The Crusaders

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Continuum - Jaco Pastorius cover - Ft. Reinhard Bock

Rikki Don't Lose That Number

An original song written, produced and arranged by Benny Sutton
I kissed a girl is about a guy who, after being dumped, gets an ai robot replacement - in the same image as his Ex!

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I Kissed A Girl Just Like You

I wrote a Christmas Song!

A Case of You is arguably one of the greatest breakup songs ever
Joni is eloquent and poetic ode to long-time lover Graham Nash
It is a tale of star-crossed lovers, great Love, found and lost
Originally on the Blue album
There are over 300 known cover versions of it, by 300 artists (now 301) including Prince
All found something they could make their own

A Case Of You by Joni Mitchell Ft. Sam B.

Have a John Lennon Christmas!

Is River by Joni Mitchell the best Christmas song ever?
It was off the 1973 'Blue' Album and amazingly was never released as a single.
Nor was it a Christmas song, it was a sad love song about her breakup with Graham Nash.
It just got so much airplay it grew into a classic that gets played very holiday season.

River by Joni Mitchell Ft. Anita O.

The Joni Project

Blue by Joni Mitchell

Skinny White Rock Chicks sing Good Old Fashioned Rock 'n' Roll

Carey by Joni Mitchell - soft rock cover

This is the ultimate good time track from the ultimate good time band, the Crusaders. It was written by the late, great Joe sample and has been covered many times, the Average White Band's vocal version being one of my faves.
The Crusaders have been overlooked yet are such an important influence on so many Jazz players. Indeed they had some Jazz Giants playing for them; Joe Sample (pianist), Stix Hooper (drums), Wilton Felder (saxophone), and Wayne Henderson (trombone) plus a skinny white guy called Larry Carlton on guitar. They were big in the 1970's and had a hit with Street Life featuring Randy Crawford. They have kept popping up in various incarnations since.
The Crusaders are my all time fave band. If I had a choice of joining Steely Dan, Earth wind and Fire or the Crusaders then the Crusaders would win hands down. That's how much I dig them.
The Crusaders are the ultimate good time band. Great tracks that swing, mostly in major keys, infectious rhythms that defy your feet not to tap. From a guitar players point of view these tracks play themselves. They are simple and that's why they are fun. 
I'll be posting more covers from this band real soon.
Ben   :-)

[more]

The Crusaders ---- Put It Where You Want It! (downloadable)

Spiral is one of the Crusader's seminal tracks and a joy for any guitarist to play over. It is from the 1976 album Those Southern Knights.

The Crusaders ---- Spiral (downloadable)

TRICKS FOR GUITAR SOLOING
This is my fave track from my fave band and has my best solo to date. Check it out at 2 mins 40 secs (roughly halfway thru)
Why's it my best solo? I saw this young upstart guitarist in 1970 something play this live. It was awe inspiring. That was Larry Carlton of course and he went on to play with Steely Dan (and just about everyone else). 
My solo is as close as it gets to Larry's vibe. By doing a Q&A with the backing riff frees you from following continuous chords with compatible scales. It's mostly a pentatonic blues scale, B♭ or a G melodic minor slipping into/out of the major scale. 
Being free to just throw down motifs is why I can get such light and shade into it. You know, standing back then digging in. Always effective.  
Next trick that a lot of players are blissfully unaware of is to play the silences between the notes. A deluge of fast notes over the whole of a solo gets, well, boring. If you time it right you can add some tension for the listener aching for you to play the next lick. 
Less is more. This allows those little nuances; vibratos, slides, slurs, harmonics, slaps, snaps etc. I go through just about every one in my repertoire. I may not be the best technician by my style, like Larry's, is pretty expressive. 

more

The Crusaders ---- Chain Reaction (downloadable)

Check out my Soundcloud channel for my latest music releases. 
Love Guitar? You're in the right place!
I'm different! I play melodies - even when improvising!  
I'm really not interested in impressing other musicians. I'm creating music for everyone.
I'M ALSO HERE...
http://www.bennysutton.com
MY VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TJp0GyhYOnusiCGB8z4fG0T8G35gTTi
https://soundcloud.com/bennysutton_covers


ABOUT ME
I play the music I like to listen to. 
As a guitarist I like to think I have my own style.
Harmony, and the groove is what I'm chasing, hopefully with a tasteful, nuanced, and distinctive presentation. 
I don't have a genre as such. I could sort of call myself a smooth Jazz 'n' Blues guitar 'thang' but in reality every track crosses over multiple strands of R&B/Jazz/Funk/Pop. Don't be put off by my use of the "J" word. Jazz to me is anything unpredictable and I'm nothing if not contemporary. 
Rhythm playing is as much a part of my "game" as lead soloing. I love the Funk!
My main instrument is guitar. I play a 1973 Ovation Breadwinner, an Ibanez nylon stringed and a Yamaha keyboard loaded with Keyscape. Unless stated I play all the other instruments too (mostly Bass), and sequence MIDI and arrange/produce. 

MY JOURNEY
I was signed with Fresh Air records and EMI in the 1980's creating Jazz/funk dance tracks but things were just as challenging then as they are now for musicians so I got a 'proper job' for 20 years! During all that time my guitar was in the loft! I rediscovered music in 2010 and Soundcloud in 2014.


MY SOUNDCLOUD
I am grateful to Soundcloud listeners who take the time to press |>Play - and especially if you give me some feedback :-)
I hope what you hear will draw you in sufficiently to explore on my own website. Nearly all my original stuff (6 albums worth) are on www.BennySutton.com and all are downloadable.
Please don't follow me in hope of getting to get an automatic follow back. I don't do that because I only follow the smallest number of people I can keep track of. I'll have a look at your page but will only follow back if you are really of interest to me. See my follow list, you'll discover some very talented artistes, many of whom I have been lucky to Collab. Soundcloud really is the place to find the real innovators these days - not the music industry approved channels, especially MTV!
If you want to get my attention, send me a PM.

The Crusaders ---- Put It Where You Want It! (downloadable)

Benny Sutton

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