The Steel Guitar Forum

David Mason wrote:

After watching Paul Shaffer who gets stranger every year

I find television pretty much unbearable anyway, and that guy is like the poster child for human extinction or something. The whole "sidekick" issue.... only Doc Severinsen seemed to avoid the "de-volution problem."

[watching Dr. Gonzo Shaffer leave]
Raoul Duke says "There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Just plain excellent.

I believe Letterman is pretty hip to good music - it would be very easy to have a popular national talk show and stick with a lot of lame stuff. In just the last week he has had along with Webb/Johnson - Steve Winwood, Alejandro Escovedo, and Dierks Bentley with his new acoustic oriented, "bluegrassy" project (with Rob Ickes on dobro, and Del McCoury's incredible fiddler, Jason Carter). I'm just thankful that a fine steel player like Mike Johnson received some serious camera time.

I still put Wichita Lineman in my top 20 favorite songs of all time.I never seem to tire of it and there have been many outstanding versions. I think if that were the only song Jimmy Webb had ever written you could have still called it a pretty good career.

It was a great version. Webb's rough-around-the-edges vocals were quite a contrast to his beautiful piano playing and Mike's outstanding contribution on steel.

And I liked Paul's accordion, it was very understated and I thought tastefully done.

I agree with Mark Eaton's post above. The performance was very nice by all three perfomers. Paul is one of the coolest people on the planet! It was obvious that he really liked what our friend Mike was doing.

Awsome just Awsome!!!!!!! I think that ShoPro looks Great!!

great song...good to see a steel on tv actually get played in an attractive manner for a change.
i dig mike johnson, letterman and paul s.

i've seen many groups, however, on letterman that make me wonder how and why they got on there!

I'm just now reading this topic and have just watched the weblink.

Just beautifully done. I like singers with an "edge" in their voices. I never actually have seen JW perform. A first for me.

But I am well aware of his songwriting skills.

I think the first JW song I heard (and loved, of course) was "Wasn't Born to Follow" [as by the Byrds] and featured (twice) in the movie Easy Rider.
I'm pretty sure it's a JW song.

And as many have mentioned, super-exposure for the pedal steel guitar.

I'm pretty sure that Carole King wrote "Wasn't Born To Follow," as well as "Goin' Back."

Jimmy Webb, like all of us, is not without "sin" - he did write after all, the in-my-opinion puke worthy "MacArthur Park" as recorded by Richard Harris.

To each his own, Mark, but many of us apparently found the song noteworthy for whatever reason. Here's a partial list FYI.
The song has been covered more than 50 times, including versions by:
The 5th Dimension
Diana Ross & the Supremes
Beggar's Opera
Glen Campbell
Vic Damone
Sammy Davis, Jr (twice)
Percy Faith
Michael Feinstein
Maynard Ferguson
The Four Tops
Plastic Penny
Justin Hayward
Gitte Hænning
Waylon Jennings
Long John Baldry
Stan Kenton
Liza Minnelli
Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Hugo Montenegro
Only Men Aloud!
Elaine Paige
Psychotica
The Queers
Doc Severinsen
Frank Sinatra
The Negro Problem
The Three Degrees
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
Andy Williams
Zumpano
Regine Velasquez
Sally Yeh
Other notable covers include the following:
Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Ed Ames each recorded versions utilizing only the middle section.
Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed recorded an all-instrumental version for their guitar duet album Me & Jerry, winner of the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
The Four Tops recorded their version of the song, omitting the long instrumental breaks of the song, and reached #38 on the Billboard singles chart.
The song was also performed by the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in several productions in the mid-1970s.
In 1977 Finnish singer-songwriter Hector recorded the song in band called H.E.C. with Finnish lyrics. Hector titled the song in Finnish as "Vanhan kirkon puisto" ("Old Church´s park"), referring to the old church of Helsinki, Hector´s hometown.
In 1980 the song was performed by Pink Lady on their variety show Pink Lady and Jeff.
Mónica Naranjo performed a Spanish version of this song, "Palabra De Mujer", in the 1990s.
Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward with Mike Batt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra covered Webb's song on his Classic Blue album.
It was also performed by Carrie Underwood in season four of American Idol.
UK Hip Hop artist Roots Manuva uses the main chord structure in his 2001 single "Dreamy Days".

dbl again?

Well, it's not my favourite, either, but still a very musical effort.

I've learned a lot over the years from Webb's songwriting - mostly about chord sequences and the endless possibilities. He's entitled to at least one questionable lyric!

Well, thankfully on his new album loaded with guest stars, Jimmy didn't include "MacArthur Park." That will be one less version to add to the lexicon.

the song sucks! ....by anybody!! ......worst song waylon ever recorded!!!

Thanks Mark.

I hate being a fool.

And thank you Barry. Like Mark, you know what's up and down.

the song sucks! ....by anybody!! ......worst song waylon ever recorded!!!

Wow, Chris. Worse than the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme?

The steel guitar was the only truly good thing about that performance. Mike and the Show-Pro sounded beautiful. JW's voice and PS's accordion were terrible


....overall score 5/10. (All 5 points earned by Mike).

Jimmy and Paul "hammered," when are we going to see a post that declares that Mike's steel playing sucked? Perhaps it is just a matter of time...

(Y'all forgot Homer Simpson's extraordinary rendition of the melting song.)

We're surprised Jimmy Webb sings like a songwriter? (Too bad Burt Bacharach isn't a vocal powerhouse — maybe he could've made a success of himself in the music world.)

Regarding instrumentation, wouldn't some kind of bass have been much more useful than accordion played in a droning fashion?

Mostly, it's extremely nice that Jimmy Webb thinks enough of Mike Johnson and pedal steel to have featured them front-and-center on this entertaining performance.

quote:

"That was some steel guitar playing my wife would enjoy."

Mike Johnson did a superb job. He is great

Did anybody ever see a movie where Jimmy Webb hired a film crew to film him flying in his glider?

He crashed it and narrowly escaped death.

Was it my imagination or did the piano sound like it was underwater?

Chris, The song "McArthurs Park" is the only thing worse than the real place

http://www.yelp.com/biz/macarthur-park-los-angeles

As any pro-baseballer will tell you,
you just can not hit it out of the park everyday; including MacArthur's Park.

Give JW a break; for crying out loud!

This is exactly the opposite of what radio music has become, all genre's,

A great song, tasteful playing, and NOOOO cliche hooks,

Very nice, Mike's one of the best,

Greg

Just for the record, there's no "s" in MacArthur Park.
From the Wikipedia page:
Throughout his recording, Harris can be heard using the incorrect possessive form, "MacArthur's Park". Webb has said he tried correcting Harris during re-takes, but gave up when he simply could not (or would not) sing the correct words

Thanks Barry...

I'm 0 and 2, now, and the pitcher is reaching for the rosin bag.

Mark Eaton said:

Jimmy Webb, like all of us, is not without "sin" - he did write after all, the in-my-opinion puke worthy "MacArthur Park" as recorded by Richard Harris.

and then...

Well, thankfully on his new album loaded with guest stars, Jimmy didn't include "MacArthur Park." That will be one less version to add to the lexicon.

and finally ...

Jimmy and Paul "hammered," when are we going to see a post that declares that Mike's steel playing sucked? Perhaps it is just a matter of time...

I have to admit that I'm thoroughly confused now.