bear facts mando clip of the week (any genre)

[moreno_iv]

I'm gonna stay in the rock genre with this mando clip.

How about some John Bell and Widespread Panic doing "Ain't Life Grand?" It's hard, though, for his mando to punch through the volume of the rest of the band.

WSP Ain't Life Grand

Yes, the mando sound was hard to pick out in that clip, but you picked one of my favorite WSP songs! That is one band that I have yet to see. I think every one of my friends has seen them except for me, and I'm going to make an effort to see them next year.

 

[bear facts]

Okay, Factor is goin' against the grain with this post. None of these clips have a mando, but I truly believe someone like Chris Thile, Tim O'Brien, or the Del McCoury Band could do a great bluegrass version of this song.

Are there any John Butler Trio fans in the congregation?

This first clip contains lengthy live solos (guitar, bass, and drums) from "Betterman"

JBT solos

Here is a second clip of shorter version that includes the lyrics in its entirety. Enjoy!

Betterman

Not to be confused with Pearl Jam's "Betterman."

Might as well post another goodie by JBT. Again, I'm sure Chris Thile could do a great mando version of this piece.

Peaches and Cream

 

[bear facts]

Now I know I want to get a Mandobird and pluck it:

Bando Blues

 

[bear facts]

It's a very sad time in the mandolin and bluegrass world. Dempsey Young, mandolin player for the bluegrass band, The Lost & Found, has taken his life. :cry:

Here The Lost & Found performs a set at the Greene County Fair in Stanardsville, Virginia. Dempsey Young really shows his stuff around the 7:30-8:15 mark. His sound will truly be missed.

The Lost & Found with Dempsey Young

Here is a thread on Dempsey Young posted at Mandolin Cafe.

Dempsey Young Thread

 

[moreno_iv]

First off, I have to say that I love the slide guitar playing in the first JBT song. If I love one thing about music, it is some great slide guitar playing. I think I've mentioned this before, but it warrants saying again: In My Time of Dying by LZ is one of the best pieces of music that incorporates slide guitar that I have ever heard.

Also, I'm a bass player at heart and I really appreciate how hard it is to play an upright like that. I was very impressed with that band. I've actually never heard of them, but you can bet that I will be checking them out in the near future.

I liked that Bando Blues also. Were those guitar strings that he had on that thing? I think that I have an effects pedal just like his because I recognized that effect. I have a DOD bass effects bank and it sounds just like that.

Cool stuff man!

 

[bear facts]

First off, I have to say that I love the slide guitar playing in the first JBT song. If I love one thing about music, it is some great slide guitar playing. I think I've mentioned this before, but it warrants saying again: In My Time of Dying by LZ is one of the best pieces of music that incorporates slide guitar that I have ever heard.

Also, I'm a bass player at heart and I really appreciate how hard it is to play an upright like that. I was very impressed with that band. I've actually never heard of them, but you can bet that I will be checking them out in the near future.

I liked that Bando Blues also. Were those guitar strings that he had on that thing? I think that I have an effects pedal just like his because I recognized that effect. I have a DOD bass effects bank and it sounds just like that.

Cool stuff man!

Enjoyed your response, SM. As a bass player are you familiar with an upright bassist, the late Roy Husky, Jr? That man was one of the greatest and could really put a bottom to a song. Some great upright bass solos in this piece--and an all-star lineup to boot.

Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers "Jambalaya"

Btw, here is one of my favorite jazz bassist--Stanley Clarke.

Stanley Clarke "Schools Days"

Stanley Clarke Upright Bass Solo 1

Stanley Clarke Upright Bass Solo 2

Of course, in the rock world, Flea is someone that I like a lot ...

Flea Solo

but he ain't John.


When it comes to "old school"--this MAN is simply the MAN:

An Ox's Tale

Entwistle Isolated Audio Track

Entwistle Solo

John Entwistle Eulogy

Enjoy!

 

[bear facts]

Factor has found a mandolin player older than his 101-year-old self

Meet C. Yardley Chittick. He just turned 106 in October. Here is a picture of him with his mandolin:

Btw, that's a bowlback--more of a European sound to it.

 

[moreno_iv]

Yes, I do appreciate the difficulty that come with an upright. A guy that I play with in a band has a music store and he's got an upright for sale in there. It's so much different that an electric because you have to use your thumbs and fingers if your hand can't cover the fretboard. But that's not even the hardest part. I don't have huge hands, and it is so hard to play an upright because the "frets" (not really frets, I guess positions :?: ) are so far apart. You have to move your hands around a lot more than you do with an electric.

That guy playing in the EH clip is pure insanity. You have to really be ripping in up to make it sound like that. I can slap a little, but I can't pick and pluck like that. That man is amazing!

I like that Stanley Clarke. I liked the setup in the first clip with two basses and a fiddle. I don't think that they had a guitar at all, did they? They were still making some cool sounding chords that way though.

Flea is my favorite bassist of all time. If I could play like anyone, it would be him. He encompasses so many styles with his playing. I love funk and slap bass and he is a master of that. Plus, he plays with RHCP, another of my favorite bands. I think I might go see them in Tampa in January.

Of course, Entwistle and The Who are legendary. It was a sad day when he left us.

Good stuff. I liked the bass theme. Also, I've been listening to John Butler Trio and they are a good find.

 

[bear facts]

I know this is a little late but the bluegrass community has lost another great person when Homer Ledford, renown instrument builder from Kentucky, passed away last week.

Homer Ledford, bluegrass legend

The Funeral

Btw, Mr. Ledford is responsible for building an estimated 5,776 dulcimers, 475 banjos, 26 mandolins, 26 guitars, 18 ukuleles, and four violins, among other instruments, during his lifetime.

He will be greatly missed among his peers and the bluegrass world. :cry:

 

[moreno_iv]

So, I've got a little something to go along with the bass theme at the moment. Sorry to hijack, but this guy is really interesting. You ever heard of Primus and/or Les Claypool? Les Claypool is the leader of the band Primus, and he plays bass and sings. They do some pretty wild stuff, but he's really big underground with people my age. He plays a melodic bass line instead of just laying down the root. I guess you could call him a "lead bass." His stuff is real funky, a little hard at times, and weird all of the time, but I like some of it.

Here are a couple of clips from him that are pretty cool. The first one is called Iowan Gal, and it has a little cussing in it, but the banjo bass is pretty damned cool.

Banjo Bass

Here is another clip of him playing this thing he invented called a "Whamola." I'm not sure exactly how he constructed it, but it's a cool concept. This one is a little weird as well, but he's a weird dude with some real musical talent, so what can you say?

Whamola

 

[bear facts]

So, I've got a little something to go along with the bass theme at the moment. Sorry to hijack, but this guy is really interesting. You ever heard of Primus and/or Les Claypool? Les Claypool is the leader of the band Primus, and he plays bass and sings. They do some pretty wild stuff, but he's really big underground with people my age. He plays a melodic bass line instead of just laying down the root. I guess you could call him a "lead bass." His stuff is real funky, a little hard at times, and weird all of the time, but I like some of it.

Here are a couple of clips from him that are pretty cool. The first one is called Iowan Gal, and it has a little cussing in it, but the banjo bass is pretty damned cool.

Banjo Bass

Here is another clip of him playing this thing he invented called a "Whamola." I'm not sure exactly how he constructed it, but it's a cool concept. This one is a little weird as well, but he's a weird dude with some real musical talent, so what can you say?

Whamola

That's some goooooood stuff, there, SM. My mind just ain't programmed to hear that bass banjo when he plucks it. I'm expecting some Stephen Foster chimes instead.

By the way, what's a whamola? What is it made of? All I know is that it sounds k.a.!

Did you see the clip of Claypool's kids playing the whamola?

Child's Play

Since we are on the subject of Les Claypool and Primus, I share my favorites with you.

There's a neat little bass riff in the first one.

Primus - Wynonna's Big Brown Beaver

And LC certainly does his thing on this clip.

Jerry Was A Racecar Driver (live)

 

[bear facts]

Yes, I do appreciate the difficulty that come with an upright. A guy that I play with in a band has a music store and he's got an upright for sale in there. It's so much different that an electric because you have to use your thumbs and fingers if your hand can't cover the fretboard. But that's not even the hardest part. I don't have huge hands, and it is so hard to play an upright because the "frets" (not really frets, I guess positions :?: ) are so far apart. You have to move your hands around a lot more than you do with an electric.

Speaking of upright bass players, this little gal has a voice to follow:

Video of Amy LaVere's Nightingale

Amy's bio

 

[moreno_iv]

Yeah, that Primus is good stuff. I'm glad to know that you have heard of them :wink: I think my favorite song by them is "My Name is Mud." I really like the double bass drum action in that song.

A Whamola is a descendant of old washtub basses. Here is the Wikipedia definition:

Whamola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Whamola is a unique bass instrument used in Funk-Jazz styles of music.

A direct descendant of the washtub bass, an American folk instrument popular with skiffle and jug bands, the Whamola consists of a double-bass style neck with a pully-and-lever system and a single string, all mounted onto a square metal tube on a stand. It is played by hitting the string with a drum stick and either fretting the string with the other hand or altering the string's tension using the pully-and-lever system to change the pitch.

The Whamola has gained mass exposure and growing popularity in recent years due to its being played by contemporary bassists such as it's inventor Les Claypool and John Myung. However, since the Whamola is not considered a mainstream instrument they are extremely rare, and many Whamolas in existence have been homemade.

"Whamola" is also the title of a song featuring the instrument on Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's 2002 album Purple Onion. There is also a "Drum and Whamola Jam" included as a chapter on the 2004 Primus live DVD Hallucino-Genetics.

 

[bear facts]

Yeah, that Primus is good stuff. I'm glad to know that you have heard of them :wink: I think my favorite song by them is "My Name is Mud." I really like the double bass drum action in that song.

A Whamola is a descendant of old washtub basses. Here is the Wikipedia definition:

Whamola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Whamola is a unique bass instrument used in Funk-Jazz styles of music.

A direct descendant of the washtub bass, an American folk instrument popular with skiffle and jug bands, the Whamola consists of a double-bass style neck with a pully-and-lever system and a single string, all mounted onto a square metal tube on a stand. It is played by hitting the string with a drum stick and either fretting the string with the other hand or altering the string's tension using the pully-and-lever system to change the pitch.

The Whamola has gained mass exposure and growing popularity in recent years due to its being played by contemporary bassists such as it's inventor Les Claypool and John Myung. However, since the Whamola is not considered a mainstream instrument they are extremely rare, and many Whamolas in existence have been homemade.

"Whamola" is also the title of a song featuring the instrument on Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's 2002 album Purple Onion. There is also a "Drum and Whamola Jam" included as a chapter on the 2004 Primus live DVD Hallucino-Genetics.

Thanks for the info on the whamola.

Bout time to return to a little bluegrass. Dang, Factor wishes there was a place like this near his house. I know what I would be doing on Monday nights if that were the case. Sounds pretty good for amateurs:

Darlin' Corey and More

 

[bear facts]

Just wanted to wish everyone at RollTideBama.com a very special Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Everything But Snow

Bluegrass Chrsitmas

May y'all remember the true reason for Chrsitmas and feel his Presence in the celebration

What Child Is this (Acoustic)

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

For Bear Facts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbdZRthwjA&mode=related&search=





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1SKeVZO2ds&mode=related&search=

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

I like this guy Butch Robins



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6KNYD5W_v8&mode=related&search=

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

My Banjo Hero.... Gets my Irish veins a pumpin!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByYSkRGrMqw

 

[ROLL TIDE FOREVER AMEN]

Guitar Drifting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCnPpn1OFTU

 

[bear facts]

Re: For Bear Facts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbdZRthwjA&mode=related&search=





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1SKeVZO2ds&mode=related&search=

Thanks for the holiday gifts, Kirk. I like Jim Richter's playing a lot and he is a regular member over at the Mandolin Cafe. In fact, I'm gonna pm him and try to get the tabs to the medley of Ebeneezer Scrouge and Old Dangerfield. That's some fine playing. I keep dreaming about being able to get my speed up to that one day.

Here's Jim with one of my old time favorite bluegrass song's "Evening Prayer Blues." Mike Compton and David Long have a great reendition of this while my favorite "living" version is Frank Wakefield's interpretation that he calls "Roane County Coal Train." Of course, no one can touch Mr. Monroe on this piece though many have tried.

Evening Prayer Blues

Compton and Long do a great version of "Tanyards" on their latest release Stomp, which came out last spring.

Good to see you posting some banjo stuff, Kirk. I've been wondering if you have been practicing those finger rolls any.


I should would like to have these clips archived to the "bear facts mando clip of the week" thread. Do you think one of the moderators; could consolidate or move this over to that thread. These clips that you have posted need to be added to that collection.

Btw, I like how the Chieftains have embraced the American bluegrass and Appalachian folk music though those roots can be traced back to the early Celtic music.

Keep it coming, Banjo Man!