Radiohead’s “House of Cards” doesn’t really need my take, because the lyrics and music speak for themselves. Really! I will say this however, I think it’s sublime in its delivery and way we have allowed ourselves to become more and more virtual as a race. I hope you enjoy the meaning behind this song in however you want to interpret it as it relates to your own life.
In an interview last year with Contemporary Guitars Blog, I was asked to name 5 Desert Island albums. Now, I’ve never been one to get too carried away with making “top 5 lists,” but thought what if I were to do one for electric guitar tracks that continue to have a profound effect on me years after having heard them the first time. So, after some thought, I recently decided on a top 3 list. I know, it’s only 3…..Anyway, here they are: 1. Machine Gun – Jimi Hendrix (Band of Gypsys) What else can be said …
I’m taking a bit of detour on my tributes to late lead guitar players with the passing last week of Etta James. Etta James was a Blues and R&B singer who had an incredible singing voice and contributed so much during her career.
I’ve attached a YouTube video of Etta James singing “You Can Leave Your Hat On”. “You Can Leave Your Hat On” was of course made famous by Joe Cocker, but I think Etta James did a famously job of singing this song too! Play this song at a loud volume to get the full effect of the power of Etta’s voice when your listening! Thanks Etta James for the wealth of songs you recorded and performed over the years! Etta was a true Blues and R&B treasure! Enjoy
Further to my theme I started earlier this week on my tributes to some of the most influential electric guitar players who are no longer with us, this post is my humble tribute to the late Lester William Polsfuss (aka “Les Paul”). Now some of you may not know who Les Paul was or exactly why he had such a major influence on the electric guitar. You might say, come on Splash shouldn’t you be writing about Jimi Hendrix’s (which I will be in a future posting) or John Lennon perhaps, but Les Paul? Yes Les Paul! Les Paul is without doubt the corner-stone in the creative development of the solid body electric guitar as an instrument as we know it; especially as it relates to the electric guitar known as the “Gibson Les Paul”. There were certainly a number of people who experiment and contributed to the development of the electric guitar, however the work done by Les Paul had a major influence on so many music genres (Blues, Country, Jazz, etc.) and certainly on the development of Rock and Roll as we know it. One just has to read the multitude of tributes that were stated by many of today’s lead electric guitar players upon the death of Les Paul at the age of 94 on August 12th, 2009 to get a feel how important he was. The Edge of U2, Slash of the former band Guns and Roses, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Richie Sambora, Steve Miller and many others had tremendous respect for Les Paul and the many innovations he was involved with in the develop of the electric guitar and how it could be played. The website Wikipedia has a lot of really good information and links relate to Les Paul so I’ll give you that link for you to learn more about him if you’re so interested: Les Paul Wiki link
I’ve decided to add to this post two separate YouTube video’s of Les Paul performing; the first from the film by John Paulson Productions called “Les Paul Chasing Sound” Les Paul Film link that is about ten minutes in length and gives some really good background information on Les Paul, and the second one is a tribute video to Les Paul on his 90 Birthday with him performing the song “Sleepwalk”. Both are absolutely wonderful and I’m so glad they are available to be watched on the internet. Please take a look and offer a comment or two if you like. Enjoy!
My last blog posting about Peter Frampton’s song, “Lines On My Face” got me thinking about the various lead electric guitar players who have had a major influence on the music scene over the last fifty-years or so. Specifically it got me to thinking about those lead electric guitar artists who are now gone and no longer with us. As such, I think I’ll dedicate the next series of postings to a few of the many outstanding late electric guitar artists that have had a major influence on a number of music genres; notably Rock, Blues, Jazz & Country. In addition I want to concentrate on those lead electric guitarist, who in my view, had this incredible creative talent to be able to really channel their emotions and feelings into the style of the particular song they were playing. I certain won’t be able to cover off all the outstanding guitar artists over the last fifty years by any stretch of the imagination and I’m sure some of the readers of this post (assuming any) will have other favorite guitar artists they feel should be highlighted (if so please post a comment and link perhaps about your favorite guitar artists)!
For this post I want to dedicated it to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan (“Stevie Ray”). Stevie Ray was a Texas’s born and bred Rock/Blues guitar artists who had a major influence on the music scene during the mid 1970′s up until his death in a helicopter crash on August 27th, 1990 while in route to Chicago after performing at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy Wisconsin. Wikipedia is typically a very good source of information on most topics so instead of me recreating the wheel on the various factual information on Stevie Ray, here is the link to the write-up on him at that site: Wiki on Stevie Ray if your interested.
For the die-hard Stevie Ray fans out there, my posting only touches on the surface on information on the web about Stevie Ray. Instead what I want to do is share just one song of Stevie Ray’s that I feel really demonstrates his incredible artistic talent as a lead guitar player in how he is able to channeling his emotions and feelings while he plays. I’ve included a YouTube video piece originally posted by the user “wash61″ of Stevie Ray performing live the song “Riviera Paradise” in Austin Texas (Austin City Limits if I’m correct). The video quality isn’t the best on this feed, but Stevie Ray was from Texas and grew up for the most part in Austin so I felt this was a fitting video to include in this post. There are several good close-ups of Stevie Ray playing the guitar which is great, but ultimately it’s in the listening to this song and appreciating how Stevie Ray is able to translate his feelings via playing the electric guitar that is what I find so appealing about this performance. Enjoy!
I’ve always been partial to the guitar as a musical instrument for a number of reasons, but I’m sure that a lot of those reasons has to due to the fact that I use to play the electric guitar and still play my acoustic guitar now and then when I can squeeze in the moments and need to relax. My vocals aren’t strong and my guitar playing is average so my performances are typically private or for a very select group of people who don’t mind my mistakes as I’m changing chords while playing my guitar.
I happen upon hearing Peter Frampton’s “Lines On My Face” the other day. This song was on the mid 1970′s “Frampton Comes Alive” Album which was highly successful, both commercially and critically, for Peter. I found a very cool YouTube video of Peter Framption playing “Lines On My Face” live in Detroit from a few years back. The video on YouTube was posted by cocojax and he did a great job of utilizing an interesting montage of pictures of Peter Frampton over the years that goes well with the poetic lyrics of “Lines on My Face”. In regards to Frampton’s outstanding lead electric guitar playing, cocojax wrote on the introduction to the vidoe that, “…One of the amazing things about Frampton is his ability to put his heart and soul into a song he’s played thousands of times, always different, and always beautiful. I guess his ever-changing interpretation of the music is what keeps it fresh…” Music is definitely “alive” and I hope you enjoy this version of “Lines On My Face” as much as I did! Enjoy!
Attached is the YouTube clip of a scene from Monty Python’s comedy movie “The Meaning of Life” which was released in the theaters in 1983. During the 1970′s and early 1980′s Monty Python was one of the UK’s most famous and successful comedy groups, with their TV series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and the release of several successful movies, most notably “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. Monty Python
So why the reason for me to post this clip from YouTube, given that a majority of my postings have to do with Music and/or Virtual Reality you ask? Well, the clip in question, in my very humble opinion, does have two aspect to it that are central to what I typically post about. One, the clip has a music/song part to it, and two, it also addresses in a humorous way mankind’s obsession with seeing themselves as being at the center of the universe in trying to understand “the meaning of life”; which as most thinking people know, has its own “virtual reality” to it!
Enjoy
DJ Splash Kidd will be DJ his first gig of 2012 at Ambrosia Dance Club in Second Life on Thursday January 5th, 2012 from 10pm to Midnight PST. DJ Splash Kidd has been DJ in Second Life now for three years and has established himself as one of the most entertaining and gifted DJ’s within this unique virtual world environment. From his song selections to the delivery of the music to his listeners, DJ Splash Kidd never misses a beat and is constantly working his set lists to make sure his patrons are enjoying themselves while socializing and dancing at Ambrosia Dance Club. DJ Splash utilized Traktor Pro, as his key DJ software when he performs in Second Life, as he knows that it will help him deliver a professional sound quality that is second to none, week in week out. Native Instruments, the company behind Traktor Pro, is considered to be the leading digital DJ hardware & software company world-wide in the depth and quality of products it has specifically developed for today’s leading edge digital DJ’s Native Instruments.
The music song selection theme for DJ Splash Kidd’s next gig is still in development for this up coming Thursday night at Ambrosia Dance Club but based on the content so far, it will be centered on a progressive vocal house and dance club type of mix that will up tempo and lots of fun!. So if you’re a member of Second Life and on the grid this coming Thursday, start out your New Year for 2012 right by dropping by Ambrosia Dance Club between 10pm to Midnight when DJ Splash Kidd is performing; you definitely won’t be disappointed!
Those who have heard me DJ before know that I both enjoy and listen to a very large and diverse variety of music. There are very few genres or styles of music that I don’t listen to. The delivery, quality and the structure of a song is what’s important to me. As such, and keeping with my eclectic nature, for this evening post I’ll serve up a few blues/jazz songs for your listening pleasure. The first choice is Ms Billie Holiday singing “Stormy Weather”. Billie Holiday’s died on July 17th, 1959 at the age of only 44. According to Wikipedia, drug abuse, drinking, and relationships with abusive men were key factors that contributed to her health deteriorating during the last several years of her life. Billie lived the blues and her unmatched ability at singing the blues is self-evident in the classic version of “Stormy Weather”.
The second choice is the 1964 version of “Shadow of Your Smile” by Ms Sarah Vaughan. Every time I listen to this version by Sarah Vaughan it brings such a big smile to my face. The delivery of the lyrics and her pacing of the song is breathtaking!
The third and last song choice for this evening is Mr. Michael Buble performing “Just the Way you Look Tonight”. Michael’s a Canuck like me and he does a great job in his version of this very up lifting blues/jazz song.
Hope you enjoyed these three songs as much as I did!
Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year for 2012!
I have not been spending much time recently in Second Life, for a variety of reason, other than my regular DJ gig that I do on Thursday nights each week. As such when I recently got a notice via the BURN2 Performers group that I’m a member of, that they were holding a community event on December 17th called “SantaCon” and needed live performers and/or live DJ’s for, I jumped at the chance and send a message off to the organizers that I was interested. I ended up getting booked to DJ from 9pm to 11pm, which was perfect as it fit nicely into my demanding real life schedule of events.
I’ve had the pleasure to have been able to perform as a DJ on several different occasions now for the BURN2 community in Second Life over the last couple of years. Each occasion has been an important step for me, as both a DJ, and as a community member of Second Life, on learning more about what it means to be a volunteer within this unique metaverse environment. BURN2, for me at least, has become one of those center points in Second Life that helps to keep bringing me back to Second Life and believing still in the creative aspect of what can be accomplished within a digital virtual world structure. Life to me, be it “real” or “second”, at its basic structural components, is this constantly evolving “work in progress”, where goal setting, reaching for goals and achieving goals, is important, but not as important as being in the moment of life’s constant stream of activities that makes one realize that all aspects of our life’s are a “work in progress”.
So DJ for the SantaCon event this last Saturday night, was a time for me to be in the “moment” and allowing myself to enjoy this never-ending “work in progress”!
I typically don’t publish my set list of the songs I play from my DJ gigs, not because I don’t want to share them, but more out of the fact that I don’t have the time to rewrite them down again! I will however share one of the songs I played last night, that is a favorite of mine now; “What the Water Gave Me” by Florence and the Machine from their 2011 album “Ceremonials”. It’s just such a powerful song and Florence is at her Celtic best as she pours her feminine emotions into the delivery of this song. I hope your enjoy it as much as I do!
I’ll share a couple of pictures I snapped quickly too from the end part of my gig at SantaCon last night. I’m not much of a photographer, but I still like to record a few memories now and then for post reflections!
