Interview with Albus Dumbledore

This is an interview with a man who really needs no introduction. Lead guitarist for The Order Of The Phoenix, he later went solo, while continuing to do the occasional Phoenix project. It was thought that he would go on to be bigger even than the Beatles or Elvis, especially after he shut down Gellert Grindelwald in a guitar duel at the Isle of Wight festival. 

Instead, he devoted himself more and more to the business side of the music industry. His own records have shown remarkable growth for an artist over the years, as he preferred to follow his own muse over the winds of popular acclaim. Even so, his legacy is more firmly rooted in the young artists he’s nurtured over the years.  

Known now as “The Professor,” he is the Chief Executive Officer of Hogwart’s Group, one of the oldest music companies in Great Britain. Covering the recording industry, music publishing, management, and even an advanced music academy, it is believed that Albus Dumbledore has had at least as much influence over the music we hear today as he might have following the star of his own popularity. It was a rare privilege to sit with this great artist for a private interview.

  ------------------- 

 RC: Thank you for the gracious invitation to speak with you today, Professor. 

AD: The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. 

RC: It’s not many artists who can boast the recent release of their seventh Greatest Hits album. 

AD: Strictly a business decision, I assure you. There’s not a great deal of recent material on it that actually made an impact on the charts, but the release puts a little life into the old catalogue. (Laughs) Not that I need the money any more, but one likes to create the illusion of being relevant. 

RC: I think your relevance is pretty firmly established, if I may say so. Far beyond your sales figures, and they are impressive. 

AD: Thank you for saying so. 

RC: There are those who would say, beyond your artistic accomplishments, you are quite simply one of the most powerful men in the music industry. 

AD: Oh, do they now? And just what does that mean? 

RC: (After a significant pause) Well, simply that . . . you have a great deal of influence in the world of music. 

 AD: And where might that world be? Hmm? 

RC: I’m not sure I . . . 

AD: Quickly, what’s the biggest hit you can think of? 

 RC: Biggest hit? Song? Oh, probably . . . Stairway to Heaven, or Hey Jude . . . 

AD: Let’s say Stairway to Heaven. A classic, to be sure. Hardly anyone between the ages of sixty and ten would fail to recognize it. In a hundred years if you were to dredge up the name ‘Led Zeppelin’ that song will surely spring to mind. I understand it is the most broadcast song in history. And yet, to someone driving down the road listening to it on their car radio it’s seven minutes of their commute; nothing more. It was preceded by another song, and followed by yet another. If Stairway To Heaven had never been written, the DJ could substitute Hey Jude, or anything else. 

RC: I suppose so . . . 

AD: So what kind of power is there, really, within what you consider the ‘world of music?’ 

 RC: Well, you know . . . the power to increase wealth, to grant fame, establish a legacy – 

AD: But all relating to a luxury item, essentially. Popular music is the sort of thing that gives one power on the scale relative to the amount of money you earn from it. When I was young, we were trying to achieve real power. 

RC: What do you mean, real power? You mean, use your fame as a platform to, say, run for public office? 

AD: (laughs) My dear boy, a pop star already has more power than a Prime Minister or a President. A politician’s powers are clearly delineated, and he owes his very soul to outside interests who exercise their power behind the scenes. But even somebody like, for instance, Hannah Montana can affect the very way people think. Now, that’s power. And we were looking even beyond that. 

RC: I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I’m following you. 

AD: All right . . . here’s an example. How many cycles per second is the A below middle C? 

RC: 440, I believe. 

AD: That is correct. And an octave above? 

RC: 880? 

AD: Correct again. And an octave below is 220, and below that is 110, and so forth. To get an A that is one hundred and ten cycles per second, you’d have to take the bottom string on a five-string bass and tune it down a whole step. An octave below that would be 55 cycles per second, and on and on. Now, can you tell me what note the planet Earth is playing? 

RC: . . . er . . . planet Earth? 

AD: In order to know that, you have to know how many seconds in a year. And not just break 365 days down to hours, minutes, and seconds. It might be in some scientific journal somewhere, and I’m sure there’s a little flexibility of a few seconds every year, but it would be possible at that point to halve it, and then again, and finally get a note within the hearable range that would be a relative octave with the note the Earth is playing. Or Mars, or Saturn, or Mercury. 

Now, to a student of astrology, this could potentially have more of an impact than the chart position of a song. If you wanted to influence destiny, of a person or the planet or any other subject of a song, you would write the song in Saturn’s key, because Saturn is supposed to be the planet of destiny. 

RC: I’m beginning to see. 

AD: That’s not the only example of the potential power of music, either. There were musicians who were trying to reproduce the state of mind attained through transcendental meditation, or psychotropic drugs, and for the listener as well as the performer. We were all reading about how the pyramids must have been made by telekinetic energy, and we were even trying to tap into that. Through the intelligent use of music, anything seemed possible. There are still those who strive in these directions, I’ve no doubt. 

RC: So why did you stop? Or did you? 

 AD: I did, and the reason is simply this; power corrupts. I found that out the hard way, unfortunately, during my ill-conceived partnership with Gellert Grindelwald. 

RC: I’ve seen the articles about that. It created quite a stir when that information became public. 

AD: He was attempting no less than mass hypnosis, and in experimentation I was quite frankly shocked by the direction things began to go. We had half an album in the can, and I don’t mind telling you that I burned the tapes as soon as Gellert left. I am happy to report that no bootlegs of those sessions survived. He carried on alone, which is why I stood against him at the Isle of Wight. 

RC: I hate to say it, but . . . I can actually see some benefits to such things. You know, if the right people use the methods you were exploring . . . 

AD: Congratulations. That’s the same kind of thinking that gave us rock stars like Adolph Hitler and Mao Tse-Tung. It’s tempting to take power and put it in the, quote-unquote, right hands. Trust the word of someone who’s held power in his hands; it’s dirty. You can’t use it to make things clean. Believe it or not, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, and their ilk honestly believed that they had the best intentions when they set out to do the things they did. The people we should fear the most are the ones who believe they are on a mission from God, and are seeking to power to BE a god. 

RC: But isn’t it worth the risk, in order to – 

AD: Every child knows that there are powerful people in the world who are abusing their power. The people who populate our daily newscasts don’t even have the tenth share of the real power, and everybody knows that, too. The answer is not to replace one form of bondage with another. The answer is to give people the power to free themselves.  

(At this point, I leaned back in my chair and quickly skimmed over my notes. I suppose I had a look of concern as I turned my attention back to the old Professor.) 

RC: Excuse me, but . . . 

AD: Is there something wrong, dear boy? 

RC: I’m sorry to say it’s . . . beginning to sound like an advertisement for impotence.  

(Dumbledore blinked rapidly and smiled.) 

AD: I beg your pardon? 

RC: It sounds like you’re saying that power is bad, so don’t have any. Enjoy being nothing. 

AD: (laughs) Nothing so Zen as that, I assure you. First of all, it would be terribly hypocritical of me to take that attitude, don’t you think? The one with all this power in the world of music? By all means, go ahead and do whatever it is that you do, and accept the benefits gained. 

But then, what will you do? Will you grasp what you’ve gained, or will you open your hand? Will you keep these blessings for yourself, or will you choose to be a blessing to others? That was the biggest disagreement that I had with Gellert Grindelwald. He did not trust his fellow man. 

In a way, I could see his point. Unlike many others, I believe humanity is a fallen race. And yet, if we’re going to change the world, these are the people we have to deal with to do it. A perfect world will have to be populated by perfect people. Unfortunately, there’s only one person whose life I have any real lasting control over; my own. 

Grindelwald had ideals, but he thought the thing to do was make everyone else adhere to them. He couldn’t even adhere to them himself. He never realized that people behaving correctly requires that they trust one another. Unless you make mindless robots of them, of course. But if people are to have free will – and they most certainly do – then we simply have to trust each other. 

RC: But didn’t you just say that you believe humanity to be a fallen race? How can we truly trust each other? 

AD: We bite our tongue and do it anyway. Not stupidly believing everything that everyone says, of course, but as a means of bringing out . . . what was it one of your Presidents once said? The better angels of our nature?

RC: Abraham Lincoln. 

AD: Indeed. The Bible says that we should keep our minds on that which is excellent, praiseworthy, beautiful, and so forth. How can we do that at the same time as we’re finding fault with everyone? Finding bad things to think about is ridiculously easy. My job, as an artist and a teacher and promoter of artists, is to fill the world with so much good that the bad gets crowded out. It’s easy, and even profitable, to shock people. I find it much more fulfilling to inspire them.

Robert Plant and Ronald Reagan

I know I've been very music - and in particular, guitar - centric lately, but this is a general-topic blog, and it's almost time for the NH Primary, so I'm going to talk a little politics. Hope you don't mind. Tough cookies if you do.

Got to confess to being a semi-reformed political junky, and living in New Hampshire kinda shoves me off the wagon every four years. It's a very frustrating year, too, as there's nobody out there that particularly lights my candle. There's usually somebody, even if they don't have a prayer. Unfortunately, this year the most interesting candidate is Dennis Kusinich. Scary. Allan Keyes, where have you gone? Anybody seen Jerry Brown around? Or maybe Pete DuPont? Dear God, anybody but Hillary!!

A lot of people complain about the New Hampshire primary, but I think it's the perfect place to get right down to brass tacks about some basic prinicples. It's a good place to discuss the differences between Liberal and Conservative, because NH is a state full of eccentrics. Extreme is the norm here. Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is one of the most basic.

One thing that everybody agrees on is that it takes money to run a government. Gotta pay the army, support foreign dictatorships, etc. One side (I'll let you guess which one) says we gotta raise taxes, especially on rich people. I'll grant you that there's a lot of people in the world, and in this country, that have more money than brains. Or class. But before we start reaching into their pockets, let's consider a little history.

Remember the George Harrison song, Taxman? One for you, nineteen for me? Believe it or not, that was the tax rate in Great Britain at the time. 95%. Guess Old Blighty showed those rich so-and-so's.

So consider the tale of one Robert Plant, lead singer for Led Zeppelin. Back about '74 he was in a bad car accident in Greece. He returned to England where he received the best of care. Then, one night, against his Doctor's orders, he checked out of the hospital and was put on board a helicopter to continue his recuperation in Switzerland. Why? Because if he'd stayed one more day in England he'd have been subject to their income taxes.

So, instead of 95% of what he made that year, the Crown got . . . nothing.

So go ahead. Raise the taxes on the rich. That's what the Caymans are for. Instead of 36% of whatever they make, the country can have the pre-Reagan rate of 78% of . . . NOTHING!!

My father once had an idea that I still think would be a good one to try. Pay everybody in cash. Have all the employees line up and somebody from the company count out what they earned straight into their hand in cash. Then, you walk down a line and FICA takes so much, and Social Security takes so much, and so on. And when you're peeling off those bills from that wad that you worked for, smile. I think it would take about one of those paydays for there to be a major tax revolt in this country. We would start asking those people we handed OUR money to just what they planned to do with it.

I've worked for the Government. I served a hitch in the Navy, and I've seen where a lot of our tax dollars go. I've been made to carry 75-pound boxes of pork chops off the ship and into the trunk of a Chief's car. I've sat on those $8000 toilet seats and used those $500 screwdrivers. Just from the abuses I've personally seen, I would bet that a good 1/3 of the money the Federal Government gets are stolen. And that doesn't even get to the assinine things that we throw buckets of money at.

Conservatives like to argue that tax cuts, like the ones that President Bush gave, actually INCREASE revenues. Liberals act like they don't hear that, and say the gov't needs more money, so let's raise taxes. I wish one side or the other would actually publish figures. In such-and-such a year, the tax rate was X and XX dollars came in. Compare it with year YY, rate of Y%, intake of YYY dollars. Bush Jr, Reagan, and Kennedy all cut taxes to raise money. Bush I let a tax hike go through, and we had a minor recession. Could we see some damned figures, please?

I think it was Ron Paul (who I do NOT like, and who I think is a complete banana) who recently said that the biggest problem with the Bush tax cuts is they weren't deep enough. They should have been cut enough to actually make less money come in. Ron Paul may be a nut, but he's right about that!!

So that's my thoughts on taxes. Don't get me started about Iraq.

The 5 Most Important Guitarists

Yeah, I'm a guitar player. Sorry 'bout that. That explains why this blog is so guitar-centric, though. So, consider yourself warned.


As for today's topic, these are not necessarily my favorite guitarists, or a comprehensive list of the ones I think are the best. I'll get to that, don't worry. No, these five I'm honoring here are the ones I believe have had the most influence on the instrument, the way it's played, the way it's presented, and the prominence it now enjoys. Last time I saw a figure on the subject, it was estimated that there are roughly 20 million guitar players in the United States. We have just emerged from what could easily be called "The Century of the Guitar." If that is true, all twenty million of us should bend the knee to these five people.


And, no, these are not exhaustive biographies or discographies of these people. For that, I recommend you start with http://www.allmusic.com/.



The first on the list (which is roughly chronological, by the way) would have to be Andres Segovia. He was born in Spain at a time when the guitar was something that proper ladies learned to play so they could entertain guests in the parlor. I'm sure you've seen instruments that were referred to as "parlor guitars." Well, that's what they mean. It's one of the things you learned at charm school.


Oh, yes, there was guitar music, and even professional guitarists, but it was considered a small instrument that played small music. It was Segovia that forced the world of music to acknowledge it as a serious musical instrument. He showed it to be a versatile instrument rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically. He transcribed many great works for the guitar, and commissioned many more. By the time he reached middle age, composers were lining up to write for the guitar, and for Segovia.


Once he'd established its potential, Segovia fought long and hard to maintain the purity of the classical guitar. To the end of his performing career he refused any form of amplification. To his ear, even a microphone could not accurately reproduce the tones. A Segovia concert, no matter the size of the hall, was absolutely silent while the Maestro played so that nobody would miss anything. In middle age he met a young Chet Atkins. He was quite taken with the talented young man, and even gave him playing tips, until he found out that Atkins played electric guitar. He never spoke to him again.

In spite of this, he was a prolific recorder and a shameless promoter, not only of his own music, but of the classical guitar in total. And just as shameless an innovater. Just about everything that we take for granted about the classical guitar, from the little footstool to the length of scale, the shape of the body, the construction, the tuning, just about everything was directly influenced by Segovia.

To put it simply, the guitar as we know it - not just classical guitar, but the guitar in total as a musical force - would not exist without Andres Segovia.



The next on the list is Charlie Christian. He has been called "The first guitar hero." As big band jazz was giving birth to be-bop, he proved that the recently-invented electric guitar could solo right along with the trumpets, saxophones, etc. Until Charlie, the guitar was relegated to the rhythm section along with the drums and upright bass. Comp chords and keep time. It didn't matter if you could play scales and runs, because nobody could hear you over the horns anyway.

Jazz guitars were arch-topped in order to help them project, and builders tried everything they could think of to make them loud enough to keep up with the band. When Gibson began producing the ES (for Electric Spanish) 150 Charlie was one of the first pros to get one. Before long his name became synonymous with that model. It also became synonymous with jazz guitar. When musician's musician Benny Goodman put together a sextet on the side, he tapped Christian to play guitar. The Benny Goodman Sextet not only laid the groundwork for the next twenty years of jazz innovation, it was the first major multi-racial band in American popular music.

Unfortunately, Charlie Christian died in 1942 at way too young an age. As I recall, it was tuberculosis that claimed him. Whatever it was, he was only in his twenties. To me, that makes it even more amazing that he had such a huge influence in such a short time. Every time you hear an electric guitarist take a solo, thank Charlie Christian.

Which brings us to Les Paul. If Les had never played a note, he'd have been a huge influence on modern music. The man invented multi-track recording, fer cryin' out loud! Before Les Paul, you went into a studio, turned on the machine, and hoped you could produce a good performance. If you wanted something to be heard on your recording, you'd better bring it with you.

Les figured out that if you put two recording heads side by side, they could record two different tracks on the same piece of tape. Before long he and his wife, Mary Ford, were making recordings in their home using nothing but his guitar and her voice. Amazing recordings, rich in tone, timbre, and harmony. On the road, they didn't need a band. Just a copy of the backing tape. Throughout the late '40's and early '50's they produced hit after hit.

Les was also an innovator of guitar construction. He had the idea for a solid-body electric years before anybody was making them. He tried for years to get Gibson to listen to him. They refused, until Leo Fender's Telecaster came out. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed like a pretty good idea after all. To this day, a Gibson Les Paul model is one of the most coveted guitars.

But after all that, you've got to sit down and listen to the man play. And damn, could he play! Still does, in fact. At this writing, he just turned 92. He still has a gig every Monday night at a club in New York City, and everybody who's anybody drops by to listen, and maybe even jam a little. Les had - and has - that wonderful combination of technique and flash that makes his music irresistable.

Next up; Chet Atkins. Quite simply, this man has influenced the playing of practically everybody who's followed him. What is most surprising about that is that he did not come from the world of Classical music, or even Jazz, but Country-Western. Classical, and nowadays Jazz, get studied in college. Country, on the other hand, is now and has always been a music of the people. In spite of this, or maybe because of it, Chet has without a doubt influenced more guitarists than anyone who ever lived.

A brief history of fingerstyle country guitar goes sort of like this; in the beginning was Mother Maybelle. "Can The Circle Be Unbroken" is only one of the many famous songs Maybelle Carter wrote for the Carter Family. In the '20's and '30's, she, husband A. P. Carter, and her siblings - and later, her daughters - would harmonize, often accompanied by nothing more than Maybelle's guitar.

She had a unique style for the day. She would play a melody on the bass strings with her thumb, and in counterpoint strum chords on the upper strings with her fingers. It was a simple style that created a lot of music. The great Merle Travis turned the idea on its head by playing alternating bass notes with his thumbs and countering with arpeggios and melodies on the treble strings with his fingers.

These two greats by no means invented fingerstyle guitar, however. It was the standard way to play Classical guitar and lute, long before Segovia came along. But most Jazz, Country, and other "folk" musicians strummed with a plectrum. Mother Maybelle and Merle helped bring a new level of harmonic and rhythmic sophistication to their music.

Enter one Chester Atkins. As a young man he was hungry to improve his playing, and so he began studying Classical guitar. And yet, instead of becoming a Classical guitarist, he brought what he learned back to the music he loved. This as much as anything about Chet proved to be a huge influence on all who followed him. Nowadays it's common for musicians to cross the lines between styles. In Chet's day, it was considered a pretty radical thing to do.

Chet went on to become A&R Chief for RCA records, as well as the label's senior producer. In this role he literally set the standards for country music for decades. He is the man we can thank - or blame - for bringing country music uptown. He is the reason that the best musicians and songwriters can now be found in Nashville.

Toward the end of his life as he began to step away from the business end he returned to his first love; the guitar. He recorded a number of duet albums with musicians he admired, including Merle Travis, Mark Knopfler, and two grammy-winning collaborations with Les Paul. He was practically a regular on the Prairie Home Companion radio show.

The final guitarist on my list is none other than James Marshall Hendrix. Like Charlie Christian, his life and career were cut short. And, like Charlie Christian, he forever changed the way that guitarists approach their instrument.

To me, the basic idea behind Hendrix' style is that of the electric guitar as an orchestra. He would find a new sound in his instrument and figure out how to add it to his palette of colors. To him, the guitar wasn't just a part of the band. He truly believed that with a bass player and a drummer he could play anything he wanted.

The key ingredients were volume and electronic processing. As Metal instrumentalist Steve Vai has pointed out, "volume IS tone." The more you turn your amplifier up, the more possibilities you open up. The slightest touch to the guitar makes sounds, and he used them all. He would lightly brush the strings, tap on the body and back of the neck, play with the strings above the nut, work the switches and potentiometers while he played, and generally use everything he could find.

To all this mechanical manipulation he added the ever-growing line-up of effects pedals that were being invented in the 1960's. Wah pedals, phase shifters, flanging, echo, reverbs, delays, octave dividers, leslie cabinets, whatever anybody came up with to alter the signal, he'd give it a try. Experience Bassist Noel Redding told of the frustration he'd feel when somebody came to the studio with a new toy. Instead of working on the song, Jimi would start exploring the latest gadget. He and drummer Mitch Mitchell would leave, have lunch, hang out, go shopping, and when they came back a few hours later Jimi was still at it with that same toy.

To most guitarists before him, feedback was something to be avoided at all costs. He learned how to conjure it and play it. He showed all of us guitarists that there's more to our instrument than melody, harmony, and rhythm. When Adrian Belew imitates elephant shouts, he's following Hendrix. Same with Sonny Landreth when he plucks behind the slide. And Kaki King, when she explores the sonic boundries of her Ovation acoustic. Or Eddie Van Halen when he dive-bombs with his whammy bar. All hail, King Jimi.

At the time of his death at the age of 27, Jimi was preparing to do a recording session with Gil Evans and a small orchestra. This is the same Gil Evans that Miles Davis recorded three of his most highly acclaimed albums with. Jimi was looking at ways to go beyond what was expected from him as a popular musician, and not just as a guitarist. His compositions were getting longer and more complex. You can see it in Electric Ladyland, Band Of Gypsies, and the recordings that the family has released as First Dawn Of The New Rising Sun.

There. Whew. Finally glad to get that off my chest. Let the debate begin.

My favorite music stores

As a public service, this is about a handful of music stores I think it would be worth your while to check out. Remember that I live in central New Hampshire, so all the stores are in that general area. Also remember that I am a guitar player, so the list leans heavily to that end of things.



Also, you should know that I'm not a big fan of big music stores. Although from time to time I do business in them, I never really feel at home in them. It's rare to find one that really knows a lot about everything they have in stock. If you want an electric guitar, you'd better want a Strat or a Les Paul or nobody's going to be able to answer your questions. On the other hand, a good small store with a few product lines can usually give you intelligent answers about everything in the store.



These are laid out in roughly geographic order, from South to North. No other ranking should be implied.



WORKING CLASS MUSIC, Tilton, NH.

Link: http://www.workingclassmusic.com/



This is where just about all of my PA gear has come from for the last ten years. Greg is the owner, and he's a good guy. A little terse sometimes, but straightforward and honest. You may not like everything he says, but you can take it to the bank. Working Class is a long-time Peavey dealer, and if I had to buy anything musical on name alone, I'd lean heavily to Peavey. Their stuff always sounds at least pretty good, and often damn good, and it's tough as nails. Greg's also got a good selection of reasonably priced guitars, which often includes some real gems. He always seems to have a couple of inexpensive Stratocasters I wish I could buy.



They actually have a website again, although Greg's never relied much on the internet for his business. He's notoriously bad about answering his emails, so call him on the phone. He's also got a selection of hand-made jewelry.



VINTAGE FRET SHOP, Ashland, NH

Link: http://www.vintagefret.com/



Dave Coburn is a figure of almost mythic proportions to the local music community. To be sure, some people are disdainful of VFS and Dave. In part, because he's not afraid to ask what he really thinks a piece is worth, and then let it hang there until he gets his price. But also, because he sets the standard for small music stores in New Hampshire. Everybody at some time or another bends the knee to Dave. He's done it all, and still stands head and shoulders above the rest. Most of the proprietors on this list think of Dave as a friend, and even a mentor.



The famous profile of Dave that is the icon of the store shows him with the long beard that he actually hasn't worn in years. I've known him, and shopped with him, since before he could grow it. His store on Riverside Drive in Ashland is a treasure trove of fine fretted instruments, although if you're on a budget he's got something for you as well. His long suit is acoustic guitars, and VFS sells both Martin and Taylor flattops. He's also a Fender dealer, and there's always a bunch of lust-worthy electrics hanging on the walls.



They've also got a world-class repair facility. Yes, Scott thinks everything he touches becomes worth its weight in gold, but he gets away with it because he's very, very good at what he does. I've learned over the years to only ask once what a repair will cost, because every time you ask, the price goes up. You can trust, however, that if you put your precious axe in their hands it will be treated right.

DAVE ALLBEE, Main Street, North Haverhill, NH
Phone: 603-787-6196

Dave doesn't have a website that I'm aware of. I don't even know if he's got an email address. What he does have is magic hands. He is my repair guy of choice. I'm also proud to be able to call him my friend. Even if I have nothing to fix, I try and make it a point to stop by and swap stories with him from time to time.

The biggest thing I ever threw at him was my Guild dreadnaught. It's a 1969 D44 with pearwood back and sides, and it got rather unceremoniously dropped on its heel a number of years ago. Half a dozen good repair people had me convinced that I'd never play it again. One said they'd use the neck and put on another top, back, and sides. Another said they could fix it, but it would cost $1500. Everybody else said simply not to bother.

When Dave saw it, he looked it all over real good. Then, he described step by step how he would fix it. When he'd finished, he quoted me a price of $200. I left it with him. A month later, I picked it up. That was three years ago, and I'm still playing it. The man's a genius, I tell ya. I saw him take an Epiphone ES335 copy with a badly warped neck and straighten it out. I don't care what it is you need fixed, you owe it to yourself to at least let Dave take a look at it.

He also buys and sells various used instruments. He's got a nice selection of acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, fiddles, and you can even get the standard accessories there; strings, picks, tuners, cables, etc. He works out of his house, so it's pretty casual. You catch him at home and he's open. His place is just north of the N. Haverhill town building on main street. When you stop in, tell him I said hi.

NORTHERN LIGHTS, Littleton, NH
Link: http://www.northernlightsmusic.com/

Dan Soloman's the principal dude here. Brilliant musician, and a super nice guy. He built this place up from a hole in the wall with his own instruments into one of the North country's premier music shops. He's got a big acoustic guitar room, stocked with shiny new Taylors. The main part of the store has two walls full of a variety of electrics. But the room that knocks me out is the electric room, stuffed to the gunnalls with the best that Fender, Gretsch, etc. have to offer, and lined with shiny new amps.

He's also got keyboards, effects, sheet music, damn, the place has everything. And he's even reasonably priced! Recently, a friend of mine was interested in purchasing a hollow-body electric guitar. We went to a big-name store in the Southern part of the state, found what he wanted, and got the salesman down to his rock-bottom price. They were just about to close the deal, and I pulled my friend aside. I told him that Dan had the identical guitar hanging on his wall for fifty bucks less. The salesman scoffed.

Buddy, if you're reading this, I wasn't kidding, and you blew a sale. Bob loves his new Gretsch, and he really loves the deal Dan gave him. Tempus fugit.

FRIENDLY RIVER MUSIC, Cornish, ME.
Link: http://www.friendlyrivermusic.com/index.htm

I'm tempted to name this place my new favorite, even though I've only been there once. I was absolutely flabbergasted by the selection of guitars and amps this place had. And, it's all housed in a barn attached to a house on a side street near the river in Cornish, Maine. If not for the classy hand-carved sign in the front yard, you'd never know it was there. A hidden treasure, to be sure.

Let's start with the wall full of classic Fenders, Gretschs, Gibsons, Martins, Taylors, and anything else your pit-pattering heart can imagine. On top of that he also sells new Fenders and Taylors. Then, we go to the amps. Fender, Rivera, and Orange amps dominate the floor, including a really sweet collection of old Champs. Yes, he's got some inexpensive stuff, but he's a firm believer in quality. We talked for an hour about amp cabinets, and why he likes real plywood over particle board. "Would you make a solidbody guitar out of particle board?"

From the lakes region of New Hampshire, take US rt. 25 to Maine, stay on 25, and when you get to Cornish keep an eye out for a nondescript sign on the left directing you down a side street. Hint for first-time visitors: Ask to see the Hunt Tele. You won't believe your eyes, or your fingers. And, be sure you check the hours before you go. He's got a day job, and if you get there in the early afternoon you're out of luck.

GREEN MOUNTAIN GUITARS, Bradford, VT
Link: http://www.greenmountainguitars.com/

This is not a music store, but Glen DeRusha makes the best acoustic guitars I've ever played, so I'm giving him a shout-out. His workshop is in his garage. Open his website and you'll immediately hear one of his guitars. He builds them one at a time, and he seems determined to price his guitars below those of every other boutique luthier in the world. It's a case of getting way more than you pay for. You owe it to yourself to go to his house, accept his gracious hospitality, and bless your fingers with one of his git-fiddles. You'll never forget it. For myself, I've been talking to him about building me a 12-string.

'Nuff for now. Keep on rockin'.

A couple more Rough Edges tracks

Well, there's a couple more copies of Rough Edges out in the world, so I might as well get on with the business of doing the liner notes. Tonight, I'll tell you about tracks three and four.

3 - The Train Song

This was inspired in part by the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, but the musical form came from a TV show I was watching on PBS one night. It featured a group of women folk singers, and included the Indigo Girls, Holly Near, and several others. I liked the way the songs tended to be put together. I especially liked the light touch they used to get their points across. It was gentle, thoughtful music and so much of mine at the time seemed heavy-handed in comparison.

It's in a standard tuning, but capoed on the third fret. The little opening theme is from Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train," so credit where credit is due. I couldn't resist putting it there. I hope Ms. Cotten's estate will be satisfied with a small percentage of the vast profits I've realized off the six or seven copies I've sold so far. ;>

4 - Speaking In Tongues

The long title for this is "My Fingers are Speaking in Tongues." Lyrically speaking, it's pretty self-explainatory. The music came from a warm-up exercise I came up with that makes use of a lot of 'tone clusters.' That's where you take a chord form usually used in the first three frets of the guitar and shove them up and down the neck. Cool stuff.

Both of these songs differ from most of this collection, in that they were recorded at New Sherriff Studios in Laconia, NH. I believe this facility is now defunct, as the Sherriff, one Dave Marsh, has left the area. Too bad. Very generous and talented guy. He was part of a three-piece project called MD2, which put out one CD. Musically, it's kind of in a little grey area that resides between New Age, mellow Techno, and soft jazz. It was a sax player, a percussionist, and Dave on electronic stuff. He helped turn Greenlaw's Music in Laconia back into a serious music store. Anyway, I recorded these two songs and the opener, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins," at his place.

Rory Gallagher

http://www.rorygallagher.com/


One of my favorite guitarists, and one of my biggest influences on the instrument, is Rory Gallagher. A bluesman from Ireland, he's not very well known in the US, but he was a big star in Europe.





I first heard Rory back in the mid-seventies. I had a friend named Barry Sutton who turned me on to a lot of great music. I was just starting to get serious about playing the guitar, and Barry changed my point of view forever by playing me "Irish Tour '74." At that time Jimi Hendrix was the center of the guitar universe. You were either trying to sound like him (Robin Trower, Frank Marino) or you were going in completely the opposite direction (Steve Howe, John McLaughlin). You have to remember, this was a pre-Van Halen/Stevie Ray world.





Rory was the anti-Hendrix. I was, and am, a big Hendrix fan, but Rory's approach was so breathtakingly fresh that I couldn't resist. Like a lot of other players at the time, I was busy filling the floor with effects pedals. My biggest mistake was to get a pretty good guitar and a pretty good amp, and then try and make them sound better with stomp boxes. Fuzz, flange, phase, compression, you name it and I had it parked a toe-tap away.





In contrast, Rory's rig at the time was dirt-simple; a Stratocaster, a Fender Twin Reverb amp, and a cable. That's it. And man, he could make that thing talk! Lately I've been digging through my collection and his albums hold up well over the passage of time. They don't sound the least bit dated. On the contrary, they prove the staying power of good ol' straightforward blues-rock.





Recommended titles? Just about anything is going to be a treat, but the older stuff has questionable production values, and some of the later stuff is a little over-the-top. I'd recommend starting with Irish Tour '74, the best of his three live albums. Live In Europe from '71 is a little more blues-centric, and his 1980 Stagestruck shows him in an almost heavy metal mood.





My favorite album of his is the studio effort from 1975, Against the Grain. I'd also point out Top Priority from '79, and Tattoo circa '73. These are the best-sounding recordings, and the quality of the songs is among his best. There are also some very good live DVDs out there, including a video record of the aforementioned Irish tour, and a new 2-disc set taken from his five appearances at the Montreaux Jazz Festival.





For a longtime Rory fan, Live At Montreaux is a little disturbing. News of Rory had always been a little spotty, and you get to see how his life progressed as well as his music. Sadly, he died in 1995 of complications from a liver transplant. That tells a lot of the story right there. His life apparently revolved around three things; playing the guitar, chasing the skirts, and drinking. From what I've heard he actually had the liver transplant around 1990. For a couple of years he took a little better care of himself, but eventually settled back into his old ways.





The Rory Gallagher we see from his 1994 set is a heavier, sadder man than the one who jammed with jazz great Larry Coryell in 1975. He used to have either two or three pieces behind him, but here he had at least five, and brought on Bela Fleck for a couple of tunes. He smiled, but still looked sad. He and the band took a leisurly stroll through the tunes, playing with convuluted endings and aimless solos. And still, every now and then, the brilliant strat-master would occasionally peek through, showing flashes of not just the old brilliance, but actual growth as an artist. At 47, the only thing he'd lost was his reason to live. He'd done it all, and simply didn't know what to do next.





His brother and manager, Donal, keeps the flame alive. There's an excellent website, the link for which is above. Interest in his music keeps most of his catalogue in print, so while it might take some detective work to actually find his CD's, it's certainly not impossible. If you like good rock guitar playing and feel like some get-down kick-ass rock and roll, you owe it to yourself to give Rory a listen.

A couple more songs

5 - The Painter's Song

My brother, Rett, is a painter. We've always had sort of a mutual admiration society between us, because I wish I could paint, and he wishes he could play music. I am also a huge fan of his painting, and have many examples of his work hanging in my house.

Every fall Plymouth, NH has an art show on its town common. I've managed to get to several of these events over the years, and I get a big kick out of it. The one problem I have with it is that it's kind of landscape overkill. Nothing wrong with a good landscape, but when you've got fifty or seventy-five painters showing their work, and the vast majority of them are showing New England landscapes, it gets to be a bit much. I don't blame them, because that's what sells, but after a while they all sort of run together.

So, I usually end up finding that one painter that is doing something radically different. This song was inspired by a fellow whose name I'm afraid I've forgotten, but I'll never forget his art. I could go on and on about it, but suffice to say it was very striking. This song was inspired by a trilogy of paintings he'd done, two of which he still had. All together I think it referred to the twilight of the gods. One was of a small group of Norse gods looking like the morning end of an all-night drunk. The other appeared at first to be little more than swirls of brown and beige color, but on closer examination was a mass of nude bodies all mingled together. Very striking.

6 - Heroes

This one was written as I was reading "Taliesin" by Stephen Lawhead. He spent a couple of years in the British Isles researching the Arthur legends, and in the end got four books written. Personally, they're my favorite telling of the tales.

One of the core ideas that's always in the back of my mind is that everyone has greatness within them. I believe that with all of my heart. Too few people in this world are willing to truly make the effort to try and live up to their own ideals. It's like Albert King used to say; everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

As a Christian, the example I try and follow is that of Christ, but of course I have much more than his example to follow. That's the advantage the Christian has. Whatever it is that you are into or believe in, you owe it to yourself to set yourself aside and follow that which you believe is the core of true faith. Find out if it works, dammit. Use yourself and your life as a laboratory. Then, you can speak about it with authority.

For myself, I have put Christ, His spirit and His word to the test for 23 years and counting, and my life has progressed. I have tried to follow the hero's path. Not very well, I'll grant you; lots of mistakes and failures, but then again I don't feel like I've missed anything. There are things I know I've needed to do, and by God they've gotten done, or at least attempted. Who could ask for more?

More Rough Edges notes

7 - Prophet Sharing

This is a two-parter, written around 1989-1990. I spent the better part of a month parked on my couch with a back injury so I took the time to do some bible study. I headed for the minor prophets and got particularly interested in the book of Joel. The first half of this song is a rough paraphrase of Joel. I've noted that the old testament prophets were particularly fond of proclaiming woe; oh, woe unto thee, though stiff-necked and badly-dressed people. And so, the first half of this song is called "Woe, Nellie."

The second half is an extrapolation of the first half's warnings into the modern day. If you read Joel, he has a lot to say to us. About that time I learned that the word "secular" does not mean simply "without God" as I once thought, but instead "in the world." There's a lot of talk in Evangelical circles, and the contemporary Christian music community, about secularism. If this world truly belongs to Satan, then I am a spy for the other side.

This was one of the recordings that was hardest to include, and hardest to leave off. I'm particularly proud of this song (I suppose I should say, grateful) but am definitely not satisfied with the recording. I've been known to do it as a solo acoustic piece, but there's been a couple of opportunities to play it live with a band, and it comes off much better. Someday I'd like to record it that way.

8 - The Promise

This was written for a young man I knew who was having a very serious crisis of faith. I guess I offer it up as a prayer on his behalf. I'm pleased to report that, the last I knew, he was walking the walk.

As for the musical construction, this one's written on a guitar tuned to DADGAD. It's a tuning that Martin Carthy developed to help him better interperet Irish music for the guitar. The fingerstyle master Pierre Bensusan uses it a lot, as did the late Michael Hedges. With endorsements like that, how could I resist?

9 - A Voice

Pretty self-explanatory, lyrically. Musically, it's an acoustic guitar capoed on the fifth fret. I like the sound of it up there.

10 - Up

This was more or less an experiment to see what I could do with the sequencer and some tape speed adjustments. It's also some serious thought on the state of the world today.

11 - Wheels

This is one of my wife, Lynn's favorites. She especially likes the two overlapping synth patterns. This one's a tough one to do live, but we always have a lot of fun with it. Without the sequencer, I instead do a slapback-echo thing on the guitar, a la Edge of U2. Oftimes, the end of the song turns into an extended jam. Still, I think I prefer this version.

Link to Sweeney

Hi.

Some of you got here via a link on my CD. There's another CD I'd like to draw your attention to. Most of the copies of both CDs have links to both pages, but some don't, so here it is.

http://tcsweeney.blogspot.com/

This will take you to information that goes with a CD called "The Ricochet Project" by T. C. Sweeney. TC was a very good friend of mine, who passed away early in 2002. These are among the best recordings of his own songs, and I am proud to have been a part of them. I hope you enjoy the blog, and the CD.

Some more from Rough Edges

Hi. Doin' the Rough Edges CD back to front.

12 - Loser

Wrote this one in the late '80's for my wife, Lynn. She deserves an opera or something, but this is what I did. Sorry, honey. ;> Actually, I kind of like this song, or I wouldn't have included it. It's done solo with 1 acoustic guitar, tuned to a deep-C tuning

13 - F15 / Woodstock Nation

This is a two-part thing. F15 refers to a repeating rhythm pattern of 3 5's, into a riff and jam, and then cut away to a poem. The poem was written in Sacramento, CA late one night. California Public Television was running the movie "Woodstock" on its 15th anniversary, and it made me think of all the changes I'd been through since that time. The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival took place the weekend of my 14th birthday, and though I was not there, it had a profound effect on me.

I should also mention that the recording of this piece was different from the rest of the collection. This, like most of the rest of the CD, is me on guitar and vocals with the rest coming from a sequencer and synthesizers. Where as the others arranged this way were recorded piecemeal into a 4-track cassette deck, this one was done live, in stereo, into a home deck. Everything into my little 6-channel mixer and done live, in one take.

14 - BC-AD

I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on March 14, 1984. The church I went to was a little house church in Sacramento, CA named Heart Ministries, which was a mission of a local Southern Baptist fellowship. By mid-April, there were five new believers who wanted to be baptized, including myself.

The Pastor, a dear friend named Jim Arnold who is now a missionary in Thailand, asked each of us to take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side we should write "BC," and on the other, "AD." On it, we should write down what we thought of ourselves, what we perceived our friends and family thinking of us, and what we think God thought of us before accepting Christ and after. I took his idea a step further and wrote this song. I got to play it at my baptism on April 15, 1984.

When news breaks, we fix it!

Clark Kent. That was my hero when I was a very small child. Not Superman, oh no. Superman was cool, all right. Being able to fly would be neat, eat bullets, pick up cars, walk through walls . . . Didn't they have doors on Krypton?

But it was Clark Kent who was the crusading journalist. He, along with Lois Lane and that little twerp Olson, exposed corruption and dragged it kicking and screaming out into the light. He was the one who rooted out the evidence that put the bad guys behind bars. He was the one who stood up for truth, justice, and the American way. Superman just mopped up the mess when the two dough-heads got into trouble.

That's why I wanted to be a journalist. I was, and am, idealistic, and I saw that as a way to fight for my ideals. Too bad it didn't work out that way. Oh, well.

What disappointed me was the real world of journalism. And, to be honest, it continues to do so. There are no Clark Kents, but there are many who see themselves that way. To be fair, corruption is a lot more complicated than it was for George Reeves.

One problem is the illusion of an unbiased source of news. There simply is no such thing. Truth, simple pure truth, nothing-but-the-facts truth, can be packaged and shaped in so many ways. This was questioned once by a friend of mine, who insisted that the newspaper that he preferred was unbiased. At that time, we happened to each have a copy of our favorite newspapers for that day on hand. There was a story that appeared in both, regarding what was seen as a congressional victory for President Bush. Both papers ran the exact same story, reprinting word for word what had been sent to them over the Associated Press wire. But, the paper that was perceived as more conservative ran the story on page 1, above the fold, with a rather large photo of Mr. Bush, smiling. The more liberal paper ran it on the back page of the first section, with no photo and a much smaller headline. You can draw your own conclusions.

Again, if journalism is supposed to be about reporting the truth, why not report the truth about the journalist? Why doesn't the New York Times come right out and say what their editorial stance is? Or the Washington times? CNN and Fox News should both shout their biases from the highest sattelite dish. It's not like nobody knows already, fer hevvin's sake.

One of the most celebrated journalists in American history was William Lloyd Garrison. He was one of the heroes of the emancipation, and is almost always referred to as the publisher of an "Abolitionist Newspaper." What does that mean? Was there nothing but abolitionist diatribes printed on its pages? They had no other stories? No court reports? No sports section? No funnies? If something happened in Boston, or Washington DC, they only reported the abolitionist aspects of the story? I would guess it was a newspaper much like any other newspaper. It was probably read by people who could have cared less about the abolition of slavery, and just wanted to know what was going on in the world. After all, a newspaper is a business that has to attract readers, or it will go out of business.

That brings us to the other major problem that I have with modern journalism; the lengths that a news source will go to in order to make money. The worst offenders are television journalists, and most of all the 24-hour news channels. When CNN was the only game in town, they actually did a very good job of showing the broader picture, and keeping their own fingers out of the mix. For the most part, I will admit that I like Fox News Channel, and certainly prefer their point of view, but there's a lot of times they fall far short of the mark.

The latest example is the death of Anna Nichole Smith. I agree that it is a significant event, especially considering all the controversy surrounding the circumstances, the estate, and the young child she left behind. Still, the facts would be easy to report, and updates even moreso. So why do CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC insist on talking about it practically all the time? Isn't there any other news in the world? Do these people know that there was a coup in Thailand recently? The only way I knew was that a friend of mine who's a missionary there told me in an email.

Trouble is, there isn't much money to be made talking about the Thailand coup. CNN tried an all-international-news channel a while ago, and it bombed. It was good, but not glamorous. Sometimes I think I learned more back when we saw the news for a half hour every evening. Back in the day, there were three networks, and we lived in a very rural area, and could only get two of them. The news would come on right about dinnertime, and Howard K. Smith or Frank Reynolds would run through the main stories of the day. If you wanted more detail, you picked up a paper.

It's why I continue to listen regularly to National Public Radio. They cover a wide range of topics, and do it in depth, and even leave out the commercials. There is a certain pattern that you have to get used to, though. It's rather annoying, really, but you have to put up with it if you want to hear about anything besides Anna Nichole Smith. It goes kind of like this:

1) There's a problem somewhere.

2) Several people tell heartfelt stories about the problem, and how it affects them.

3) It turns out that the government knows about the problem, and somebody is trying to get them to spend money to solve it.

4) Heinous, selfish, power-mad people in the government don't want to spend the money. Their side of the story is told by people who are fat, rich, old, and white. You can tell, even on the radio.

5) If you're really lucky, you'll get to hear how desperate the people with the problem are again.

But don't you DARE imply that National Public Radio is biased. Oh, no. Not Superman. Or CNN, or the Washington Times, or Manchester Union Leader, or Fox News, or the New York Times, or . . .

Rough Edges

Hi. For the legion of PPLS readers out there (sound of crickets chirping) just want to say, sorry it took so long for me to stick more stuff on here. Those of you who have the Rough Edges CD were promised content here, and so here it is. And, since things show up here in the order they're posted, I should start with the end of the album.

Bob's Cliche City
East Chahunga Dragway
Limestone for Mayor

These are the last three cuts on the disc. They were made roughly 1989-1991 when I was a DJ at WPNH radio in Plymouth, NH. I used to work there one night a week, doing the overnight Friday show, and when they stopped broadcasting 24/7 the late night Saturday slot. Given the odd hour, I was pretty much free to do whatever I pleased. Mwahahahaha!!

So, I started doing my own fake commercials, which I mixed in with the real ones. And, this is three of them. I stuck them at the end so that you wouldn't have to suffer through them while listening to the music. By the way, I should mention that East Chahunga was an invention of Marcus Jennings, "the Doctor of Rock and Roll," one of WPNH's regular hosts. To be honest, I've forgotten his real name, but he was (and I'm sure, is) a great guy and an excellent DJ. He eventually got offered a better job in Buffalo, which is his home town. If you're out there, Doc, thanks for everything.

WPNH is still on the air, but it's now part of a conglomerate. The FM and AM signals are both satellited in from, I think, Boston. The building the studios used to be in was sold, and later torn down, and they've not had live on-air talent for ages now. Dirty little secret time: Back in the day, we used to say that the station's call letter stood for We Please No Human.