JT tribute show

[mnhermit]

So I'm watchint the JT tribute on PBS and Sting is playing some kind of lute/harp guitar, Bruce comes out with harmonica and Martin looking guitar and finally JT does a medley - is that na Olson he's playing.?

A pretty good show, sorry I didn't get to see all of it. I saw him when he opened for Blues Image and Chicago at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh - a horrible venue for his style. But he still touched me with his music.

[billhammond]

Aw, crap. Did I miss that show?


Yes, James plays an Olson, has for years and years .

[John B]

SO if you asked over at AG, I directed you here:

www.harpguitars.net/iconography/icon-relatives.htm

I'm guessing a theorbo guitar lute.

[Deleted]

Yup! It was an Olson with a big ass wireless transmitter sticking out of the butt end.

[mccoyblues]

I caught almost all of the show and for the most part it was very entertaining.

Bruce was playing a Tak 12 string. The Dixie Chicks sounded good. So did India.Arie. Sheryl Crow with David Crosby & Jackson Browne backing her up was good, although the boys didn't get in much singin'. I would have liked to see Jackson take one of the verses. Bonnie sounded wonderful as always. Alison Krauss sang wonderfully. Taj Mahal and Dr. John looked out of place but sounded ok. Keith Urban sounded good, he's a decent guitar player too.

When James came out to sing the last verses of You've Got A Friend with Carole King it appeared to me he was struggling with the key. She must sing it lower than he does. I missed the encore and JT's three songs.

Whenever they do one of these all star type events, I always pay attention to the backing musicians and try to name as many as I can. I kept noticing the electric guitar player in the band. He looked real familiar with long thin hair (balding at the top). Tall and thin build. He played a Tele most of the night but had an SG for one tune. I can't figure out who he was. Anyone catch the credits.

[Shannon]

I was watching for a while, and was underwhelmed for the most part, until Alison and Jerry came out. My stars, that girl can sing! Plus, she was doing my favorite JT song. Did y'all notice that Jerry Douglas actually sang some of the harmony? I didn't know he sang at all. Then, as my luck goes, we lost our cable signal about 2/3 of the way through Alison's song, and I missed all the rest of the show.

[Deleted]

I am just not a Bruce fan. Does that make me anti-brucetic? He had a couple songs I loved the lyrics to as a teen, but his voice has just always made my skin crawl.

Otherwise, it was an excellent show. I LOVED the duet w/C.K.

[dickt]

shannon said:

I was watching for a while, and was underwhelmed for the most part, until Alison and Jerry came out. My stars, that girl can sing! Plus, she was doing my favorite JT song. Did y'all notice that Jerry Douglas actually sang some of the harmony? I didn't know he sang at all. Then, as my luck goes, we lost our cable signal about 2/3 of the way through Alison's song, and I missed all the rest of the show.

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jerry singing along. But if you noticed the backup singers were singing too. Hard to tell who was being heard.

JT did introduce the band when he came out and I missed the electric guitar player's name, but if you watch it again you might catch it. I did notice "Blue Lou" Marini of SNL and Blues Bros movie fame was playing sax.

Most of the tribute songs were fairly straight renditions but a few that took a new tack were interesting. For example Springsteen did Millworker which Taylor did in a very gentle version and Bruce did as a labor protest song. Keith Urban's Country Road was rocking and Dr. John and Taj Mahal did Everybody has the Blues with a full blown blues band.

Worth seeing, for sure. I was wondering if his son Ben might take a turn but he wasn't evident. Brother Liv and his two young sons did take the stage for the finale.



dick thaxter

[John B]

Maybe the electric guitar player was Marc Mann?

Go to www.georgeharrison.com and wait for the lotus flower to load. Then click on the lower left leaf to access "Media." Click on the Hall of Fame induction, and check out the video there.

Or check out the lower quality clip on YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYLCOakqhkY

The guy on the far left. He does have long, thinning hair, and has been an in-demand go-to player after his performance on the Concert for George.

Am I even close?

[timfarney]

I forgot all about this and missed it too. Ah well, it's PBS, it will be re-broacast.

Tim

[fred sterenberg]

I believe that JT introduced the electric player as Michael Landau. Nice show. I was most impressed with Keith Urban's playing. He seems to have some pretty unique tricks in his bag. I also liked Alison Krauss; I, too, was not aware that Jerry Douglas could sing and he did a fine job. Sting was quite fine and that instrument was a thing to behold! It seemed to me that while he played it to very nice effect, he used only a small portion of that instrument. Most were very good. It was nice to see and hear Carol King but I thought both of them struggled a bit through that song. She seemed to have trouble nailing the higher notes.

And then there were the pledge breaks - always the bain of PBS's finest hours.

[AlanC]

Spruce Bedsprings caused me to miss a lot of it. I was pretty well entertained until he came out to croak and honk me away after which my Old Timers kicked in and I forgot to come back.

[Deleted]

Keith Urban really is an impressive guitar player. I didn't realize it until he hosted the short-lived revival of the Glenn Campbell Good-time hour a few years ago.

[dickt]

fredsterenberg said:

I believe that JT introduced the electric player as Michael Landau. Nice show. I was most impressed with Keith Urban's playing. He seems to have some pretty unique tricks in his bag. I also liked Alison Krauss; I, too, was not aware that Jerry Douglas could sing and he did a fine job. Sting was quite fine and that instrument was a thing to behold! It seemed to me that while he played it to very nice effect, he used only a small portion of that instrument. Most were very good. It was nice to see and hear Carol King but I thought both of them struggled a bit through that song. She seemed to have trouble nailing the higher notes.

And then there were the pledge breaks - always the bain of PBS's finest hours.

Yes, I now remember he said Landau.

MPT (Maryland Public TV) played it without pledge breaks.

Sting's lute or whatever it was seems to have a bunch of sympathetic strings like a harp guitar or sitar. Not sure which ones actually get plucked. And some folks--like self proclaimed world's best harp guitar player, Stephen Bennett--actually pluck the bass strings.

[mccoyblues]

Yes, that would be the one. Michael Landau.

Is it just me, but I was wondering why there was no mention of Joni or Carly. Certainly they had a lot of input in James' career. Joni & James toured together alot back in the early days.

Maybe it would have been bad form to invite old flames and ex wives but a tribute is a tribute and I think it would have been appropriate, at least for Joni to show up and play one of their old duets. I sure would have rather heard Joni singing JT the Bruce.

[timfarney]

I'm not sure I can take all this Bruce bashing. I have great respect for Bruce. I think he's one of the top 4 or 5 songwriters of my generation, probably the best performer, and I actually like the way he sings.

Tim

[mccoyblues]

I wasn't necessarily bashing Bruce. He's in my Top 5 as well. I was simply voicing a preference for this particular event.

[AlanC]

I'm not sure I can take all this Bruce bashing. I have great respect for Bruce.

That would be me and I stands behind my prejudices. It was not entertaining; it was bordering on painful and I flipped over to the Discovery Channel or sumpin.

[AlanC]

FWIW, I personally hold Mr. Bruce responsible for shortening, if not singlehandedly breaking, the stranglehold that the accursed Disco music had upon the airwaves and that is not a bad thing. That alone should grant him entrance to heaven in my opinion.

[millring]

If you're a liner notes junkie (as I) you prolly noted the ubiquitous Andrea Zonn has joined the JT band -- offering vocals in place of Valerie Carter, and her fabulous fiddle t'boot.

I thought most of the numbers were pretty darn good. I just watched it again (I taped it while I was on the road most of last week and over the weekend). The one that bothered me most was Taj Mahal and Dr John -- but that's because the stage lighting was set up so that Taj couldn't help but upstage Dr John by constantly crossing his stage light. Their take on the song was fine, and a good choice for them.

I had read some years ago that Jerry Douglas actually has a pretty good voice but, despite much prodding, is shy to use it. I thought it was pretty cool to see him sing -- sorta extra tribute to Taylor, whom Douglas greatly admires (he talks about him at length on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival video in which he and Mark O'Connor accompany JT on Copperline (as they did on the original recording).

I think that on too many pop songs that Alison Krauss covers, she chooses a much too slow tempo. I thought her "Carolina..." suffered from the same treatment. As much as I like her music, that's one thing I don't care for. Sadly, she has not asked my opinion. Thus, she will have to live with the lack of success she seems to be suffering.

I'm just not a contemporary country music fan, but I have to admit it -- every time I've seen Keith Urban perform I've been impressed.

The whole evening, while enjoyable to a diehard JT fan like me, suffered by comparison to all the 1971 vintage James Taylor videos I've been watching on YouTube. The power and seduction of one man and one guitar quite simply dwarfs the older JT. That's not to say that I think JT is over-the-hill. Quite the contrary. I think his writing on October Road is the best he's ever done. But the young JT had "it" --- The ability to come out with just his voice, his guitar, and the product of his imagination, and hold a crowd spellbound.