Go Your Own Way

[StephenM]

 

The other night I was at open mic and there was a really great singer and guitar player and he did "Comfortably Numb" and quite well I might add.  He had a young guy playing electric guitar with him that I knew could play that lead at least reasonably well.  He never did.  I knew he could because he had played by himself earlier in the night and he smoked the stuff he played...so I asked him about it later and he said he wouldn't want to disrespect David Gilmour like that.  I started laughing, because I knew at an open mic, when everyone was drinking that it wouldn't really matter...but this kid was raised right... I on the other hand>>>>>>>

don't know better, wasn't spanked enough as a child?  etc...

this cover kicked my arse... the 1977 release of not only a great album, but a great song...

I tried to play this with FM and that was not going to work... I tried to play this without FM and that didn't work.  I tried a metronome, nope... I ended up with my Les Paul plugged DI into the Zoom L-20 very clean and also sang the first voice as I played it.  That is because I want to play this live so it could be just an acoustic and me.  So I recorded that.  Then I worked on some drums that I thought sort of got the idea (geesh this is a crazy beat track really)....
Then I added that first fuzz guitar.  Then bass.... Then lead guitar and another vocal track... mixed it all in Band lab and mastered on Landr...  guitar effects were from the BR1600CD (and bass) except as otherwise noted.Not a valid attachment ID.

also I might add that this is not at all a key I am used to playing lead guitar in.... can't exactly tell you what key it is but I had to dig around the fretboard to find some familiar sort of close notes to play...but hey... that just makes a better guitarist...

[Zoltan]

I'm feeling comfortably dumb!

At first i thought i'm not familiar with this song. Then it hit. This is Fleetwood Mac.

I'm glad you left the Albatross at home. They can make a mess and the sounds they make. Yuck. How can anyone make a song about them? I'd rather make a song about a hamster. They're funny creatures, and run around in circles. Kinda like my thoughts, although i'm enjoying what i'm hearing. This is the third spin i have on this song. It sucked me in like a leech.

What i'm hearing is so honest sounding. There's warmth and depth to it. I can imagine this being turned into a great solo number for your set. It's a song that resonates.

The bassline. Those drums. The lead playing. The way you've set it all up works. There's magic to it.

When turning this into a "man & a guitar" -type of performance you might want to try to sing some of those backing vocal repeats in a lower voice. It might work wonders and make the performance easier in the live setting. Kinda taking a bit of liberties / making it your own and at the sametime making the performance easier when you have to do everything (entertain the audience, remember not to tense up, keep the eyes on appropriate level, not think if you'd have one too many as i'm sure someone will tell you afterwards etc.)
Those parts sound fine here, but they also sound like they might make you struggle day in - day out. Or perhaps you'll get used to them when you've played it more.

Of course the next level would be just to point the mic at the audience and they could sing those parts. But if the audience is missing, or the best thing on offer is a biker without teeth (yelling "play Paranoid") it's probably for the best to be prepared.

Then you don't have to feel comfortably dumb!

[Blooby]

I love the bass in this. It's a fun post...just what the doctor ordered.

As for "Albatross," it's my favorite release by Fleetwood Mac.

Blooby

[Pete C]

I love this song and your version. We used to close our first set with this back in the early 2000's. I loved playing the lead guitar parts on this.

The drum beat is unusual but you seem to have got that right and it's a great song for a bit of improvised noodling. I still have a recording of my band playing this live which I managed to convert from tape to mp3.

Great listen Steve !

Pete

[StephenM]

I love this song and your version. We used to close our first set with this back in the early 2000's. I loved playing the lead guitar parts on this.

The drum beat is unusual but you seem to have got that right and it's a great song for a bit of improvised noodling. I still have a recording of my band playing this live which I managed to convert from tape to mp3.

Great listen Steve !

Pete

Pete, I would love to hear that

[Pete C]

Pete, I would love to hear that

I've emailed it to you Steve

[danthecoat]

This is such a difficult song to cover and i think you have done great Stephen

Well done

[TPB]

Trying to cover FM is definitely hard to do I almost scrap the one I did the other night so well done on this
Tim

[ODH]

I briefly toyed with Rumours but thought better of it.  You've come out the other end with pride intact though and produced a fine cover. Most enjoyable.

[Zoltan]

This stuck in my head. So much so that i tried to cover it. With best intentions and Stephens voice guiding me in the background i slipped into a something more comfortable and went for it. After opening my mouth it was clear that i'd better go my own way... Never looked back.
Luckily the neighbours didn't call the cops. They just thought there was a cow in labour and they weren't that far off from the truth.

S, you did the unimaginable. Makes me wonder how Bohemian Rhapsody would play out in your repertoire. Galileo and all that good stuff! Or perhaps something by Whitney Houston. That could be a thing.