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Thread: Yes!

  1. #1
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Yes!

    Some of you may have read on another thread that I was reviving my interest in guitar playing through the music of David Crosby. Almost out of the blue, I learned that he was appearing locally tomorrow, but when I went to see about tickets, learned the event was sold out.

    Hold on there, bucko. I saw (on Facebook, no less!) that a few seats were remaining. So, I whipped out my Internet browser and went searching. Voilá! This time, it turns out needing one ticket was to my benefit, as only two seats, non-contiguous, were remaining. Plunking down my plastic, I got first row, balcony! How's that for Karma?




    I'll have to cancel family dinner tomorrow, but I'm sure my daughter will understand.

  2. #2
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    Re: Yes!

    Pretty cool turn of events. If I Could Only Remember My Name still gets regular play time in my house

  3. #3
    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    My hight school classmate Jeff Pevar is playing guitar with him. It will be one Heck of a show!
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  4. #4
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Most awesome!

    Crosby is one of the reasons I play.

    Cheers!
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  5. #5
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    Pretty cool turn of events. If I Could Only Remember My Name still gets regular play time in my house
    Got it on vinyl and CD both. On my "favorites" stack!

  6. #6
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Congrats! Crosby is one of my favorites, has been for a long time, and I've been impressed by his last two albums.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    wow, that is so awesome. good for you

    I'd enjoy the heck out of a show like that

  8. #8
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by gibsonjunkie View Post
    My hight school classmate Jeff Pevar is playing guitar with him. It will be one Heck of a show!
    Want me to tell him hello from you?

    Just kidding. My chances of meeting any of the band are slim and none. And Slim is walking out the door...

    But it is a nice bit of synchronicity.

  9. #9
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    If I was you - I'd want to be you too!!!

    COOL MAN!!!!!
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  10. #10
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Another checkoff on my bucket list! David Crosby is a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The venue was awesome (only 382 seats) and the band was extremely tight. I thought the vocal harmonies were off at times, but given Crosby's musical tastes and compositions, it could have been me.

    There was a little irony, I thought, as he launched into his political screeds, thinking that he was performing on stage at a park built and funded by the ultra-rich and run and maintained by the same government he lifts his middle finger to, in front of an audience that paid upwards of $100 a seat. But he's known for that, and one of the songs they sang was a Crosby-ized version of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

    They played a mix of songs, some from his new album, Sky Trails, and a mix of pieces from his catalog. They opened with "Guinnevere" and included songs, "Déjŕ Vu," "Laughing" (which he explained was written to and about George Harrison), "Wooden Ships," and more. The encore piece was "Ohio."

    Lots of guitars in evidence. @gibsonjunkie, your classmate Jeff Pevar played mostly a butterscotch Telecaster (hard to tell the color due to the lighting), but he also had a red Tele, two Strats and two acoustics. Crosby played at least two acoustics and two Strats. The bass player, a woman named Mal Agan played three (all Fenders, I believe).

    When the band was playing, they were cookin'! Again, the only sour note was the dissonance to my ear in the vocals. They played two sets, so we certainly got our money's worth!



    Sorry for the lousy photo. Photography is not allowed in the venue, and Crosby even called out someone in the audience for "being rude" for their cell phone use. This was the best I could do under the circumstances.

  11. #11
    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    I understand Crosby has been sick and they have cancelled a few shows. We caught the same act when they toured back in May. Crosby's voice was spot-on -and the harmonies were awesome. The bass player is amazing - the bass was almost taller than she was but she had some serious chops! That was probably the most enjoyable concert I've ever attended.
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  12. #12
    Forum Member VibroCount's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    I had an early, fascinating meeting with Crosby. I was a high school lead guitarist with a so-so garage band. Very few gigs, lots of practicing in the drummer's garage. No bass player. The rhythm guitarist was incapable of tuning his guitar, even to the organist's Vox Continental. Because we had no bassist, and the organist was new to our band, when I wasn't playing lead licks for intros and bridges, I tended to play the bass lines on my six string, just to keep the groove going.

    During the Watts riots of July 1965, my family took a two-week vacation down the Pacific coast to see Big Sur, San Simeon, visit friends in Santa Barbara, and spend a week at Disneyland. In Santa Barbara, the daughter (my age) knew Crosby and she and some friends would hang out at his home there and sing folk songs with him. The Byrds had recently released Eight Miles High and the album with it, and I was just learning much of the album (the band I was in played many off their first album, and a few from the second).

    So in his home studio, he was showing me changes on a few of the third album songs and some stuff he had written for the fourth album.

    His criticism of my playing was I was too jazzy without a solid foundation in jazz, and my bass lines were better than many pro rock bassists. My timing on bass was spot on. I needed to be a bassist where I could contribute more to better bands.

    My head was spinning.

    We got to Disneyland early, and it was a summer before they built New Orleans Square and that's where they set of the stage for the teen rock bands and performers to play every night... herding the teens into Frontierland each evening. I hung around there much of the first day, seeing who was playing, trying to meet musicians as I was being the wannabe pest. Playing that night were Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and opening for them was Hub Kapp & the Wheels (their first night on the Disneyland stage) -- (aside here: opening acts played Saturday through Friday, headliners played Wednesday through Tuesday) and while the guitarist with the Playboys was kind to chat with me, the Wheels were outright friendly.

    The opening act was from Phoenix, and all were talent or crew on the Wallace and Ladmo kids' TV show, and they formed a fake band and made records and were on the Steve Allen Show and elsewhere, singing Bony Maronie and other oldies with Pat McMahon as a parody of Elvis with a black plastic wig. The rest wore tight suits with motorist-style snap down caps and wrap around sunglasses. They all assumed silly rock names: Rip Chord and the like. We spoke for a good hour as they already were set up for the show.

    I spoke of the joy I had two days before, meeting with Crosby. One member took notice of the "bass player" remarks. A couple of them spoke to each other, leaving me out of the conversation. One handed me a Jazz Bass. "Blues progression in A. Lots of rock walking bass." They played "Lucille" and I walked every walk I knew until the drummer was grinning at me.

    "What are you doing each night this week?"

    "Listening to you and Gary Lewis and whoever replaces him."

    "Nope. Try on this suit. Do you have dark prescription glasses?"

    "No."

    "Doesn't matter, Tab Collar."

    The suit fit a touch loose. I was 118 pounds, skinny as a rail.

    So, for Saturday through Friday I played bass with Hub Kapp & the Wheels at Disneyland, opening for Gary Lewis, and by Wednesday, for Barbara Lewis, who currently had the hit "Baby, I'm Yours" on the charts. (Aside: she was and still is, the nicest top of the charts performer I have ever met.)

    So... David Crosby gave me the belief I could be a pro bass player, two days later, I was one, sort of. I got home and soon after, bought a bass and chose to steal the singer and organist and become a band leader of a new band. Thank you, David.
    Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger

  13. #13
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by VibroCount View Post
    I had an early, fascinating meeting with Crosby. I was a high school lead guitarist with a so-so garage band. Very few gigs, lots of practicing in the drummer's garage. No bass player. The rhythm guitarist was incapable of tuning his guitar, even to the organist's Vox Continental. Because we had no bassist, and the organist was new to our band, when I wasn't playing lead licks for intros and bridges, I tended to play the bass lines on my six string, just to keep the groove going.

    During the Watts riots of July 1965, my family took a two-week vacation down the Pacific coast to see Big Sur, San Simeon, visit friends in Santa Barbara, and spend a week at Disneyland. In Santa Barbara, the daughter (my age) knew Crosby and she and some friends would hang out at his home there and sing folk songs with him. The Byrds had recently released Eight Miles High and the album with it, and I was just learning much of the album (the band I was in played many off their first album, and a few from the second).

    So in his home studio, he was showing me changes on a few of the third album songs and some stuff he had written for the fourth album.

    His criticism of my playing was I was too jazzy without a solid foundation in jazz, and my bass lines were better than many pro rock bassists. My timing on bass was spot on. I needed to be a bassist where I could contribute more to better bands.

    My head was spinning.

    We got to Disneyland early, and it was a summer before they built New Orleans Square and that's where they set of the stage for the teen rock bands and performers to play every night... herding the teens into Frontierland each evening. I hung around there much of the first day, seeing who was playing, trying to meet musicians as I was being the wannabe pest. Playing that night were Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and opening for them was Hub Kapp & the Wheels (their first night on the Disneyland stage) -- (aside here: opening acts played Saturday through Friday, headliners played Wednesday through Tuesday) and while the guitarist with the Playboys was kind to chat with me, the Wheels were outright friendly.

    The opening act was from Phoenix, and all were talent or crew on the Wallace and Ladmo kids' TV show, and they formed a fake band and made records and were on the Steve Allen Show and elsewhere, singing Bony Maronie and other oldies with Pat McMahon as a parody of Elvis with a black plastic wig. The rest wore tight suits with motorist-style snap down caps and wrap around sunglasses. They all assumed silly rock names: Rip Chord and the like. We spoke for a good hour as they already were set up for the show.

    I spoke of the joy I had two days before, meeting with Crosby. One member took notice of the "bass player" remarks. A couple of them spoke to each other, leaving me out of the conversation. One handed me a Jazz Bass. "Blues progression in A. Lots of rock walking bass." They played "Lucille" and I walked every walk I knew until the drummer was grinning at me.

    "What are you doing each night this week?"

    "Listening to you and Gary Lewis and whoever replaces him."

    "Nope. Try on this suit. Do you have dark prescription glasses?"

    "No."

    "Doesn't matter, Tab Collar."

    The suit fit a touch loose. I was 118 pounds, skinny as a rail.

    So, for Saturday through Friday I played bass with Hub Kapp & the Wheels at Disneyland, opening for Gary Lewis, and by Wednesday, for Barbara Lewis, who currently had the hit "Baby, I'm Yours" on the charts. (Aside: she was and still is, the nicest top of the charts performer I have ever met.)

    So... David Crosby gave me the belief I could be a pro bass player, two days later, I was one, sort of. I got home and soon after, bought a bass and chose to steal the singer and organist and become a band leader of a new band. Thank you, David.

    Vibro, that's a cool story. And small world, Gary Lewis lives around the corner from me. Good neighbor, nice guy.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  14. #14
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Very cool, Vibro. Thanks for sharing that story!

  15. #15
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Vibro, that's one of the coolest things I've ever read on this forum. Do you still play bass much? I began as a bass player, went to guitar, but lately, I've got my lust back for playing bass. I've never given it up, but for a long time, I've mainly just played bass on my recordings. I've been the lead singer and co-lead guitarist over the last 25 years, but l fantasize now of playing bass in a band, providing a few backing vocals, but mainly just hanging out of the spotlight and locking in with a good drummer.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  16. #16
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Vibrocount - that was one of the more awesome stories I've read on any forums, ever. that is beyond cool. Now I really want to get my bass built

  17. #17
    Forum Member VibroCount's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    My main playing in gigs is on bass. In rock, I use a AVRI '62 Jazz Bass; with the ukulele groups, I use a solid mahogany acoustic/electric Kala U-Bass. For various other things, I have other basses. Some gigs, I get a set on guitar. But the guitar is my home instrument. (I also fool around with ukulele.) I am better on bass, so that's what I do.
    Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger

  18. #18
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by VibroCount View Post
    I am better on bass, so that's what I do.
    I love this sentence because it's poetic and yet practical. It would make for a good song line.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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