Fingerboard Stories
The Motown Sound. Everybody knows what it is. Even if you don’t know what it is, you’ve certainly heard it. You’ve heard it with Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Little Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, and The Jackson 5, among many, many others.
Part of the allure of Peter Green was his 1959 Les Paul, affectionately dubbed by all as “Greeny”. This has become one of the great instruments forever associated with its player, much like Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstein” and Zakk Wylde’s “Grail” Les Paul. Green acquired the instrument in 1967 when he joined the Blues Breakers and used it extensively during his time with Fleetwood Mac. If you heard Peter Green during this time, you also heard Greeny.
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Listening to Dirty Work (and its predecessor, 1983’s Undercover) is a bit of a challenge, with many conflicting styles going on from track to track. If Mick was modern, and Keith was classic, you know which person won the argument on which song.
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While mostly absent in the Beatles’ music, much of George’s solo and guest work features him playing slide guitar, having originally picked it up while on a short tour with Delaney and Bonnie in 1969. He also eschewed many slide clichés, avoiding typical blues and pentatonic licks and opting for a more melodic style of playing. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of George’s slide playing.
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Then there are those artists that I can still see live today, but wish I had witnessed in their imperial phase. To have seen the Stones in ’69 or ’72, supporting the releases of landmark albums like Let it Bleed and Exile on Main Street would be nothing short of exhilarating. Or to catch Dylan in the turbulent mid-1960s, on the cusp of electrifying his sound and completely changing the game.
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