Ah! Ah! beautiful is the Mother! Ah! Ah! beautiful is her child

Christmas music on a harp-guitar. This guy is really good:

We skipped a light fandango . . .

Politics are so ugly right now that I need to wrap in a cocoon of music. I've chosen this young man to warm my cold heart, and remind me that art is, above all, a healing thing:



Oh, and he's 13 years old. Who know what he might do when he, you know, grows up.

Can't Hide

If you hesitate you lose. Check him out!

Update, from Steve: Here's a video of young Calvin Prior:

Sweetly singing o’er the plains

As a guitarist (in a former life), I'm always attracted to fine guitar playing. And since it's Christmas season, here's a wonderful guitar version of "Angels We Have Heard On High" from Tim Thompson:



For extra fun here's his version of "We Three Kings":

And if London burns I'll be standing on the beach with my guitar

This is a revised version of the post I did last night for Crooks & Liars Late Night Music Club.

As a long-time classical guitar player, I'm always interested in seeing what other players are doing, especially outside the mainstream.

This is how I discovered the wonderful young Chinese women who all study under Prof. Chen Zhi at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. More about these amazing players can be found at Alma Guitar.

The most well-known and accomplished of these young women is Su Meng. Here's is a video of her playing Paganini's Caprice #24. Metal shredders will weep in humility after seeing this woman play. (this is a better video than the original, thanks to C&L commentor Ian)



And just in time for Christmas, here is a quartet of Wang Yameng, Su Meng, Chen Shanshan, Li Jie playing the Overture to the Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite:



For those who made it this far, and especially for those at C&L who questioned Su Meng's musicality, check out this video of her giving a clinic demonstrating the opening bars of the Caprice at increasingly faster tempi and varied rhythmic stylings:

I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do

As this Thanksgiving winds down after Pam's fantastic dinner, and I have time to reflect, I find myself thankful for several things:

Family, who have to love you even when you act like a jerk:



Family far, far away:



Family too new to really understand, yet precious beyond measure:



Old friends:


New friends;



Lifelong romance that goes from here:


to here:

and the thread that ties it all together: Music.

18th century:




19th century:




Mid-20th century:




Later 20th century:




Late 20th century:




21st century players playing 20th century music. It's really all rock'n'roll:

'Cause I can play this here guitar, Pt. 11

Part 11 in my series of under-appreciated guitarists, spotlights someone . . . well, who seems to already be appreciated. Sadly, I don't think he's appreciated for what he has contributed.

As I've written here before, I was attracted to The Yardbirds as soon as I heard their quirky guitar-driven pop. Thus it should be no surprise that I waited impatiently for the debut album their former lead guitarist Eric Clapton released with his new group: Cream.

Too many know Clapton today as an Armani-clad aging rocker, whose playing, while very nice, doesn't seem to be inspirational, but rather sort-of...well, generic. This is the Clapton of the slow, unplugged version of "Layla", of countless major events like 'The Concert For George".

The reason Clapton sounds generic today is that, simply put, he wrote the book for the modern rock guitarist, and everyone else is copying him. Period. Certainly he studied the black blues masters of the '40s, '50s and '60s, and clearly was influenced by Buddy Guy, but I can remember the '60s very clearly, and no white guy played like that before Clapton.

Before he adopted his famous black Strat, he was a Gibson guitar devotee. Plugging into 100 Watt Marshalls, created the basis for a sound that is still relevant today. Clapton with a fire in his belly, with something to prove, was a force of nature. For a brief time, he was the electric guitar. Of course, quickly on his heels came Jeff Beck, and others, but Clapton was the first of his day.

I offer, as proof, this live "Crossroads" by Cream, 1968:



Here is a clock-stopping "I'm So Glad" from the farewell concert at Royal Albert Hall, '69:



And here is the studio version of Crossroads, from "Wheels of Fire", for comparison:




Update:

Here's a brief interview, then "Steppin' Out" from the Farewell Concert. 3 gifted musicians at the peak of their power. Makes many of the "jam bands" of today sound tame:

He took it all too far but boy could he play guitar

2 posts back I used a YouTube of The Byrds, featuring a guitarist not really well-known outside the guitar world and Byrds aficionado circles, Clarence White.

As has probably been obvious by any who read here regularly, I am a guitar junky. I don't play as much or as well as I used to, due to spinal cord damage, but I'm still totally in love with the instrument, and fascinated by those who play it really well. And Clarence played really well, and was a true innovator.

Clarence grew up in the bluegrass world. Here's an early picture (He's on the right):

Growing up in Southern California, I watched country music shows produced locally. One was Cal's Corral, produced by Cal Worthington, eccentric car dealer. I clearly remember in high school, in the '60s, seeing the Kentucky Colonels on Cal's Corral, and thinking that while they looked pretty grim, man could those boys play, especially the guitarist.

While there had been flashy country players for a long time, the conservative and traditional bluegrass world hadn't adapted yet. Solos were played by the banjo, fiddle, and mandolin players, once in a while the dobro, with the guitar used as a rhythm instrument, to augment the bass. Clarence really helped change that becoming one of a group of young bloods playing dizzying leads on Martin D-28s.

Here are the Colonels on the Andy Griffith show:



Seems pretty ordinary so far, right?

For those with iTunes accounts, go there now for a real treat. Search for Clarence White. Now play the first selection, "Bury Me Beneath The Willows." Go ahead, I'll wait.

. . .

Pretty nifty finger picking, you're probably thinking, right? Well, no. That's Clarence using only a flat pick in his right hand. Starting to get it?

To see how that works, watch this clip from a few years later, demonstrating what could be done with a flatpick. The first song is a bit ho-hum, but wait for the second, you'll clearly see what the fuss was about:



Clarence was attracted to the growing alt country scene here in L.A., and quickly adapted to the electric guitar, becoming one of the most prolific session players around. And here is where his second innovation came along.

After playing on several seminal country-rock records, including the Byrd's Sweethearts of the Rodeo, he was asked to join the Byrds. While country electric guitarists had been bending strings to simulate pedal steel licks for some time, Clarence wasn't satisfied with this. He brainstormed with the Byrd's drummer, Gene Parsons, who was a pretty handy guy with tools, and the B-string bender was born.

Here is an early clip of Clarence using the bender with the Byrds:



Here he is much later in the Byrds career, with a much different look. By now his style had adapted from straight flatpicking to a much more advanced hybrid style, using both the pick and fingers:



And here's a picture I took at the old Ash Grove on Melrose (now the Comedy Store), in 1970. A bunch of rockers who all started playing in bluegrass bands at the Ash Grove got together for a bluegrass night. That's Chris Hillman far left playing mandolin, and Bernie Leadon, original guitarist in the Eagles on banjo, admiring Clarence's playing:


And for those who really want a treat, here's "Eight Miles High" from the Fillmore East:



Sadly, Clarence died July 14, 1973. Who knows what else he would have done.

Here's some links to fan sites, and discographies:

http://www.myspace.com/clarencewhite

http://members.chello.at/bluegrass.newgrass/clarencewhite.htm