Monday, April 18, 2011

Tone to the Bone




In the past 50 years, tube amplification has come a long, long, way. Many of the early 50's Fender amplifiers are thought of as the holy grail of amps as far as tone goes due to the components used, and the fact they were hand assembled. While there is no doubt something special about the mid to late fifties Fender Amps, and as well as the guitars and bases that were built, there are currently many amps being built as well as amp clones, that are in the $500.00-2,000.00 price range that have amazing tone and pack a lot of bang for there buck. Here are a few specimens.....



The Fender Blues Jr.... I own this Amp and while it is a little guy, its in the $500.00 price range, and when you crank up the volume and let it start to break up, it has a great blues tone, and packs a nice little bunch... very respectable for the price




Victoria Amps....These guys are based out of the Naperville area, and I have a buddy who plays one and the tone is impressive. 2 channels and sounds great with an overdrive pedal. roughly $1500.00 msrp





Bad Cat Amps....These guys pack a nice little punch and are roughly 5-15 Watt beasts that can really shake you up







Mesa Boogie have a reputation for a reason. They have been around forever and have nice tone and tubes that help you find whatever tone you're looking for from Rock to Jazz and inbetween


This is the amp you dream of the highly sought after Dumble. Not many exist and if you find a legit original expect to pay in excess of 20k!!!!!!! but the tone is unmistakable and some of the greats have sworn by them, specifically SRV!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Buddy Miles King of the Funky Drummers


Buddy Miles was a master of Blues and Funk drumming. He was a personality that could keep the back beat strong while hitting the high notes and having fun the whole time. He could play all styles of music and had a way of just finding the groove. He played with a variety of people and bands, but is best known as the drummer for Band of Gypsys with Jimi Hendrix, and Billy Cox. Buddy also played drums on Electric Ladyland. He was in my opinion by the far the best drummer that Hendrix played with and when you listen to them together you can just feel how they groove and bring out the best in each other. You can tell from the pic's below that Buddy and Jimi were tight and if you sitdown with a few beers and let band of gypys play you can hear some of Jimi's best work because of Buddy. And how can you not love a big dude rocking an american flag harley trike in the late 60's. RIP Buddy!
Buddy and Jimi kicking it in the studio Buddy and Jimi post show beverages Buddy and Jimi talking out song selection at Newport Jazz Festival

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Boner Patrol



While I am currently sockin away any extra cash for a couch and new computer, here is a list of the beautiful instruments that I will one day own. They are made of wood, and they give me mild wood thinking about how awesome it will be to plug in and rock out. The first and foremost being the ES-345, after that they run in no particular order.....


ES-345


1962 Gibson SG in Pelham Blue




Guild F-20 Goldtop Gibson Les Paul Martin 000-28

Lofty Goals





I have been living in a tiny, (when I say tiny I mean under 400 Sq Ft) apartment for about 6 months. While it has made me more resourceful and forced me to have a multifunctional space where almost everything has a dual use, I long for the day when I will have the financial ability to rent/own a nice big open space.




I love the idea of the loft, high ceilings, open floorplan and the ability to constantly change the layout of furniture to suite your needs. The high ceilings tend to make the space feel much larger and more open than it is and because of this many times you get added bonuses like extra storage space or a duplex layout with bedrooms upstairs and kitchen/living room on the lower level. Here are a few inspirational pics of lofts currently available for rent here in the fine city of wind which range from $1,300-3,000 a month....... One day one will be mine


This loft was post as a partially furnished River West rental for $1275.00/month!!!!







Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bill Withers Was, Is, and Always will be a Badass



“Thoreau said– most men live lives of quiet desperation. I would like to know how it feels for my desperation to get louder.“ - –Bill Withers




1974 — Muhammad Ali and singer/songwriter Bill Withers chat during the Zaire ’74 Music Festival that preceded the epic Ali vs. Foreman’Rumble in the Jungle’ fight on Oct. 30th, 1974. Other performers included– James Brown, B.B. King, the Spinners, the Fania All-Stars, Miriam Makeba and Zairian musical artists, all chronicled in the 2008 film,’Soul Power’. When asked later if it felt like a moving, historic racial event at the time Withers recalled, “No. It was two big guys going to fight each other at four o’clock in the morning. It wasn’t this great intellectual pursuit. And there’s a certain reality to going someplace where there’s a dictator. You notice the disparity in the wealth.” And in regard to the African-American movement that was hapeening to re-discover their roots? “Awwww, come on, man. It wasn’t a great historical moment. Interesting, but that was that. No great spiritual experience. Mostly what everybody found out was–we had been shaped and transformed by American culture and the history we had here, and they had been shaped by whoever colonized their place. They weren’t speaking any African languages. We were speaking English and they were speaking French. How African is that?”


Bill Withers was no natural born musician, or polished product of the recording industry. He was a simple man, a bit manic depressive he’d even tell you himself– and that may be why his plain spoken words, delivered so powerfully, pack the punch they do. The youngest of six kids, Withers was born in a bleak West Virginia town where coal mining was your best prospect. He’d be the first man in his family to escape its grip. Withers joined the Navy and got the hell outta there. It turned out to be a nine year hitch, and along the way picked up singing in bars wherever he found himself stationed. Later he picked up the guitar and taught himself a crude, but effect, playing style where he’d form simple barre chords and rhythms– this allowed him to passionately pound out songs without having to give much thought to his fingering– he could just slide his hand up and down the neck. - - “Bill played just enough guitar to do what he did– But, what he did was really good.” –Craig McMullen, Bill Withers backing guitarist. Withers openly admitted he was a hack on the guitar, but he managed to wrench more power and emotion out of his instrument than other, more accomplished, players. After the Navy, Withers found himself working at an airplane assembly plant. It was glamorous work– he was bolting toilets seats on planes. He was also hanging out in LA clubs– mostly to meet girls. When he overheard how much a club owner was paying one of the acts– a light went off. “I wasn’t particularly interested in music, though I sat up when it was Lou Rawls or Little Willie John. Then one night this guy behind the bar was moaning that the performer was late and he said, ‘You know, I’m paying this guy $2,000 a week and he can’t even show up on time!’ I thought, “They’re paying this guy $2,000 a week? He doesn’t even get up in the morning!” Withers got to honing his craft, and scraped up enough dough to cut a demo. His big break came when the small Sussex label agreed to put out his album– and hired the highly regarded Booker T. Jones as producer. Booker saw potential in Withers, even with as raw as his talent was, and drafted his own session band (The MG’s) to back him up. Even after the release of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ Withers kept his day job. He later recalled, “I had been working at Weber Aircraft and then I got laid off. Then ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ started appearing on the radio. And it’s funny, I got two requests in the same day. A letter from my job, telling me I was called back to work. And a request to do ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson.” Bill Withers vulnerably revealed the essence of who he was that night when he told Johnny Carson, “I would like to say something that has not been said so much. I would like for music to be real for a change.” - - Bill Withers in concert. “In my lifetime, music went through a huge transition, to where the biggest music in the world was derivative. White people imitating black people. Some journalist got really insulted a while back, because he asked if Elvis had influenced me. Hell, no! To do what?” In 1975, the label that had discovered and launched Bill Withers, Sussex, went belly up. CBS came along and bought out his album and recording rights for a paltry hundred grand. The relationship between Withers and CBS was strained. Sadly, long gone now were the days of his hard strummin’, foot poundin’, woeful, soulful tunes. His recordings for CBS were over-produced, pandering pop songs that lacked much resemblance to his honest, early work. 1985 would mark his last original release– Bill Withers decided he was done. Fortunately, with over 250 artists eventually covering his tunes, he and his family would be able to live comfortably off of the songwriting and licensing royalties for decades to come. And he did it without caving in to the industry’s pressure for him to crank out ‘black’ music “with the horns and the three chicks.”

“You gonna tell me the history of the blues? I am the goddam blues. Look at me. Shit. I’m from West Virginia, I’m the first man in my family not to work in the coal mines, my mother scrubbed floors on her knees for a living, and you’re going to tell me about the goddam blues because you read some book written by John Hammond? Kiss my ass.” –Bill Withers - - 1970 — This Post and the photo's were borrowed from JP over at theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com I admire Bill Wither's not only for his fantastic music and lyrics, but that he was not afraid to speak his mind, and stand up for what he believed in. We need more men like Bill Wither's in this world.....