I recorded this guitar instrumental  to highlight the brilliance of Leonard Cohen, Chris Botti and Jeff Beck. The guitar part consists of my transcription for Chris' trumpet notes of Leonard's melody, played using Jeff Beck's whammy-bar style, on a Line 6 Helix setting for Nugent's Stranglehold solo!

A Thousand Kisses Deep Cover

After four months recording Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall, my favourite track was also the most fun to play. Comfortably Numb is consistently on most guitar magazines' votes for the top guitar solos of all time. This song features all of the sounds that make this album and this band one of the greatest of all time.

The music has two very distinct sounds and melodies because it started life as two separate tunes; a darker melody written and sung by Waters in a minor key, and a more upbeat melody written and sung by Gilmour in a major key. To emulate two different vocalists, I used a deeper EQ with hollow reverb to emulate Roger and a higher-end, lush mix with three-part harmonies for David's part.

Originally titled "The Doctor", this is one of only two songs on the album (the other being Mother) that is a stand-alone piece and doesn't begin with a crossfade from the previous track or end by fading into another track. The song was released as a 45 RPM, back in the day of the boss-hitbound-single, with Hey You as the B-side. This made for a great mini-Wall experience if you were lucky enough to find it on jukebox. 
 
In the storyline, Pink's manager injects the drug-induced Rockstar with something to bring him to consciousness so he can perform. The inspiration came from Waters' painful experience of being injected with tranquilizers for stomach cramps before performing a show in Philadelphia on the 1977 In the Flesh Tour.

Lyrics
=====

Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?

Come on now
I hear you're feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again

Relax (Relax)
I'll need some information, first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain you would not understand
This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay (Okay Okay)
Just a little pinprick
There'll be no more, ah
But you may feel a little sick

Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working, good
That'll keep you going through the show
Come on it's time to go

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone

I have become comfortably numb

Comfortably Numb

May 25th was the anniversary of the release of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, so in my COVID-19 isolation, on May 25, 2020 I set about trying to recreate Oldfield's Herculean one-man effort. Oldfield recorded the first side in one week, so I set out to limit my recording time to one week. The album has one track spread over two sides, with Side One being the most recognizable. I took a week to plan and analyze the recording (tempo, timing, rhythm, speed, pan, notes, effects, etc.), which allowed me to complete the recording in the second week. I took a third week to mix the track. Like Oldfield, I had some assistance from my wife on the choir at the end.

Tubular Bells was the debut studio album by Oldfield, an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter. It was the first album on for Richard Branson’s newly created Virgin Records. Oldfield was 19-years old when it was recorded and he played almost all the instruments on the album. Oldfield wrote the instrumental piece when he was 17-years old and Branson signed him after EMI, CBS and other labels rejected the pied, believing it was unmarketable without vocals. Branson told Oldfield that he liked the demos and invited Oldfield to come back to the Manor and spend a week there recording the track which was called "Opus One".

While recording during his one allotted week at the Manor in November 1972, Oldfield saw Tubular Bells among the instruments being removed from the studios after John Cale had finished recording there, so asked for them to be left behind for his own recording sessions. When Oldfield heard Vivian Stanshall say "Plus, Tubular Bells", Opus One was immediately renamed. Although there are many guitar sounds on the recording, the only electric guitar used on the album was a 1966 blonde Fender Telecaster which used to belong to Marc Bolan (Oldfield added an extra Bill Lawrence pick-up, used in the distorted guitar parts).

The introduction to Part One was chosen as the theme music for The Exorcist (the movie was released in December 1973). Director William Friedkin decided to scrap the original score by Lalo Schifrin when he heard Tubular Bells and instantly decided the piece was music would be perfect for the movie. Friedkin believed the child-like theme had a haunting quality, perfect for Regan's transformation. Although the introduction only features briefly in two scenes in the movie, it has become the track most commonly associated with the movie. The collage of piano and bells is syncopated by Oldfield's use of three bars in 7/8s time, followed by one bar of 9/8. Oldfield has stated that he did not want to see the film because he believed he would find it too frightening.

Track Breakdown
==============

0:04 Movie Dialogue
0:11 Piano Theme (called Georgetown on The Exorcist OST)
0:17 The Bells join the Piano Theme
0:59 The Bass joins the Piano Theme
1:12 Organ Blasts
1:48 Descending Piano Chords
2:11 Piano Theme
2:17 Descending Piano Chords
2:41 Piano Theme
2:48 Descending Piano Chords
3:06 Reed Organ
3:48 Staccato Guitars
4:13 Build-up to Tune G
4:27 Tune G on Mandolin and Classical Guitar
4:52 Legato Classical
5:28 Carrousel Waltz
6:03 Spastic Buildup
6:17 Bitchin’ Lead
7:06 Phased Bass
7:52 Lounge Act
9:02 Tune G Build-up
9:24 Tune G
11:39 Two Wimpy Guitars
12:39 Three Wimpy Guitars
13:38 Stripper Guitars
13:57 Honky Tonk Hummers
14:16 Heavy Chords
15:04 Coordinated Rhythms
15:52 Church Bells
16:26 Classical Solo
17:10 Chops in 5/4
17:30 E Bass Pattern
19:57 Grand Piano
20:20 Reed and Pipe Organ
20:44 Glockenspiel
21:06 Bass Guitar
21:29 Double Speed Guitar
21:52 Two Slightly Distorted Guitars
22:16 Mandolin
22:36 Spanish Guitar and introducing Acoustic Guitar
23:01 Plus Tubular Bells
23:28 Bells and Choir
23:50 Bells, Choir and Classical Guitar
24:13 Choir and Classical Guitar
24:36 Classical Guitar
25:00 Final Tune
25:30 Final Chord

Tubular Bells - Side One

"The Christmas We Get, We Deserve": One of the most elusive lines ever written. If you're a cynic, it's a cutting line but if you're a romantic then it is a lovely thought. The lyrics were written by Pete Sinfield and the music was written by Greg Lake (with Prokofiev's "Troika" added as the instrumental break at Keith Emerson's suggestion).

The song was recorded by Greg Lake and then again the following year by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It was released as a single in 1975 and narrowly missed the coveted UK Christmas Number One bragging rights, thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody. The Greg Lake version is heavily produced with orchestration, choirs, and heavy echoes on the vocals. The ELP version is significantly striped back. I have opted for a combination, introducing some of the Greg Lake attributes but also including enough space to hear the Emerson style keyboards (concluding with the grand piano Troika rather than the overly dramatic orchestra ending). For the guitar geeks, panned mostly left is a 12-string picked sound, while I play a 6-string finger-picked towards the right (not sure that's how Lake got his sound, but it sound closer than anything else I tried).

I Believe In Father Christmas

After listening to a Babe Ruth album from 1975, I found myself humming melodies from old cowboy movies all day long. After a while, I decided to write my own cowboy song suitable for use in a Spaghetti Western. The more cliché; the better!

Lyrics
=====
            
Cowboys: 
When I was young, I was an outlaw
Ridin’ cross the desert plains  
A white hat, a pony  
A rifle by my side  
Robbin’ banks like Jesse James  
    
When I was young, I was a cowboy
Roundin’ up the Buffalo  
A six gun, a lasso  
And Tonto by my side  
Ridin’ high in a Wild West Show  
            
Indians:
My mother told me that I would grow up
To be a rich man or a thief     
A banker, a tailor  
A candlestick maker  
But never an Indian chief  
            
Sometimes I would dress as an Apache
Then I wouldn’t need a gun  
An arrow, a feather  
A peace pipe in my hand  
And that's how the West was won  
            
Natives:
Santa Maria set out to cross the ocean
Looking for some land to claim  
A promise, a treaty  
Then fix their native ways  
Time for them to change their name  
            
The natives were moved to reservations
The tribes were all realigned  
Their customs, their culture  
Then take their kids away  
Out of sight and out of mind

My Cowboy Song

I went to university and college for 25 years before I finally gave up. December was always time to complete a paper or study for an exam. I discovered that I did my best work when I listened to Windham Hill records.

This December, I tried to replicate my "Study Music" with a tune that I called Windham Chill.

Windham Chill

Time to break out some pure Rock with this classic 1973 track from Joe Walsh. This song features slide guitar and a talkbox.

Rocky Mountain Way

The global pandemic has made us simultaneously more reliant on technology yet seeking self-reliant independence. The big winners in the first few months were streaming services and sour dough starters. Personally, I enhanced my digital music recording skills, as well as my sewing skills (making masks for friends).

This instrumental contrasts digital sounds with analog music. The percussion is West African drums consisting of a Dununba, two Dejemba and a couple of bells.

Going Analog

Cover of the classic track from 1968 by The Rolling Stones

Jumping Jack Flash

I sat down a tried to write a 70s-style rock song, à la Nazareth ... this is what I came up with!

The Lone Piper

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