The Steel Guitar Forum

This is probably heresy but I wish the guitar player would lighten up with the mute string chopping on judy Collins's "Someday Soon."

And why the manic bongo-bopping on "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" by the Beatles?

Did Paul Simon really need that didgeridoo or whatever it is on "The Boxer?"

More cowbell!

Frank Freniere wrote:Did Paul Simon really need that didgeridoo or whatever it is on "The Boxer?"

I think that was harmonica great Charlie McCoy on a bass harmonica. I like it in that song but yeah, there are definitely some great songs with questionable instrumentation that set me off in a similar manner. I'll try to think of some and get back to you.

or that ridiculous blown-speaker fuzz effet in Spirit in the Sky

The distorted guitar solo in Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry" comes to mind. That sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the song. I heard it was due to a bad tube in the amp or in the recording console.

Doug Beaumier wrote:The distorted guitar solo in Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry" comes to mind. That sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the song. I heard it was due to a bad tube in the amp or in the recording console.

Jeez, I kind of liked that one, Doug.

Most anything on a "rock" oriented radio station is annoying instrumentation.

I've gotta go with Doug on this one. That ultra-distorted baritone guitar fuzz-o-matic
thing on "Don't Worry Bout Me" was a far departure from Marty Robbins's gracious style.
It was like a annoying electronic fart from a broken moog synthesizer operated by b0b
when he and his 1960's pals partied too hard after the Deep Purple concert.

Out of tune flutes are particularly annoying.... like on California Dreamin' and Nights in White Satin.

Doug Beaumier wrote:Out of tune flutes are particularly annoying.... like on California Dreamin' and Nights in White Satin.

You can add "Along Comes Mary" to that list... After 40, years I'm glad to finally have someone to complain to about it...

I have always wondered what they had to do to get those flutes so out of tune (and how record producers could keep their jobs).

Maybe their parts were phoned in, like ET phoning home from some place where the laws of physics weren't immutable.

No wonder Zappa used so much satirical annoying instrumentation in those days.

"Don't Worry" is an early example of guitar distortion. Session guitarist Grady Martin, using a faulty channel in the mixing-desk for his six-string bass, created a distorted sound. Although Martin did not like the sound, Robbins' producer left the guitar track as it was.

"Don't Worry" was Marty Robbins seventh number one on the country chart and stayed at number one for ten weeks.

Obviously a lot of people didn't seem to mind the song as it was. Kept it at #1 for 2 1/2 months!

I guess people didn't know. I didn't realize it didn't matter!:whoa:

Eric Dolphy doing 'Louie Louie,' with the mighty majestic Royal Albert Hall pipe organ and the London Philharmonic Orchestra,
exactly what I was thinking. At least 'Primer Mi Carucha' was in tune.

(I have Uncle Meat playing now. It's a freaking symphony.
I'm only wearing my underwear.)

TMI, Charlie!

Steve Hitsman wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIdxgG3dzdc

zappa caught a lot of flack for using that pipe organ. all the purists hated him for it over there. only zappa.....


as for the rest of the comments. if you had heard this music when it was brand new released, you would have thought how cool and fresh and innovative these sounds are. 50 or 60 years is a long time. modern sounds have jaded folks. when i listen to music....the period of the music always comes into play and i can enjoy it also as it WAS.

i was listening to some vinyl yesterday in the workshop. i heard some george benson that was so out of tune it was astounding. i dont think intonation gets a pass!! lol

what i think went down is the initial recording of the basic tracks was just guitar trio and then the horns were dubbed in later. the pitch of the horn section was not lined up with the guitar at all. you guys may not remember when there were no tuners except for those big conn strobo things and no studios had them. you tuned to the piano that was there. many were out of tune for sure, so we would just get close. in the 60s and 70s i would always get to the session early to tune when it was quiet. when the session started, it was hard to get a break to tune up. also consider this. many times there is a difference in pitch from the front of the tape to the back due to the difference in weight on the tape transport as the tape feeds from one side to the other and is under different tension and torque. if a flute player came in to overdub on a session that was bounced down to two tracks and on the old ampex 3 tracks that were so prevalent in hollywood the track you were going to play to might be very NOT standard 440 anymore. you could only get close.

the flute solo on california dreaming is iconic. pitch doesnt matter on that one! lol

I'm sorry, I don't know what TMI is but maybe I should guess...
('more than I wanted to know'
'keep your images to yourself?')

Too Much Information

Ooo, that annoying whiney thing in the middle of Gene Watson's "Farewell Party". Wish they'd have used a vocal ensemble.

...you tuned to the piano that was there.

Yes, I figured that was the case back in the day. A lot of recordings from the 50s and 60s are slightly flat or sharp of 440. It's maddening when you try to play along with the recording, trying to learn it. Sometimes I tune my guitar flat or sharp to match the old recording.

I remember the old Conn Strobo tuner. It was a massive thing! A guitarist I worked with back in the 70s had one on stage. He played through a Fender Dual Showman amp, with the Conn on top of the amp! Bigger was Better back then.

I've gotta go with Doug on this one. That ultra-distorted baritone guitar fuzz-o-matic
thing on "Don't Worry Bout Me" was a far departure from Marty Robbins's gracious style.
It was like a annoying electronic fart from a broken moog synthesizer operated by b0b
when he and his 1960's pals partied too hard after the Deep Purple concert.

As I understand it, it was the inception of the electronically distorted stringed instrument which, unfortunately, is still with us today. Still sounds like an electronic fart...

The organ on Ventures' Telstar.
You call it iconic, I call it ironic, for a guitar band with no guitar on it.

And the mystery annoyance on The Thirteenth Floor Elevators
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHK9vj0VE7w

Did Paul Simon really need that didgeridoo or whatever it is on "The Boxer?"

Frank, I think you know that it's a steel and a flute playing in unison.

edited to say:
trumpet instead of flute

Charlie McDonald wrote: And the mystery annoyance on The Thirteenth Floor Elevators
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHK9vj0VE7w

Was that guy playing the jug or just sippin' on it?

How about the wimpy recorder solo on "Wild Thing"?

Dude be "Huffin Da Jug"