Ain't No One Gonna Turn Me 'Round

First, there was the Box Tops. "The Letter". Sounds like a big old blues voice, but the singer was a teen at the time. Then there was the next project. Big Star. A couple of Memphis boys who loved the Beatles. It was shimmering and brilliant. Alex Chilton.

Honestly, it was Paul Westerberg who introduced me. Gave me some of the best advice ever. "Never go far without a little Big Star."

Rest in Peace.

Want 2.0

Yeah, it's a guitar, so I want it.

It's about the closest I'll practically get to owning a pink paisley Tele, but it's still kinda a copout on that.

But I've played with my Dreadnought plugged into a D/I box, many a time, and a dread is just not what you need if you're playing rhythm in an otherwise electric band. You don't need it to take the low notes, and nobody will hear it if you do. You want something that sounds like a tuned snare drum. And this will do the trick, and be much skinnier and easier to get your arms around.

Make That Lap Steel Sing

This is HeXe Henderson. I first heard of him via Share My Guitar, and you have to know by know that I'm a lap steel lover, and this guy has it. Throw in a take on a Danny Gatton arrangement and you know you have my attention.

Do It Again

Want!

This is a Goya Rangemaster. One of those funky Italian guitars like Buddy Miller plays.

Well, not totally like it — his has a weird aluminum neck.

But it's a $25 guitar, because it's damaged.

I don't know how.

I understand the switches are broken. I'd likely try to wire it for blade switches and knobs, like I can already understand.

$25 for a unique fixer-upper opportunity? Should I jump?

Weisenborn into the Future

Behold the Halua, a Weissenborn-style lap steel, made of carbon fiber.

Man, isn't that dead sexy?

And practical, too, since you can paddle between islands with it. B)

I see more and more of this carbon fiber stuff, starting with the nice but rock-heavy Rainsong guitars of a decade or more back. And, of course, the rounded back points back to the Ovation, although it probably works better for a lap-sitting instrument than for a spanish-style guitar. Seriously, I've played a few and none of them have stayed comfortably on the leg.

It looks like you can only get 'em through eBay. $2000, except this one is pre-owned and costs about a K less. I'd find places to play this. I'd adapt songs from the Matrix soundtrack for slack key. Something.

Incidently, the maker's got a Flickr gallery for the next generation prototype.

Songquest 2010, Take Me With You

This is ever so slightly late. I actually had this worked out a while ago, but a combination of illness and forgetfulness caused me to fail to put it up correctly.

The song for the month is "Take Me With You (When You Go)" by the Jayhawks, from their major label debut, Hollywood Town Hall. I have known the song for 18 years, and I learned the opening riff as one of the first things I picked up by ear.

Except I got it wrong.

Here's what I thought it was:

E -------------------------------------------3----2------------------------------
B -----------1-------------------------------3----3------------------------------
G -----------0-------------------------------2----2------------------------------
D -----------2--------------------------0----0----0------------------------------
A --0--2--3--3---3--2--0--2--0---------------------------------------------------
E ------------------------------3--1--0------------------------------------------

Here's what I now believe it to be:

E -------------------------------------------2----0------------------------------
B -----------1-------------------------------3----3------------------------------
G -----------0-------------------------------2----2------------------------------
D -----------2--------------------------0----0----0------------------------------
A --0--2--3--3---3--2--0--2--0---------------------------------------------------
E ------------------------------3--1--0------------------------------------------

Up to the cowboy and back down, coming off like an alternative bluegrass G-run, ending that staple, suspending the third on a D chord. Except I thought it was sus4-to-major when it was really major-to-sus2.

Here's the chordal structure for the verse and chorus. Remember, it's the acoustic guitar, not the electric, that carries the freight on this song. You could easily play just the chords and sing, plus one or two of the fills, and have it work in a singer-songwriter open-mic night.

Verse

    C   /    /    G
    D   /    F    /  (x4)

Chorus

    G   /    D    /
    C   /    /    /  (x2, or maybe 3, I forget)

There's a cool lick which I think is mostly the bass. I like how it goes on the six-string guitar, though.

E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D ------------------------0------------------------------------------------------
A ---3--2--0-----0--2--3---------------------------------------------------------
E ------------3------------------------------------------------------------------

The solo took me a while to suss out. Much like last time, this solo involves R&B-style B-and-E string alternating. There's a third tone in double stops, and I think that thickening third tone is what really got me. Or I might just be dim. The first chunk, it uses that a lot, kinda implying the C and D chords with the 3rd and octave on the first and third string.

E ---8------------------9------10--10--9---8------------------8----9---10---10s--
B --------------------------------------------8b10-8b10-b10r8---------------------
G -9---9b10r9-7-9-7--10---10s11--11--10--9-------------------9---10---11---11s---
D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a must-know: the major-third jump between the G and B strings gives you the easiest bend-to-unison.

E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B -10-10-10-------10-10-10-10-------10-10-10-10-------10-10-10-10-------10-10-10-
G ---------12b14h------------12b14h------------12b14h------------12b14h----------
D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know which key this thinks it is, but there's an F# and a C# (Db?) that are surely nice and chromatic in this part.

E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G -----12----10--11--------------------------------------------------------------
D --12----12---------12--11--10---------10--12--10-------------------------------
A -------------------------------10--12-------------12--10-----------------------
E ----------------------------------------------------------9-10-slide-down------

Here's the original. Well, mostly. More recent and live. Back in the day, the part was done on an SG with a tremolo (Lyre or Maestro). For this one, he has a Tele with a Bigsby, which of course makes me smile. It's a thick, distorted tone, not the normal country tone. I like that.

As I've pointed out before, this isn't dirty, or at least dirty thudding chords, so the hugeness of the lead guitar sound comes from the tremolo. But there is a fair amount of gain in there. There's a second, to-the-outro solo up in there, but I'm not touching it here, but it is of the same style as the first.

And that's it for this month's Songquest post. I'm considering doing the solo for Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" next time.