The Regular Friday Post
Rando lyrics: "Blow, you old blue northern, blow my love to me"
Last week’s rando lyrics: The line, “You say, my baby, all this time in between drives me crazy I want a life on fire, going mad with desire" is the first line of the chorus from the Brian Fallon single “A Wonderful Life” released in 2015. The song is the opening track on the album “Painkillers” released the following year.
Brian Fallon is the frontman for the group Gaslight Anthem (on tour now, btw..). This is from his first solo album, which is much more acoustic/Americana oriented than Gaslight Anthem (I like both!!!). I always loved the video to this song, everyone is happy and dancing, and he uses a rope or cord of some type instead of a strap on his guitar. Reasonably easy song to play, more fun if you fingerpick. The chord chart I use is off of Ultimate Guitar.
Welcome to the Regular Friday Post!
Friday posts are about playing and music theory. First, for today I want to talk a bit about “The Wrecking Crew” that I mentioned last week in connection to the Glen Campbell cover of “Gentle On My Mind”. I know of The Wrecking Crew because of what I’ve read, and in a post from the early days of Michael Acoustic about Carol Kaye, the first (maybe only, I don’t know) female member. She played guitar and bass as a session player. So, rather than a bunch of quotes, and pretending I have any information that’s not already widely available, I’m going to link you to the Wikipedia article - which is great! And pretty exhaustive, with a ton of links itself, but I also want to point you to a documentary about The Wrecking Crew (that’s the title) and another about session players in general “Hired Gun”. I know both are available on Amazon cuz I checked, but probably elsewhere as well.
Link> The Wrecking Crew Credit: Wikipedia
I did want to mention one part I found really funny. The name, “The Wrecking Crew” may never have been widely used (or even at all) by the musicians who were part of it. The name may only have come from the book, “Hal Blaine And The Wrecking Crew”, written by Hal Blaine (of course). Ms. Kaye insists the actual name was “The Clique” and the name “The Wrecking Crew” never existed. The humorous part is that Hal Blaine apparently retorted that the name “The Clique” never existed. So….
Anyway, the story is worth the read.
Of course, yesterday we sort of crossed the streams with this:
Link> What is rhythm, time, beat, meter?
that heads down a somewhat more “Friday like” rabbit hole theme. So, not entirely bizarro world, just a little different, and definitely worth the read if you missed yesterday’s post.
I’m mostly going to let you read that article for yourself, and it can be a bit intimidating because of all the intertwined ads for LANDR Studio products. Let me say upfront, it’s worth the read and of course the people who sell LANDR studio products have an absolute right to advertise their stuff anyway they want. I actually appreciate that there is some great stuff embedded in their ad, and so it’s not the usual “Buy Our Stuff So You’ll Automatically Be A Rock Star” kind of thing, there is actual information in there.
Also, they’re not paying me to say nice things or anything at all about them, I just thought it was a pretty good collection of basic information, with a bit more self promotion than you might find in other blogs. Your mileage may vary….
On that, I’ll let you judge for yourself, but if you’ve ever quietly said to yourself, “Can someone just ELI5 it?” well, this is reasonably close. The stuff that took me several posts over a number of weeks, is pretty well encapsulated, at least at a macro level there.
So for today we’re going to catch up on some links I haven’t been able to get to for a few weeks (usually post length issues), and I’ll be enjoying some nice “almost fall” sunshine today in the Upper Left Corner (hopefully - it’s starting off cloudy and cool, but I’m optimistic!).
Some links for today: I’m not sure if I posted some of these before, I was cleaning out links from my phone’s browser (I usually do that after posting, but sometimes I’ll miss one), so if any are repeats, sorry!
From Acoustic Guitar:
Sing and Play At The Same Time
From Blues Guitar Unleashed:
From Disc Makers:
I really like the message of this video, it’s kinda tough love, but needs to be heard if you’re releasing your own, or covering other’s songs:
Space Saving Disclaimer!: This Substack, (not just the first one!) is free, always will be, none of the people or companies or products I link to or write about pay me a damn thing. Neither do you unless you buy my song(s) (See what I did there?). Some stuff may be copyrighted by somebody else…whatever. “Fair Use” doctrine for “educational purposes” (Link: Fair Use) applies, suckers! No stinkin’ AI here unless it’s in something I link to. So.
Michael Acoustic
Thank you, new Subscribers!!!!!! Mika, the Cat, welcomes you!!
Mika, the Cat, with sunshine….
This Week’s Conversation With Mika:
There isn’t one. I just let her quietly contemplate the late summer sunbeams on the floor. She seemed to enjoy it….
Other Voices:
A Song To Play
"Night Life" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson was inspired to write the song during one of his trips from his home in Pasadena, Texas, to his work, singing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston.
Due to financial issues, Nelson sold the song to guitar instructor Paul Buskirk for $150. The recording of the song was rejected by Pappy Daily, owner of Nelson's label, D Records. Daily believed that the song was not country. Encouraged by the amount of money he received for the song, Nelson decided to master it at another studio. To avoid legal actions, it was recorded as "Nite Life" under the artist name of "Paul Buskirk and the Little Men featuring Hugh Nelson." In 1963 Bellaire Records reissued the single under the original title of "Night Life," recrediting it to "Willie Nelson." Credit: Wikipedia Link: Night Life
[Verse 1]
When the evening sun goes down
You will find me hanging round
The night life ain't no good life
But it's my life
[Verse 2]
Many people just like me
Dreaming of old used-to-be's
And the night life ain't no good life
But it's my life
[Bridge]
Listen to the blues they're playing
Listen to what the blues are saying
[Verse 3]
My life is just another scene
From the world of broken dreams
And the night life ain't no good life
But it's my life
The night life ain't no good life
But it's my life
Chord Chart - Long chart - Had to cut off the top portion to “Night Life” - This is capoed on 3 to make it a bit more accessible - note 3/4 (waltz) time, Chordify says a quick 200 BPM, but it doesn’t really feel that fast.
Of course, Mr. Nelson does not use a capo on “Trigger” and just plays the song up and down the fretboard. Original chords can be found at Chordify and I’m sure Ultimate Guitar subscription sites. Have fun!
Shameless Self Promotion Section: I moved this back down here this week, but you know, MLC statements are coming out soon, just saying…
My song is out! Link: “Long Road Back” (click on link for streaming options)
Got Questions? I’ve got answers!
Questions on why and how the song came about, both lyrically and musically?
Questions about what it “means”? - I can answer that one right now - it’s about a road…
Questions about recording, overdubbing with other artists, studio work, mixing and mastering?
About releasing the song? - I can answer that one right now too - all indie, no label, professionally mastered locally, distributor and publishing admin, signed up with PRO, MLC, and SoundExchange.
Questions about the cover art?
Ask me in the comments section below to expand on any of these questions or others, I’ll answer!!!
What I’m Listening2: Great Northern has always been one of those sorta obscure out-of-the mainstream bands that I’ve liked. This is their 2015 album, but they are releasing singles from a new album now - worth a listen.
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic
“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”
I love my damned ol' rodeo, too.
In my recent post/playlist of songs about money/consumerism, I used the Brian Fallon version of The Clash' "Lost in the Supermarket." I dunno if you have seen the video of it. I link to it below. He is great and so are the Gaslight Anthem. Thanks for highlighting him/them!
https://youtu.be/zkP7AEj8rf0