Apparently it is an obscure Dylan tune - good song. But more importantly, I think this is probably the best slide guitar work I have ever heard. Seriously - go to about 2 minutes in and then lean back and take it in.
I know Trucks grew up in the Allman Brothers and Duane Allman slide tradition (being ABB drummer Butch Trucks’ nephew can do that for you). I also know he has studied both John Coltrane horn licks and Indian and other Middle Eastern musical traditions.
His attack, to use the technical term, is unique. Nobody comes up on the note the way he does - he uses all of his influences - Southern Jazz/Rock, Coltrane, Middle Eastern - and pulls bits of technique and voicing together in a whole new way - it makes the slide sound more like a human voice than an instrument; and you hear the influences, but only in service of his own approach - that’s VERY hard to do (maintain your voice while echoing other influences). And he controls every note - he is clearly biting off phrases and in complete control of what is going on - something very, very hard to do with slide.
It’s a freakin’ textbook on technique - thought I would share…
Really? I haven’t gotten it yet - I have to simply because of that song. But the rest is solid?
On his previous CD, Songlines, there are maybe 3 tracks that make the thing must own (track 3, the Middle Eastern sounding one is transcendant), a few tracks that are solidly good but not standout and a couple that stink (Crow Jane? Why?)…
After listening to it several times a day since I got it (within a week of its release – though not the day of, since I had to wait for my unemployment stipend the end of that week :D), I think it is probably better than Songlines, and I loved Songlines. (Yeah, “Crow Jane” is just dumb – but “Blind, Crippled, and Crazy” is a lot of fun – and “This Sky” is a serious contender for the list of my top ten favorite songs for all eternity.)
As to this album: Right now I would not want to have to pick between “Our Love,” “Back Where I Started” (guest vocalist, Susan Tedeschi, who seems to think she’s married to my husband) and “I Know” as my favorite song.
Buy it. Immediately. I say this as your music-loving friend.
Already Free is kind of a left turn after the worldly stuff they’ve done on the last few albums: it’s almost all down-home blues and gospel stuff and loads of slide playing, although there aren’t many solos. So there’s some great slide playing there. Down in the Flood might not be the best song on the album but it may be the best slide work.
Ah, I see I won twickster over on I Know. I’d probably pick the same tracks for my top three from that album, but Down in the Flood would be a close fourth. I Know features some sarod playing, too.
Anyway, Derek has control like all get out: the more you listen to him, the more variety you hear in his playing. I’ve never heard anything like that and the tone is amazing. Duane Allman was a great slide player, Jack Pearson and Sonny Landreth are excellent, but Derek’s doing something completely different.
Hoo - oo - WEE! That’s some wicked phrasing. You coulda tolt me that was some ex-sitar, vina or sarod player and I’d’ve believed you. Many thanks for sharing that!
What’s really interesting here is that I’m not sure exactly where the slide break ends, because by the end of this solo he’s playing a straight lead. The switchover might be as early as 2:03 or 2:05, and a few seconds after that there’s definitely a slide part mixed into the background and you can hear he’s doing pulloffs and bending the strings.
Actually, Tedeschi is married to Trucks, but I’m guessing you knew that already.
Thanks for the recommendation, WordMan. I bought “Joyful Noise” a few months back and it has been on heavy rotation on my iPod ever since. One of my new year’s resolutions this year was to buy a new CD every week. I’m a couple weeks behind but now I think I know what I’ll be picking up this weekend.
I need to get that one, too. **Crotalus **strongly recommended it and I have not invested enough time in listening to Michael Bloomfield - and I read Al Kooper’s book *Backstage Passes and Back-Stabbing Bastards *which includes Al’s take on producing that record and working with Bloomfield and Stephen Stills…(great book, btw)
I’d probably pick the same tracks for my top three from that album, but Down in the Flood would be a close fourth. I Know features some sarod playing, too.
