Reblogged from Marco Oppedisano:

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 …

This is a nice summary of three great electric guitar players via Marco Oppedisano’s WordPress blog; two of which are no longer with us (Hendrix and Zappa) and Jeff Beck who still is! Take the time to really listen and enjoy these wonderful artists!

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

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!

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 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!

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

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!

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’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!