ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 4, 2021 10:41:21 GMT
Some good concerts here, at least for now. Esp enjoyed Emmylou the beautiful (though that has been on Youtube for some time) and Ralph - lovely to hear him from the 70s, great guitar sound and playing of course, some unusual songs as well as a proper SoL - great to hear it played properly, unlike 90% of the covers you come across. It quite restored my previously faded liking for the song! www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006zbkl/the-old-grey-whistle-testTom Petty next Friday! Keith
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Post by woodtoner on Dec 4, 2021 13:08:36 GMT
Some good concerts here, at least for now. Esp enjoyed Emmylou the beautiful (though that has been on Youtube for some time) and Ralph - lovely to hear him from the 70s, great guitar sound and playing of course, some unusual songs as well as a proper SoL - great to hear it played properly, unlike 90% of the covers you come across. It quite restored my previously faded liking for the song! www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006zbkl/the-old-grey-whistle-testTom Petty next Friday! Keith Thanks so much for posting the link - huge Ralph fan and he does so many songs that just bring a tear to my eye "Naomi" & "Claire to here" being 2 of them. his ragtime playing is supurb.
The John Martyn concert was exceptional - I always regretted no seeing him play in Croydon just before he died. there'll never be another John Martyn.. and Emmy Lou *sigh* ... well..*sigh* if only I could find an Emmy Lou to play with..
Thanks again.
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Post by martinrowe on Dec 4, 2021 21:53:33 GMT
I thought it was interesting the way Ralph McTell plays the E chord in Hesitation Blues. It looks like he's playing the 4th and 5th strings as a mini barre with one finger at the second fret. Is it a speed thing - he plays it pretty fast? He does the same with the 5th and 6th strings, I think, at the end of Streets of London. I never associated him with that type of playing.
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Post by woodtoner on Dec 4, 2021 22:14:09 GMT
I thought it was interesting the way Ralph McTell plays the E chord in Hesitation Blues. It looks like he's playing the 4th and 5th strings as a mini barre with one finger at the second fret. Is it a speed thing - he plays it pretty fast? He does the same with the 5th and 6th strings, I think, at the end of Streets of London. I never associated him with that type of playing. He's a massively under-rated player who I consider a GREAT ragtime/country blues picker. His "blind blakes rag" is great and his was the first version of "hesitation blues" I ever heard. I think it was on the original Streets of London album. If you can track down a copy of "Ralph & Sydney" - live at the sydney opera house he really shreds! a great version of "That'll never happen no more" that blows Peter Lang's version out of the water. I have an extended version of that album on a tape somewhere - recorded off of ABC radio in Australia many years ago. Must try to track it down... "Earls Court Breakdown" is another fave of mine that while slow is a real nod to that style.
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Post by lavaman on Dec 4, 2021 23:15:48 GMT
I thought it was interesting the way Ralph McTell plays the E chord in Hesitation Blues. It looks like he's playing the 4th and 5th strings as a mini barre with one finger at the second fret. Is it a speed thing - he plays it pretty fast? He does the same with the 5th and 6th strings, I think, at the end of Streets of London. I never associated him with that type of playing. Blues player John Cephas called it 'mashing the strings' - holding two adjacent strings down with one finger right behind the fret. I don't think its for speed, more for convenience / economy. Iain
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Post by martinrowe on Dec 5, 2021 6:25:41 GMT
Thanks woodtoner and lavaman for your comments. When I say 'that type of playing' it's because I don't think I ever came across it on those Stefan Grossman teaching books and videos, or as a folkie fingerpicking thing. Perhaps it was just because I never came across it. It's surrounded by that fast run, which is what surprised me I think. I've come across it as an alternative first position A chord on the guitar or via Sam Bush's rhythm mandolin style on the mandolin. It's a common fingering for the A and E chords on the mandolin due to the narrowness of the frets relative to the thickness of the fingers, although you have to have some pretty hefty callouses. Beethoven wrote a mandolin piece that is fairly simple apart from the fact that in one place there s a shift of the first finger from the 5th fret on one string to the 5th fret on the adjacent string with the same finger - some people use the technique we're talking about there - to try to get things to flow. Any violin players out there? Yes, economy makes sense, doesn't it. Great version of Hesitation Blues though methinks - fast, fsst.
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juliant
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Post by juliant on Dec 5, 2021 22:34:41 GMT
I thought it was interesting the way Ralph McTell plays the E chord in Hesitation Blues. It looks like he's playing the 4th and 5th strings as a mini barre with one finger at the second fret. Is it a speed thing - he plays it pretty fast? He does the same with the 5th and 6th strings, I think, at the end of Streets of London. I never associated him with that type of playing. He's a massively under-rated player who I consider a GREAT ragtime/country blues picker. His "blind blakes rag" is great and his was the first version of "hesitation blues" I ever heard. I think it was on the original Streets of London album. If you can track down a copy of "Ralph & Sydney" - live at the sydney opera house he really shreds! a great version of "That'll never happen no more" that blows Peter Lang's version out of the water. I have an extended version of that album on a tape somewhere - recorded off of ABC radio in Australia many years ago. Must try to track it down... "Earls Court Breakdown" is another fave of mine that while slow is a real nod to that style.
Another great McTell fan here, and he's made me want a decent J45 since about 1980. I have never been able to get my ragtime stuff to sound like him, partly because he uses more right-hand fingers than I do (at least, that's what I tell myself). A few non-ragtime favourites of mine: "Nettle Wine" (a bugger to sing *and* play), "Summer Lightning", "Tequila Sunset", "Clare to Here", "Joseph's Hands", "When I was a Cowboy"... the list goes on.
I also really love "Maginot Waltz", which I sometimes do along with "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", as the two seem to go together well.
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Post by woodtoner on Dec 5, 2021 23:23:52 GMT
He's a massively under-rated player who I consider a GREAT ragtime/country blues picker. His "blind blakes rag" is great and his was the first version of "hesitation blues" I ever heard. I think it was on the original Streets of London album. If you can track down a copy of "Ralph & Sydney" - live at the sydney opera house he really shreds! a great version of "That'll never happen no more" that blows Peter Lang's version out of the water. I have an extended version of that album on a tape somewhere - recorded off of ABC radio in Australia many years ago. Must try to track it down... "Earls Court Breakdown" is another fave of mine that while slow is a real nod to that style.
Another great McTell fan here, and he's made me want a decent J45 since about 1980. I have never been able to get my ragtime stuff to sound like him, partly because he uses more right-hand fingers than I do (at least, that's what I tell myself). A few non-ragtime favourites of mine: "Nettle Wine" (a bugger to sing *and* play), "Summer Lightning", "Tequila Sunset", "Clare to Here", "Joseph's Hands", "When I was a Cowboy"... the list goes on.
I also really love "Maginot Waltz", which I sometimes do along with "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", as the two seem to go together well.
Great songs - i have difficulty playing "and the band played waltzing matilda" without choking up - after 25 years without it I've just recieved my Grandfather's old banjo mandolin that he took with him to Galipoli. he was one of the lucky ones that made it back and was awarded the Croix de guerre for his actions there. That song gets me every time. I was very honoured to have jammed with Eric Bogle at a pub in New Norfolk, Tasmania in the early 80's after a folk festival we both played at. He was a total gentleman and very patient with me; a rather arrogant, slightly drunk teenager. I still cringe when I think back to those days.
I always thought McTell played a J50 - it was the main motivation for me buying a '66 J50 years ago. A great guitar that met a sad end...
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 6, 2021 0:01:38 GMT
Another great McTell fan here, and he's made me want a decent J45 since about 1980. I have never been able to get my ragtime stuff to sound like him, partly because he uses more right-hand fingers than I do (at least, that's what I tell myself). A few non-ragtime favourites of mine: "Nettle Wine" (a bugger to sing *and* play), "Summer Lightning", "Tequila Sunset", "Clare to Here", "Joseph's Hands", "When I was a Cowboy"... the list goes on. I also really love "Maginot Waltz", which I sometimes do along with "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", as the two seem to go together well. Great songs - i have difficulty playing "and the band played waltzing matilda" without choking up - after 25 years without it I've just recieved my Grandfather's old banjo mandolin that he took with him to Galipoli. he was one of the lucky ones that made it back and was awarded the Croix de guerre for his actions there. That song gets me every time. I was very honoured to have jammed with Eric Bogle at a pub in New Norfolk, Tasmania in the early 80's after a folk festival we both played at. He was a total gentleman and very patient with me; a rather arrogant, slightly drunk teenager. I still cringe when I think back to those days. I always thought McTell played a J50 - it was the main motivation for me buying a '66 J50 years ago. A great guitar that met a sad end...
It was indeed a J45 but with the sunburst finish scraped off, which made it pretty much a J50 I suppose! Keith
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Post by woodtoner on Dec 6, 2021 7:33:45 GMT
Great songs - i have difficulty playing "and the band played waltzing matilda" without choking up - after 25 years without it I've just recieved my Grandfather's old banjo mandolin that he took with him to Galipoli. he was one of the lucky ones that made it back and was awarded the Croix de guerre for his actions there. That song gets me every time. I was very honoured to have jammed with Eric Bogle at a pub in New Norfolk, Tasmania in the early 80's after a folk festival we both played at. He was a total gentleman and very patient with me; a rather arrogant, slightly drunk teenager. I still cringe when I think back to those days. I always thought McTell played a J50 - it was the main motivation for me buying a '66 J50 years ago. A great guitar that met a sad end...
It was indeed a J45 but with the sunburst finish scraped off, which made it pretty much a J50 I suppose! Keith ok - interesting -I do recall seeing one of his album covers with what i assume is the guitar in question but with a big J50 style pick guard. This was what led me to believe it was a J50. Did J45's ever have them?
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 6, 2021 9:28:48 GMT
I believe they did for a while, though I'm no guitar history geek by any means.
Would that be You well meaning brought me here LP? The coffee mug on the guitar top really annoyed me - still does!
Keith
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Post by martinrowe on Dec 6, 2021 9:50:53 GMT
I always felt 'short changed' by Ralph McTell - it wasn't his fault. I heard him play some Ragtime - probably on John Peel's or Bob Harris' radio programme, read a review in the Melody Maker of his latest album, and went and bought it. It was the one you're talking about - I think I ummed and aahed a bit - it was the one with him wearing a suede jacket on the front cover - the jacket didn't really fit with a ragtime image but I bought it. It had the Ferryman on it, but no Ragtime if I remember. I must have played it, at most, 3 or 4 times - well I had payed my money, I had to try.
Funny how these things affect your listening, and make you hesitate paying money for something after you've been burned once.
By the way Keith, what was so annoying about the Coffee Mug? I'm ill at the moment, as you can probably tell, I've time to kill.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 6, 2021 10:43:31 GMT
................. By the way Keith, what was so annoying about the Coffee Mug? I'm ill at the moment, as you can probably tell, I've time to kill. I was annoyed that he would misuse a decent guitar as a coffee table, esp as I was using an Eko Ranger 6 at the time, which would have made a totally bombproof coffee table. Hope you feel better soon Martin. keith
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