Playing Along with Eric Clapton and BB King

After two years of working on the blues, and I mean specifically the blues, I have grown to love a number of artists.  In an earlier post, I identified a number of blues singers/guitarists that I particularly have come to know about and have also determined to be very enjoyable to hear.  I generally have played along with the CD's of all of my favorites.  In the summer of 2010, I began aggressively to collect blues albums.  I just love Stevie Ray Vaughan, for both his voice and his guitar style.  We lost him too soon and there is no telling the heights he would have risen to in his abilities and diversity of guitar techniques he might have used.  The scarey part is that he may have been the best ever when he died and so young he was as he ripped blues rifts from his Fender Stratocaster guitar!

I am a big Albert King fan, as you know if you are a regular reader.  Albert King had the purest Blues voice of anyone in music history.  He sounded so warm and emotive in the way he sang that each song's message is unmistakable.  His guitar playing was smooth and pleasant, as he glided on his left handed instrument, nearly always a Gibson Flying V. 

Of late I have begun to formulate my own style and find that when I am learning blues songs, I tend to choose Muddy Waters, Albert King, BB King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.  I have a duo album by the great Eric Clapton combined with the great king of blues, BB King.  I have listened to that album and included my commentary about it on this blog site in an earlier post.

BB King plays a black Gibson ES-355 Semi-hollow Guitar he calls "Lucille" while Eric Clapton is known for his work on a variety of Fender Strats; but one he loves in particular is black with a white pick guard.  He calls it "Blackie."

The more I have played along with "Riding with the King," the more eager I have become to play the songs on the album. I particularly love to play Three O'Clock Blues,  When My Heart Starts Beating Like a Hammer, Ten Long Years, Come Rain or Shine, and Worried Life Blues.  I frequently sit with my Fender Stratocaster plugged into my VHT Special 6 Head and Cabinet combination and play the guitar with the recordings of these songs.

I have begun to realize that I am able to play along best with Clapton and BB, when compared to other guitarists.  This may be due to the style and the feel I have for their arrangements. I have been playing and singing some of them solo, stepping away from playing to the CD as I listen to these great players!  I think their music fits my style better because these two don't emphasize speed as much as emotion and rhythmic excellence.  The songs tend to be a bit slower and more emotional in nature, which does correspond well with my personality.  Also, I have a rare form of Parkinson's Disease and this slows down my songs and weakens my voice.  Slower blues songs are more achievable for me, but I am not wanting to take anything away from the slow blues style.  Also, singing in general helps to strengthen my singing voice which is at risk due to my neurological disease.

I choose to pay blues because it is a challenge and something different for me.  I was an acoustic guitarist songwriter all my adult life (beginning to write songs in high school) so the electric guitar and a new style, such as the blues, were elements I needed to give me a greater challenge for years to come.  For now, I have come to understand that I both like hearing and playing Eric and BB's music, both their duet stuff as well as their own solo performances.  One day I will post some videos of yours truly playing more of their songs.  In the meantime, here is a song from their Riding with the King album:

Fender Lonestar Strat Sounds Full and Powerful

Fender Deluxe Lone Star Stratocaster - Upgrades from Standard MIM Strat

Playing my new Fender Deluxe Lone Star Stratocaster has been really enjoyable. I have found the two Texas Special pickups to be very full and warm.  The front neck pickup sounds quite melodic and full.  The middle pickup has a sweet, plucky sound.  The bridge pickup is the USA made Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Humbucker.  This pickup really is surprisingly impressive.  Some reviews I read prior to receiving this guitar had guitarists saying that the humbucker on this strat was too hot and imbalanced, overpowering the Texas Specials.  It was described as having a shrill tone.

I am glad I didn't listen to these naysayers.  Turns out the Pearly Gates Humbucker is just a great blues or rock 'n roll bridge pickup!  My favorite setting is in the number two switch position so that has the added noise canceling and warming effect from the middle Texas Special Pickup.  This way you get the growl of the Humbucker tempered by the middle pickup.  In addition, this humbucker sounds great through an overdrive pedal or DSP overdrive setting.  These setting combinations create really great sounding overdriven blues licks!

I am sincere when I say this Fender Deluxe Lone Star Strat sounds and players better than my Fender American Standard I sold in the spring.  So far, I have not gone with the wammy bar.  I have the Vintage Tremolo bridge adjusted to a level position with the top of the guitar.  -- Guitar Man

Pianist Dudley Moore Fought PSP

Dudley Moore was not only an actor, but you probably know he was a great pianist as well.  He had a horrible disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and eventually died from this affliction.

This video explains what he went through and how his greatest concern was not being able to play the piano at some point.  I found the part about the Musician's Network, called Music for All Seasons, that went into places such as rehabilitation centers to perform very interesting.  It would be great if we could get some blues players and other musicians to take an active role in the Inland Empire of Southern California.  As a disabled person, I would certainly be interested in sharing my music in this way.  Watch this video.  Sad but informative.

Blues for Peace Site is Worth Checking Out

Eric Clapton

I have stumbled upon a wonderful Blues Guitar focused website that is quite impressive.  It is known as Blues for Peace and seeks to do just as the title describes.  It is a website that originates in Israel and is provided to encourage Blues musicians of the grass roots sort to learn and play the blues to the best of their ability.  This site is intending to remind the visitor to their pages that through Blues Music we can promote peace among all people.  The webmaster wants to point out that all people from every culture country and continent desire to live in peace and promote the value of all human beings through Blues Music.  There are lessons, lyrics and a well articulated history of the blues that I know you will enjoy.  Check out this site at:  http://www.bluesforpeace.com/
-- Guitar Man

Jimi Hendrix

BB King