07 Feb 2011, 9:43 am
Im a guitar player, and into blues mostly so most of these will be unsurprisingly guitar related
And i decided to add personal notes/trivia because im wordy like that and songs mean things, theyre not just to fill time.
1. Layla - DEREK & THE DOMINOES - Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
My fave song of all time, came out the year i was born, 1971. Derek (Eric Clapton) was trying to just play music and try and keep his involvement low key when he formed this band. He had left Cream, and as usual with Eric, he left at the height of their popularity, as he had done with The Yardbirds and also John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. This song (and the entire album in fact) was written specifically to try and convince George Harrisons wife Patty Boyd to leave the beatle. It wasnt until about 7 years later that they finally got together when she left George. The band included Duanne Allman, probably the best white slide guitar player of all time, who tragically died not longer after the album was completed.
The bands karma was further proved dark when Carl Radle, the bass player killed his mother, apparently he had been hearing voices for some time and became psychotic . About the only interesting no death related piece of trivia is that originally there was no ending piano part to Layla. Jim Gordon the pianist was sprung one night using the bands (Claptons actually) studio time and trying to record his own album, the piano part was part of a track he was recording, and was taken and added to Layla. Theres 5 layers of guitar in some places, its a masterpiece.
2. Thrill Is Gone - B.B. KING - Completely Well
his agent Sid Siedenberg suggested they put string on the track, B.B. initially said no, but thank god he relented, this is a classic track and won him his first grammy. if you want a lesson in how to use the minimum amount of note and then bend them to great effect, there are few better tracks than this one
The first ever concert i went to was to see B. B. King 3rd row centre stage, and yes that vibrato of his is THAT FAST and PERFECT
3. Little Wing - STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE - The Sky Is Crying
(released posthumously it confirms the argument that Steve was at least Hendrix's equal and to me actually surpassed him. this is an instrumental version free of the hippie lyrics about butterflies and zebras 
.
This track was a studio outtake, they had some spare tape at a session and Stevie played this solo, and in one take, which is amazing. The drums and bass were added by Double Trouble at a later date. When it was released they wanted to make sure the performance was untouched, so if you listen to this with headphones on you can hear the power cycle hum, they didnt even touch that when they engineered it.
Stevie had avoided recording any further tracks after his cover of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) on Couldnt Stand The Weather as he wanted to be taken seriously as a blues artist and not "The New Hendrix", if you wanted ot hear Stevie play any more Hendrix tunes, you had to go to a concert . Since his death other Hendrix covers became available in the box set. Stevie starts with Hendrix's style and returns to it throughout, but take strips into other guitarists styles along the way, a lot of blues styles are in there as you would expect, but theres also a nod to Wes Montgomery (who's nod is probably the easiest to pick up, listen for the octave parts later in the track) and some other jazz greats along the way too. This is about as good as guitar gets. Only Stevie could have worked so many styles into a Hendrix song. I still miss him every day!
Stevie was the gateway for me into my love of the blues, and i still thank God (even though im an atheist) for giving us Stevie, my muscial world would have been a far far less exciting place.
One day i went from knowing nothing about the blues to being obsessed.
It was one of those weird things the universe throws you...after school one day a friend and i were mucking around on his guitar, neither of us probably at the time knew an E chord , his next door neighbour came past and said "Hey, Stevie Ray Vaughan!". Neither of us knew who or what he was talking about. I thought nothing of it. A few days later i was in the local music store, and having exhausted their stock of Dylan, Springsteen, AC/DC and probably some hair band, a small voice in my head said Stevie Ray Vaughan. I went over and found In Step, the last studio album (ive always wished i had of found Stevie earlier and seen him play) before he died. I took it home, put the cd on random and...more on that in number 4.
Anyways the day after hearing In Step i was a blues convert, and it was also the day i threw away the radio and stopped listening to it. Im serious people, threw the radio out and never listened to one since.
4. Leave My Little Girl Alone - Buddy Guy
Listen to who Hendrix used to go and tape record during live shows and practise to be like before he got famous.
He's also one of Stevie Ray Vaughans greatest influences. The very first Stevie Ray track i heard was his cover of Buddy's Leave My Girl Alone (In Step). I always do the same thing when i buy a new CD, i put it on random. I bought In Step, took it home and random landed on Leave My Little Girl alone. From the moment after i looked inside the cover to find out it was a Buddy Guy song till now, ive been a fan of Buddy's.
There are at least a dozen things to be aware of as a guitarist if you ever even think about getting up there to play with Buddy
Heres a few
* Buddy likes to see the high and low strings touch sometimes, not many people have the hand strength to pull that off
* Buddy will get every note he can while he bends that high e to the low e
* You will NEVER beat Buddy in a "who can hold a note the longest" battle
* He can turn on a dime, he'll start off playing reserved and then 10 seconds later you'll be wondering what the hell just happened to the space time continuum because its seems impossible that anyone could fit that many notes into a split second in time.
I have been lucky enough to see him do all the above and more in person, he was the second performer i ever saw live.
The man does all the above with about the best smile ever seen and with a genuine affection for his audience.
When Stevie got his last Grammy, he said simply "Now let's get Buddy Guy one of these"
A year later, Stevie got his wish posthumously.
5. Apache - THE SHADOWS
There isnt a guitarist alive who hasnt played this. This is the earliest sound i remember in my life where i wondered what the hell is that, i'd heard maybe country before that because my dad was into that horrible s**t but it just annoyed me, and i'd heard guitar, but this is THE track where i wondered what was making that sound. Hank B Marvin playing a Fender Strat with his trademark multi-tapped delays. Its the reason why i now own a vintage Fender Strat and wouldnt own any other brand. If i pick up the guitar, then 9 times out of 10, im giving this an airing! I might start of wanting to play something entirely different, get frustrated and pissed off and come back to this to cool off.
6. Born To Run - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
i was 4 when this came out, i may not have processed it until a few years later, but it was still popular and getting air play still...that should give you an idea of how big an album this was. Its not often you can say youve listened to an artists all your life, there are very few artists that have that kind of career. Do you think anyone will still be listening to that godawful talentless freak show Lady Gaga in 35 years? Even 3?
I've always wanted a Fender Tele because of Bruce, one of these days....Bruces main Tele is actually a reject that should never have been shipped and sold, but it shows you that even guitars deemed rejects by Fender will still get you through 30+ years
7. I Just Want To Make Love To You - MUDDY WATERS -
Few tracks are as amazing as this. Considering that recording albums was still in its infancy, listen to this and tell me that its not amazing. Every instrument can be heard and at precisely the right level. When Muddy gives Little Walter Jacobs the nod in the studio he unleashes a blast of harmonic that will take out your eardrums. The sound you hear during that solo is Little Walter playing harmonica down a length of pipe to give it a bit of reverb. Further trivia: The Rolling Stones (who took their name a Muddy Waters lyric) went to record at Chess records where Muddy did, upon arrival to meet their idol they found Muddy with a paintbrush in his hand, he wasnt selling records at the time, so he was making do by painting the studio...
8. Fade Into You - MAZZY STAR - So Tonight That I Might See
Im rarely into "alternate" stuff, but this one got through. Hope Sandoval has about the most ethereal voice ive ever heard. This got a lot of airplay and appeared in plenty of movies/tv shows. I have all their albums and find them oddly relaxing.
9. Smoking Gun - ROBERT CRAY - Strong Persuader
This was his breakthrough album, his 5th. It got massive play and introduced an amazing guitarist with shock horror his own style. I hadnt heard a guitar player with so unique a style in a LONG while when he arrived. I also remember, i think it was rolling stone, calling him the Great Black Hope for the Blues, because at the time all the most well known players, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, were white. Whoever it was put that on their cover should have been shot for taking attention away from Crays music and to the colour of his skin.
If he's in your town go see him, hes one of the greatest guitarists of all time, pure and simple, that style of his is still as unique as the day i first heard him.
10. Wicked Game - CHRIS ISAAK - Heart Shaped World
Though it didnt become popular until it was used by David Lynch, it did become popular. I can remember the exact place and time i heard it, i first focused on the guitar playing, it took me back to all those great reverb and echo sounds i first heard in my life, i was hooked. The fact that it also had great vocals and lyrics was just a bonus. I own all Chris's stuff, and enjoy it, but i still prefer the earlier stuff when James Calvin Wilsey was their lead guitarist. His playing on Wicked Game, getting that tone and reverb and echo, and those tremelo bends!, and making it all work is genius, pure and simple.
One-Winged-Angel
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Age: 32
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07 Feb 2011, 8:36 pm
08 Feb 2011, 6:05 am
08 Feb 2011, 6:52 pm
10 Feb 2011, 2:12 am
10 Feb 2011, 2:28 am
Haha, but those are the best songs.
One is my favorite by them, Battery second, although it's only medium length. My favorite band Týr has one song that's 10 minutes long, one that's 15, and several that are 7 or 8. 
Those are some of their best songs. Heljareyga, which is a side project of the singer of Týr, has one album, of 5 songs, ranging from 8 minutes 30 seconds to 11 minutes, all are awesome. 
Ja Tikai Uz Mani Tu Paskatītos - Prāta Vētra (Latvian)
Bizitzarekin Dantzan - Urtz (Basque)
Tri Martolod - Alan Stivell (Breton)
Lagnan - Heljareyga (Faeroese)
Hverdagshelt - Erik og Kriss (Norwegian)
Haus am See - Peter Fox (German)
Hargaxame wecere alin - Sun Sidung (Manchu)
Regin Smiður - Týr (Faeroese)
One - Metallica
Je veux tout - Ariane Moffatt (French)
As you can see, most of my music isn't in English.
Has anyone even heard of any of those bands besides Metallica? Maybe Peter Fox, but I doubt it. 
11 Feb 2011, 6:41 am
Bizitzarekin Dantzan - Urtz (Basque)
Tri Martolod - Alan Stivell (Breton)
Lagnan - Heljareyga (Faeroese)
Hverdagshelt - Erik og Kriss (Norwegian)
Haus am See - Peter Fox (German)
Hargaxame wecere alin - Sun Sidung (Manchu)
Regin Smiður - Týr (Faeroese)
One - Metallica
Je veux tout - Ariane Moffatt (French)
As you can see, most of my music isn't in English.
Has anyone even heard of any of those bands besides Metallica? Maybe Peter Fox, but I doubt it. You would be right. I only know Metallica. Besides that, I love Sigur Ros!
Salt In The Wounds - PENDULUM - Immersion
Use A Bank? I'd Rather Die! - McCARTHY - I Am A Wallet
Margaret - MADDER ROSE - Panic On
Daysleeper - REM - Greatest Hits
All I Really Want - ALANIS MORISETTE - Jagged Little Pill
Metropolis - KRAFTWERK - The Man Machine
Drowning - THE BEAT - Beat This
It's Good To Be King - TOM PETTY - Wildflowers
Catching The Butterfly - THE VERVE - Urban Hymns
You Drive Me Wild - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS - Greatest Hits
11 Feb 2011, 8:13 am
11 Feb 2011, 9:10 am
11 Feb 2011, 11:46 am
285. U2 - Exit
286. Billy Joel - Piano Man
287. Pink Floyd - Money
288. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
289. Kings of Leon - Back Down South
290. Kings of Leon - Closer
291. Medeski Martin & Wood - Broken Mirror
292. Mac & Mac - Ripping Base
293. A Perfect Circle - 3 Libras
3 Libras - my favourite APC track! That's a real fine mix and I can identify with almost all of it! Also, I am ill at the moment and that's why I have the time to post more often in this thread; usually I like to see others do the writing LOL...
Xmas Steps - MOGWAI - EP +6
She Came Along To Me - BILLY BRAGG & WILCO - Mermaid Avenue
St. Jimmy - GREEN DAY - Greatest Hits
Rusholme Ruffians - THE SMITHS - Rank
Cowboy's Orbit - GIRLS AGAINST BOYS - Freakonica
Sound And Vision - DAVID BOWIE - Best Of Bowie
Sugar Kane - SONIC YOUTH - Dirty
Digging In The Dirt - PETER GABRIEL - Us
Nothing Comes Easy - THE WEDDING PRESENT - George Best Plus
True Faith - NEW ORDER - Singles[i]
One-Winged-Angel
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Age: 32
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11 Feb 2011, 8:33 pm
11 Feb 2011, 9:16 pm
That's been one of my favorite songs since the first time I heard it.
Awesome, someone has heard of Týr here, and even likes them.
That was actually the first song I heard by them, and now I have all their albums and love them.
Last edited by dunbots on 11 Feb 2011, 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
11 Feb 2011, 9:45 pm
That's been one of my favorite songs since the first time I heard it.
Awesome, someone has heard of Týr here, and ever likes them.
That was actually the first song I heard by them, and now I have all their albums and love them. I know Týr. I have a friend who used to be a big fan. I listened to them a little bit some years back, but was never especially big on them.
Only metal I really got into was Elvenking.
One-Winged-Angel
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Joined: 21 Sep 2006
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,860
Location: Under your bed, in your closet, in your head
12 Feb 2011, 3:37 am
12 Feb 2011, 8:55 am
I'm afraid I don't know any of those, One-Winged-Angel. I only recognize Finntroll from a song you posted which I listened to before and found rather unpleasant. 
Clint Mansell - Xibalba
Cake - World of Two
Tool - Lipan Conjuring
Nine Inch Nails - Ruiner
Django Reinhardt - Divine Beguine
Frank Sinatra - Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Yann Tiersen - A Quai
The Wombats - Patricia the Stripper
A Perfect Circle - Brena
Explosions in the Sky - Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean
12 Feb 2011, 10:50 am
285. U2 - Exit
286. Billy Joel - Piano Man
287. Pink Floyd - Money
288. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
289. Kings of Leon - Back Down South
290. Kings of Leon - Closer
291. Medeski Martin & Wood - Broken Mirror
292. Mac & Mac - Ripping Base
293. A Perfect Circle - 3 Libras
3 Libras - my favourite APC track! That's a real fine mix and I can identify with almost all of it! Also, I am ill at the moment and that's why I have the time to post more often in this thread; usually I like to see others do the writing LOL...Yeah, we need more activity in this thread. I like doing it, but don't like double posting.
3 Libras is one of my favorite APC tracks. Speaks well towards Aspie life sometimes, and ladder theory also.
So yeah, next...
Raphael Saadiq - Never Give You Up
Alice In Chains - Them Bones
Dio - Rock n' Roll Children
Human League - Human
Drive-By Truckers - Space City
Santana - Waiting (live at Woodstock)
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Spanish Castle Magic
Jethro Tull - My God
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA
Ihsahn - Undercurrent
