As I’ve already detailed, the festival grounds for Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Chicago left a lot to be desired, including not having to dig wood chips out of my shoes every two minutes. Other complaints were transportation, food and beverage prices (although that’s a constant for every festival ever), sound bleeding, and scheduling, but the lineup is most definitely not on that list.
It all started in 2004, when Phil Collen, after 20+ years as lead guitarist for Def Leppard, decided to express himself via another creative outlet – something a bit closer to his musical home.
With Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) on drums and Simon Laffy (Girl) on bass, Manraze was formed and released their debut album SURREAL in the summer of 2008. This debut album was chock full of rebellious in-your-face mantras (“Turn it Up”, “This Is”, “Running Me Up”) ranging from hardcore punk to dub.
“Halleluja” was originally written by singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on his album Various Positions. Although it didn’t have much success initially, the numerous cover versions that followed have made it incredibly well-known, appearing all over pop culture. It has been covered in studio or live by many, including John Cale, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang, Alexandra Burke, and many others. Hey, it was even in Shrek!
“You And I Both” is a love song from Jason Mraz’s 2002 debut album Waiting For My Rocket To Come. The song showcases Mraz’s vocal stylings, much like most of his songs, with strummed guitar chords in the verses. In the choruses, multiple layers of other acoustic guitars and electric slide guitars make for a thick instrumentation as Jason croons about lost love.
“You’ve Got A Friend” was originally recorded in 1971 by Carole King, who accompanied her singing with an Elton John-esque style, but the song was made famous by James Taylor, who recorded and released his version the same year. The cover was on Taylor’s album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, and won the Grammy for Best Male Vocal Performance, while Carole King won the Grammy for Song of the Year for her version. The James Taylor version has a much thinner sound than King’s, as a sole acoustic guitar fingerpicks away as accompaniment, with flourishes of simple counter melodies are played by another under Taylor’s brittle voice.
Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” has, along with Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” the most famous riff in hard rock. That “duh, duh, duh…. duh, duh, duhduh… duh, duh, duh… duh, duh…” is one of the first riffs learned by almost every budding guitar player, and for good reason. Just try to get it out of your head. Go ahead, try. Yeah, that’s right, it’s still in there. And you didn’t even hear the riff; you just read some idiot’s text interpretation of it.
“You’re Beautiful” is British singer James Blunt’s most successful song. It was the third single off his album Back To Bedlam in Australia and the UK and the first in the U.S. and Canada, where it reached No. 1 on the charts. Featuring simple, tender guitar chords supported by piano, an acoustic guitar melody gives way to Blunt’s wavery tenor singing about seeing his ex-girlfriend on the subway with another man. Go get serenading, guys!
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was originally supposed to be entitled “In the Garden of Eden,” Iron Butterfly’s vocalist Doug Ingle was decidedly un-sober when he told drummer Ron Bushy the name of the song. Bushy wrote down the nonsensical name we all know well, and it stuck. Based on a repeating minor key riff played by both the guitar and bass, this seventeen-minute epic of a psychedelic trip is known for being one of the songs that show where psychedelia was giving way to heavy metal. It also features an extended tribal-sounding drum solo that gives way to a swirling organ solo.
It’s easy to stay in the box, to not explore and discover new ways of playing guitar or to come up with new ways to amp up your career aspirations. But, if we check out the way legendary guitarist Les Paul approached his guitar passion and life, I believe we can all take inspiration from “Rhubarb Red” and continually re-think or even out-think the challenges that we face in our music and our lives. If we emulate the life of Les Paul, we find ourselves on a path that reflects high-intensity curiosity, demands a “Can Do” attitude that’s followed-up with disciplined action – leading us to both small and grand success.
“Number of the Beast” could very well be considered the legendary Iron Maiden’s signature song, as it is the title song from their most well-known album of the same name. They almost never neglect to play it at concerts, and it introduced the concept of the evilness of the number 666 to the masses. After a creepy-sounding poem intro, the driving guitars, bass, and drum kick in with power chords punctuated by riffs in unison. Bruce Dickinson’s amazing wail at the end of the first verse came from his immense frustration at being forced to sing the intro vocal part so many times in a row by producer Martin Birch. It wasn’t planned, but it sounded so awesome they had to keep it.
