Posted July 23, 2011 at 6:56 am | No comments
“Margaritaville,” originally released in 1977 via ABC, is a song by Jimmy Buffet. In the song, Buffet, who is known for his “island escapism” image, sings about roaming the beach, drunk on margaritas, “searching for my lost shaker of salt.” Appearing on his album, Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes, “Margaritaville” has almost come to define Jimmy Buffet’s impressive career. The scene portrayed in the song is a huge part of his image. Buffet even owns a chain of restaurants called the Margaritaville Cafe.
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Posted July 22, 2011 at 6:56 am | No comments
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” is the last track on the third and last album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and is based on the 15-minute “Voodoo Chile,” which is also on that same album. It was recorded after the group had finished recording the long, slow blues jam of “Voodoo Chile” when a TV crew came in and wanted footage of the band recording. As the group’s only song to hit No. 1 on the charts in the UK, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” is one of the most beloved guitar songs in Hendrix’s body of work. The guitar solo is #11 on Guitar World’s 100 Best Guitar Solos list, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd has said that it is “the guitar anthem of all time.”
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Posted July 21, 2011 at 8:04 am | No comments
Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” is one of the most famous guitar solos. Part of the reason for this is his revolutionary use of a wah-wah and whammy bar with controlled feedback. It’s also partly because he played it at Woodstock in ’69 and was featured in the documentary film on the festival. Some people loved the solo, believing it to be an update on our national anthem, an anthem-goes-psychedelic kind of thing, but some thought Hendrix was desecrating something sacred. Either way, it’s a killer solo, so use that whammy bar and get dive-bombing!
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Posted July 20, 2011 at 8:16 am | No comments
Jimi Hendrix has said that “Little Wing” is “one of the very few ones I like,” from his 1967/68 album Axis: Bold as Love. He got the idea for the song by putting everyone who attended a festival at Monterey into a girl named “Little Wing” and writing a song about her. Hendrix’s unique guitar tone in the song was achieved by playing through a Leslie organ speaker cabinet, giving his guitar a swirling effect. The frustratingly short song is one of Jimi’s finest compositions, fading out during the ending guitar solo shortly after the 2-minute mark. Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan later gave fans more to chew on with an almost 7 minute long version on his 1991 album The Sky Is Crying.
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Posted July 19, 2011 at 8:49 am | No comments
“Foxy Lady,” one of the great Jimi Hendrix’s most recognizable songs, showcases Jimi’s amazing guitar tone as he sings about, well, a foxy lady. Although the lyrics are somewhat possessive regarding women (“You got to be all mine, all mine”), Hendrix has commented that that is not how he approaches women at all. Either way, this is one of the great guitar songs of the ’60s, appearing on Are You Experienced, and the badass riff the song is based on is necessary knowledge for any level of guitarist, so go get groovin’!
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Posted July 18, 2011 at 8:49 am | No comments
“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!
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Posted July 17, 2011 at 7:48 am | No comments
“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.
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Posted July 16, 2011 at 7:48 am | No comments
“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.
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Posted July 15, 2011 at 8:51 am | No comments
“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!
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Posted July 14, 2011 at 8:51 am | No comments
“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.
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