Monday report from the frozen tundra

[westsideduck]

Today it's breakfast for lunch, Bacon, lots of it, eggs over easy, home fries with bell peppers, onion and a little garlic (I have garlic with almost everything) and white toast with butter and homemade blueberry jam.

Before I go any further I have to say that it seems to me the lunch report is dying a slow death since we went to this new format, the numbers are just dismal, the lunch report used to be the backbone of the old GBL and everything else spurred off of it. I'll be re-posting some of my favorite tid bits from some old lunch reports this week.

A quick Intro;
I'm Gary from Buffalo NY the home of NO champions. I'm 56 years old and my gigging days are long gone but not forgotten. I miss the spotlight and the adrenilin rush the stage produces and envy you guys out there entertaining the crowds.

Music background;
I started out playing the local coffee houses when I was 16, me with my acoustic and my friend eddie playing bongos and backup singing, folk and folk rock stuff, CSN, cat Stevens Simon and garfunkale, that sort of stuff. When I turned 18 I started up a hard rock band, I didn't play any guitar in any of the rock bands I formed as I was an acoustic player, I was lead singer and manager in charge of all the bookings. The last 10 - 12 years I've been heavy into electric guitar, guitar repair and refinishing and a little amp repair.

G&L topic:
Strat VS Tele style
What's your preferance and why?

I've always been a Strat style guy, gotta have three pups for me, just couldn't live without those tweener positions, I've had a few SC-2s and got rid of em, had an ASAT Special, that didn't last long either, but I recently got an ASAT Clasic and I think this one will stay around, it just gives me some tones I can't get with any of my other G&Ls, what the hell took me so long to discover the TELE sound!



OFF topic
Who IYO is the most underrated guitarest, any style? post em up

I'll go with a blues player who gets no respect, gary Moore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O_YMLDvvnw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAuuIDU2sw

Here's an old post from a 2005 report regarding the blues:

HOW TO SING THE BLUES: A PRIMER

1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you Stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret
Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state- sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a
man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause
a alligator be chomping on it is. 9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass

Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses

11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you Happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied

No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund


11. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the
Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:

a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee

The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast
e. Diet Coke

13. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

14. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
e. Caledonia

15. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
e. Leroy

16. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Tiffany, Brooke, Brittany and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

17. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit:

a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Deaf, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi,etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson,Fillmore, etc.)

For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

18. Oh, by the way. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own a
computer, you cannot sing the blues.

Later
gary

[zombywoof]

Hey Duck,

Gotta agree in the LRs - still fun but just not the same as they once were.

Your background - good to know there are still some old folkies out there - geezers (although I would love to be your age again) who started off playing acoustic blues and folk in coffeee houses. Then the Beatles with those electric guiytars hit and it was like, man I got to get me one of those. Also like you my gigging days are largely behind me although I still sit in and do some backing work.

Geetar Shapes - I be a Tele guy all the way. After scraping together enough scratch to go beyond Silvertones and Kays I ended up with first a 1960 Esquire and then a 1958 Tele. Played that Tele for a whole lotta decades.

'Da Blues - I always loved what David Bromberg said when asked what kinda blues he played. His answer - the middle class Jewish kid from New York style of blues.

Under appreciated or whatever guitar players. Don't know - in rock maybe Dave Alvin or Al "Bigger is Better" Anderson. Both have their followings but neither is a household name.

In blues - possibly Kenny Brown - (R.L. Burnisde's long time sideman).

[davis52]

ahhh kind of sad to hear the LR's have died a little... I came back again to participate in these...
Anyway, I like S-Shaped guitars. I like the standard singles a lot too. Pretty cool to be able to get a lot of sounds. I just feel like the shape of a Strat fits me best standing or sitting. Teles feel too little and LPs and SGs just dont fit me ever. I do like 335s too but still, my first choice is Legacy!

[sickbutnottired]

Great Post. The blues primer is wicked funny.

Guitar Shape: I am a tele guy. I agree about the middle switch settings they are amazing sounds. Everytime I pick up a strat I have to mess with them, sense I don't generally have them at the ready. Over the years I have played with a couple of good strat players in projects past and present, so I like to bring something else to the table. So that has kept me from exploring the strat more as well.

Underrated players. I can't think of anybody right this second, that just get's way less respect then they deserve. But I think I might be able to learn some new players from others responses!

[Jim P]

I haven't posted in the LR for quite some time now, but like many others, I guess I'm one of those that isn't frequenting the good ol' G&LDP like I once did. While I believe the new format has certainly changed some things, I think I can safely say that discussion forums in general aren't really doing much for me these days unless I find myself attracted to a particular interest that really intrgues me. I've been on a bit of an "amp kick" lately, so that's undoubtedly overshadowed my interests in G&L guitars in the last few months. Although, as I've said in some other postings, I do miss many of the "old guard" regulars that are no longer here, and it appears as though many don't care for the new format. Still, just imagine how cool it would be if they were all here along with all of the newbies, but I don't think that's gonna happen.

Anyway, when it comes to Strat vs Tele, this photo will probably give away a clue or two as to which way I lean:



I still have a Legacy and an old S-500 that I pull out from time to time, but I'm definitely playing Teles much more.

Funny about how one gets the blues, for I grew up in a very average middle-income family and the son of a hobbyist jazz pianist. I'm not sure how I developed a liking for the blues, but somewhere along the line I did. Perhaps I can say that I just felt some soul or a feeling that was lacking in other styles, and I wanted to be a part of it. Yet, I found jazz, R&B, and early R&R very closely related to the blues. Long story short, my fascination for the blues most likely started when Hendrix, Cream, and Led Zeppelin hit the scene, but once I started listening the the Allman Brothers amongst others, it opened me up to the Chicago blues scene as well as many delta players. Also, since I don't live too terribly far away from Chicago, it was quite common to see blues acts out of Chicago play in our neck of the woods, such as Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Siegal-Schwall, Luther Allison, and many others. I'm also 56 years of age, but for some odd reason I've been playing the blues and jazz since the age of about 18, and I've never looked back. I would suppose that one could argue that an average white kid out of central WI couldn't possibly know what it feels like to have the blues, let alone play the blues, but I love it!

Great Monday LR, Duck!

Jim

[Dave_P]

Nice start Gary! Love the large bottle of Canadian Club on your cabinet there, certainly goes with the blues post

I've had strats, a les paul, an es-335, and now an ASAT special. So far I've come to the conclusion I just prefer Leo's guitars to the Gibson variety. The last strat I owned I really loved, but right now I'm on a tele kick. A legacy or s500 is on the list but if I had the funds to buy another guitar today it would be either an ASAT classic or Bluesboy.

As for under rated guitarist, I'm going to go with Rich Robinson from the Black Crowes, maybe not as obscure as some but still under appreciated, especially his more recent work.

-Dave

[sam]

Hey Duck,

Great start to the week, especially since it's a holiday week for me so I will get to read LR every day! I agree, the lunch report is here for us all to play along, hopefully more will jump in.

Tele / ASAT all the way for me. Somewhere in my early mispent youth that shape and sound got a hold of me. Even with hummers, the Tele / ASAT body is my choice. Have owned a strat and a LP but all I have are Tele / ASAT bodies now.

Underappreciated guitarist? There are so many for sure. A few that I think have contributed to guitar sounds but Joe public doesn't get their influence are Steve Cropper, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Roy Clark.

Love the "primer", look forward to more of your bits and bytes this week.

[sirmyghin]

Ridiculous blues primer.

I will add you can only play the blues if you are old tired, know 3 chords and don't want to innovate in the slightest

I play both. For single coil sounds I like the tele, for buckers the strat shape. Not much into carved tops at the monent.

[standards guy]

I too started with an acoustic in the sixties Folk Scare. Mike Bloomfiled ended my whiney Folk-songs days. Love me some Blues! They had SRV and Albert King on PBS lately.

Telecasters are just a logical extension of my arms now, I played them for so long in so many different venues.

But now that I am sixty and "maturity" is threatening (on some level), I must admit I have made the transition to strat shaped objects ("SSO's").

Gotta love the PTB system, especially with the S500's mini-toggle. I can get close enough tele sounds for the kinda girls I go out with.

He's not underated among players, but the world hasn't really noticed Dwight Yoakam's old producer: Pete Andersen. A guy I know turned me onto his CD. Lotsa guitar, but not in the frantic Brad Paisley/Danny Gatton way: just great "real" music and tasty tones and playing. Good vocals too.

Nice start to the week!

[westsideduck]

ahhh kind of sad to hear the LR's have died a little... I came back again to participate in these....

Glad to see you back, was this your handle on the old board?

[blargfromouterspace]

Love the blues instruction manual. I've come to really appreciate the blues in the last couple of years. I've always enjoyed it, but it's like a different thing altogether now. Albert Collins is my favorite blues man.

I would really like to see more of the regular posters on the old board around here. Us newbies are mostly friendly and eager to see other members.

Underrated guitarist - Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel. It's so rarely that you see his name mentioned in guitarist publications, including web forums. He's fantastic and I'm very surprised that he hasn't been honored with a Fender CS model. Freddie King deserves more attention, especially as an entertainer.

I'm a tele shape guy. My Classic S gets all the in between sounds.

[darwinohm]

Gary, I had you being from the West Side of Chicago in my mind. And here you are from Buffalo. In addition to guitars, you must have a good understanding of snow. We have a big snowstorm in Minneapolis today and the Vikings are playing in an open stadium tonight. The football old timers love it.

Nice guitars and I like the Orange with the MM cabinet. I saw an old MM being used at a gig last night.

Your blues stuff is extremely humorous and dead on. I like the blues but after 20 minutes I get over it!

I am not partial to type but I have to put a Bigsby on a T style to really get into them. I do like the Legacys, but frankly, I like everyone that I own. I am easy. Ginny wishes that I had more dislikes for guitars.

Good to see that you guys that do not gig much anymore still have a passion for this. We never forget the memories, good and bad, that we have had gigging. Our band does about 10 a year now and that is perfect as we avoid the winter months. It is a healthy thing for the mind, and it makes me feel like a kid again. My daughter told me today that she has been invited into the worship band at her church. It is an excellent band and she will enjoy it. Keep it coming Gary!

[zapcosongs]

Great start, Gary. That blues thing was funny. Peed myself a "wee" bit ;+).

I'm a T-Guy now, but heck if I'm not enjoying the hell out of that early SC-3 you sold me a couple of years back. Gives me all the "S" I'll ever need so it enabled me to sell a Legacy I really loved to another member here and then hit the BIN on a great Leo-era L1K.

I actually think RickT is under-rated. Him and Slick. - ed

[GDub]

Hey WSD, hoping you'll post that wacky snow pic of you in shorts on the picnic table sometime this week for the uninitiated.

"T" vs "S." Neither really. I play "S" more (love my Legacy!), but I really prefer the shapes of my SC-2 and Heritage H137.

Kinda sorta keeping with the "off topic" Blues theme, the only Blues(like) song we've done as The Mad Maggies was way back in 2004 on the first album, "Crazed and Enthused"--and I seem to remember playing my ASAT Special during the recording of the song (through my old workhorse Rivera R-55):

Short and Sweet

BTW, we bill this as the shortest Blues song ever and keep to the 1 1/2 minute format whenever we bust it out in a set. ALWAYS good for a laugh!


--GDub

[Philby]

That blues primer is hilarious and probably explains why I don't 'get' the blues. I aint fixin' to die, I aint in no ditch and I aint never killed nobody with a broken whiskey bottle. I do live a lonnnngggg way south though.

I trekked around a lot of Blues/Roots festivals with my Dad when I was very young and my 5 y.o. brain always thought the Blues sounded predictably the same. Thirty five years later I still haven't heard any Blues to change my opinion. The ironic thing is that 'Yer Blues' is one of my favourite Beatles songs, mainly because of John Lennon's raw vocal. Going by the lyrics JL obviously read the Blues Primer.....

Strats vs Teles: A good strat feels like an extension of my arms but a tele makes the sounds I've always had in my head and wanted to emulate. I like the raw, basic feel of a tele style guitar too.

As far as underrated guitarists go, I've always admired Peter Buck from REM for being a guitar anti-hero and playing for the song rather than shooting for the spotlight with solos.

Looking forward to the rest of the week WestSide

[RickT]

I'm a Strat guy but I do love a good tele. It just feels different, like you can really rock with that thing. I went from pop to rock and then to blues but I do love a good rock ballad.

RickT

[willross]

Great stuff and hope to see some "old board" content. I dig the S-Type, but can live with them all. I dig the Blues, but rather not suffer from them.


Cheers,

Will

[sirmyghin]

I trekked around a lot of Blues/Roots festivals with my Dad when I was very young and my 5 y.o. brain always thought the Blues sounded predictably the same. Thirty five years later I still haven't heard any Blues to change my opinion. The ironic thing is that 'Yer Blues' is one of my favourite Beatles songs, mainly because of John Lennon's raw vocal. Going by the lyrics JL obviously read the Blues Primer.....

Thats pretty much what I was thinking .

[vinnyk]

Hey G-Dub!

In regards to guitar shapes,I like the T and S shapes both.
I love my ASAT Classic also, and go to it first and foremost, then my Strat.There is just something special about these guitars!
I also love my SC-2 for feel and balance(and tons of tone!) and cant believe you couldnt bond with yours?
I am glad to see you doing the duty this week and always enjoy your posts!

Cheers from rainy California!
Vinnyk

[vinnyk]

Sorry Duck!
Guess I should finish my coffe before reading and posting here eh?

[sickbutnottired]

Funny about how one gets the blues, for I grew up in a very average middle-income family and the son of a hobbyist jazz pianist. I'm not sure how I developed a liking for the blues, but somewhere along the line I did. Perhaps I can say that I just felt some soul or a feeling that was lacking in other styles, and I wanted to be a part of it. Yet, I found jazz, R&B, and early R&R very closely related to the blues. Long story short, my fascination for the blues most likely started when Hendrix, Cream, and Led Zeppelin hit the scene, but once I started listening the the Allman Brothers amongst others, it opened me up to the Chicago blues scene as well as many delta players. Also, since I don't live too terribly far away from Chicago, it was quite common to see blues acts out of Chicago play in our neck of the woods, such as Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Siegal-Schwall, Luther Allison, and many others. I'm also 56 years of age, but for some odd reason I've been playing the blues and jazz since the age of about 18, and I've never looked back. I would suppose that one could argue that an average white kid out of central WI couldn't possibly know what it feels like to have the blues, let alone play the blues, but I love it!
Jim

I am 35, and my story is almost identical. I was playing AC/DC, Guns & Roses, Kid Rock, you get the picture--but was serious about playing. My brother brought a cream box set to practice. That was the end of normalcy for me. I was just blown away by the sound and the feeling. I couldn't describe it then, or now, so I just call it juice. I have been on journey to find and play music with juice ever sense. It's been great, I have found that music in almost every genre jazz, country, folk, americana, rock--both in and outside the mainstream.

So I say after 20, 30, 50, 100 years we have won some, lost some, and some have been rained out--and blues or any music with juice--is a great way to stay sane!

Play on!