Guitarist, Composer, Instructor
This is a pretty cool infographic on the use of words in Van Halen lyrics from the David Lee Roth era. Yeah seems to have taken the top spot over Love and Baby. I think this is the appeal of Van Halen…high brow guitar work with party lyrics…a winning rock n roll combination.
If it included Sammy Hagar tunes Yeah Love and Baby probably would’ve tripled…
Did a quick 30 minute workout this morning, of course, with IPod on shuffle…all 8,000 songs. The shuffle was pretty eclectic, but, awesome. I feel lucky that I can listen to so many diverse musics and get a connection with all.
It went from jazz to classical/opera to Blues to Grunge to New Age to Pop to 70’s Spacey Synth.
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“Nature Boy” -George Benson
Benson’s cover of the standard
“Ruckertlieder/1 Ich atmet einen linden Duft”-Mahler
I have never been much of an opera buff mostly cause I am just not into lyrics in general. But, Mahler, one of my favorite composers sets such a great orchestra arrangement to support the vocal.
“You Know I Love You” -BB King
BB doing his thing!
“All Secrets Known” -Alice In Chains
AIC is definitely my favorite of all the grunge bands and they are still going strong with a new album to be released in 2013. They may not have had the social impact of a Nirvana or Pearl Jam, but, in my opinion, were vastly superior musically to most of the top grunge bands.
“Rikki’s Shuffle” -Michael Hedges
If you are a guitar fan and don’t know Michael Hedges you really need to check him out! Although he falls into the New Age category, he was truly a virtuoso with a unique style. He is known for using a harp guitar, several tunings and lots of hammering techniques.
“Love Will Keep Us Alive” -The Eagles
The Eagles are the Eagles, many great hits, of course. But, when they wrote sappy songs they really went sappy! Of these songs my favorites are the ones sung by Timothy B Schmidt. Although he joined the band later in 1977 his voice has become an integral part of their sound ever since. Probably best featured on, “I Cant Tell you Why”
“Dream Weaver “-Gary Wright
I was always drawn to these spacey synth driven songs
Let’s start the week off with an energy boost!
When I was a wee youngster, before I played guitar, AC/DC was my favorite band. Yes, it was Eddie Van Halen that influenced me to actually get a guitar, but, AC/DC’s Angus Young gets a lot of credit too. I used to play this song on my air guitar/tennis racquet…and I was pretty good too.
Have a great week everyone!
Here is a fun video for your Monday morning…at least for those of you who are a fan of both Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. Pretty clever how they intertwined the two songs, “Whole Lotta Love,” and, “Helter Skelter.”
It’s almost 2013! This compels me to create a few lists from the year in review, my first as a blogger.
My last post was my top 10 posts of the year according to WordPress stats. The 10 listed on this post are MY favorites…according to ME.
There were many, but, these are the ones that stood out in my memory as either being fun, rewarding or challenging to write. Some were very popular, some were not and some were early before I had much following. Hopefully this list will supply my followers with some new insights into this blog 12 Notes & the Truth!
These first two are important to me as both guitarists were HUGE in my inspiration to be not only a guitarist but a musician.
1. Van Halen Week in San Diego – Concert Review
2. Michael Schenker Said No to the Rolling Stones, Ozzy, Aerosmith…
This post was cool because I found a new guitarist, influence and a historical perspective I never knew. I knew of Jose Feliciano, but, not much about him. An amazing musician that really took an unfair career hit with his version of the Star Spangled Banner. A great version in my opinion and better than many of the renditions today. Expect more posts on Jose Feliciano in 2013!
3. National Anthem, Jose Feliciano-Play Ball!
These next three are my favorite attempts at ‘writing.’ Some of my posts are just that…posts. These three were more of a personal perspective on guitar, myself and my musical past.
4. Beware of the Pick Gremlins! Important as ALL guitarists know there has to be Pick Gremlins stealing our picks! How else can they disappear so quickly?
5. Function of My Dysfunction An insight into my mind…
6. Band Logos and Dreams What did I study in school? Drawing band logos on my book covers and folders.
Sports has been another major interest throughout my life. So it is nice for me to be able to combine the two. I thought these were pretty clever, tongue in cheek ways of combining music and sports. They are also an exercise in creativity much like composing music.
7. A Musical Tribute to the 2012 Olympic Games in London
8. 2012 NFL Predictions ‘Rock n Roll’ Edition
Playing a fair amount of weddings every year and working with so many great couples I really enjoyed blogging about different musical aspects involved in making the ‘Big Day’ special.
9. Weddings
Yeah, I had to delve into the ugly Presidential campaign of 2012. I feel I gave both a fair ration of disrespect as I feel ALL politicians deserve. Much like the sports posts above it was a fun creative process putting this post together.
10. Presidential Campaign 2012, Romney v Obama (Scherzino Falsetto)
Thank you to everyone who visited the site this year. Since starting in March there have been just shy of 10,000 views.
Here are the top 10 blog posts by numbers of viewers in 2012.
1. American Idol Live! Tour, San Diego Concert Review -July 26, 2012
You can’t deny the power of this show. Love it or hate it, it has mass appeal! I was a devout hater for the first few years but have been won over by the talent of some of the kids!
2. Van Halen Week in San Diego – Concert Review
Van Halen, the reason I play guitar = the reason I am here 30 years later playing and writing about music. So glad to see their resurgence in 2012.
3. Scorpions & Tesla in San Diego, Your Concert Review
The Scorps were one of my favorites growing up. To this day one of the best concerts I ever saw in ’84, awesome to see them still at it and popular as ever.
4. A Musical Tribute to the 2012 Olympic Games in London
This post had a lot of global appeal as all countries are included. I thought it was pretty creative.
5. This Performance May be Why the Term ‘God Bless America’ is Used as a Curse Phrase
The cyber world is truly made up of puppy, kitty and cute kid videos…and unfortunately people like to see a good train wreck as well…which is what these poor singers gave during a World Series game in San Francisco.
6. Michael Schenker Said No to the Rolling Stones, Ozzy, Aerosmith…
I am truly grateful to see Michael Schenker is so popular over the globe. I have always been a fan(and feeling on an island) and glad to see this post has been so popular over the year.
7. Mick Jagger on SNL Season Finale May 19
The Rolling Stones just don;t go away. Another post that I have been surprised got so many hits throughout the year.
One of my favorite bands. The title sounds negative, but, I wrote this as a tribute to how good they are and wondering which early album did not hold up in AC/DC fans minds.
9. Van Halen Week in San Diego – 10 Facts You Might Not Know About Van Halen
Again awesome to see them have such a big year in 2012.
What a great title to get people to your blog, and I guess it worked. I was honored to play guitar for Rachel Sterling’s wedding over the summer.
Thank you to everyone who has stopped by the blog this year!
Thanks to all who follow the blog, Facebook and Twitter!
Thanks also to all my students, clients and colleagues for everything over the years!
It’s been great to chat with you all about one of my favorite things…MUSIC.
Here is to you!
Mike
This is a new one to me. I am sure tired and true Hendrix fans have already heard this one, but, I never even knew it existed.
You know when you got to a Christmas party and the host has a holiday playlist where every song sounds like Frank Sinatra? Nothing against Frank I am a fan myself, but, I need a variety in my holiday playlist. Classical to Metal, Latin to Country, New Age to Punk….that makes an interesting list in my opinion.
There is just something about hearing holiday music interpreted by great musicians and this medley is definitely all Jimi!
So glad to have found this gem to add to my collection.
Enjoy!
Ho Ho Hoey!
Gary made a name for himself with his Ho Ho Hoey Christmas recordings. I have to say I had mixed feelings on Mr. Hoey in his early days. As great a player as he is, he never truly inspired me the way Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and other players did. I didn’t find him as original or unique.
Over the years I have come to really like and respect his playing. He is a great studio guitarist/composer and has carved a serious niche for himself. He writes for NASCAR, MLB and other high-caliber entertainment genres.
He is also featured on many videos. I was lucky enough to have one of my songs, “Sunny & 70,” follow one of his on a surf movie a few years ago, “Sea Level Pressure.”
This version of Deck the Halls is in typical Hoey fashion. Takes a melody and adds his own spin to it. This piece is a little heavier than some of his others but worth a listen, Enjoy!
Woooow! This was a long time coming. The Chargers haven’t won a game in about 5 weeks.
As good as it was to see the boys take it to the Steelers, the ‘best’ thing for this franchise is to lose games. Then we can get rid of Norv, AJ, get a GOOD draft pick and start all over!
Even though the Chargers are better off losing I still can’t root for them to lose for those 3 hours every Sunday.
Victory Sunday Song! Chargers 34, Steelers 24
Mike Slayen ~ Guitarist 