The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Hey Lew, have you ever been able to play through a (good) vintage Gibson amp, such as the Falcon? If so, impressions?

 

[jerryjg]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Lew, may i impose on you for one final question Sir?
I noticed someone has asked about the famous Caribou Ranch. I had only known about it due the interest I had in the landmark Chicago VI record made there.
I did some checking, and HERE is a list of some of the artists recorded at Caribou ranch:
America
Badfinger
The Beach Boys
Jeff Beck
Mike Brewer
David Cassidy
Chicago, starting with Chicago VI
Phil Collins
Chick Corea
Rick Derringer
Al Di Meola
Earth, Wind & Fire
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Sheena Easton
Dan Fogelberg
Jerry Goodman
Jan Hammer
Amy Grant, starting with Age to Age
Waylon Jennings
Billy Joel
Elton John, notably the 1974 Caribou album
Carole King
Kris Kristofferson
Robert Lamm
John Lennon
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jac Murphy
Michael Murphey
Stevie Nicks
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Tony Orlando
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Tom Petty
Eddie Rabbitt
Bruce Roberts
Sailor
David Sancious
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express
Billy Joe Shaver
Shooting Star (band)
Sons of Champlin
Souther Hillman Furay Band
Rod Stewart
Stephen Stills
Supertramp
Ali Thomson
U2
James Vincent ([1])
Joe Walsh
War
Tony Williams
Carl Wilson
Frank Zappa


...I guess my question is ; Did you ever encounter any of the artists, especially "Chicago", that were there to record? Thanks again for taking my question.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Hey Lew, have you ever been able to play through a (good) vintage Gibson amp, such as the Falcon? If so, impressions?

The one I like is the Gibson GA-20 from the 50's. It's a two 6V6 amp like a Fender 5E3 tweed Deluxe and if you're lucky it'll have a 50's Jensen P12R or P12Q for the speaker. The P12R is the 12" version of the Jensen p10R...the speaker you'll find in Fender 4 x 10 Bassman amps.

The "secret" to getting a great overdriven tone from these amps is to plug into the microphone channel (NOT the instrument channel!) and crank it up. Ry Cooder uses one sometimes. Killer, killer amp for overdriven tones from a Supro or Rickenbacker lap steel...or a regular guitar with P90's.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Hey Lew,

I'm sorry I missed this episode of The Well. I've been online very little lately, but I didn't want to miss out on this. Here's a simple/tough question for you:

What makes a Tele so much fun to play? Be as concrete or philosophical as you'd like in your response.

- Keith

I feel like a Tele reflects the personality and touch of a player more so than any other guitar. They're so simple!

It takes a lot of finesse to play a Tele and get it to sound full and good. When I was a teenager I hated Teles and would only play Gibsons because Gibsons are so much more forgiving and so much easier to get a fat tone out of.

It wasn't until I'd been playing 6 or 7 years that I could get a good tone from a Tele.

I know there are women who play Teles (Chrissie Hynde comes to mind...) but I think of a Tele as being a real man's (or woman's) guitar. What you put into them is exactly what you'll hear back.

It takes a mature, strong but gentle touch.

Kind of like capturing and then taming an unbroken and very spirited horse that keeps trying to buck you off...it takes a lot of work, but ultimately, it's very rewarding to be able to get that horse to do exactly what you will it to do.

Tele's are like that.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Amen to that whole post. I've pretty much always played Les Pauls, and you don't have to dig into one of those to get "that" sound. I think to get a strat to sound like a strat, you've really got to pull it out of that guitar, but when you do--wow! It is not a "kind" instrament, lol. It makes you work.

Exactly...well said.

Same thing with Teles. You have to work and "pull" the tone out of the guitar, and, IMO, it takes a mature player to do that.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

I feel like a Tele reflects the personality and touch of a player more so than any other guitar. They're so simple!

It takes a lot of finesse to play a Tele and get it to sound full and good. When I was a teenager I hated Teles and would only play Gibsons because Gibsons are so much more forgiving and so much easier to get a fat tone out of.

It wasn't until I'd been playing 6 or 7 years that I could get a good tone from a Tele.

I know there are women who play Teles (Chrissie Hynde comes to mind...) but I think of a Tele as being a real man's (or woman's) guitar. What you put into them is exactly what you'll hear back.

It takes a mature, strong but gentle touch.

Kind of like capturing and then taming an unbroken and very spirited horse that keeps trying to buck you off...it takes a lot of work, but ultimately, it's very rewarding to be able to get that horse to do exactly what you will it to do.

Tele's are like that.

I knew I'd get a great response from you on this. Thanks! I agree: Teles are so bare-bones, they become you in an instant, for better or for worse.

BTW, what a great view from your back deck! Do you ever get musically inspired by that view?


- Keith

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Lew, may i impose on you for one final question Sir?
I noticed someone has asked about the famous Caribou Ranch. I had only known about it due the interest I had in the landmark Chicago VI record made there.
I did some checking, and HERE is a list of some of the artists recorded at Caribou ranch:
America
Badfinger
The Beach Boys
Jeff Beck
Mike Brewer
David Cassidy
Chicago, starting with Chicago VI
Phil Collins
Chick Corea
Rick Derringer
Al Di Meola
Earth, Wind & Fire
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Sheena Easton
Dan Fogelberg
Jerry Goodman
Jan Hammer
Amy Grant, starting with Age to Age
Waylon Jennings
Billy Joel
Elton John, notably the 1974 Caribou album
Carole King
Kris Kristofferson
Robert Lamm
John Lennon
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jac Murphy
Michael Murphey
Stevie Nicks
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Tony Orlando
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Tom Petty
Eddie Rabbitt
Bruce Roberts
Sailor
David Sancious
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express
Billy Joe Shaver
Shooting Star (band)
Sons of Champlin
Souther Hillman Furay Band
Rod Stewart
Stephen Stills
Supertramp
Ali Thomson
U2
James Vincent ([1])
Joe Walsh
War
Tony Williams
Carl Wilson
Frank Zappa


...I guess my question is ; Did you ever encounter any of the artists, especially "Chicago", that were there to record? Thanks again for taking my question.

Nope. That was a little before my time. I was still in Detroit when most of that 70's stuff was going on. I sure hear people here and in Boulder talk about those good old days a lot though...especially about Steven Stills and that kind of music. That picture on the cover of his first solo album where he's sitting in front of a house playing a Martin guitar in the snow was shot, I believe, up on Gold Hill...not far from Nederland. The Mercedes that Steve Stills used to drive is legendary for breaking down and leaving him stranded. People still talk about seeing it parked overnight or for a few days on the side of the road because it would break down or wouldn't start.

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

What is your most embarrasing moment? Be as detailed as you wish.

You are a big fan of the groove. When did you become very conscious of rhythm? Did this awareness spark any change to your practicing or playing regime?
​

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

You are a big fan of the groove. When did you become very conscious of rhythm? Did this awareness spark any change to your practicing or playing regime?
​

Boy...I grew up in Motown in the 50's and 60's and I've always admired a good groove, although the first song with a cool groove I remember hearing was I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash. Still love that tune, the playing and the groove.

Music started with rhythm.

The first instrument humans played was no doubt the drums and it was the instrument that black people were banned from playing when we made them into slaves.

One reason old time blues guitar sounds the way it does (I'm thinking of guys like Son House...) is that slaves were allowed to play stringed instruments but not drums. So they applied those percussive African drum rhythms to the guitar.

When I was a kid and went in for my first guitar lesson with Marshall Blake, a jazz guitarist and session guy in the Detroit area in the 60's, he asked me to play something for him. After I did, he said: "Oh...you want to play like a spade..." He meant that in a complimentary way...because he wanted to play like a "spade" too!

As far as embarassing moments go, I think back to First Grade and I was chosen to play Santa Claus in a holiday school play. I was supposed to jump out from behind the fireplace on stage as if I'd come down the fireplace. I knocked it over! There was fireplace and Christmas ornaments all over the stage and the teacher had to come running out on stage and put everything back together again while I was still onstage doing my little Santa Claus dance and blowing corn starch out of my corncob pipe I was pretending to smoke.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

What is your favourite note on the guitar, and in what position on the neck?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

What is your favourite note on the guitar?

I like 'em all...

Being a blues player, I tend to sting the dominant seventh with an up pick and bend up a whole step to the tonic a lot.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

I'll tell you something funny about Iggy. His dad, who we always called Mr. Osterberg, was our Engish teacher at Fordson High School...which I graduated from in 1967. I used to see Iggy all the time when I lived in Ann Arbor. He used to come into Discount Records all the time and I worked there. He was always friendly and always said "hi" when I'd see him on the street. He has a lot of charisma. Was a very striking and handsome man back in the 60's and early 70's when I "knew" him. I also knew John Sinclair, the MC5's manager fairly well.

A few years after the MC5 broke up, Wayne Kramer came to hear my band play and sit in. He was going to prison the next day and wanted to play a bit before going to jail. Nice guy.

He was a soul man who'd been around a while before the MC5 days. You could tell from his stage moves and the way he used to dance like James Brown: slide around on one foot and all that. Very soulful guy.

Lew

Lou, here is my fave MC5/Wayne Kramer vid. Check out Wayne doing the single foot shuffle @1:50! :notworthy It's funny...the audience did not seem to know what hit 'em, and Rob (Tyner) can be seen with his 'fro to the left of the Marshall stack @ 3:24!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cg0qJ-ieRk

You live in beautiful country!!!

I wish I could come up with a question, but I can't right now.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

I like 'em all...

Being a blues player, I tend to sting the dominant seventh with an up pick and bend up a whole step to the tonic a lot.

Building off this, do you know alot of theory?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Building off this, do you know alot of theory?

I can't read or write music. But I know what I'm plating most of the time. And I know how to construct chords and all that kind of stuff. But I don't play solos from theory - I just play. I try not to think at all when I'm playing. I make mistakes if I think to much.

 

[missionamps]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

haha, i always pictured you as a squat chubby guy. anyway have you ever played at ziggie's saloon down in denver? have you ever jammed with any of the guys from big head todd & the monsters?

Actually Lew might not remember this since it was the mid to late 70's, but our father's kitchen and bath remodeling business... Kitchen Masters... was about 100 feet from the corner of 38th Ave and Sheridan.
When Lew and I were the lead carpenters there Lew did go into the place with me when it was called something else.. but due to some shootings, bikers and other unpleasant personalities, we did not frequent the place. Ha ha...
By the way, Lew is my older brother, I'm in the middle, Casey is the youngest, who is an extremely talented singer/ performer.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

So guys, I've had enough! lol!

Your next host will be:

Christian! Better known as "the Guy Who Invented Fire".




Many thanks! It's been a...

Hey that reminds me of a joke:

Two cannibals were enjoying a meal together and the first cannibal asked the other:

"So how's it going?"

The second cannibal replied "Great! I'm having a ball!"

The first cannibal said "Cool! Save one for me!"

Lew

 

[newking70]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

0die:saeek:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: The Well 8. It's party time with the Collins Brothers!

Well guys The Well IX is up and running, should get a sticky soon...fire away!