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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 10:19:12 GMT -5
I've been thinking a lot lately about how some songs have an irresistable rhythmic pull, a drive, and trying to figure out what it is, exactly, that causes them to be that way. I know that in my own performance repertoire, there are a few tunes that I can count on to enliven the proceedings, largely on the basis of their rhythmic propulsion -- "Route 66," "Useless Air" (original), "Midnight Special." Syncopation helps, I think, but it's not always the active ingredient. Here are some tunes that have always appealed to me largely on their rhythmic groove: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngsVek_nS8w&playnext=1&list=PL8E9DB13D6FD1DF89www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFUmo8VVg0www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILdBDOPoEDQLet's hear some of your toe-tappers .... |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2011 10:25:34 GMT -5
"Rhythmic pull"?? What's that?
I always thought your "Useless Air" tune was quite rhythmic and had a good vibe to it.
I once read an interview with a luthier in which he described some guitars as having a "flywheel" effect in that once you start strumming it, the energy in the guitar just kind of builds and keeps going. (I've always believed the guitar MnHermit built for me has this quality.) I think songs are the same way. It's good to find a song with a "flywheel" element, whose rhythm just kind of builds on itself. I've got a few that have a rhythmic drive, but generally, I try to avoid rhythm....
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Post by omaha on Jul 21, 2011 10:28:38 GMT -5
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 10:39:24 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2011 10:45:24 GMT -5
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Post by John B on Jul 21, 2011 10:58:53 GMT -5
The video is silly, but I like the song.
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Post by Lonnie on Jul 21, 2011 11:02:48 GMT -5
This is the best example of this particular Little Feat groove that I know of. First heard this in 1981 - Hammond, listen close, you'll hear lots of little hits and rhythmic thingies that I've blatantly borrowed in my own writing and arrangements. The dynamics and motion from section to section without ever losing the groove amazes me. Not to mention the very brief acoustic guitar cameo just after 4 minutes...
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:06:16 GMT -5
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:08:25 GMT -5
Wow, great song, Lonnie. Reminds me of Steely Dan.
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Post by John B on Jul 21, 2011 11:09:48 GMT -5
Go Gene Go!
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Post by Lonnie on Jul 21, 2011 11:13:04 GMT -5
Two takes on this one, studio and live
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Post by John B on Jul 21, 2011 11:14:49 GMT -5
It may be hard to swing in 5/4, but these guys manage.
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:26:57 GMT -5
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:31:34 GMT -5
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Post by Russell Letson on Jul 21, 2011 11:42:41 GMT -5
That's the mystery of swing, of being in the pocket--it's what we try to achieve in swing-week workshops, and it's a bugger to explain to those who don't feel it. Our more articulate and analytical instructors can talk about swing-eighths and playing ahead of or behind the beat, but all those explanations are after the fact. And this applies to just about every genre I've tried my hand at--slack key has a swing as elusive as that of "Sing Sing Sing" (certainly one of the tunes I'd list), and both John Hurt and Rev. Davis lay down grooves that are harder to imitate than one would think.
If I reach back into my folkie past, many of the tunes that moved me in the same way that, say, Chuck Berry did came from PP&M--some of the forward movement in, say, "If I Had My Way" comes from Bill Lee's bass and the rest from the churchy delivery of the lyrics (lots and lots of syncopation). And when I finally heard the Rev's original, he swung it in a completely different way--and he changed the way I heard the song.
Other strong movers: just about any up-tempo tune from the 1935-39 period of the Quintette of the Hot Club of France; anything by Count Basie; anything by Fats Waller, particuarly with His Rhythm. (Talk about being in the pocket. . . .)
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Post by John B on Jul 21, 2011 11:44:54 GMT -5
This one's a little flashier...
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Post by Greg B on Jul 21, 2011 11:48:22 GMT -5
I love playing "The Last Steam Engine Train" by John Fahey. Here's Leo Kottke playing it.
The walking thumb bass really drives the rhythm. I love the "train section" at about 1:28 although I play it differently than Leo does.
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:52:56 GMT -5
I love playing "The Last Steam Engine Train" by John Fahey. Here's Leo Kottke playing it. The walking thumb bass really drives the rhythm. I love the "train section" at about 1:28 although I play it differently than Leo does. Nice little Olson guitar Leo has there! I remember Muriel Anderson saying that he has such a strange thumb angle and that one whole side of his thumb is callused and that's how he gets so much driving tone out of it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2011 11:58:03 GMT -5
Sock it to me Daddy-O! I feel bad leaving out John Lee Hooker, lots of Little Feat (thanks for that Lonnie) and hundreds of others but will limit myself to just one more - |
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Post by billhammond on Jul 21, 2011 11:59:37 GMT -5
Other strong movers: just about any up-tempo tune from the 1935-39 period of the Quintette of the Hot Club of France; anything by Count Basie; anything by Fats Waller, particuarly with His Rhythm. (Talk about being in the pocket. . . .) |
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