I’m out of town staying at a friend’s place in Montreal. He’s in France and I’m watching his place. It’s just me and my guitar. A nice combination. It feels great to spend the day (and night) playing. The jazz festival is on and I going to check it out tomorrow. The weather’s supposed to be a little warmer. For the time being I want to enjoy my friend’s space. And his CD collection.

I’ve been digging through a lot of old great recordings. Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Van Morrision. Today I was working on a Little Feat song, Long Distance Love. I’m learning to sing a few songs. Something I don’t do that often, since my voice is not the greatest. My pitch is alright, but the tone and character of my voice only works when there’s heart felt inspiration, and confidence. Then, I’m not bad.

If I could sing like anyone, I’d choose Lowell George. He described himself as “just a white boy singing the blues.” I’d agree with that. Add to that a fabulous slide player. I associate Little Feat with my friend Bruce Reid, a pedal steel player/guitarist, who turned me on to them when I used to live in Montreal. Some of their tunes really speak to me, especially the George tunes. It’s their feel and their attention to the right kinds of song writing details. It’s sad that Lowell George died so young.

This performance, though with a rough sound, captures Lowell’s voice, raw and unaffected.

LONG DISTANCE LOVE
Lowell George

Key of G: 4/4
Intro
G |Bm |Em D/F# |G |Asus |Bm |Bm C |D/F# G |C D/F# |G ||

Verse
G |Bm |Em D/F# |G |Asus |Bm |Bm C |2/4 D/F# |4/4 G     |
Oh, hello, give me missing persons,
They said, “What is it that you need?”
I said, “Oh, I need her so.”
They said, “You`ve got to stop your pleading.”

Chorus
Em D/F# |G |Em D/F# |G Asus |Bm |C|C D/F# |G |C D/F# |G|
But no matter what you do, even pray to heaven above,
All you ever get from her is long distance love.

Verse
Em D/F# |G |D/F# Bm    |Em |D/F# |G |C D/F# |G |
I read the papers, I got the blues
I was so sad to hear the news
Help wanted, but not enough
You know these times are gettin` rough

Chorus
Em Bm |G |Em D/F# |G Asus |Bm |C |C D/F# |G |C D/F# |G |
But no matter what I do, even pray to heaven above
All I ever get from her is long distance love

Solo
Em D/F# |G    |Em D/F# |G Asus |Bm C |D/F# G    |C D/F# |G |

Verse
G |Em    |Asus Bm |Em |Asus |Bm |Bm C |2/4 D/F# |4/4 G    |
You know her toes they were so pretty
And her laugh so sweet
I wonder does she know
Does she know she hurt me so

Chorus
Em D/F# |G |Em D/F# |G Asus |Bm |C |C D/F# |G |C D/F# |G|
C D/F# |G    |
Cause no matter what I do, even pray to heaven above
All I seem to get from her is long distance love

Here’s a wonderful duet for thumb piano and synthesizer. Lead by Joe Zawinul (1932 – 2007), I love the flow of the groove between these two players.

I been listening to a lot of Jaco Pastorius lately and it’s led me back to my love of Weather Report. I love their early, more experimental music, but I also love the way Zawinul’s compositional approach evolved through the course of his collaborations with Wayne Shorter and into the Zawinul Syndicate: long rhythmic pieces flowing through time revealing trinkets of tunes and splashes of color and virtuosity.

No one is like him. He is missed.

If you think about different ways of playing a song, this arrangement is a great example of how to keep the essence of a tune, it’s immediacy and energy, while maintaining the integrity of the arranger. As a guitar teacher, I’ve heard Smoke on the Water way too many times. But when I listen to this version, I’m reminded why people love this tune.

I heard the Esprit Orchestra do an arrangement of a Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze years ago at the Jane Mallet Theatre, here in Toronto. At first I thought it was an obvious way to try to attract a younger audience, but I came realize that a piece of music, whether a tune, a theme, a motif, etc. really can be infinitely interpreted. Here’s a version that I like by the Kronos Quartet.

Chuck Berry’s song You Can’t Catch Me influenced John Lennon’s Come Together. Though the tempo is much faster in the original you hear it in the lyrics (”Here come old flattop…”), and then the melodic structure.

Lennon released his version of You Can’t Catch Me in 1975. The connection between Berry’s tune and Come Together is more obvious. Have a listen.

For the story of the lawsuit, click here.

When I was in grade two I started noticing the music around me. My Dad was into jazz which I thought was pretty cool and mysterious. Like there was a secret language being used by the musicians. Duke Ellington and Count Basie were my favorites. I loved the sound of the horns and the groovy rhythm of the drummers. My sister, whose five years older than me, listened incessantly to 45s on her record player, cranked up so the scratches and pops of the vinyl before the song started would scare the crap out of me. She liked the super-catchy stuff. Songs you could sing along with the first time you heard them. Like “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” by Herman’s Hermits, or “She Loves You Yeah, Yeah Yeah.” It was mostly the Beatles I heard blasting from her room. She was mad about them. Especially Paul. Back then, everybody had a favorite. Mine was John. He had an edge. Paul was a cream puff. Ringo had bad hair. And George was way too insecure.

I heard a lot of the Beatles music growing up but none of it really spoke to me, except I am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever, and Come Together. All three have a mysterious feel that I like. It’s hard to know how the music works: the lyrics, the rhythm, the orchestration. And this is what intrigues me about most of the music I love. I think George Martin’s production contributes a great deal to their music. With Come Together I love the vibe: the lyrics, the bass line, the drums, the rhythm guitar, the dryness of the production, and the four bar hook. It’s also an effective song to play instrumentally. I’ve used it with my Fusio ensembles at the conservatory.

I’m including two versions of a lead sheet, one for beginning guitarists to get a hold of the song, and the other for general use.

Come Together LEAD SHEET/guitar tab

Come Together LEAD SHEET

This song grew out of a theme created by Alex North for the 1955 prison movie, Unchained. The Liberace version gives you a sense of the tune without vocals, flamboyant and melodramatic. In almost all versions of the song I’ve heard (search on youtube alone), the essence of Hy Zaret’s lyrics of loss and longing, with the promise that love will prevail and unite the separated lovers, is nearly lost with crass sentimentality in the musical accompaniment.

Though I’ve never been a huge Elvis fan I like his version of Unchained Melody the most, especially the final growl. There’s a visceral resonance in his delivery that reflects, perhaps, the distance he was feeling between himself and his beloved fans.

Unchained Melody LEAD SHEET

I recently made a chart of this soulful Willie Nelson tune, made classic by Patsy Cline. I’m preparing to open a new website called 6stringMosaic.com in mid-August, where you’ll find a number of free charts, like this one, and video guitar lessons.

Crazy LEAD SHEET

Here’s Francis Langford doing it.