Forget a Shadows forum... go deeper... why are we here? :D

[Steve Parish]

It must have been a good idea at the time...
I wish my laptop would automatically notice when I've had a few and refuse to work!
I better add... the original message must in no way be taken too seriously!
D'oh!

[Iain Purdon]

Oh I don't know. In vino veritas...
Anyway, free speech eh?

[HAIRY]

How deep is deep? Ry finds a sound and then moves on:
- http://rycooder.nl/pages/ry_cooder_Inst ... ffects.htm
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-XeHmrNSoc
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OIgZQj1aqs
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpJYvLsBco
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7LxCRJC4Kw

[Jiggerz]

Hooray for booze

Thanks for this post Steve, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who does this sort of thing after one too many

[geoff1711]

well I've alays said I'd prefer to hear somebody's own interpretation than a carbon copy.

So rather than Hank's improvised bits do your own, but that then raises a question, what percentage of notes can you change before it ceases to be the song?

For instance Sleepwalk, Hank has recorded a couple (at least) versions of Sleepwalk, but The Ventures version is probably closer to Santo and Johnie's original.

And of course Perfidia is nothing like Glen Miller's version.

So is it that, if broadly the melody is recognisable then it is the tune?

If so let your imagination run free and let's be proud of our own versions.

Of course nobody can deny that playing note for note and nuance for nuance is very skillful but it's a bit like putting your mate's shoes on, he may take the same size but after he's worn them a while they'd be really uncomfortable for anybody else but him.

Geoff

[Bill Bowley]

Steve,

All makes sense to me.................

[neil2726]

Hank gets given a Strat, a Vox amp and Im not sure if he bought the echo, and we all spend a fortune trying to sound like him!

[Bill Bowley]

Steve,

I think one should be selective as far as what part of Hank's style one copies anyway, some may be not quite what we are after..........

[abstamaria]

While we all enjoy The Shadows, our points of focus differ widely. Some are musicians, wanting to make a song "their own," as they say in American Idol. Others are intrigued by The Sound and pursue that Grail relentlessly, probably never capturing it (a good thing, actually). Still others are interested solely in discography, others in the technical side of amplifiers, valves, etc., others history, and so forth.

In the Ventures chat rooms, an overwhelming majority seem focused on where the Ventures are playing and what they played. Unusually (to a Shadows buff), there is hardly any discussion on how to sound like the Ventures. There is hardly any discussion on gear, and no one seems to know, or care, what amplifier or guitar was used on a certain piece. And forget plectrums. Most covers sound quite different from the original pieces (the exception being some done in Japan, which are very close), IMO. In general, no one cares to sound like the Ventures did, even the Ventures themselves!  If we agree with the suggestion in the post that started this thread (not to be taken seriously as Steve warned), it seems Ventures fans are way ahead of Shadows fans!

I am just kidding and am happy there is a wide range of topics here. My own goal at the moment, not being talented enough and having picked up a Stratocaster rather late, is simply to try to play and sound like The Shadows., and only pre-Burns pieces at that.

On an somewhat related note, Anna Treichler (our bass guitarist who posts here too - see the bass section) and I were talking last night about a new show this year. All pre-1964 Shadows and Ventures pieces only, played as accurately as we can on "correct" guitars, strings, amps, but supported with live strings, brass, and chorus. We'd do Apache as originally released, but add strings toward the end, Theme for Young Lovers with violins, Wonderful Land with real French horns. We're thinking of playing Pipeline, but use live strings for the sections where the Chantays used an electric piano, do the same for Miserlou, Ghost Riders (the Ventures' version), and end with the Ventures' Twilight Zone, complete with soprano! But all throughout the guitar and bass sections will be as original.  How does that sound?  We are quite excited.

Sorry for the long thread (I haven't been drinking so have no excuse).

My best to all of you.  Please keep posting.

Andy  

     

[David Martin]

HurraY!!!