Jerry Garcia
Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
Jerry Garcia
I was just sitting here at the computer listening to Gerry play "Teach".
I have heard several people here say that Gerry was only a very average player.
Why is this said.
He sounds pretty great to me!
Has his own style, and blocks very well.
Great taste.
Bob
I have heard several people here say that Gerry was only a very average player.
Why is this said.
He sounds pretty great to me!
Has his own style, and blocks very well.
Great taste.
Bob
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I have never heard the song so I cant judge it. Can someone email me the song or a link to a clip of it. I have looked at amazon and barnes & noble and cant find it. Thanks. zparish@yahoo.com
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My nay saying buds here have every right to thier opinion,but I still think Jerry played some NICE steel.. Teach was NOT all he did.. You need to hear his stuff on the first NRPS album as well as Workingmans Dead, and I just love his spacey playing on "The Wheel" off one of his solo albums.. Cut the guy a break,NEVER EVER did he claim to be a virtuoso, he knew he was limited, but BOY was he musical.. He always sounded in tune, his notes were ALWAYS well placed, His ZB sounded wonderful, and last but not least, his intro,solo,outro and fills on Teach were honey sweet to these old ears.. Its probably the most instantly recognizable song featuring a steel ever recorded... NOW can we bury this horse??? bob
- richard burton
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- Jerry Overstreet
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I usually avoid this topic, but what the hey! I guess my opinion is as valid as any other.
Good or bad, JG's technical skills aside, this tune must be responsible for launching a multitude of '70's wanna be steel players.
Whether or not the purists agree with the execution of said or think we're any good is not important.
Beyond that, the era was flooded with artists and producers on the fringes of other styles who liked the steel guitar and saw fit to mix it loud and up front.
I take my hat off to those people. Steel players world wide should be grateful for this exposure.
I may not have found the instrument until much later in life, if at all had it not been for that exposure.
I listened to lots of styles of music, but had not been actively seeking to become a bona fide musician until I heard some of this "rogue"? music.
For better of for worse, this era was the impetus for my pursuing the steel guitar. I'd be willing to bet that there are hundreds of guys right here on this forum that came to the instrument through these media as well.
So called "purists" fear not, for once bitten by the bug I dare say most of us have researched history and paid homage to the early innovators and pioneers of the instrument.
I still remember the chills I got when I first heard the opening strains of "Teach" and can hear it in my head note for note today just like I heard it 30 something years ago.
I did not know until many years later who played on it, but that was not important at the time. What mattered was that this sound was a glorious one that I would always want around me.
Good or bad, JG's technical skills aside, this tune must be responsible for launching a multitude of '70's wanna be steel players.
Whether or not the purists agree with the execution of said or think we're any good is not important.
Beyond that, the era was flooded with artists and producers on the fringes of other styles who liked the steel guitar and saw fit to mix it loud and up front.
I take my hat off to those people. Steel players world wide should be grateful for this exposure.
I may not have found the instrument until much later in life, if at all had it not been for that exposure.
I listened to lots of styles of music, but had not been actively seeking to become a bona fide musician until I heard some of this "rogue"? music.
For better of for worse, this era was the impetus for my pursuing the steel guitar. I'd be willing to bet that there are hundreds of guys right here on this forum that came to the instrument through these media as well.
So called "purists" fear not, for once bitten by the bug I dare say most of us have researched history and paid homage to the early innovators and pioneers of the instrument.
I still remember the chills I got when I first heard the opening strains of "Teach" and can hear it in my head note for note today just like I heard it 30 something years ago.
I did not know until many years later who played on it, but that was not important at the time. What mattered was that this sound was a glorious one that I would always want around me.
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Doran. Talking about walking into a hornets nest!!
This thread always brings out the best of the worst qualities of pedal steel players. Persnickity! OOOoooooo! he was not in PERFECT tune, OOOoooooo! he was not REALLY a pedal steel player, OOOOooooooo! if it had only been a REAL pedal player like Robert Rand--uhhhhh like Buddy Emmons--yea! Emmons, OOOOoooo, OOOoooo, OOOOoooo repeat 1000 times.
If it had not been Garcia, it would have been ALL wrong!!! He is the perfect choice, playing the perfect part on this song, because that is the way it was done.
A cosmic correlation is John Lennon playing lap steel on "12 Bar Blues". Shouldn't they have waited a few more years until Jerry Douglas was old enough to get a visa and come play it "correctly"????
OOOOOOooooooooo!!!
This thread always brings out the best of the worst qualities of pedal steel players. Persnickity! OOOoooooo! he was not in PERFECT tune, OOOoooooo! he was not REALLY a pedal steel player, OOOOooooooo! if it had only been a REAL pedal player like Robert Rand--uhhhhh like Buddy Emmons--yea! Emmons, OOOOoooo, OOOoooo, OOOOoooo repeat 1000 times.
If it had not been Garcia, it would have been ALL wrong!!! He is the perfect choice, playing the perfect part on this song, because that is the way it was done.
A cosmic correlation is John Lennon playing lap steel on "12 Bar Blues". Shouldn't they have waited a few more years until Jerry Douglas was old enough to get a visa and come play it "correctly"????
OOOOOOooooooooo!!!
- Dave Van Allen
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yes a more experienced player may have; but Jerry was the player on the session.<SMALL>A more experienced player would have allowed for cab drop when he tuned it.</SMALL>
So it's not pitch perfect. So it ain't technically flawless. It WAS appropriate to the tune and apparently what the producers wanted, and the buying public bought.
He's DEAD! Let the guy R.I.P.
Sure It's a crying shame the general public maybe can identify JG and hasn't a clue who BE or LG or JD are, but that's just the way things are. Life is not fair. Fame is fickle.
FLAME SUIT ON:
I've heard recordings on which Jimmy Day played "out of tune"; somehow that gets called "Country Soul"...
Personally, I love both men's playing, and appreciate them for what they were. HUMAN BEINGS!
John 8:7<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 07 October 2005 at 11:46 AM.]</p></FONT>
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Was he really that pitchy on TYC???.. Man, I just don't hear it myself, but I'm biased because I like ol' JG... I'll defer to everyone else on this one BECAUSE of that bias!!..
You want pitchy pedal steel,give a listen to Fire on the Mountain by Marshall Tucker or Seeds and Stems by Cody.. Even I can hear that...
Maybe its the way it was mixed or something, but I've never had that queasy feeling I get when hearing an out of tune pedal steel when I listen to Teach.. but hey, I'm kind of a pitchy player myself.. so what do I know??? bob
You want pitchy pedal steel,give a listen to Fire on the Mountain by Marshall Tucker or Seeds and Stems by Cody.. Even I can hear that...
Maybe its the way it was mixed or something, but I've never had that queasy feeling I get when hearing an out of tune pedal steel when I listen to Teach.. but hey, I'm kind of a pitchy player myself.. so what do I know??? bob
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- Brendan Mitchell
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This is possibly the post of the year:
"This thread always brings out the best of the worst qualities of pedal steel players. Persnickity! OOOoooooo! he was not in PERFECT tune, OOOoooooo! he was not REALLY a pedal steel player, OOOOooooooo! if it had only been a REAL pedal player like Robert Rand--uhhhhh like Buddy Emmons--yea! Emmons, OOOOoooo, OOOoooo, OOOOoooo repeat 1000 times." ---Bill Hatcher
"Teach Your Children" always gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it, even at Kroger. So does Buddy's version of "Cherokee."
"This thread always brings out the best of the worst qualities of pedal steel players. Persnickity! OOOoooooo! he was not in PERFECT tune, OOOoooooo! he was not REALLY a pedal steel player, OOOOooooooo! if it had only been a REAL pedal player like Robert Rand--uhhhhh like Buddy Emmons--yea! Emmons, OOOOoooo, OOOoooo, OOOOoooo repeat 1000 times." ---Bill Hatcher
"Teach Your Children" always gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it, even at Kroger. So does Buddy's version of "Cherokee."
- Charlie Wallace
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I met this singer some years ago up in Northern California who had recently gone to Nashville to record some songs he had written. He told me his story of how the recording went. By luck or whatever he had the fortune to hire Buddy Emmons as the steel player. I don't think he was even aware of Buddy Emmons. Apparently they were talking the arrangements over and Buddy asked what did he have in mind for the steel part. He replied that he really liked Jerry Garcia's playing. I don't know how Buddy responded but the steel playing on the recording sounded like the best of Jerry's ideas with flawless execution. It was great.
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