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Post new topic El Paso - in the tradition
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Author Topic:  El Paso - in the tradition
Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 5:02 am    
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El Paso came up randomly on my iPod today and two thoughts occurred to me.

1. Grady Martin's intro and fills are impossibly perfect for the song (played on an acoustic steel string archtop, by the way). The production and songwriting are superb as well.

2. The song is so powerful because it's directly in the thousand year-old ballad tradition about love triangles gone wrong. A few hundred years separate El Paso and The Little Musgrave but they are both threaded through raw human experience and the folk music tradition.

El Paso - Marty Robbins, Grady Martin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-y3DB0wLh4

Nic Jones - Little Musgrave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUAJZ7zrF8
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MIchael Bean


From:
North Of Boston
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 6:34 am    
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Marty Stuart played here in Cambridge, MA two nights ago. They played a tribute to Grady by doing a note perfect rendition of El Paso, with Kenny Vaughan playing Grady's beautiful guitar lines throughout. The backing vocals were stunning.

I saw Grady play with Willie Nelson in Austin in late '78 or early '79. He was playing a Les Paul with ornate inlays ( like on the Les Paul Supreme). I didn't know then that I was seeing a legend.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 7:06 am    
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Man, sorry I missed that! I knew Mary was at Berklee but didn't know there was a gig in town.
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Frank Freniere


From:
The First Coast
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 2:52 pm    
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"Long Black Veil" would fall into this tradition. The Roseanne Cash/Jeff Tweedy version is a fave.
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 4:55 pm    
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My band opened for Willie Nelson at the Oakdale Music Theater in CT back in 1993. Grady Martin was Willie's guitarist at the time. This was one year before Grady retired, but he was still playing great. Every time he played a guitar solo the audience applauded! Country fans knew who was and respected him. Very classy!
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Will Houston

 

From:
Tempe, Az
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2017 5:16 pm    
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Thanks for posting Little Musgrave, don't believe I ever heard that, good stuff.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 28 Apr 2017 1:20 am    
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These songs that tell story sure draw you in. Nic Jones was an incredible talent as a singer and terrific guitarist whose career was derailed by a horrible, near-fatal car accident in 1982. Here's an other great story song - with a happy ending this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlFKwY_YgZ4
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Dave Hopping


From:
Aurora, Colorado
Post  Posted 30 Apr 2017 1:00 pm    
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Wonderful tune,and cooler than the other side of the pillow to play,but I can't help thinking that's where Marty's character ran into a great big hassle! Winking
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