Michael P. Naughton's Blog, page 2

WHY ‘THE GUITAR AMP HANDBOOK’ by Dave Hunter” GOES TO ELEVEN”

“The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and…” — Nigel Tufnel, ‘Spinal Tap’

By definition, a handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide a ready reference. By that definition, The Guitar Amp Handbook is the ultimate handbook for guitar amps. Once you own it, you will reference it ongoing for a lifetime.

Comprehensive, smart and guaranteed to answer any question on the subject, this book is poised to be the authority in guitar amplification reference books.

Author Dave Hunter leaves virtually no stone unturned. Guitar players, amateur or professional, will benefit from a deeper understanding of what makes tube amps tick. If you want to delve deep into the engineering aspect of amplifiers – even making your own – this is the book. The section of interviews entitled “Meet the Makers” is solid gold with insights and perspectives on history, theories and anecdotes, and addresses the right questions.

Early on, Author Dave Hunter proposes a practical, simple test for your next visit to the local guitar shop: Plug and play the most expensive guitar into the cheapest amp, and then reverse the process by plugging the cheapest guitar into the most expensive amp. The result? The amp is the secret to your success.

He also goes on to point out the idiosyncratic nature of the amp/guitar combo and the effect each will have on altering your playing and performance. The sonic epiphanies will astound you.

A note on book design and layout: As a book publisher and author myself, I think Backbeat books produced a durable and beautiful illustrated and designed book for the money (includes black & white, color and diagrammed illustrations). There are no editing mistakes, which can frustrate the reader (I have found them even with major publishing houses).

“The amp world is your oyster…”
as Dave Hunter points out in the book. To further that idiom, I would
say your pearl is also your perception in the amp world… and this book
is loaded with pearls of wisdom.

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“See what your greed for money has done…” Grown-Up Anger Book Review

They
say: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Meaning there is a good
foundation to the suspicion of a situation. Woody Guthrie sang about
the atrocity of the 1913 Massacre, also known the Italian Hall Disaster,
a festive occasion with town miners of Calumet Michigan and their
families which turned to tragedy. 73 people died senselessly – 59
innocent children perished on Christmas Eve, a time that should have
been joyous and magical — awaiting Santa to bring them gifts —
instead they were trampled under foot and stampeded. All over some
practical joke. Someone falsely yelling “Fire!”

This book “Grown-up Anger” produces a lot of smoke to back up the “fire” and the greed of the bosses that ran the mining company. Other books have been written on the subject, but I suspect Grown-Up Anger will be a classic over time. What’s disturbing about this story is, like many times in our society, we have a swift and sloppy investigation and no resolve, just more questions and ultimately the big burning question: Why did this happen?

It has been 104 years since this tragedy and author Daniel Wolff weaves an engaging triangle of anger.

The chain of inspiration, or connection, is simple. Daniel Wolff was inspired by Bob Dylan. Dylan inspired by Woody Guthrie. Anger links the three and results in a fantastic and engaging new book “Grown-Up Anger.” Wolff’s book is rightly named “Grown-Up Anger” and you will be incensed too after you learn more about the 1913 Massacre. This book is informative and weaves politics, socialism, communism, rich, poor, haves and have-nots, power and class struggles and the culmination of one tragic night in America’s dark history. Great anecdotes on Guthrie and Dylan.

Woody Guthrie believed the doors were held shut on the outside by “the copper boss’ thug men.”

He sings: “The copper boss’ thugs stuck their heads in the door,
One of them yelled and he screamed, “there’s a fire!”

Grown
Up-Anger opens doors that were perhaps closed a long time ago by thugs
and cost hardworking honest people, just trying to enjoy their families
on that Christmas Eve night back in 1913.

My first introduction
to Woody Guthrie came via the Hal Ashby film “Bound for Glory” with
David Carradine portraying Guthrie. Who does not know his famous song
“This Land is Your Land”? He was a Dust Bowl Troubadour in a Steinbeck
era of Grapes of Wrath. Riding box cars, hitching rides, rolling up his
sleeves and struggling with the working-class pitted against big bosses.
His songwriting and poems reflected the inequality of labor unions and
their “greedy” bosses. Dylan would later channel Guthrie and become one
of the most influential songwriters of all time.

I enjoyed
Daniel Wolff’s writing style, passion, lucidity and ability to tell us,
like Guthrie and Dylan, something we need to know and why it still
matters. Always remember: “This land belongs to you and me.”

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Did You Feel the Earth Move Under Your Feet in 1971?

If you did, you were witness to one of the historical and monumental musical shifts in our culture when music was not just a passing fad, but a seminal soundtrack to people’s lives. Never a Dull Moment proves that the ’70s, in retrospect were one of the most important and innovative decades, at least for music (also for movies, in my opinion).

WHY I’M STUCK IN THE SEVENTIES

This book literally hit home with me. David Hepworth’s book came into my hands at the apropos time, since I happened to also be watching CNN’s excellent series on Netflix about the seventies (highly recommend). Episode 8: “What’s Going On – Music of the ’70s” is congruent with “Never a Dull Moment.”

I was a child in the seventies and had the great fortune of being raised in a house of music. Because of this, I became a musician and vocalist myself as a teenager. My brother owned 90% of the albums mentioned in this book. He had everything from Alice Cooper’s “Killer” album, Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On,” Al Green, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, J. Geils, Humble Pie… I could go on and on.

“Never a Dull Moment” was nostalgic and edifying, loaded with backstories and facts about what was going on artistically behind those great compositions. My sister had “Tapestry” by Carol King– Author David Hepworth supplied some great stories in his book about the significance of this album and how it changed the album business. When Carol King sang “You Got a Friend…” she was not referring to spurious Facebook friends today… it was honest and resonated around the world. The song spoke to people personally.

I like how Hepworth structured Never a Dull Moment in monthly chapters and the songs released for that month. He is well-researched, verifiable and passionate as a writer.

The Appendix offers “just some of the albums,” which made 1971 a groundbreaking year for music and there are many more that could have been included (Jeff Beck for example). But hey… I’ll cut him some slack.

WHERE DO WE GO NOW, WHERE DO WE GO…

45 years later, 2016 finds music in a fragmented, precarious and hardly profitable position. This is why you are witnessing the Rock and Roll Reunion business. Guns & Roses, Van Halen, Deep Purple, etc. the real money today is in touring. If you compare how we consume digital music presently with streaming, downloading and ripping, compared to our mass consumption of vinyl in the seventies, it is staggering. But it comes with a heavy price and that price is inferior artists, ala American Idol-style, the death of album sales and disenfranchised listeners. Sure, we might see a recent bump in Vinyl, but it will never come close to what our culture once experienced in the 70s.

Personally, I don’t think we’ll ever feel the earth move under our feet again the way it did in 1971. However, we can, with the help of David Hepworth experience a nice literary aftershock as music sleepwalks through this decade.

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The Sublime Work of Bach Got Me Interested in Classical Guitar

It was Bach’s Bouree alone that got me interested in classical guitar and a lifelong obsession and passion for his work and the classical guitar instrument. I started as a rock guitarist but kept returning to this soul-enriching and sublimely intricate pieces.

Enough has been written about this comprehensive and outstanding collection of Bach’s Solo Works and this book and all the reviews are positively glowing. I understand why. Painstaking and detailed thought and attention to detail by the author certainly qualifies as a must-have for the Bach and classical guitarist.

If you want to learn Bach note-for-note and accurately look no further.
I also like the smart design of spiral-bound choice since there are multiple pages in these compositions and the book is conducive to music stand sightreading.

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5.0 out of 5 stars U.S. HISTORY TOLD THE RIGHT WAY… FOR ONCE

“History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors, and issues.” T.S. Eliot

Those of you who have read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present (Perennial Classics) or Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Revised and Updated Edition will devour Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick’s The Untold History of the United States. These two intellects bring fresh insight to a benighted past. Minor footnotes and characters, like Henry Wallace, in our history’s drama are bought to the forefront for once. The reader becomes Dante to Oliver Stone and Professor Kusnick’s Virgil, taking us through the gates of Hell in our personal history. In these pages, the real Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan are exposed, not extolled or lionized. It is inscrutable and unconscionable what Truman did in Hiroshima. The truth behind who really defeated Germany. Terror bombing in WWII to terrorism in the present day. As Historian Henry Steele Commager once pointed out, “From the beginning of our history, we’ve been rather casual about our crimes.”

Although the book is a companion to the documentary series on Showtime, which is highly recommended, the book stands alone and independent; it covers, in 14 chapters, the most important moments where we got history wrong. Cognitive dissonance will kick in. A certain sciolism exists in our culture as we whistle in the dark.

This book reads like a modern-day version of Thucydides, the Greek historian, The History of the Peloponnesian War and the corruption of language.

As a culture inculcated by an embellished history, remember this:

If we do not choose our leaders carefully and become more engaged and stop viewing history in hindsight, then we risk our nation becoming either a kakistocracy or catastrophe – you decide. You have more power then you think.
Think independently. “Question everything” as Marx once said.

Read this book.

Tell it right for once.

Warning: This book will keep you up all night… save it for a weekend read.

315 people found this helpful

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There Would be No James Bond Without John Barry

John Barry is hands down my favorite film composer of all time. I was singing “Born Free” at age three and fell in love with “Diamonds Are Forever” as a teenager, and I haven’t stopped listening to him since.

“Deadfall” is an excellent example ‎of Barry’s brilliance. The soundtrack is tantamount to the film. The compositions are reminiscent of his great body of work on the James Bond films and “Deadfall” could easily be mistaken for a Bond soundtrack, especially with the incomparable Shirley Bassey belting out the first track “My Love Has Two Faces.” What a gifted voice!

I bought the CD mainly for “Romance for Guitar and Orchestra,” but was thrilled with the entire production and every magnificent track. Renata Tarrago’s solo guitar channels the famous work Concierto de Aranjuez”. I am a classical guitarist so this song was an amazing discovery.

I want to compliment Lukas Kendall, the editor/publisher of Film Score Monthly (FSM) and his persistent and consistent quality production and work on these soundtrack gems. I have purchased many CDs from his company that are rare, some of which include: “Omega Man,” and “Marathon Man.” “Deadfall” and FSM is a must for movie score aficionados.

A Note on Liner Notes:

Outstanding!!! Accolades and praise to Jon Burlingame and Lucas Kendall. I can’t tell you how many times I have purchased a CD and there are no liner notes. Nothing. “‎Deadfall” is loaded with edifying and interesting liner notes and production anecdotes. This is a chance to learn more from the director, Bryan Forbes, about the production and behind the scenes. Great journalism.

John Barry’s music is seductive, soothing and exhilarating. I never tire of his compositions and Barry, besides Sean Connery, is why I often return to the original Bond films. There is no Bond without the genius of John Barry.

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Music Reading for Guitar by David Oakes is The Book that Changed My Life

In the words of Paul McCartney, “Baby, I’m Amazed…”

Music Reading for Guitar by David Oakes is the book truly changed my life and I am reading music once and for all. I started as a rock guitarist as a teenager and wanted to cut to the chase and start playing in bands, which I did successfully for years. However, I also picked up classical guitar in my teenage years and stated reading music with Aaron Shearer’s Classic Guitar Technique and learning Bach and then I stopped and committed to playing live music in bands.

Over the years, as I progressed as a musician and
classical guitarist, I picked up the bad habit of only reading tabs and
playing by ear to learn the pieces fast, but I knew I was missing out on
a whole world of classical compositions that were available in music
notation that required reading. Recently, I finally committed to
learning music theory with David Oakes’ book and it paid off! By Chapter
3 in this book everything stated making sense and clicking and a whole
new universe cracked open and I was sight reading Bach and Segovia’s
classic Twenty Studies for Guitar… without tabs. I have also returned
to other books like as Sight Reading for Classical Guitar (less
comprehensive than Music Reading for Guitar).

Trust me, this book
will change your life too if you stick with the commitment. Yes, you
may get bored, frustrated and maybe disinterested, but press on and
stick with this book… it works. Go through every exercise and song in
the book and keep going over it regularly.

The author explains
that at Musician’s Institute (MI) they spend four one-hour class periods
on each chapter over a period of two weeks. He suggests that if you
practice the material for one half hour per day – 4/5 times per week,
you will have completed this course in one year — I think you can
breeze through it in less than ½ a year, depending on your goals, and
with the right passion, commitment and focus.

The author also
advises that, “systematic review is essential to mastering the concepts
presented in this book.” This is where I made my fundamental mistake
years ago. Keep reading. Don’t stop.

Music Reading for the Guitar focuses on the Fifth Position since most standard melodies are in this range and can be played from this area of the neck, but you will also learn notes above and below the staff in subsequent chapters. Rhythm exercises (which include picking – up and down strokes, timing, meter, etc.) which are integral to the process. You will also learn early in this book about developing eye movement and reading up and down the page and chart reading (which I did use in bands). It is true that excellent sight readers read ahead and know what to look for when getting a new, or never-before-seen piece of music. You will learn how to identify these skills too with the help of this book.

In the Final
Thoughts section, David Oaks relays why he and the legendary Tommy
Tedesco (studio guitarist and sight reader) never learned the notes
above the 9th fret and why these were not included. They both felt that
these notes are impractical for reading melodies, so make sure to peruse
this book’s table of contents and confirm that it meets your personal
goals.

Thank you, David Oakes!

Buy this book! Keep reading, practice often and you will be amazed too at your progress.

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TASCAM GUITAR TRAINER IMPROVING ON THE SILENCE

“Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence.” – Jorge Luis Borges

I think the same could be said of guitarists, or singers for that matter, relating to this quote.

A CAVEAT: Don’t purchase this Tascam Guitar trainer unless you buy the additional and required Tascam PS-P520E | AC Adapter for Tascam Products ($39.99). Otherwise you will be wasting money and paying more in the long run for batteries. This unit burns through batteries.

WHY YOU MIGHT NEED THE TASCAM GUITAR TRAINER

I grew up playing rock and classical guitar. I attribute my need for accuracy and precision from classical guitar playing and mastery of exact replications of classical guitar pieces. You can’t noodle your way through those pieces. When I was obsessed with lead guitar playing, I would slow down the album to 16 RPM to learn note-for-note playing. Over the years, I have played professionally with many rock guitarists and notice a bad habit with several players: When the lead break happens, many tend to overplay, using too many notes and riff out without really improving on the source or original material. The lead breaks are not coherent or stylish, just bloviated lead guitar playing without much thoughtfulness or respect for the original recorded music. It’s laziness on some level. I think learning from the masters and learning note-for-note playing improves your playing and is incredibly rewarding. An audience will typically compliment your performance if you “nail it” and show some precision.

A musician should always challenge themselves as not to become stale. Learn Jazz, Bossa Nova, classical, etc. This is what made the Guitar Heroes different than everyone else. Experiment with different styles, tunings and culture. Rock guitarist Dean Deleo of Stone Temple Pilots recorded “Dancing Days” by Led Zeppelin. It is a irrefutable and respectable version of the classic. Deleo doesn’t screw with Page’s original. He knew better. Deleo is an extraordinary, underrated and versatile musician who implements different styles.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS TASCAM GUITAR TRAINER

There is a lot to like about this unit. I use it for Rock, Jazz, Classical and Flamenco guitar. You can also use it for bass and vocals. You can plug in and play along. Adjust the tone and sounds (there are 83 guitar effects included). Also includes vocal effects. The instruction manual was helpful for navigation and troubleshooting.

Like other users, I did notice the CDs, when slowed down have a strange flanged sound, however that does not impact the clarity and ability to distinguish the notes.

A NOTE TO LEAVE ON

In the August 2016 issue of Guitar Player magazine, the Editor-in-Chief noted all the CDs and streams he receives for the magazine from guitar players all over the world hoping to be featured in Guitar Player magazine. Unfortunately, a vast majority of them sound alike — technical ability is not the issue – but the “art of saying something deep,” as he puts it, has escaped them. I was encouraged by his words, as we all should be, to dig deeper. If you can’t improve on the original, learn it right and stick to the program.

You can’t improve Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen or Ritchie Blackmore, but you sure as hell can learn from them and learn them right with this Tascam Guitar Trainer.

Congrats to you who are considering purchasing this guitar trainer to make you a better and more accurate player.

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20 Years and Counting, Cordoba Delivers on Every Promise – Michael P. Naughton Reviews…

Cordoba F7 Paco

 

I have been playing classical guitar for 30 years.  I started out with the Mel Bay series as a teenager and fell in love with the instrument’s tone. For classical guitar, I regularly play a Manuel Rodriguez from Spain. As I delved deeper into Flamenco, Cordoba caught my eye and attention. I recently purchased the F7 Paco, the guitar was designed in honor of the legendary and late Paco de Lucia. For the inexpensive price and superior quality, this is an unbeatable and practical choice. I must over-emphasize and underscore the overall quality, craftsmanship, aesthetics and tone the F7 Paco produced with the Premium tone woods used.

WHERE THIS GUITAR IS DIFFERENT

Most reviewers will note the lightweight and ease of playing on these models and they are 100% correct. The action and tone of the Cordoba F7 Paco are set to perfection right out of the box. You will be amazed at the rich sound this model produces. I also found that guitar kept in good tune which can be an issue with the demands of Flamenco playing, especially percussive rasqueados. Note: The instrument provides a protective cover for Golpe.

Like an electric guitar, Cordoba engineered a two-way truss rod that adjusts and relieves the amount of tension in your instrument. A two-way truss rod can be used to adjust the neck in both directions versus one way and one direction. This is feature could be necessary for changes or fluctuations in climate – I am based in California.

BONUS GIG BAG

I was impressed with Cordoba’s gig bag that was included for the price. Outstanding! I purchased a hard-shell case at the time of my order, but had I known the quality of this bag I might have forgone the case and added expense. Well-padded and crafted, sturdy and good protection. Nice compartment spaces. I have used Gator brand gig bags before, but this was high quality like the guitar. It also included a Owner Manual and even an attachable contact microphone.

Cordoba has won over another lifelong customer due to their commitment to perfection and realizing the need for affordability without sacrificing quality.

Cordoba Guitars just celebrated it’s 20 year anniversary this year (2017) and I am sure they will see another 100. I think Paco would be proud of this model.

©2018 Michael P. Naughton

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Why “Not Dead and Not for Sale” is this Generation’s “No One Here Gets Out Alive”

No lack of substance here (literally). True, some readers, reviewers and fans might be disappointed by the terse, tenuous and to-the-point chapters of Scott Weiland’s autobiography. However, I found his memoir insightful and edifying. I think he was wise to say just enough and the rest can be gleaned from his lyrics and his vast contribution to music, which is most important.

Originally published in 2011, this bio is fast paced like the author’s tempestuous lifestyle and supports the fact that some of our most gifted artists are often our most troubled (see also my review on Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder). It is sometimes a mixed-blessing, curse or nature of the beast. Like the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said: “If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well.”

Akin to Jim Morrison’s biography “No One Here Gets Out Alive” (NOHGOA), “Not Dead And Not For Sale” (NDANFS) follows a similar trajectory and classic Three Act Tragedy as we watch The Bow Drawn, The Arrow Flies, The Arrow Falls.

Scott Wieland was a self-professed chameleon. He was immensely talented, intelligent, instinctive and most of all deeply sensitive. You can see his influence and “stamp” in all projects ranging from STP, Velvet Revolver and The Wildabouts. He was also a colossal loss, and his lifestyle serves as a cautionary tale.

In the final analysis Rock and Roll, at its best, is a circus show of a business, as dangerous as it entertaining. Scott Wieland took it to the brink as he once wrote in “You Got No Right:”

“I’ve took it farther on the outside

I’ve took it nearly to the brink

And if you’ve seen me on the outside

You would have barely seen me breathe…”

Addiction is one hell of a demon to slay, and it took a lot of guts to share personal issues of abuse and personal struggles and his bipolar disorder. It is a constant source of frustration, disappointment and devastation to those close to the addict, especially true friends and band mates. He got up close and personal with the hard stuff. Jim Morrison, as it was often reported, steered clear of heroin and that substance might have eventually killed him in Paris, albeit accidental or speculative.

Unlike NOHGOA, there is no mystery with Scott Weiland’s death and how the Arrow Falls, the hero and author of this tragedy dies on a December 3, 2015, to the world’s shock and sadness. He outlived Mr. MoJo Risin’ by 21 years (July 3, 1971).

Unfortunately, the dragon or demon known as addiction won in the end with Scott Weiland. He leaves us with great insight and three decades of music to enjoy, resonating and/or relating without having to experience the pain ourselves.

Stone Temple Pilots hit the road again this year in 2018 with a new album, new singer and  new fans, but…

As Jim Morrison once wrote: “There Will Never Be Another One Like You…”

That applies to both Morrison and Weiland.

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