Post early for christmas.....

blind neep · Post early for christmas.....

Link

Xcotty

Neeparo, this is a class video pal.

I knew you were good, but didn't realise just how good.
Your chords, are magic buddy..Please give us some more.
I've subscribed, to make sure I dinna miss any new vids you do.

notatallsure

Aye, he's coming on!!

blind neep

Xcotty

Have you detuned the guitar Mr Neep, or is that concert tuning?
I've tried to play along, but I canny work it out, you are pretty fast too.

Do you ever get bits of egg stuck to your moustache, and no-one tells you?

Whats your favourite colour of jelly baby?

Mince? - Take it or leave it?

blind neep

It's tuned to open E. Usually it's in concert pitch ( not concert tuning) but I sometimes drop it to D, depending on which guitar I'm using.

I play a lot of slide, that's why its open tuned and I know a lot of slide players talk about using open G or another key and dropping individual 6th string variations, but I just like open E.

This is open E

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm...s.individual&videoid=16958205

This is concert tuning

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm...ds.individual&videoid=2380781

Then a bit of slide....

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm...ds.individual&videoid=1174055

Xcotty

Wow Mr Neep, bloody good stuff, I like those vids.
Look out for a wee pm from me pal.

Bluemoon

Alison

Just wait until he gets his new geeetar

Xcotty

Aye Bluemoon, he's good ain't he.

Alison, you have to post a photo of the new guitar please?

Alison

Oh I'm sure he'll do it............it's a birthday pressie for later this month.

blind neep

I canny wait for my new box. I've looked at and played many many dobros over the years and fortune's smiled on me (once again) and soon I should get delivery of a custom dobro made by a good friend of mine that I used to play in bands with more than 30 years ago and is now a quality luthier. It's got a few idiosynchrasies that I asked him to put on it, like the fretboard that's made from an oak floorboard of a big famous house in Scotland that Rabbie Burns once walked across,
I just think that good music should have good roots and if you play on a soulful instrument with soul, then even if you play badly, the soul will come out.

You asked about tuning, Xcotty.

I love telling this story

In November 1961 a guy that played with my dad's band came to our house. I'd been faffing about with musical instruments for a while, viiolin, accordion, guitar, all the usual stuff that my dad would bring home on occasion.
This night turned out special.
Jim Goudie was the first guy in Klmarnock to have a zoot suit. he was a teddy boy in the fifties and had the sideboards and the brothel creepers and had an acoustic guitar when he came back with my dad after a gig.
He played in open tuning, concert pitch to E, with the first string dropped to E7th. I didn't know anything then about the technicalities though. I remember like yesterday he played " Apple Blossom Time"
He played a couple of other things with my dad on our piano then asked me for a key. Not a musical key. A door key.
remember the big black back door keys you used to get? hollow things weighing as much as a can of beer?
I got our back door key and Jim used it to play slide guitar.
I'd never heard anything like it. I was 12 years old and instantly became a bluesman and have been ever since. I've been a slidfe guitar fan ever since. In the 40 or so years in backing Jim after that, the over riding memory is of his tuning. He couldn't read music, wasn't particularly literate or knowledgeable in so many ways, yet, I've never -played with anybody that had such a feel for music and especially for " following singers". You'll know about that xcotty, trying to find a key and make a duff singer sound good when they get up to sing as " guest".

I've played with a few famous names, modesty forbids that I should drop Gerry Rafferty's name or Gallagher and Lyle's names.... Ahem....... but without doubt, Jim Goudie had a better ear than any of them.

Jim Goudie was a Railway porter at Kilmarnock station in the early sixties. He worked beside a guy that i'll call Sam McGee.
Sam was Louis Armstring's ( Satchmo) guitarist in the forties and had succumbed to the drink. He finished up as a railway porter with nothing but his guitar and the bottle he happened to be drinking from. Jim Goudie heard that Satchmo was playing a gig in Glasgow ( this would be around 1964) so Jim organised a whip round and got Sam a suit and shave and haircut and got him on the train to see his old pal, Louis Armstrong in Glasgow.

I posted this story a couple of years ago on a Beeb message board. A wee while after, I got a mail from Lexie. Turns out Lexie had been faffing on the PC one night and had Googled her dad's name ( Jim Goudie) and it had turned up my posting. She was chuffed that somebody had remebered her dad wth fondness.

well how could ye no be fond of a guy that could play slide guitar with a back door key.

blind neep

jeesus! Didnae realise 'd rambled sae much!!!!

notatallsure

blind neep

Yep. The shithouse in every house I ever had, had the best acoustics.....

two things you need for a shit.

Toilet paper and a guitar.

notatallsure

Xcotty

Thank you for that story Mr Neep, I flipping loved it.
I also didn't realise you had been so well connected.
Forget worrying about dropping names bud, you were there, and you did it.
I'm really proud you directed your story to me.

You know I play a bit of spanish guitar, but nothing like your brilliant vids.
But man, they gave me inspiration to go, dig it out today, and get my fingers working again.
Hope you don't mind, but I showed the vids to my brother, he's better than me.
He sat watching with his mouth open, and got me to play them over, and over.
He's a fan now, and so am I, I wish we had, had that chance for a weekend.
Mind way back, we were going to sort out a musical weekend, with beer.
I'd love it, if we could do that.

I'm glad you are here bud, I missed you.

WACOlives

Brilliant stuff Neeps and graet story.
Things like that should never be forgotten
The wonder of internet I think works for keeping memories and history.
You shout and scream aboot yer playin and contacts.
You've got a gift ah wish ah hid !
To this day, ah'v got a Fender and a 'coustic geetar hingin on ma wa' and ah'v NIVER been able tae play them properly.

So the mair ye put up in here, the mair it'll be seen and kept forever

blind neep

"Mind way back, we were going to sort out a musical weekend, with beer.
I'd love it, if we could do that. "

We'll get round to doing it one day and I look forward to it.

Xcotty

Brilliant pal, I have a nice, very unusual "Johnson" acoustic, you might fall in love with.
Very light, and very thin, but it sounds really nice.