Tag: guitar

Ry Cooder

randydafoe14 Comments
Cover of the 1956 Johnny Cash song “Get Rhythm” with a video appearance by the great Harry Dean Stanton, who had a very decent singing voice himself.

Ryland Peter Cooder was born in Los Angeles on March 15, 1947 and began playing a little guitar at age 3 that was provided by a Violin playing neighbor. To say he was destined to be a Blues guitar player could not be more true. Although I can’t provide it here there’s is a great YouTube video titled Ry Cooder The Slide Man that is worth checking out. He is amazing with any string instrument he picks up but truly he is one of the greatest slide guitar players I have ever heard.

When you are 14 years old and have aspirations to become a professional musician, seeing Blues legends Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee at the Ash Grove club might have an impression on you. Not typical fare for a young kid from California in 1961 but when you are weaned on Blues albums by the likes of Lead Belly, well it was probably like seeing The Beatles. By age 17 he was on that same Ash Grove stage in a band called the Rising Sons that included another name you will recognize, Taj Mahal (Henry Saint Claire Fredericks).

They recorded an album in 1965/66 but Columbia Records did not release it until 1992 on the Columbia – Legacy label.

A cover of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” originally from 1929, by The Risings Sons (1965).

Speaking of destiny his next gig of note was a pickup trio with two of the best string instrument players in history, The Father of Bluegrass himself, Bill Munroe and Guitar and Banjo legend, Doc Watson. Ry Cooder was on the banjo during their set and Bill let him know he needed a little more experience if was to once again share a stage with the two. It’s said he took from the experience a bit of a Bluegrass banjo style and applied it to the guitar, perhaps not uncoincidentally, Doc Watson was already well known for playing fiddle tunes on guitar.

Where Ry would find his place was as a much lauded session player. For example he played mandolin on the Rolling Stones “Love in Vain” and slide guitar on “Sister Morphine”. He has appeared on numerous soundtracks including the films Paris, Texas and Crossroads where his playing was dubbed in for the depiction of Robert Johnson. He would record with Van Morrison, Judy Collins, Mavis Staples and dozens more.

He was a member of the one album supergroup Little Village with John Hiatt, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner.

He would produce and play on the critically acclaimed album Buena Vista Social Club, released in 1997 and he was fined $25,000 for violating the United States Trade Embargo with Cuba. Ironically the album won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album and in 2022 the Library of Congress included it for preservation in the National Recording Registry. It remains one of the best selling “Foreign Language” albums in the US with worldwide sales in excess of 8 million copies. The documentary Buena Vista Social Club was released in 1998.

He has released 17 solo studio albums and his latest collaboration with his old friend Taj Mahal Get on Board came out in May of 2022.

I have a long time dear friend who named her son after Ry Cooder. So here’s to Ryland and all the Cooder fans out there.

The Guitar Players-Finger Style

randydafoe22 Comments

This style of play is kind of self explanatory, the artist plays primarily with their fingers and does not use a pick. Without getting too deep into the art and it’s origins, as there is a future post on the topic, I can attempt a brief summary so we understand the guitar players I’m about to mention. All the fingers have a job and in most methods, be it Blues, Flamenco, Bossa Nova etc. the thumb is very important. You can play acoustic guitar like Liona Boyd, who plays in the Classical style. Then there is electric like Lenny Breau who applied it to a Jazz Style.

While Chet Atkins is regarded as perhaps the best, at least in North America, and certainly one of the pioneers (Merle Travis, Blind Blake) there are of course many players in bands and other genre that use this style. Willie Nelson plays finger style, as does John Mayer, Eric Clapton and I could go on. However, we most commonly use the term when thinking of the solo artist. There are so may Blues greats such as Blind Boy Fuller and Robert Johnson, they are true pioneers that helped shape many genre, not to mention Rock and Roll. As I have seen some of the best Spanish players in Barcelona, we have to remember to not be so North American focused. This is very much a male dominated genre, but I have heard American Muriel Anderson play up close and personal and she is mesmerizing. I have also seen Andy McKee and most recently, Mike Dawes.

Canada has some of those people on the list of the greatest players, so in addition to names I have already discussed, here are some of the solo acoustic artists.

Don Ross was born in Montreal but grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and he currently resides near Charlottetown on the East Coast of Canada. Don is one that I am very happy to have seen perform and he is quite remarkable. His demeanor is affable and humble but his playing has put him in demand around the world. He is the first two time winner of the International Finger Style Guitar Championship held in Kansas at the Walnut Valley Festival. Since the competition started in 1977, another four Canadians have placed in the top three.

Apologies in advance as some of the YouTube links may not work outside of Canada. Following Don Ross there are a few clips of the leading artists of the genre.

Antoine Dufour is from Québec and studied the playing of Don Ross as well as Americans Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges who was a mentor to Don Ross. He has won the Canadian Finger Style Competition and a third place at the Walnut Festival in the US.

Don Alder is another Walnut Festival winner and lives in British Columbia.

Calum Graham is also from British Columbia and along with his mentor, Don Ross and as noted above Antoine Dufour, is on the list of the Top 25 Finger Style Guitar Players from The Guitar Journal.

The Guitar Players – Rockin’ Blues

randydafoe22 Comments

When it comes to rocking out on guitar there are some names; Neil Young, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Randy Bachman (Guess Who and BTO), Jeff Healy and Rik Emmett (formerly of Triumph) you have most likely heard. You may also know (the clip above) Colin James who hit the US Main Rock Chart three times, “Just Came Back” reached #7 in 1990. But you are less likely to know of David Wilcox or Colin Linden.

David Wilcox was born in Montreal and started guitar at age 9, his first big break came when he joined with Ian and Sylvia Tyson in 1970. His first of 9 solo albums came out in 1977. He has backed Anne Murray, Cal Perkins, Charlie Rich and has performed with “the guitar players guitar player” Albert Lee.

Colin Linden was born in Toronto and after his family had a brief move to New York State), they returned. At age 11, his mother arranged a meeting with the great Howlin’ Wolf who was doing a matinee in a downtown club. He still carries a picture of Wolf and during that meeting he was told, “I’m an old man now, and I won’t be around much longer, It’s up to you to carry it on.” He has done pretty well on that count, he began performing on the Coffee House circuit in Toronto and then his journey took him to the US were he met and played with many blues greats. He is one of the best guitar sidemen in the business working with fellow Canadians Sue Foley and Bruce Cockburn, as well with Bob Dylan and as a member of Blackie and The Rodeo Kings. He was one of the main musicians, songwriters and music producers for the TV show Nashville (2012-18), which happened to have a couple of Canadian singers in the cast, Lennon and Maisy Stella who played the parts of Maddie and Daphne Conrad. He won a Grammy Award in 2020 for his production of the Keb Mo album Oklahoma.

https://colinlinden.net/home

With all this inflation my two cents worth is now a nickel! Just a reminder that every day in June leading up to Canada Day July 1, I am featuring some of the perhaps lesser known yet very talented home grown performers.

The Guitar Players – Sue Foley

randydafoe16 Comments

Sue was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She started the guitar at age 13, that I thought was a little late for a career maker, although she herself says she started playing at a ‘young’ age. Maybe it’s because she was into Blues so early. By age 16 she was doing gigs and touring, by age 21 she had moved to Austin after signing a record deal with Clifford Antone, who is a producer, club owner and mentor to many great Blues artists such as Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kim Wilson and Gary Clark Jr. Sue has 16 solo albums and appears on dozen’s more. She is quite remarkable and has a great singing voice. As I have pointed out before, when it comes to many rankings, women are not given adequate consideration so you don’t see her name that often.

While it’s true she is celebrated in Blues Guitar circles, and most certainly at Antone’s Club (which is near her home in Austin) they know of her. She has relocated back to the US after living in Canada for about 20 years. Now, don’t get me wrong, she has a following, she has toured Canada and the US, and some of her songs appeared on the lesser known Root Music chart in Canada. But I think more people should give her a listen.

From her first album in 1992.

https://suefoley.com/

The Guitar Players- Liona Boyd

randydafoe9 Comments
Liona Boyd in 1975

While she was born in London, England, at a young age her parents moved to Canada, so she packed her bags (and her accent) and lived in Toronto. Gifted her first guitar at age 13, she received training as a Classical Guitarist from some of the best teachers in the genre including the Spanish virtuoso Andrés Segovia. Able to play in many styles she has recorded with Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Chet Atkins and Yo Yo Ma to name just a few. She has about 30 albums to her credit.

While not a Billboard chart type of artist, nevertheless she is world renowned for her guitar playing. Yet most do not know who she is, even in Canada. Liona would be one of those “niche” artist I mentioned in my introduction to this series. It seems many guitar “best” rankings ‘forget’ about classical players in general, so not single out Boyd as they sometimes get lost outside of the inner circles. In truth it is difficult to compare Classical players to the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton. She is listed in The Top 25 Best Classical Guitarists by The Guitar Journal. I can only think of one Billboard charted(#2) song that features an actual Classical Guitar, that is Mason Williams “Classical Gas” from 1968.

In 2002 she was diagnosed with focal dystonia, a muscle group disorder which for a musician is often the end of their career, however she was able to teach herself a completely new way of playing and continue on, and you would never know otherwise when you listen. Her arrangements are often used by other classical players, and she has a lovely singing voice as well.