***Untitled*** (Split from SESGF topic)

[Basil Henriques]

John, you are totally correct in what you say about enjoyment, totally incorrect if you think I'm anything other than just OK, I will never be able to play or think on the same level as Buddy Emmons or Maurice Anderson, though I do have a God given gift of being able to hear quite deeply and also with my inbuilt knowledge of mathematics, use probability theory to predict the next few notes or chords BEFORE they occur.

It's NOT rocket science, I taught myself all that I know, I was in an Iron Lung for all of what should have been my school days and only did less than one year of ACTUAL School, the rest I learned lying on my back paralysed and reading books through two mirrors.. FOR YEARS..The Poliomyelitis epidemic of 1948 almost killed me. I spent my childhood in the Birmingham Children's Hospital Isolation ward. I'd call the nurses to turn the pages but they were in the common room recanting the shenanigans at the local hop the night before, so I waited to have the pages turned; reading them MANY times over in the process. That's why I say "I know a little, but the little I know, I know a LOT about"..
Percy Veerance is my close friend and when I see others with capabilities that they are not fully utilising I get annoyed, (Can't Help it..) I dearly wish I had the chances others had of education and learning "People Skills" I was robbed of all that and will never fully catch up..

As for changing the melody/words etc. think on this.. Why is there sheet music ?

CLICK THIS ---->

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Baz I was aware of your early history and no one can even imagine the frustration you must have suffered but you have more than made up for those lost years, and for that to have happened you must have been blessed with a fantastic brain and mental capacity to start with..... for those of us that have to work with what we have got, in some ways it is just as difficult, I never got the chance to take the 11 plus exam as they thought i had no chance to pass it, I only passed the ATC exam by guessing at the answers and they could not figure out how I got some really difficult questions right and flunked on the simple ones.
You were made to study in that machine and it has paid you back in spades from where I am looking, I have immense respect for you in what you have achieved but from where you are looking at the rest of us it may look like we are not trying, trust me we are, but without the discipline that was forced on you and in my case too old now to go back and start at the beginning.

[mick hearn]

I too was aware of your background Basil and I have every respect for you. Certainly your knowledge is second to none and I was glad to have met you at last. I would have liked one or two others to join in as I suspect some are reading this and thinking "OMG he is going head to head with Basil - he will never win". By putting my thoughts here I have gleaned something from you that I would never have had answers to. Mind you sometimes it creates more questions.

For example - Four Wheel Drive. Is the melody the whole song as played by Buddy Emmons or is it just parts A and B. If it is the whole song then why did no-one take Herby Wallace to task for his version that appears on YouTube and tell him he was playing it wrong. If it is only parts A and B then beg I forgiveness. When Mike Neer tabbed it I remember you saying that it could not be the same as it was penned for 6 string lap steel

Similarly the Beatles with "A Little Help From My Friends". Was Joe Cocker wrong to do the version he did all those years ago. He certainly made a career from it and made a lot of money I would imagine. Paul McCartney openly states he likes to hear his songs done differently.

Then of course we have Simon Cowell and Co. who constantly tell contestants "Make it your own."

Your thoughts please - then we must call it a day as this thread will go on forever.

[mick hearn]

Oops - just thought of another one.
Dave Hartley, Milo and a number of steel players all have really good versions of "Orange Blossom Special". But listen to the original and we will quickly see that the phrasing is wrong compared to what we hear from the fiddle.

Right - that's it - shut up Hearn and get to bed - it's nearly 1am.

[Ken Byng]

As has been stated earlier, SGR has its roots in black blues and was developed much later by white steel players. Here is an early version.

[Will C]

I say this with some trepidation, but it has to be said:

Basil, before I worked you out (a bit) you scared the crap out of me. Now, I'll take my chances! Here it is: if only exact replication of the original phrasing, key, chords and timing is acceptable, this is going to put off a lot of less gifted or less experienced players. Those who are experienced, and gifted with greater understanding, in my humble opinion owe a duty of care to nurture the less fortunate, to forgive deviations and departures from perfection.

We can, and should, aspire to play as the greats did. We should be realistic enough to accept what we are capable of at any time without being silenced, just because we can't be as good as we want to be. It is easy for the really good players to look down on the efforts of others. The grace to forgive, to overlook failings, is the greatest gift of all.

Yes, we should stop every once in a while to remember where a piece came from, and reflect on how much it has been changed by successive interpretations, but that does not, and cannot, invalidate those interpretations. Music, like language, is ever-changing. It serves the people. The people do not serve the music.

The number of different interpretations of Dukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice" I've heard is beyond counting. Every one of them was valid, although I like some more than others. There is room for both schools of thought. Where I do agree with you 100%, Basil, is that we should strive to do the best we can by the music and the writer, according to our own lights. <runs for cover>

[bobhcot]

How elequently expressed Will. With you all the way.

One of the reasons I chose not to announce numbers at SESGF was that folk won't have heard my versions of tunes like Moan River, Musty, Silver Wongs, even Take these Chins from my Throat, but hey, ho, being so inaccurate they'll never hear that version again. With luck, it won't stop me having a go.

Great to meet you all. Let us try and remember it's supposed to be fun, though looking at my mug shot from the weekend that doesn't always seem to be the case.

Bob Vaughan aka bobhcot

[Will C]

That was bloody funny, Bob. Can I say "bloody" here? Too late, I just did...

I think it was Reba McEntire who said "to live a good life you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone".

[bobhcot]

r

[nevada150]

This is a great thread.
Basil is absolutely right in saying that the original version as written by the composer is the correct way to play any tune. But, think about all of the different versions of songs/tunes we've all heard from thousands of performers and I'm sure we all have a favourite for each one.
Going back to the 50's and 60's most American songs were covered here by British artists and we all had our preferences. Usually the American originals were best, but we liked the Brits because they were Brits.
More comments please.
Keith.