Acoustic white boy Hey ya!

[walterick]

And it's good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-8nkkOA_AM

By the way, this is a local dude recorded right here in Tempe.

[another view]

It is really good - saw it a few days ago. Lots of good and totally different covers out there!

[Asylum Steve]

And it's good!...

Cool clip, Rick. What's interesting is that many feel today's hit makers are simply production wizards that aim for an audience that only cares about a danceble beat.

IMO, the true measure of a song is if you can strip it down (as done here), and it continues to hold up melodically and lyrically.

Two of my favorite music tv shows are (were?) MTV's Unplugged and VH1's Storytellers, but of which featured acoustic arrangements of some of rock's biggest stars' biggest hits. It makes you experiece classic songs in a whole new way...

[walterick]

True, Steve. Those are great series (are they still doing them?)

Another (more?) amazing series is Crossroads on CMT. Country stars paired up with rock stars doing an entire live set of music singing and playing each other's songs. Every episode is outstanding. Sheryl Crow and Willy Nelson, Dixie Chicks and James Taylor, Bon Jovi and Sugarland. Really great sets with both plugged and acoustic versions of their tunes. I believe they're still doing the series today, though I haven't watched in a while.

I am definitely in the camp that believes music is becoming too "studio." I don't really know where I lie though in the "good song, stripped" versus "ok song, stunning interpretation" debate. In other words, did Mat here take a really great song and just strip it to its beautiful essence? Or did he take a mediocre song and make it beutiful with his soulfoul treatment of it?

I don't know.

[Asylum Steve]

Another (more?) amazing series is Crossroads on CMT...

The one episode I saw matched Lindsey Buckingham with Little Big Town, a country group I had never heard of. Yeah, it was great. Buckingham is one of my favorites, and any chance to see him perform is a treat. But it's even better with the documentary-style interviews between the live sets...

[adina]

[QUOTE=Asylum Steve]Cool clip, Rick. What's interesting is that many feel today's hit makers are simply production wizards that aim for an audience that only cares about a danceble beat.

QUOTE]

Well, there's certainly something to be said for a danceable beat. I was at a club once, and they played Sabatoge by the Beastie Boys. Now, the Beastie Boys have always been one of my favorites, but that song came on and just about killed the party.

I didn't listen to this link yet...

[schrackman]

That white boy rocked. I love accoustic stuff like that. Now I wanna go play guitar.

[walterick]

Hey Ray,

I was fiddling with the chords from this earlier. All I got figured out is the first is a C. If you happen to play with this, let me know!

Rick

[walterick]

Nevermind! I just found an even better one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGnYw...elated&search=

I wish my kindergarten had been this fun!

[schrackman]

The natural chords are G, C, D then E. Try it!

If I remember correctly, the guy in the video was using a capo, probably because of his vocal range.

Hey, I can teach you "What You're Doing" by Rush from 1974, or the lead to "Take Yourself A Friend," LOL...vintage stuff is fun.

but I should also make mention of the fact that some of this new stuff coming out is pretty good too. One of my favorite songs to play right now is "I So Hate Consequences" by Reliant K. Of course, I add a bit of my own flair to it.

Hey Ray,

I was fiddling with the chords from this earlier. All I got figured out is the first is a C. If you happen to play with this, let me know!

Rick

[another view]

I am definitely in the camp that believes music is becoming too "studio." I don't really know where I lie though in the "good song, stripped" versus "ok song, stunning interpretation" debate. In other words, did Mat here take a really great song and just strip it to its beautiful essence? Or did he take a mediocre song and make it beutiful with his soulfoul treatment of it?

Actually I think he did both.

I agree with the "too studio" comment too, but that's been the case for a long time with popular music. Best quote I heard, and I can't remember who said it, is something like "the best thing about popular music is that it isn't popular for long".

There's almost a factory thing going on with a lot of it (for a long time as well), and it doesn't matter if it's rock, pop or country. I've played music for a long time and almost always had to learn songs by ear. With most of that stuff, once you get to know a style (top 40 country, power pop/punk ala Green Day, etc), you just know where the song is going next. Start playing along and you can feel where the chord change will be, and what the next note is. Sad thing is that in a lot of cases you can do this the very first time you hear the song, so you're just making an eduacated guess - and a lot of times you'll be right. Lame...

One last thing - I do know the difference between punk and Green Day but it seems like a lot of the world that puts music into nice little categories doesnt. /rant over/

[walterick]

Ha, Ray of all those songs you just mentioned I know none

I'll play around with those chords. Thanks!

[schrackman]

Ha, Ray of all those songs you just mentioned I know none

Whhaaaatt???

I'll play around with those chords. Thanks!

I think this will show you how that guy was playing it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WrqVzpY8A...elated&search=