June 28, 2005

• I thought I was the body table king...
• Rocky Raccoon was brilliant, I'd add Blackbird from the same album and the same vein... sounds difficult, but really easy to learn and fun to sing along with. Hmm, in that channel, songs that don't suck that ppl like to sing along with... Damn, everything I come up with ain't gonna be known by fellow 11-year-olds, but perhaps "Sandman" by America. I know I loved singing about beer at 11. :)
• Letit Be.
• /
• /exuent
• Show her some Blind Blake. Not easy? Robert Johnson will do.
• phish? bela fleck & the flecktones?
• perhaps we want to give her something that isnt hippie crap ? tell her how to go all merzbow noise on that instrument...or at least some of the angrier dylan.
• I'd use some of the more adult (by which I mean not entirely kidlike) Trout Fishing in America. I'd probably also ask around about They Might Be Giants, which I've never quite gotten into but a lot of my friends like. TFIA is guitar and bass, so I'm sure it has some tunes that would be easy to follow.
• Yes, and all nerds and children love TMBG
• Trout Fishing in America ... is a band?!? Crazy!
• you gotta get her into eric clapton. he put out an album recently where he only covers robert johnson tunes and its amazing. i think the key to keeping a youngster interested in their instrument is have them play songs they like -- so what is she into?? classic rock? blues? modern/alternative? punk? your cd should have some of the elements she digs on or else she may get bored......... as for some online resources that have helped me continue learning, here are a few: good chord resources: http://chordfind.com http://www.chordbook.com some really amazing guitarists any guitar geek should study: django reinhart ned evett fretless guitar guru charlie hunter (plays jazz with an 8 string guitar) buckethead (general weirdness but seriously shreds - links to mov) (pinkmoose: "hippie crap"?????? i only saw one dead tune and one abb tune?? i sense some pent up rage. maybe you should just smoke a j and put on some string cheese incident)
• Excellent. Thanks all. Bela Fleck indeed, and I have some downloading listening to do. Indeed I need my hippie ass kicked now and again. :-) But I think I deserve kudos for not putting ANY GRATEFUL DEAD ON THE CD IT WAS HARD YA KNOW! "Uncle John's Band" is a pretty kid-friendly tune...
• Oh, damn. "Touch of Grey" isn't a Dead tune. It was a top ten hit fer Christ's sake!
• When I was starting out on the guitar, my favourite "learning" albums were: John Mayall/Eric Clapton - Blues Breakers Jeff Beck Group - Truth Rush - 2112 Then there were the "I'll never be this good so why even bother?" albums: DiMeola/McLaughlin/DeLucia - Friday Night in San Francisco Stevie Ray Vaughan - Soul to Soul Ozzy/Randy Rhodes - Blizzard of Ozz
• Yes, and all nerds and children love TMBG I'll second that, plus their songwriting is really tight.
• Skip the Eric Clapton covers and go straight to the Robert Johnson originals. Woody Guthrie. Leo Kottke's first record, which I think is just called Six and Twelve-String Guitar. (She won't be playing along until the second or third decade of study, but the stuff is wonderful to hear nevertheless.) Leon Redbone's first record, On The Tracks.
• TMBG? How about TMGE - Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. Try the track: Smokin' Billy. This is rock.
• JJ: are you trying to be the old "fuddy duddy"? She want's "Since You've Been Gone" (a fun rockin' pop ditty, BTW) and you're adding in Joni Mitchell? Then again, I should just keep my mouth shut, since I'm not gonna make any suggestions :)
• What? No mention of everybody's favorite neo-classical shredder Yngwie Malmsteen?
• Nah, it's all good, techsmith. Indeed this is my mix for her: stuff I love and hope that she likes. I burned her another CD of songs I've taught her and it includes two Hilary Duff songs and some CCR and her grandmother's favourite song (Streets of Laredo) which she dutifully learned while eying the Eminem CD. The kid has good taste and is subject to whatever forces drive the recording industry, just like you and me at that age. I really like that Kelly Clarkson song and I am as much of a pop fan as the next fella. Hell, The Immaculate Collection is my favourite house-cleaning CD. I try not to judge. Mmmm. Yngwie. Scalloped frets and spandex! Where is he now I wonder.
• Throw some prince in there somewhere...that dude's got some chops.
• . And yes indeed, Prince will be on the next mix. SHe sucks up good music like a sponge.
• Holy crap. And yes, Prince is a great idea, thanks.
• It seems from this list that she's only interested in "rock" (for lack of a better, more general term) or was that your choice? Regardless, if you want to expose her to all sorts of guitar, what about John Fahey or Ry Cooder?
• Uh, what Gonzo said. Ahem.
• Listening to Country House Shuffle now ... don't forget that guitar master!
• For Prince, try "7" (the symbol album), "Alphabet St." (Lovesexy), "Shy" (the Gold Experience), or "When U Were Mine" (Dirty Mind). Okay, really anything off Dirty Mind will do.
• She's an open book. It's only my slant as a kid of the 80s that is informing her tastes right now. And her Mom, of course (who loves CCR). And I am her guitar teacher and she loves the instrument. So she looks up to me (of course) and I see it as my responsibility to burn more diverse CDs for her. Hence this thread. Keep it coming, folks, I am digging it.
• OK. Prince for now and for my own fun. I have an account with "The Russians" (mp3.com) so what Prince record should I get? I do want one. He's a great player. Purple Rain? For? Against?
• ...Rush, Planet X, Dream Theater, Tool... (VERY musician-oriented stuff!)
• How about "O Sweet Nuthin" by The Velvet Underground? Nice little guitar and drum bangup at the end of an otherwise meditative ballad.
• Folky stuff: John Renbourne, Jose Larralde Acoustic blues like some Taj Mahal Make her two CDs Or three
• Thrak by King Crimson /kidding Just make sure to install the mandatory "No Stairway to Heaven" sign.
• If limited to one Prince cd, get Sign O' the Times.
• bernockle, that's cheating... it's a 2 CD set.
• So far I have had many reccomendations but no answers: what would the tracks be?
• For TMBG, something off of Flood. Probably "Birdhouse in Your Soul" "Istanbul" or "Particle Man" - those all seem to be songs that the kids like. Not sure how impressive or difficult they are as guitar tracks, but they do rock out. Or try that album and put on any other track you like - "We Want A Rock" is another one to try. I also liked their disc Apollo 18, but I can't think of anything from it other than "Dinner Bell" and "i Palindrome i." HTH! Oh, I second "When U Were Mine" by Prince, although the lyrics are vaguely naughty ("you didn't have the decency to change the sheets!") And from John Renbourne, try the cd The Lady and the Unicorn. William Ellwood's cd Renaissance (faux-renaissance new-age lutey guitar from Narada) is also nice. And some of the better Smashing Pumpkins stuff - anything from the greatest hits disc, lots of stuff from Siamese Dream too, like "Soma" and "Mayonaise" (blame Billy Corgan for that spelling, and for god's sake avoid his poetry book). Some people will hop in here and say "That's hard, cos there is no good Smashing Pumpkins stuff", but those people are philistines, I say -- philistines!
• Would she like my old Alex Masi CDs?
• It might be a little too technical for an 11 year old to learn (and it might not), but Joe Satriani's Summer Song seems like an obvious choice to me. How about a few female guitarists for inspiration? Easier, crunchy rhythm stuff like Joan Jett (Britney covered I Love Rock and Roll for the teeny cred, let her hear the far superior original?) the Pretenders, or the Bangles (Manic Monday, Walk Like an Egyptian), happy pop like the Go-Gos (Vacation would be obvious for a summer mix) or, for more technical stuff, how about Heart's Silver Wings or something by Bonnie Raitt?
• Do you have a copy of Richard & Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights?
• No, but I am a big fan of Richard's music when I hear it (if he is the guy I am thinking of). I'll look for it.
• Anything by John Fahey.
• For the guitarist: (along th elines of the Kottke/Fahey interests) _Good Dog, Happy Man_ Bill Frisell _Los Cubanos Postizos_ Marc Ribot _Quiet Sun_ Phil Manzanera
• and as far as summer fun music, here's a mix for your progeny: monkeytunes for june 2005/the deconstructo mix. No pretensions about this being about learning to play the guitar, just some good, funky, summer fun music.
• "Head over Feet" or "Hands Clean"--Alanis Morissette Or try OLGA
• Jesus, you old people... Ok. She likes guitar and you want to show off guitarists? Here's a mix of simple and complex. Maybeline- Chuck Berry Reverb 10,000- Man or Astroman? The KKK Took my Baby Away- The Ramones Psycho Killer- Talking Heads (live, from Stop Making Sense) Pushin' Too Hard- The Seeds Ace of Spades- Motorhead Spanish Castle Magic- Jimi Hendrix Waitin' For The Bus- Violent Femmes Spanish Bombs- The Clash Somethin' Else (is working harder)- Golden Palominos (the Peter Blegveld version is good too, and he plays with the GPs, but Jack Bruce sings the hell out of it) Beetlebum- Blur Yer Ropes- Giant Sand Teenage Riot- Sonic Youth Been Caught Stealin'- Jane's Addiction Vamos- Pixies Heat Lightning- Tuscadero Barracuda- Heart The Ballad of Sin Eater- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Boogie Chillen- John Lee Hooker On The Road Again- Canned Heat Rather Be The Devil- John Martyn It Must Be Summer- Fountains of Wayne Little Honda- Yo La Tengo (Yeah, I know it's a Beach Boys song. But the YLT version is a million times cooler). Birds of Fire- John McLaughlin (jazz, so may not fit) Rollercoaster- Spacemen 3 Rollercoaster- Luna Smoke on the Water- Deep Purple (by playing guitar, she's required by law to learn this song. Luckily, it only takes five minutes). Godzilla- Blue Öyster Cult Just What I Needed- The Cars Really, you should try to get some Dick Dale on there too, but I don't know him well enough to recommend any. These are just songs that are on albums that I can see without getting up from my desk. If you really need more, lemme know.
• js: Jesus, you old people... Ok. She likes guitar and you want to show off guitarists? Here's a mix of simple and complex. You callin' ME old? Well, ok, I guess that fits. But I recognize at least ten of those that I made YOU listen to when you were twelve (or younger).
• A very guitar-orientd mix: Aint Superstitious - Jeff Beck Group Red Right Ankle - The Decemberists Angeles - Elliott Smith Friend of the Devil - Jerry Garcia and David Grisman (From the "Live on Letterman" CD) The Beast In Me - Nick Lowe Reelin' In The Years - Steely Dan Sweet Little Angel - BB King (From "Live At The Regal") You've Got a Friend - James Taylor Journey To The Center of The Mind - Amboy Dukes Stormy Monday - Allman Brothers Band (From "Live At The Fillmore") Down By The River - Neil Young Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix Here Comes The Sun - Richie Havens Goodbye Blue Sky - Pink Floyd
• This is awesome, folks, thanks for taking the time to suggest tunes. I'm keeping a list and this will make for good listening for me and all my students. :-)
• Hey, Birds of Fire!