odds & ends

[Kevin Winn <kwinn@steptech.com>]

re: power chords -
Pete didn't invent them.  He just cranked the volume knob.  They're the   
same chords guitarists have been playing for (hundreds of) years.  It's   
just that no one else ever played with such... *intent*

re: Pete's acoustic style -
Definitely Flamenco influenced (listen to his performance from Secret   
Policeman's Ball.  His right hand is like a machine gun), but lets not   
forget he started life as a Dixieland banjo player...

re: JAE -
I join in the praises - the guy's still out there beating the bushes, and   
sounding better than ever from all reports.  And at a time when it would   
probably be easy for him to land some cushy job writing movie   
soundtracks...  I would like to hear him do some guest spots on other   
artists' albums.  Pearl Jam comes to mind, Stone Temple Pilots as well   
(thought some would say these are the same band), Maybe Soundgarden, or   
the Meat Puppets.  Anyone else?

re: Zep issues -
I, like JeffW, have managed to remain a huge fan of both the Who and Zep   
without ever really considering the two in the same breath.  I don't   
think that any of the bands that were around at that time could help but   
sound similar in certain aspects of their sound.  Mainly because they   
were almost all influenced by the same American R&B/Blues/Memphis/Motown   
music.  Personally, while Page may have started the ball rolling in Zep,   
the other three became quite influential in their own right.  And I think   
that Zep became EVERYTHING that Page ever wanted in a band, and the   
demise of Zep was the beginning of the demise of Page (fortunately,   
reversed as of late).  Now if they will just get back in the studio with   
JPJ, I'd be pleased.  What JPJ brought to Zep is the arrangement and   
instrument voicing skills.  It's obvious to me what each of the members   
contributed by their solo works (and their relative weaknesses).  Page   
has about nine great riffs from the period of '79 til now, though he   
probably can't remember them.  Robert has about nine great songs in the   
same period, but no rough edged grit.  Jones has been invisible, except   
for that tour he did with that screeching wench, which I'll generously   
call Art without any substance (too much idea, not enough body), but at   
least he recognized that his talent was really as a part of Zep and   
generally laid low, so he gets the Respect Nod.  The drumming on all of   
their solo projects just flat sucked.  Like Yes, Zep's whole was far   
greater than the sum of its parts, great though those parts may be.

re: My Gen Blues -
There's been some discussion about this song being a blues song because   
they played it in a 12-bar structure.  You can put almost any semblance   
of a rhyme into a 12-bar structure and it will work.  Buddy Guy (I think)   
did it with "Mary Had a Little Lamb".  Hell, you can put "99 Bottles Of   
Beer On The Wall" into a 12-bar structure and it'll sound fine.  That's   
one of the things musicians do when they have blues influence, is try   
songs out in a 12-bar format, mainly because 12-bar is the First Thing We   
All Learned, so it's natural to revert back to it when you're bored,   
stuck for ideas, or just goofing off.  Just because it "fits" doesn't   
mean it's good.  I happen to think that MG sounds best in it's original   
format (see:Lounge Lizard "Layla" - god, what was Clapton THINKing?).

OK,
KLW


ok, I'll join in:
NP: "Southbound Again" - Dire Straits