The Guitars of David Bowie?
Posted by Moonage | Filed under The World Of David Bowie
Luke Slater over at TinMachine does a really neat survey of the guitars Bowie has used through the years. He comes to the conclusion Bowie basically has two guitars. One acoustic, one electric. Luke then finishes up with a conclusion that loses me. He thinks this is sad.
Now, ya gotta remember that for the most part, Bowie never considered himself a guitar player. Sure, he’s strummed a lot, but find a video where Bowie gets down on a guitar. It don’t happen. He plays piano, keyboards, saxophone, whatever it takes to get the sound he wants. No biggie. Also, consider the guitar players he’s hung out with over the last forty years or so:
- Mick Ronson
- John Lennon
- Jeff Beck
- Peter Frampton
- Stevie Ray Vaughn
- Nile Rodgers
- Charlie Sexton
- Earl Slick
- Carlos Alomar
- Adrian Belew
- Robert Fripp
- Reeves Gabrels
- David Gilmour
If I could count on that line-up to make me sound good, I’d have two less guitars than Bowie does.
Tags: Adrian-Belew, Carlos-Alomar, Charlie-Sexton, david bowie, David-Gilmour, Earl-Slick, guitar, Jeff-Beck, John-Lennon, mick ronson, nile-rodgers, Peter-Frampton, Reeves-Gabrels, Robert-Fripp, Stevie-Ray-Vaughn, The World Of David Bowie
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Sound, The World Of David Bowie
Stevie Ray Vaughn had been sort of lurking in the shadows of rock stardom. Everyone knew he was great, but he hadn’t had that breakthrough song to put him over the top. In 1982 or so, David saw Stevie doing a show and invited him to work on his newest album. Let’s Dance is not my favorite Bowie album, but it did provide a distribution mechanism for one of my favorite songs, Cat People. However, this post is about Stevie. Stevie took an otherwise droll pop song Bowie did and turned into a classic hit that is still played today. The hook to Let’s Dance is all Stevie Ray Vaughn. Stevie got the mass audience he deserved when Let’s Dance became Bowie’s first #1 hit in 1983. In 1986 Stevie would find his own claim to fame when Pride and Joy was released. Four years later, Stevie died in airplane crash. The original Let’s Dance sounds like a studio recording. There’s several very similar versions floating around on radio. What you won’t ever hear on the radio is the Serious Moonlight dress rehearsals. Stevie just does his thing all the way through the songs. On the Let’s Dance rehearsal, he plays both the hooks that make the song fun, but he also fills in the vocal track as well. It’s more fun to listen to than the studio recording. Someone did a midi that I think is supposed to be the dress rehearsal of Let’s Dance. I prettied it up some, but not much. It gives a good feeling for what the live Stevie sounded like on the Let’s Dance dress rehearsal tape. Hope you enjoy it.
Tags: lets-dance, Sound, Stevie-Ray-Vaughn, The World Of David Bowie
