Old, Popular & Classical

Ella Beck

Member
Hi there - I remember the vogue for grooving up classical pieces in the 1960s. I must admit, now that I'm grown up/older/old, I find them a bit cringeworthy.

What do you lot think?

Here's one I remember, not with unalloyed pleasure :) -

 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
I wish I could join this show of embedded videos,
but not only have I never been able to get it together to upload like this,
I couldn't find the album cover for the first "grooving up" music I thought of,
and that's "Switched on Bach" by Walter Carlos.
That's the album that made me hear more Bach than anywhere else in my life.
It sounded hot, the way it was produced for modern stereos.
So hot, in fact, I bought "The Four Seasons" by Walter Carlos, having an incredible rain storm.

Now, listening to what one man can do with synthesizers, the music sounds insipid.
That's not putting down Walters' accomplishments,
but he can't compare to an actual symphony or concert organist.
This perception of mine also took a beating, when Walter had a sex change to become Wendy.
People and musicians were down on synthesizers, seeing them as reducing gigs for musicians,
and creating a form of artificial music. Yes, that all came true with American digital productions.
It took me until this year, 2018, to make YouTube videos of myself playing an electric guitar.

Working in show-bands and hearing disco music during the disco era,
there were lots of classical and retro songs done over with a disco beat.
And then songs were done over with a raggae rhythm.
And then samples of songs were used to put together computer music.
And then self-producing musicians used previous songs as generic templates.

If Ella Beck can use the word cringeworthy, I think that overall, she's being shy.
I think she's still got the hair from her "new wave" days, and is too self-conscious.
Hey! If you were a groupie for "A Flock of Seagulls", that's cool. I did one of their songs.

Wow! I really looked on YouTube for the "Switched on Bach" album cover, not finding it.
I couldn't find a video for the "A Flock of Seagulls" song I used to do.
I wasn't hot on the name "Trouble Clef", but the band did very well.
We thought of ourselves as being in the "new wave" era, this song-list being from 1984.
We did pop songs with funk and jammed them up, having different sounds for different songs.
This song-list was was when I had a drummer and bass player, just a trio,
but we pulled off all these songs and had interest from a major booking agency.
I was an artist and sign-painter in Port Colborne during the day, and didn't want to leave.
The drummer came from a country band that just won a Juno award,
and he and the bassist had stars in their eyes, after my star wanted to stay.

aaaaah! The feeling I got changing channels on my Redmere Soloist amp,
and starting a lead guitar solo with the howling of the wolves, by Duran Duran.
yeah... that's true, what made it new wave era for me,
people applauding me when I went to change channels on my footswitch.
Do I feel a little foolish about that, considering that amp cost $2,750, custom made in Scotland?
Not at all. And on the drives home I didn't have the radio on, looking for peace and quiet.
I also wired a switch into my dashboard lights so I could turn them off and see outside.
It's beautiful here in the Niagara Peninsula, especially along Lake Erie.

That's me in the middle, 32, the drummer and bassist being 21 and 19.
I still do "Maneater", "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne", new millennium style.
I just hafta add, David Bowies' guitarist used a Redmere Soloist for "Let's Dance".
I liked sounding the same, but I never experimented with my sexuality.


31.jpg13.jpg
 
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Ella Beck

Member
John Watt said:
I wish I could join this show of embedded videos,
but not only have I never been able to get it together to upload like this,
I couldn't find the album cover for the first "grooving up" music I thought of,
and that's "Switched on Bach" by Walter Carlos.
That's the album that made me hear more Bach than anywhere else in my life.
It sounded hot, the way it was produced for modern stereos.
So hot, in fact, I bought "The Four Seasons" by Walter Carlos, having an incredible rain storm.

Now, listening to what one man can do with synthesizers, the music sounds insipid.
That's not putting down Walters' accomplishments,
but he can't compare to an actual symphony or concert organist.
This perception of mine also took a beating, when Walter had a sex change to become Wendy.
People and musicians were down on synthesizers, seeing them as reducing gigs for musicians,
and creating a form of artificial music. Yes, that all came true with American digital productions.
It took me until this year, 2018, to make YouTube videos of myself playing an electric guitar.

Working in show-bands and hearing disco music during the disco era,
there were lots of classical and retro songs done over with a disco beat.
And then songs were done over with a raggae rhythm.
And then samples of songs were used to put together computer music.
And then self-producing musicians used previous songs as generic templates.

If Ella Beck can use the word cringeworthy, I think that overall, she's being shy.
I think she's still got the hair from her "new wave" days, and is too self-conscious.
Hey! If you were a groupie for "A Flock of Seagulls", that's cool. I did one of their songs.

Wow! I really looked on YouTube for the "Switched on Bach" album cover, not finding it.
I couldn't find a video for the "A Flock of Seagulls" song I used to do.
I wasn't hot on the name "Trouble Clef", but the band did very well.
We thought of ourselves as being in the "new wave" era, this song-list being from 1984.
We did pop songs with funk and jammed them up, having different sounds for different songs.
This song-list was was when I had a drummer and bass player, just a trio,
but we pulled off all these songs and had interest from a major booking agency.
I was an artist and sign-painter in Port Colborne during the day, and didn't want to leave.
The drummer came from a country band that just won a Juno award,
and he and the bassist had stars in their eyes, after my star wanted to stay.

aaaaah! The feeling I got changing channels on my Redmere Soloist amp,
and starting a lead guitar solo with the howling of the wolves, by Duran Duran.
yeah... that's true, what made it new wave era for me,
people applauding me when I went to change channels on my footswitch.
Do I feel a little foolish about that, considering that amp cost $2,750, custom made in Scotland?
Not at all. And on the drives home I didn't have the radio on, looking for peace and quiet.
I also wired a switch into my dashboard lights so I could turn them off and see outside.
It's beautiful here in the Niagara Peninsula, especially along Lake Erie.

That's me in the middle, 32, the drummer and bassist being 21 and 19.
I still do "Maneater", "Message in a Bottle" and "Roxanne", new millennium style.
I just hafta add, David Bowies' guitarist used a Redmere Soloist for "Let's Dance".
I liked sounding the same, but I never experimented with my sexuality.


View attachment 4223View attachment 4224
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There doesn't seem to be a lot that's relevant here, seeing as I'm not sure how your guitar performances have anything to do with classical themes used as pop music in the twentieth century, but thanks for the Walter Carlos reference.

Please don't make personal remarks about me, however. Thank you.
 
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Ella Beck

Member
elderpiano said:
Always enjoyed that Taggart. Love every bit of it!


No I don't want this to scare ya , but my bunk maid has malaria ! :grin:
Click to expand...

Hurray, hurray - thank you for posting on my thread.

I like this one too - especially the way he changes his mind at the end and says, 'Mudder - fader - please disregard this letter.' :)
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
Ella Beck! Okay, I won't make any personal references to you.
What looks like ordinary rock band ephemera doesn't show my classical and jazz abilities,
what reviewers called decorating rock songs or jamming out Coltrane and Paganini influences.
Here's a photo I carried in my wallet for a long, long time. Nicolo Paganini.

This top section of the newest guitar I'm building is like a violin, with a matching grain bottom.
This is one piece of Lake Erie, Port Colborne medium maple, not two halves glued together.

If I'm a product of my environment, what inspires me,
you can see how messed up things can be around here,
when fossils aren't just fossilized and Noah can be waving a candy cane.
Sometimes I don't know which direction to play or pray to.
I hope you don't mind impersonal references. I can be highly impersonal.


s-s-b 5.jpgsept2016'31.JPGDec25'15'37.JPG36.jpg
 
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Ella Beck

Member


A Whiter Shade of Pale - oh, didn't we think we were cool when that came out? :)

It certainly sounds classical - but exactly how is still debatable, judging by this quotation:

Capturing the hippy vibe of the Summer of Love to a tee and complete with its floaty Hammond organ intro, Procol Harum’s 1967 classic is surely the most famous pop song to have borrowed from classical music. Exactly which bit of JS Bach it is derived from, however, is not as clear as one might think. Yes, there are elements of the Air on a G String in the ground bass there, but that famous intro is actually a canny adaptation of JSB’s ‘Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe’, BWV156.

(See http://www.classical-music.com/article/six-best-pop-songs-inspired-classical-music)
 
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Taggart

Taggart

Sr. Regulator
Staff member
Sr. Regulator
The above is based on Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.

Try this:


Clue- shaken not stirred.
 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
When I saw Procul Harem in Edmonton in 1970,
they began the concert by saying they had played A Whiter Shade of Pale so many times,
they didn't want to play it again, and if anyone yelled the name out they would leave the stage.

This is another failed embedding attempt.
 
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Ella Beck

Member
This must go down as one of the cheekiest rip-offs of classical music in a song which is - well, a bit more downmarket! :)

 
John Watt

John Watt

Member
When my brother first got his acoustic guitar, I was making up stuff myself.
"The Sounds of Silence" was one of the first songs I tried to figure out.
Somehow, "hello darkness my old friend", means more now than it ever did.
I bought the sheet music for "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme",
to help me get into Pauls' guitar style.

As far as your comment about Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle being the best duo in America,
I think Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart are the best harmony singers, as a duo,
that were out there back then and are out there now.
You can say they have a wonderful and strange thing happening when they sing together.
And not to criticize you for your age,
but I'm surprised you're not thinking of the Everly Brothers that way.
I still find myself singing "Dree-ee-ee-dream, dream dream dream dream, when I think of you.." to myself from time to time.
 

Ella Beck

Member
elderpiano said:
The best music due ever to happen to America!

All time favourites.




Click to expand...

Bridge Over Troubled Water is one of my favourite songs - very much of my era. When I went to university and was in a hall of residence, the girl next door played it over and over on her record player. Good job I liked it! :)
 
elderpiano

elderpiano

Member
Yes, that was nice you liked it. I had a student living in the same house as me at one time, and she would practice learning the flute, it was really lovely to listen to. She invited me out a few times, very nice girl. But we move on and lost touch.


I am very selective in my music, and didn't like a lot of pop , rock and roll stuff, but I did have my moments. I don't see how anyone could compare Simon & Garfunkel to those two women mentioned above, Anne and Nancy Wilson. Simon & Garfunkel's music was so poetic. I think I'll post a few more favourites. :). Beach boys bring back memories too when I lived in Canada.
 
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