Showing posts with label Steely Dan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steely Dan. Show all posts

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Skunk

 Rick Beato has been on a roll lately, recently interviewing the elusive David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and then, a few days ago, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, lead guitarist for Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, and session player for many other famous artists.  Rick is the best music interviewer going.  He focuses on the music, not on anything else, asks good questions and gives interviewees the space to talk.  Even when I don't understand all the musical details I still enjoy it.  Skunk comes across as a true gentleman and it was wonderful to listen to his stories about the Dan, the Doobies, as well as Segovia, Hendrix, Slash, and others.  Hendrix and Jeff Beck are on his Mt Rushmore of guitarists.

Skunk features on the first three Steely Dan albums, before Fagen and Becker decided to stop performing as a live act, and he then moved seamlessly into the Doobies and was the guy responsible for later bringing Michael McDonald, who'd been a backup singer on Dan albums, into the Doobies.

Rick gets Skunk to talk about two of his most famous solos for the Dan, My Old School and Rikki Don't Lose That Number.  Another favorite solo (not mentioned in the video) is in The Boston Rag, starting about 3 minutes in. We also learn that his favorite instrument is the pedal steel guitar.  There wasn't much call for that in Steely Dan, but it does show up in a couple of their tunes, most notably Fire In The Hole, where Skunk adds a tasty solo at the end (the song also features outstanding piano parts).

  Beginning in the 1980s, Skunk developed a parallel second career as an expert on defense technologies.  Here's how Wikipedia explains it:

Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. In the mid-1980s, his interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software originally developed for military use, specifically data compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices.

His next-door neighbor was a retired engineer who had worked on the Sidewinder missile program. This neighbor bought Baxter a subscription to Aviation Week magazine, provoking his interest in additional military-oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self-taught in this area, and at one point wrote a five-page paper that proposed converting the ship-based anti-aircraft Aegis missile into a rudimentary missile defense system.

He gave the paper to California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began. Baxter received a series of security clearances so he could work with classified information. In 1995, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Curt Weldon, then the chairman of the House Military Research and Development Subcommittee, nominated Baxter to chair the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense.

Baxter's work with that panel led to consulting contracts with the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He consults for the US Department of Defense and the US intelligence community, as well as defense-oriented manufacturers such as Science Applications International Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corp., General Dynamics, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. He has said his unconventional approach to thinking about terrorism, tied to his interest in technology, is a major reason the government sought his assistance.

"We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles," Baxter has said. "My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at."

Baxter has also appeared in public debates and as a guest on CNN and Fox News advocating missile defense. He served as a national spokesman for Americans for Missile Defense, a coalition of organizations devoted to the issue.

In April 2005, he joined the NASA Exploration Systems Advisory Committee.

Baxter was a member of an independent study group that produced the Civil Applications Committee Blue Ribbon Study recommending an increased domestic role for US spy satellites in September 2005.  This study was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on August 15, 2007. He is listed as "Senior Thinker and Raconteur" at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, and is a Senior Fellow and Member of the Board of Regents at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

While Beato does not cover the military side of Skunk's career, American security remains important to him. In the interview, when discussing his friendship with Jimi Hendrix, Baxter mentions Jimi's service in the 101st Airborne and refers to him as a "patriot". 

This is an interview where Skunk shares his thoughts about Ringo Starr (very complimentary) as well as a bit on his military career.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

16th Ghost Notes

Enjoy the great Bernard Purdie, who turned 85 this year, explain 16th ghost notes.  The real fun starts about three minutes in when he starts talking about the high hat.  Creator of the Purdie Shuffle, which Wikipedia describes as the "use of triplets against a half-time backbeat".  Sounds right to me!

Of course that gives me an excuse to insert this video of Purdie playing on Home At Last, a Steely Dan track from their 1977 album Aja.

Friday, May 31, 2024

The Royal Scam


Can it be this sad designCould be the very same?A wooly man without a face

Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same?
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin' here but history
Can you see what has been done?
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun

[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood

On this date in 1976, Steely Dan released its fifth album, The Royal Scam, with its best known songs being Kid Charlemagne (with THAT Larry Carlton guitar solo) and Don't Take Me Alive (with THAT OTHER Larry Carlton guitar solo).  My favorite is Sign In Stranger, with its humorous Eliot Randall guitar solo and Paul Griffen piano work.

One of the lesser known cuts is The Caves Of Altamira, from which the lyrics at top are taken.  The Cave of Altamira is located on the north coast of Spain in the small town of Santillana del Mar.  It is home to some of the most marvelous prehistoric cave art in existence.  Discovered in 1879 and now closed to the public, the cave contains a thousand meters of depictions of animals and of abstract designs.  Perhaps the only pop/rock song about cave art, but just another day in the rather odd life of Steely Dan. 

Monday, February 19, 2024

Just Guitar

My Old School, a Steely Dan song from their second album, Countdown To Ecstasy, but with just Skunk Baxter's guitar parts.  The whole thing is great, but goes absolutely insane with the closing solo starting at 2:31.  There is nothing predictable about that solo and it's also very humorous.  The guy covering this is quite good.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Dad Rock

Or, in my case, Grandpa Rock.  Walter White rhapsodizing on the virtues of Steely Dan.  He may have been a meth kingpin and killer but what great taste in music!  Extra bonus points for mentioning Boz Scaggs who, in 2012, toured with Dan co-founder Donald Fagen and frequent Dan background singer Michael McDonald; here they are performing Boz's big hit Lowdown.

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Those Days Are Gone Forever

Those days are gone forever

Over a long time ago

Oh, yeah

- Steely Dan, "Pretzel Logic"

I think about it more now.  A few days ago, Hershel "Woody" Williams, the last living recipient of the Medal of Honor for conduct in WW2, died at 98.  I'm not a medal recipient, nor combat veteran, and still more than a quarter-century younger than Mr Williams, but I think more about the span of time and the difference between how I perceive it and those a generation or two younger.  My memories are linked to things I experience and no matter how I describe them to someone younger it will never fully convey whatever feelings it invoked or what it was like to go through it at the time.

Here's an exquisite and soulful live version of Pretzel Logic from 2014 by The Dukes of September, featuring Donald Fagen of the Dan, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald, who along with his solo and Doobie Brothers career, endured Fagen and Becker's perfectionist demands in the recording studio, as he laid down background vocals on vocals on many Dan tracks.

I stepped out on the platform

The man gave me the news

He said, "you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes?"


Saturday, June 25, 2022

Still Reelin' In The Years

I can't cry anymore/ while you run around

Break away

Just when it seems so clear/ that it's over now

Drink your big Black Cow/ and get out of here

A half century later Donald Fagen and his reconstituted Steely Dan are still at it (Fagen's partner and collaborator, Walter Becker, passed in 2017).  This is from their current tour.  

Some characterize the Dan's music as Dad Rock.  I'm fine with that, though in my case it would be more accurate to call it Grandpa Rock. 


Monday, January 31, 2022

Black Cow

Black Cow appeared on Aja, Steely Dan's sixth album.  This is the demo with Donald Fagen on vocal and piano.  According to my information this was recorded during the sessions for Katy Lied, the band's fourth album, meaning not only did it fail to make it onto that record but was also not included on The Royal Scam, the Dan's next album.

Fascinating how much of what you hear on the demo made it into the final recording; the beautiful chord progressions and piano voicings are already there.  To listen to the Aja recording go here.

Found on the great twitter feed of Good Steely Dan Takes.


Sunday, February 28, 2021

Rockin' The Rest

 From 1990 on, the last part of the My Concert series (I'll continue to update this):

 
November 14, 1997
U2
Smashmouth
Pro Player Stadium
Miami, FL
 
Took the THC daughter and two of her friends. Although we were quite a way from the stage our seats were directly in line with the speakers and it was incredibly loud (and I like loud music).  My ears were full of static for several days after.
 
August 20, 2001
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Oakdale Theater
Wallingford, CT
 
Talked into going to this by my sister.  Thought CSN would sound outdated and they had this reputation back in their heyday of not sounding good in concert.  I went and I was wrong. Very good show.  Their harmonies were tight and David Crosby's tenor was strong and beautiful.  Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was about 10 times better than the recorded version.
 
June 15, 2002
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Oakdale Theater
Wallingford, CT
 
When I Was Cruel tour.  The Imposters were The Attractions without bassist Bruce Thomas, who'd been fired by Elvis. Another terrific Costello concert with three encores, the final one ending with Lipstick Vogue followed by I Want You, which is a very, very creepy ballad and a very, very odd, but Elvis-like choice, to end a concert.
 
September 10, 2003
Steely Dan
Oakdale Theater
Wallingford, CT 

Good, solid but not great show by one of my favorite bands.

July 14, 2007
Los Lonely Boys
New Haven Green
New Haven, CT

An outdoor, free concert on the Green in downtown New Haven on a balmy summer evening, sitting on the grass and listening to Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza, the brothers of Los Lonely Boys.  Guitar-driven improvising, climaxed with a 20+ minute version of Onda.  Felt like I was back in 1971.  Very underrated band that was not as popular as it should have been.
 
April 15, 2008
Elvis Costello
Tony Bennett
Saturday Night Live Studio
NBC 30 Rock
New York City 

In 2008-9, Elvis filmed 20 shows for Spectacle TV in which he interviewed other musicians and then they performed separately and together.  Filming was done in the Saturday Night Live Studio, which was cordoned off into a smaller area with seating for about 250-300 people.  At the time, I worked for GE which owned NBC and a couple of people at 30 Rock knew I was an Elvis fan and got me tickets so I took Mrs THC and two close friends.  Tony Bennett was immensely cool.  He sang The Way You Look Tonight.  His voice was no longer what it once was, but he sang that song so beautifully I teared up. Elvis is a fine interviewer and the conversation was lively.  Diana Krall, Elvis' wife was seated in front of us (we were three rows from the stage) and Tony impulsively went out into the audience and pulled her up to perform a song with him.  A memorable evening.

May 28, 2009
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Tarrytown Music Hall
Tarrytown NY

Robert Randolph is a unique entertainer and along with The Family Band one of the best club and party acts you will ever see.  Everyone in the audience was standing for the entire show.  Randolph plays pedal steel like lead guitar.
 
June 10, 2009
Elvis Costello
Beacon Theater
New York City

The Sulphur to Sugarcane tour with Elvis supported by a country band with no drummer.  Excellent, as usual.  32 songs, including encores.  Highlight was The Delivery Man.
 
March 5, 2014
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Crescent Ballroom
Phoenix, AZ

Mrs THC and I raised the average age in the club by several years.  Awesome show by the awesome Robert Randolph.  Here's a clip from that show.

June 15, 2014
Kenny Wayne Shepherd featuring Robert Randolph
Ridgefield Playhouse
Ridgefield, CT

Ace guitarist Shepherd and ace pedal steel player Randolph, a dynamite combo.

August 14, 2014
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Simsbury Meadows
Simsbury CT

Susan Tedeschi's voice and Derek Truck, master of the slide guitar, are a perfect pair, as husband and wife and musicians.  Unexpectedly started off with a creative cover of Traffic's Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring.
 
April 8, 2016
Elvis Costello
Larkin Poe
Mesa Arts Center
Mesa, AZ

Mostly an Elvis solo show, with occasional backing by Larkin Poe and Nils Lofgren.  Heavy media with clips of Elvis' musician dad and Elvis in his early days.  Reimagined versions of songs from his huge catalogue.  This venue was designed for concerts and the sound quality was amazing.  We were in the last row of the 4th balcony and the sound was crystal clear.
 
September 2017
Los Lobos
Criterion Theatre
Bar Harbor, Maine
 
A fun time in a small venue (several hundred seats).  Thirty years after first seeing them, the band still sounded good and David Hidalgo's voice had held up well. 

November 2017
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Orpheum Theater
Phoenix, AZ

November 16, 2019
The Black Keys
Talking Stick Resort Arena
Phoenix AZ

This was one fine rock n roll show.  The sound quality was clear and crisp, particularly for large arena.

November 5, 2021
Tommy Emmanuel
Mesa Arts Center
Mesa AZ

Back to live music!  What a great guitarist and showman.

November 10, 2021
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Federal Theater
Phoenix AZ
 
Elvis once again.  No opening act.  Played for 2 1/2 hours.  New stuff, old stuff, in between stuff.  His voice is not what it once was, but still a fine show.  Played half the songs I heard at his first concert in 1977. 

May 17, 2023
Billy Strings
Financial Theater
Phoenix AZ

Had wanted to see Billy since discovering him in the fall of 2021.  Outstanding show.  Nearly three hours highlighted by a 30 minute combo of several songs including Hide and Seek.  Incredible guitarist and the players in his band (banjo, fiddle, upright bass, mandolin) are just as good.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Why The Songs Sound The Same

From Rick Beato's essential YouTube channel if you love music.

The hook for the video is the recently announced lawsuit against Lady Gaga for allegedly plagiarizing her song Shallow, from the movie A Star Is Born.  Rick quickly dismisses the lawsuit as nonsense but it leads to a fascinating discussion on the trend in pop music over the past two decades to rely on variations of the I-IV-V-VI chord structure for so many songs.  He and Rhett Shull discuss many aspect of pop and why music has ended up in a straight jacket.  Rick points out that of 27 Number One singles by The Beatles only one (Let It Be) used the I-IV-V-VI progression (if you're more familiar with chord names, in the key of C that would be C, F, G, Am).

Below is the discussion and as an extra bonus this is Rick's discussion of Steve Gadd's amazing drum work on Steely Dan's Aja.  Rick provides less technical discussion than usual but his enthusiasm is infectious.


Friday, January 18, 2019

Rikki Don't Lose That Number

In 2016 Jeff "Skunk" Baxter won the TEC Les Paul Innovation Award from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM).  Best known as lead guitarist for Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, the breadth and extent of Baxter's musical career is impressive.  He has extensive credits as a studio musician having recorded with, among others, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Gene Simmons, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer and toured with Elton John and Linda Ronstadt.  Baxter's also composed and produced movie soundtracks.

Starting in the 1990s, Skunk embarked on a parallel career.  Always looking for new technical advances in the audio and recording fields he began reading related material on electronics in the defense industry.  In turn, that prompted him to make some unsolicited proposals for improvements, particularly in the field of missile defense.  After overcoming the incredulity of defense contractors and government officials, he began consulting for Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics, the Department of Defense, U.S. intelligence agencies, and chaired a Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense.

For the NAMM TEC awards, Baxter put together a band to perform Steely Dan's Rikki Don't Lose That Number.  Vocalist Kipp Lennon sounds eerily like Donald Fagen of the Dan.  Kipp is the youngest of eleven children; four of his older sisters comprised the Lennon Sisters whom anyone who ever saw The Lawrence Welk Show will remember.

We hear you're leaving, that's okay
I thought our little wild time had just begun
I guess you kind of scared yourself, you turn and run
But if you have a change of heart
Rikki don't lose that number
You don't want to call nobody else


You can watch a tribute video and then Baxter's speech about music and weapons systems starting around 5:30 on the video below.

If you'd like to hear more on Skunk's thoughts on unconventional warfare and unconventional thinking watch this.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Bodhisattva (Yet Again)

We've visited this song several times because it contains my favorite Steely Dan guitar solo, courtesy of Denny Dias, one of the least known of the great guitarists of rock.  I spent some time looking at cover versions of the solo on YouTube.  Most weren't very good.  Then I came across the one below by Tom Lane.  It's the closest I've seen to Dias, almost capturing his tone, and to my ear only a little off in a couple of places.

Most impressively, Lane attempts the four phrases at the end of the solo, unlike most others who don't even try.  Lane has a lot of other outstanding covers which you can find by going here.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Deconstructing Kid Charlemagne

Musician Rick Beato has maded a fascinating series called What Makes This Song Great? in which he breaks down the instrumentation and vocals on several popular hits.  Below he discusses Steely Dan's Kid Charlemagne, their mid-70s rumination on the fate of a drug dealer who time has passed by.  He spends nearly eight minutes on Larry Carlton's two classic guitar solos (which THC rated as his #2 Dan guitar solo favorite).  You'll also hear about the sound layers, vocals and, at the end, a comparison of a drum machine sound used by Bruno Mars in one of his recent hits with the groove laid down by drummer Bernard Purdie on the Dan tune.

Here are links to two other enlightening Beato breakdowns.  The first is Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police in which we learn about Lydian bass lines and the second Jeremy by Pearl Jam.  With Jeremy he takes us through the dense layering that leads to the cacophony of sound (it even turns out there is a cello on the recording!) and the unusual pattern of Eddie Vedder's melody.

The one aspect Beato ignores that goes into creating a great song are the lyrics which contribute to making the saga of Kid Charlemagne work and are absolutely essential to the success of Jeremy, in which the distraught, disturbed words (I don't think there is another song with lyrics similar to "gnashed his teeth/and bit the recess lady's breast") are matched by the thunderous, and occasionally dissonant, music.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Aja Drums

The recent passing of Walter Becker induced a fit of Steely Dan listening on my part.  This is one of my favorite bits of musicianship on a Dan recording; Steve Gadd's drums on Aja.  This is a cover by Joe Nocella (one of the nice touches is that Joe responds to most of the comments on the video).  It's just lovely, particularly from 3:00 on.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Return Of The Dan

We did a post awhile ago on THC's favorite Steely Dan guitar solos with links to youtube videos.  Now, with the availability of Dragontape, we can indulge ourselves by editing a video consisting entirely of those favorite solos (for THC's other Dragontape adventures go here).

To get more background on each song, including which one is actually about the Munich Beer Hall Putsch and about Skunk Baxter's post-Dan career as a missile defense consultant to the Pentagon go here.

These are the Top 12 with the lead guitarist.

12.  Peg (Jay Graydon)
11.  King of the World (Denny Dias)
10.  Night by Night (variously attributed to Dean Parks or Skunk Baxter)
9.    Chain Lightning (Rick Derringer)
8.   Aja (Dias)
7.   Boston Rag (Baxter)
6.   Your Gold Teeth II (Dias)
5.   Reelin' In The Years (Elliot Randall - according to Baxter, Randall did this on the first take)
4.   Sign in Stranger (Randall)
3.   My Old School (Baxter)
2.   Kid Charlemagne (Larry Carleton)
1.   Boddhisattva (probably Dias for entire solo, Baxter is one ending solo which is not included)

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Aja's Gold Teeth

Today we're trying a little experiment.  THC has used DragOnTape to create a music mix consisting of two guitar solos from Denny Dias of Steely Dan from whom you've heard before (see the Steely Dan Guitar Solos series).  THC has edited the songs so that they only contain the guitar solos.  The first is Your Gold Teeth II and the second is Aja on which Mr Dias is ably assisted by Steve Gadd (drums) and Wayne Shorter (sax) during the last part of the excerpted segment.  See what you think by clicking the link below.

Aja's Gold Teeth

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The link does not play on mobile device.  You need to open it on a PC or tablet.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Those Days Are Gone Forever

The recent news of a White House intruder and the increased restrictions over recent decades on public access to areas around the White House prompts us to go back to a time when things were a bit different in Washington DC.

In May of 1836 Alexander Stephens, a young Georgia lawyer (later to be Vice-President of the Confederacy) making his first visit to Washington decided to pay a call on President Andrew Jackson.  On January 30 of the prior year, the President was leaving the Capitol when Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, attempted to shot Jackson at point blank range.  When his pistol misfired, Lawrence pulled out a second pistol which also misfired.  The President beat his assailant with a cane (Jackson was a tough hombre, for more see Presidential Knife Fight) while others nearby, including Congressman David Crockett, helped subdue Lawrence.
(Lawrence attempting to shoot Jackson; Wikipedia)
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/article-top/public/m-4041.jpg?itok=G_JlAZPd(Stephens from georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Despite this incident there was no elaborate security around the President when Stephens decided to visit him the next year.  As recounted in Alexander H Stephens of Georgia by Thomas Schott, Stephens, without an appointment, simply went to the White House knocked on the door and asked to see the President.  Schott reports on what followed:
After a short wait, he was shown into a large room.  The Old Hero, dressed in a 'rather dirty' ruffled shirt and loose slippers, sat beside a coal fire at the end of a long table.  Motioning his young visitor around to a seat beside him, Jackson inquired of the news from Georgia.  
http://www.thehermitage.com/events/Events1/sm_files/andrewJackson.jpg(Jackson from thehermitage.com)
When Stephens mentioned some Indian disturbances, Jackson, who was in the midst of expelling five peaceful Indian tribes from the Southeastern states (for more on this see Sam Houston: The Raven), exploded and embarked on a 20 minute profanity-laced soliloquy. Stephens left "awed and slightly scandalized".

How far we have come from those days.

As Steely Dan reminds us:
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah


Monday, September 22, 2014

Bodhisattva Isolated Guitars

While researching the post on The Edge, THC ran across this isolated guitar track from the Steely Dan's Bodhisattva which contains his favorite Dan guitar solo (see Steely Dan guitar solos).

On it you just hear the guitars and it's thrilling; despite the title of the Dan's first album, Can't Buy A Thrill, it turns out you can.  Guitars courtesy of Denny Dias (it's his solo that starts at about 1:35) and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.   

Friday, September 5, 2014

The Edge

http://jasobrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/U2s-The-Edge-very-early-promo-photo1.jpghttp://quietus_production.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/1335/edge_1237552224_crop_353x405.jpg(Above, The Edge circa 1980, Left, The Edge as 21st century man)

We've posted before about some of the great classic rock guitar soloists like Eric Clapton (Double Trouble), Jimi Hendrix (Heavy Guitar and Little Wing), Steve Ray Vaughn (Little Wing & Couldn't Stand The Weather), Jimmy Page (Since I've Been Loving You), Duane Allman and Dickie Betts (In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed) and the strange brew of guitarists constituting the Steely Dan players (the 3-part Steely Dan guitar solo series).  Now we'll turn to a favorite guitarist who THC doesn't consider a classic soloist; he's really more of a creative pattern and sonic structure builder - The Edge (real name David Evans) who joined the band that eventually became U2 as a 15-year old in 1976. There is another guitarist THC considers a bridge between the classics and The Edge and that is Pete Townsend of The Who.  Townsend is not one of the great soloist as his efforts can be choppy but he is the greatest rhythmic and power chord player in rock history (as well as a tremendously exciting live performer and improviser during his prime) and the inventor of the "crash chord" where you hit the chord and then mute the reverberations so it sounds quick like a shot with no ringing left hanging (in more recent years while on tour Townsend is letting his chords ring). Just listen to the opening chords of I Can't Explain.

As for The Edge it is all about the sound and patterns he devises.  He's the driving musical force in U2 and gives the band its trademark sound.  A U2 song is recognizable soon as you hear it because it has that brilliant, shimmering glassy guitar sound which gives a haunting feel to much of their music. The man has a great aural sense of how to complete the mood of a song.

Since it's difficult to find isolated guitar tracks by The Edge on YouTube we'll use some covers by others so you can hear the guitar clearly and learn how he creates the sound.  It's about the use of feedback delays (so you'll hear the note 2 or 3 times after it's played), reverb and compression along with a Herdim guitar pick turned the wrong way round so the scratchy part of the pick is hitting the strings.

Let's start with two covers by James Fernando.  The first is Where The Streets Have No Name from the mid-80s a song which has probably THE classic edgiest sound.  The second is Beautiful Day from around 2001 (which has a beautiful shimmering part at about 1:54).  Both videos have helpful captions explaining some of the technical setting and playing styles utilized.

Next up is a video which goes into some detail on the techniques used by The Edge to build his sound.

Next up is one of THC's favorite early U2 songs, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock.  At around 1:25 you can hear the use of harmonics and at 2:40 and 4:00 are a rarity - Edge style lead guitar parts. 

Crumbs From Your Table is from the 2006 album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.  THC loves the  sound of this cover!

We'll close with Pride (In The Name of Love).  This shows you what you can do with a simple guitar riff that ended up driving a majestic song.  Plus the guy playing it has a young son who clearly is not impressed with what's going on as he appears to be doing his homework.