not all inclusive*) Duane Allman, Muddy, Robert Johnson, Son House, Bukka White, Blind Willie Johnson, Casey Bill Weldon, Johnny Winter, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker (cousin to J.L. Hooker), Elmore James, John Hammond, David Lindley, Roy Rogers, Rory Gallagher, Pete Haycock, Jimmy Page, Rod Price, Alvino Ray, Steve Howe, Rusty Young, Tampa Red, Hound Dog Taylor, Beck Hansen, Debashish Bhattacharya, Scott Ainslie, Bob Margolin, Michael Messer, Kenny Brown, Bob Dylan, John Butler, Dan Auerbach, Wayne Coughlan, Bob Brozman, Fred McDowell, George Harrison, Derek Trucks, Bonnie Raitt, David Gilmour, Junior Brown, Gary Rossington, Brian Jones, Ben Harper, Jerry Douglas, Lowell George, Joe Walsh, JB Hutto, Leroy Parnell,Warren Hayes, Sonny Landreth, Mick Taylor, Chris Whitley, Ry Cooder, Keb, Mo, Joe Kelly Phelps, Billy Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Joe Perry among countless others. FinalTouch-many attribute the slide's inception to Hawaiian music but not to Do Ho

DO PEOPLE DO THAT WITH THE BASS TOO?
Sometimes, but not as often. Most notable bass player, Mark Sandman (Morphine) or that guy, Les.

BLUES ALLEY:

Stay tuned for Keys To Survival(piano), Diatonica (blues harp), and The Heads of Blues Rushmore (the grand poobahs)!

WHOOOOOOOOOSE YERS?