Song Of The Week Nov 24 - Nov 30: People Get Ready

Every once in a while, songs come along that speak right to your soul. These songs feel right. They feel good. And they feel natural, even on the first listen. I found one of those songs this week, and it's one that you may have heard before. It was originally recorded by The Impressions back in 1965 and Seal has given the track new life on his new album, appropriately titled Soul. The song is called "People Get Ready," and it's the Song Of The Week for November 24 - November 30.

Seal has been one of my favorite artists since I started listening to his music in the mid '90s. In our pop-saturated sonic atmosphere, there are few artists left whose work can be called legitimately authentic, but "authentic" is the word that comes to mind whenever I listen to Seal's music. Can you really compare "Kiss From A Rose" to any other song you've ever heard? Think about it. I try to pay attention whenever Seal does anything new, because I know it's going to be unique.

I believe that even muses have muses of their own. The honest artists will pay homage to their inspirations, many times in the form of covered songs or tribute albums. Those who know me will also know that Eric Clapton is the reason I started playing the guitar. And yet, the first experience I had with Clapton's music, the Unplugged album, was actually an example of him paying his respects to his own musical heroes. As he covers songs written by his distant tutors, Clapton honors and perpetuates the music they lived. Hearing Clapton play old blues music taught me early on that the artist who remembers his musical ancestors will also be remembered. I began to realize that the music I loved wasn't created in a vacuum, but was part of a chain that had been forged almost 50 years before.

This "chain" concept clearly guided the creation of Seal's sixth studio album, Soul. He examines the music that has guided his musical wanderings and formed the foundation for some of his most memorable tunes. The album's closing track, "People Get Ready" is by no means obscure, but Seal still manages to take a well-known Impressions track and introduce it to a whole new generation of grateful listeners. It's a singular performance and the arrangement is powerful, but that's not why I love the track; for me, it was the message of this song that create immediate interest, which brings me to my final point.

"People Get Ready" is a song for all the heavy laden. It's for the people who are trying to do what's right but still make mistakes. Those people may sometimes even wonder if God's love is sufficient to save them. But the message of this song is that there is room enough for all people who are willing to do what it takes to board God's train. "You don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord" say the lyrics. The inspired words are reminiscent of Another who invited "every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." It's clear that the Lord's plan is not a game of musical chairs. Sincere participants will not be left alone. It's a truth that many people need in the world today, and it's a concept that has helped me keep pushing forward even when things were difficult.

So give Seal's version of "People Get Ready" a listen and think about the message of the song. And from The Sonic Landscape, I wish everone a very happy Thanksgiving on this slightly-more-enlightening installment of Song Of The Week. Until next time.

I Quit!!!

Some people have the ability to make me cry just by being awesome. This is one of those people. His name is Zack Kim Yong Woon, and his talent is both inspiring and depressing. He even has his own Wikipedia page. Here's a clip of Zack in action for all you Simpsons fans. Watch this video and if you feel completely devoid of talent afterward, you're not alone; I'm now thinking of taking up knitting instead of guitar.

Some REAL Music

Hey everyone, I just wanted to post something that isn't entirely related to the rest of The Sonic Landcape. But for a new father, this was music to my ears. Check it out.



This little guy's name is Jack, and he's pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread (which was first introduced commercially in the US on July 7, 1928).

Song Of The Week Nov 17 - Nov 23: Back In Black

Question: What do you get when you combine the untimely death of a lead singer, electricity, high volume, an odd affinity for schoolboy uniforms, aggressive guitar solos, Australia, and a new lead singer who sounds like he's been gargling steel wool and washing it down with broken glass milkshakes? The answer, of course, is AC/DC and their 1980 album Back In Black. This edition of SOTW focuses on that album's classic title track.

A little background first. In February 1980, AC/DC had already released 6 studio albums when unexpectedly, their lead singer Bon Scott died under legendary circumstances, a la Jimi Hendrix. In the aftermath of Scott's death, the rest of the band briefly considered calling it quits. However, an Englishman with a common name and an uncommon voice successfully auditioned to replace Scott shortly thereafter. His name was Brian Johnson, and you've probably never heard anyone with a voice quite like his. He's probably the only vocalist whose sound is simultaneously horrible and awesome, and he's been with the band ever since.

After Johnson got the nod from the remaining members of AC/DC, they got to work and a mere 5 months after Bon Scott's death, Back In Black was released as the band's seventh studio album. By the way, this album is the second-best-selling album of all time, with 42 million copies sold. It's second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller. As a tribute to Bon Scott, the band chose a black facade for the album and wrote a title track specifically for him.


"Back In Black" rocks from start to finish, and truth be told, you'd be hard-pressed to find a track that crams more intensity into 4 minutes and 16 seconds. When you've got a song with really solid rhythm, Brian Johnson's singular vocal execution, and Angus Young's gut-busting guitarwork, you've got the kind of music that instantly becomes part of the canon of classic rock. Listen to Angus Young's solo starting at 1:49. That kind of vibrato is not easy to create; even slow vibrato takes a lot of hand strength. And the riff that starts at 2:19 is unmistakable. But a track like "Back In Black" is about as subtle as an A-bomb; to really appreciate this song, you can't endlessly analyze and ponder. You must crank up the volume and remember that "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Enjoy.

Add THIS Puppy To Your Wish List

A while back I posted some info about Gibson's so-called Robot Guitar. Well, I recently found something thank makes the Robot Guitar look like something you could win playing skee-ball down at Chuck E. Cheese's. Behold Martin's D-100 Deluxe:

Impressed by the pictures? Well, it gets better. The body of this guitar is made of Brazilian Rosewood. For those of you who don't know, the harvesting and trade of Brazilian Rosewood was banned by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in the early 1990's. Consequently, both the price and desirability of this excellent tonewood skyrocketed in the following years. Legally, you can only make an instrument out of Brazilian Rosewood if the wood was harvested prior to the CITES-imposed ban date. Since the ban, many guitar players had to settle for the almost-as-good but more-affordable East Indian Rosewood. My Martin D 16-R is made of East Indian Rosewood, and I love it.

A word about the term "tonewood": You can get different sounds from an instrument depending on the type of wood you use to build it. For example, violins are traditionally made of spruce and maple. The spruce is used for the front or "soundboard," and maple is what gives the back of a violin that cool, undulating shine. Over time, luthiers found that spruce in particular provided the clear, delicate tone that violinists sought. Guitar builders went though similar steps to discover wood varieties that yielded specific tones. For more info about tonewoods for acoustic guitars, click here.

Back to the D-100 Deluxe. As you can see in the top pictures, the wood itself (the guitar back in particular) is inlaid with semi-precious materials like mother of pearl, tourmaline and abalone. The tuning machines and bridge pins are made of solid 14-Karat gold, and perhaps the most mind-blowing of all, the nut (the part that holds the strings just below the head of the guitar) is made of fossilized mastadon ivory. That's right...elephant-like animals in the Pliocene epoch of the Cenozoic period proudly gave their tusks for the production of these guitars! I wonder if PETA has anything to say about using animal products that are 4 million years old... anyway, we're getting sidetracked again.

So what would a little six-string like this cost? $1000? $5000? $10,000? Nope. You'd have to have some blackmail-worthy material on the president of Martin Guitars to get a price like that. To take this beut home, you'll probably have to take out a second mortgage on your house. Seriously. The listed price on Martin's website is $109,999.00. Makes the $3,500 price tag for Gibson's Robot Guitar seem a lot more reasonable, huh? To get up close and personal with the D-100 Deluxe, click here. Then get back to reality. This guitar isn't for people like us.

Song of the Week Nov 10 - Nov 16: Sets Of Two

This edition of SOTW has personal meaning for me. Why, you ask, dear reader? Well, I decided that I want to start slipping one of my own songs into the mix every once in a while, so this SOTW is special because it's the first time I've done anything on a song that was uniquely mine.

It all started back in 2001. I was a junior in high school and I had already been playing the guitar for a few years. I hadn't written anything yet and was still just trying to learn some of my favorite Collective Soul tunes. I enrolled in an intermediate guitar class, the curriculum of which ended in a songwriting unit. For a few weeks, we learned about the basics of songwriting, chord progressions, lyrics, and "hooks" (catchy parts in songs). Ultimately, our assignment was to write our own song and do the best we could to use the composition tools we had been given. I worked for a week or so and eventually came up with a song I later named "Sets Of Two." It was a simple song about a guy's declaration of love for his girl, typical of high school romance. I wrote it to complete the class requirement, but fortunately I had a very supportive teacher named Mr. Murphy who suggested that I not forget the song.

I took Mr. Murphy's advice and made sure that I saved the lyrics to the song (it was a good move, because the lyrics you write aren't always as memorable as you think they are). Years went by and I didn't think much more of "Sets Of Two." Eventually I got married and as I started looking though my old songwriting notes, I found the lyrics and chord progression for the song. Understandably, my thoughs on love had changed quite a bit since high school, especially after I got married. I married one of the sweetest, kindest, most artistic girls I've ever known; she's a person who really understands what love is and how to show it. Anyway, she helped me to take a second look at "Sets Of Two" and the more I thought about it, the more fun I was having as I rediscovered the first song I ever wrote. I've included the lyrics below:

Life can be traumatic in this world of tears
It seems we all need someone to quiet all our fears
Melodies fall short and words cannot convey
The feelings that ran through me when you ran by that day

And have you ever wondered in your heart of hearts
If love was overrated, would people play these parts?
I don't want to be alone, so what I'm telling you
Is folks should live their lives in sets of two

Well, life goes on and love is strong; we will be alright
Tribulations wither as long as you're in sight
The seed of love, once planted, will slowly learn to grow
And I'm new to this love game, but when you get hit you know

And folks can't go on living without a constant friend
And you might be surprised at the pain that love can mend
So have a little faith in me; give this thing a try
Burdens will be lifted as we begin to fly

Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to record the song as part of an album called Shady Porch Sessions that I was working on. I wasn't quite satisfied with the original arrangement; I considered it a little slow, so I sped it up a little and added some bright backing guitars. I had also been toying around with a guitar part you would almost expect to hear in a punk song. I wasn't sure about including it, but I recorded it anyway and was happy with the result. This is the guitar you hear entering at 0:25.

The aspect of the tune I most wanted to emphasize was its celebratory nature; I wanted to really bring out the fact that true love can make us feel happier than just about anything else. I kept the guitars as bright as I could and used a metronome to maintain the tempo. I also worked hard to continually build the emotional progression of the song. Finally, I decided to end the song the way The Eagles ended the live version of "Hotel California" from their Hell Freezes Over album: with several rapid, even shots of the same chord. The end result almost had a front porch jam session feel, and I was happy to include it in the final album.

In closing, I hope you'll overlook the song's relative musical simpicity and juvenile lyrics and focus instead on its overall message. Personally, I'm happier now with my wife and baby than at any other time in my life, and I know that it's because I feel their love and I'm doing my best to make sure they feel mine, too. "Sets Of Two" for me is a meeting of the music and the people I care about most. So until next time, thanks for reading and we'll see you back at The Sonic Landscape soon.

Song of the Week Nov 3 - Nov 9: Free Fallin'

I begin this week's post with yet another apology. I've heard reports that my version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" isn't loading up properly. I'm taking a look at some alternate file hosting services and so I hope to have things fixed in the next couple days.

On to business. SOTW comes to us from none other than John Mayer. To me, Mayer is a contemporary example of a musician who successfully bucked the "prettyboy-pop-singer-with-a-guitar-as-a-prop" image. When he first entered the scene, critics dubbed him "Dave Matthews Lite" and truly, Mayer bristled at the label. Mayer's debut album Room For Squares was partially to blame; with its neutered guitar fills and the college freshman anthem "No Such Thing," it created a first impression that was less-than-substantial (not that the album lacked substantial sales, but that it just lacked substance). I saw Mayer live back in '02 shortly after the release of Room For Squares and it seemed from his dialogue between songs and his onstage antics that he was very anxious to distance himself from his prettyboy image. It was understandable then, that Mayer sought to create a sophomore album that brought more legitimacy to the table than Room For Squares had. The appropriately titled Heavier Things was like Mayer saying "It's not what you think!" to all those who had weighed Room For Squares and found it wanting.

Mayer did well. He was also fortunate enough to pal around (musically, at least) with the likes of blues legends BB King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton. I think this did wonders for his musical direction. Take Clapton, for example: notoriously shy, always the leader-follower in each of his bands, he managed to define himself by his music rather than by his on-stage persona. Under the tutelage of such guitar greats, Mayer's true nature as a bluesman started to emerge. The albums Heavier Things, Try! and Continuum all allowed Mayer the latitude he needed to flesh out his repertoire as he wanted to, and not merely as dictated by the requirements of his record label.

Eventually, Mayer had progressed to the point where it was time for the obligatory live album; the John Mayer version is entitled Where The Light Is. The recording was made at the L.A. Live Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on December 8, 2007. Mayer divided his concert into three sets: the first was an acoustic sampler, the second featured the John Mayer Trio (Mayer on guitar and vocals, Steve Jordan on drums and backing vocals, and Pino Palladino on bass guitar and backing vocals), and the last set included most of the musicians involved in the recording of the Continuum album. Our song this week comes from the first of the three sets. Mayer chose to end the acoustic set with a soulful cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Free Fallin'," and Mayer's version has a serious chance of becoming my favorite rendition.

Mayer's take on the track lacks the bright musical color of the Tom Petty's 1989 original. Petty's track opens with an almost-triumphant sweep of acoustics and in fact, the entire track lacks the regretful quality that the lyrics would suggest. Mayer, on the other hand, gives an amazingly genuine performance, full of remorse and all the baggage one would associate with a "heartbreaker." I like the bare-essentials sound of Mayer's take as well. By arranging the track around a simple trio of guitars and including only the occasional harmonizing vocal, Mayer pulls away all the frills and we are left with the confessional monologue of a mournful bad boy. Mayer's vocal execution is flawless as well; his gritty midrange narrates the story and when it's chorus time, his effortless falsetto is the perfect compliment to the phrase "free fallin'."

So once again, I hope you enjoy this belated edition of SOTW. I've included both the Tom Petty and John Mayer versions this week for comparison. And while the lyrics and chord progressions are identical, to me this post demonstrates that a great storyteller can take a classic tale and make it seem new again; Mayer achieves this with "Free Fallin'." Until next time, keep listening and thanks for checking out The Sonic Landscape.