cody78

I haven't posted on here in over a year, but I have been enjoying all the lockdowns as it's given me chance to practice a lot more. In the first lockdown here in the UK last March I decided to go back through most of Slash's 'Use Your Illusion' solos and learn them note for note. After this I turned to some jazz stuff I'd always meant to learn and started on Joe Pass' version of Night & Day. I'm now working through some Tal Farlow tunes (his arrangement of Autumn Leaves). Anyway, I thought some of you might enjoy hearing Night & Day...this is just a section from the intro until I get around to recording the rest of it. I was going to record it on either my 175 or ES 5, but opted for my J-185 as it was originally recorded on an acoustic. I can't remember how to post videos so it shows up directly on here, so here is the YouTube link. Joe Pass Jazz chord melody excerpt - YouTube

These transcriptions are really great, thanks for posting. I will attempt them at some point.

Most of you guys have been married longer than I've been alive.

I haven't seen it the Grammy's performance, but people saying Aerosmith haven't done anything good since Rocks is totally not true in my opinion. Nine Lives was the last great Aerosmith album, so maybe they haven't done anything good since 1997! Just Push Play should never have been released, but Music from Another Dimension had a few good songs. Anyway, Nine Lives was the last time Aerosmith really sounded like Aerosmith and the title track is a brilliant song.

Thanks for the links. Interesting he does some bending on that 12 string in that last video. I never bend on a 12 string due to the nature of the instrument. That CJ165 rosewood looks really nice in the other video. I wonder why he switched from Guild to Gibson.? Growing up in the 90's I was a big GN'R fan, then followed Velvet Revolver and went to see them live around 2005, but after that I didn't pay as much attention. For me I always imagine Slash with his No.1 1987 Les Paul Standard or a Guild acoustic. Having said that, the J45 looks and sounds really great. He doesn't seem to have remained that faithful to a lot of the guitars he was known to play at the height of GN'R. I used to love the look of that Travis Bean he played on Bad Obsession live.

I watched a little bit. Shouldn't they have played clean for clearer results on bass (and treble) frequencies? I used 11's on solid bodies for years and then changed to 10's in the last few years. 9's too flimsy... and I have never tried 8's in almost 29 years of playing!

Nice, but I always remember Slash using Guild acoustics back in the 80's & 90's. When did he start using J-45's?

Forget the B Rich, what about the Travis Bean! Always loved the look of them, never got to try one. I saw a band live years ago and the guitarist had one...I think that's the only time I've seen one in person.

There are a few that shouldn't be forgotten, but it seems only a small collective of music connoisseurs would know these musicians. I'm 36 and can guarantee most people I know (even musicians) would not know who Johnny Smith was sadly. I first heard of him years ago, but because of his signature Gibson model and not his playing. It was only after that I started listening to his playing.

They are beautiful looking guitars.

Johnny Smith was an incredible player. I play 'What are you doing for the rest of your life' often, but not to his level! The Joe Pass version is excellent too.

I said closest they got to metal, however, in 1975 & 1976 Nobody's Fault and Round & Round would have been pretty heavy...like going in the direction of Black Sabbath. By today's standards it's not that heavy or 'metal', but then it would have been. Led Zeppelin sometimes got classified as metal back then, when they are hardly Sepultura, Darkane or Textbook Tragedy (if you know those last 2 bands I mentioned? ).

Nobody's Fault and Round and Round (and maybe Kings & Queens and Voodoo Medicine Man) are probably the closest Aerosmith ever got to metal. I believe Brad Whitford was the main writer for all of them, except Kings & Queens which is credited to most of the band + producer Jack Douglas.

People interested in Epi headstocks should read Walter Carter's 'The Epiphone Guitar Book' and there you will see that the (now old) clipped ear design was a slight variant of an old Epi design pre dating the Gibson ownership years. This new one is just another style of Epiphone headstock from the past.

Yes, that is a fair point. It does get played far too much and the Run DMC version can be somewhat annoying.

Me too! It's very underrated I think. Not a bad song on it and their version of Milk Cow Blues was a great way to finish the album.

Everyone raves about Rocks, but for me Toys in the Attic was better. Rocks is great, but Toys is easily the best album they ever made. Someone mentioned Get Your Wings and when I first heard that one I wasn't too impressed. I like it now, but I think it's their weakest album of the 70's and I prefer Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts. It's interesting how everyone hears things differently.

True. He did play and co-write a few songs on NITR, though I forget which ones. The credits are on Wiki and more comprehensive than in the album liner notes I think. I've actually never heard Joe's solo albums. I must have a listen at some point.

Good songs. What about 'Chiquita' off Night in the Ruts though. A truly excellent tune I'd say.

Some/ most of them are available right now in the UK, so if you're in the US I would imagine they are out there too already?

Well that was harsh...but probably true! I like both those songs, but then I always thought Bryan Adams had some good songs. Interestingly, one of my friends who is a total metal enthusiast loves the song Amazing. I never understood how he would slate everything except metal, but made an exception for Aerosmith. His favourite Aerosmith album is 1997's Nine Lives I think. I like Aerosmith, I like metal too, I like jazz, classical, minimalism, rock, blues, funk, world music and many other styles. Aerosmith are great in my opinion.

Haha! No, you're not entitled to an opinion if you're bashing Aerosmith. I am joking. ..like what you want to like, or not in this case.

They had at least 1 power ballad on nearly all their early albums, starting with Dream On from their first record. I don't get your argument! Take 1989's Pump...only one power ballad on that if I recall correctly.

Got to disagree with you on that one. The first album I got by Aerosmith was Get a Grip, a year or two after it came out in around 1994/1995. I was 10 or 11 then so maybe it's a generation thing, but I love that album. Pump was the next one I bought and I love that too. I didn't even know at the time they were from the 70's! I eventually got Toys in the Attic (my favourite Aerosmith album) and discovered the rest of their catalogue. I also love Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts. The only album they never should have released is Just Push Play. Truly awful album. Generally I like all Aerosmith albums.

Yeah, I've seen. He posted in a Gibson archtop group I'm in on Facebook! I commented 'very nice playing' on his video. Didn't expect him on there at all!