charliejames
January 10th, 2007, 11:38 PM
Glad I found this wonderful forum! I've been a recreational player since 1965 (born 1953). Got serious many times, then life dragged me away to other things. Never lost my ear for music, from classical to glitch, but a guitar player I remain. Saw a recent magazine today that had 100 overlooked or underappreciated guitar players. Had to sit down at Barnes & Noble and look it over. All I kept thinking was that none of the guitar players were underappreciated by me! Tommy Bolin was on the cover, and I LOVE Tommy Bolin. Another player that I flipped through to find was Ollie Halsall, from Patto. If you never heard him (or them) hop right in. You will be in love. No Fred Frith though, or Derek Bailey. Oh well. when I lie in bed, guitar leads and songs of mine run through my head. Sometimes it leads to getting up and writing something down, but many times I lay awake for hours, not able to shut it all down. Such is life. I use valerian, a very safe and effective sleep aid that is herbal and non habit forming, but it stinks like stinky feet and gives you vivid dreams. OK, too personal. My band is The Behaviorists. A three piece—guitar bass drums. I write and sing lead. My fine bass player sings too, and I'm pushing her into the writing thing. I'm 53, the drummer is 61, and our little girl is 28. She wears a huge Fender P bass. We're a sight to behold! Parents bought my first guitar, a Sears Silvertone acoustic, at 12 years old. Bought my first electric guitar in the East Village in 1986, a 1966 Mustang, which I still play as my main guitar. I don't care what you say, it has big sound and bite. I have learned over many years how to use the whammy bar and get it back to where it is in tune and continue past the solo most of the time. I'm a simpleton, and omly use a wah wah , rat, and volume pedal to make my sounds with. I remember seeing Mountain in the early 1970s in upstate NY (where I'm from), and leslie was using his little finger on the volume knob to do these insane violin type swells. He was spitting on the stage for effect at peak moments. The man was huge, and his sound was, well, mountainous! Killer. He sat by the stage and talked to me and my LSD ridden friends and smoked for a half an hour after they quit playing. No big deal. A NICE GUY! Now I'm down south in Arkansas, looking at the world in a crazy way, through the divine prism of music and middle age. I have around 3000 records, and always collect (on the cheap, I a broke artist), but playing music has cooled the fire of mere listening, and now I play more and enjoy more. Too bad about the light touches of arthritis. Wish I'd gotten focused earlier. Love to explore. I always thought it was more important to be recognized as a player than to be able to rattle off stock riffs at lightning speed and be anonymous. Like Jeff Beck, or Ollie Halsall. They would never be mistaken for another player. Like the one string riff in Slim Harpo's King Bee, when he says "sting it." So sexy and ting ting ting. It's all good, and lightning players can also be out of sight, like Allan Holdsworth, or John McLaughlin. Sorry for talking too much. Had Mexi food and a few margueritas tonight. So much thanks to thevoodooman for his great reply to my simple minded thread, thanks for having me, and goodnight:)