Midnight at the Oasis

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 10 Jan 2011 5:09 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6lJ7NWxDws

This is one of those 70s songs that I can't decide whether I like or hate. A lot of guitar players have cited Amos Garrett's guitar solo as one of the most perfect solos on a pop tune. The tune has a weird chord structure with the verse in Eb and the chorus in E.

I interviewed Amos about it a few years ago and the song definitely had a convoluted path. It was the last song they recorded and almost didn't get on the album 'cause they had enough material already but Maria loved the song and wanted it on the record. David Nichtern, who wrote the song, didn't like Garrett's solo - he wanted something more mainstream - but it got left in anyway. Warner Brothers didn't see it as a single initially but they were persuaded to release it that way and it became the little hit engine that could as it climbed the charts. It was kitchy in it's day - harkening back to the 20s - and now, it's 70s kitchy but you have to admit - love it or hate it - it's unique and memorable. Today, David Nichtern is a TV & film composer and Buddist teacher and Amos Garrett is still flying well under the pop culture radar.

And some brave younger souls are still willing to give it a go ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YEuO-mnp1o

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 10 Jan 2011 7:28 am

It's everything you say it is, Andy. I still love that song and the solo that goes with it.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 10 Jan 2011 8:04 am

I liked this song well enough back in '73 to buy the album. It has an interesting retro sound, nice chords, and that quirky Amos Garrett solo. This brings back memories of my college daze. Thanks for posting it, Andy!

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 10 Jan 2011 9:07 am

that solo was amazing. fit the song perfect and was so cool! one of my favorite pop song solos ever.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 10 Jan 2011 11:16 am

Famous Amos also did a great solo on Ian & Sylvia's " Love what your doin' child"
Thanx fer the memories Andy

Bob Knetzger · Post by **Bob Knetzger** » 10 Jan 2011 11:17 am

Yeah, great solo and as a tune it was a gateway drug leading the listener at the time to more of Amos Garrett's playing on Ian Tyson's "Great Speckled Bird" album (with Buddy Cage!)

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 10 Jan 2011 11:47 am

I too bought that record in '73 when I was in high school. Besides Amos, It had some other amazing session musicians .... Dr. John, David Grisman, Clarence White, Richard Greene, etc.

Amos is such a tasty Tele player and he uses bends so well. Here's how he plays Sleepwalk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrCxamgu-as

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 10 Jan 2011 12:48 pm

Wow, he does a Huge string bend in Sleep Walk... The first note of the melody. Every time he does that I think the string will break for sure.

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 10 Jan 2011 2:04 pm

Removed.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 10 Jan 2011 4:10 pm

I have always loved this song. I love Maria's sexy vocal and Amos's playing, but the whole arrangement is just terrific. Love the outro, too. In fact, that whole LP is great.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 10 Jan 2011 9:37 pm

I picked up a MM album around '74. I thought it was the first album with Midnight as it was still popular at the time. Turns out it was Waitress in a Donut Shop. Rather than return it for the other one, I just kept it.

Some pretty good stuff on there too. Girl power anthem, I'm a Woman among others.

I dunno how or when the Muldaurs got hooked up with the New Orleans musicians, but there's a connection.
Besides Mac Rebennack and the others mentioned, Allen Toussaint's Brickyard Blues tune.

Lowell George, Doc and Merle Watson, David Lindley appear. There's also a couple tunes arranged and conducted by Benny Carter, for heaven's sake, add world class bassist Ray Brown....the McGarrigle sisters...Elvin Bishop, Tommy Tedesco.....horn magicians galore, the list goes on and on.

She musta made a lot of friends early on the music biz.

Definitely music one can't pigeon hole, and not for everybody. I believe the '73 debut LP is better overall, but this one has it's moments as well.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 11 Jan 2011 1:34 am

I dunno how or when the Muldaurs got hooked up with the New Orleans musicians, but there's a connection.

Levon Helm in Woodstock ?

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 11 Jan 2011 4:57 am

Here's Maria today. She talks about Midnight at the Oasis towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkYfAK73-H0&feature=fvsr

John Rosett · Post by **John Rosett** » 11 Jan 2011 7:37 am

Thanks for that link, Andy. It was priceless.
I took guitar lessons from David Nictern in 1972 when I was in high school, and he introduced me to David Bromberg, who has been a huge influence on me.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 11 Jan 2011 8:13 am

I had forgotten how hairy we all were back then ….

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 11 Jan 2011 10:20 am

A coupla Google clicks and I learn that her daughter Jenni is a recording artist too. The physical and vocal resemblance to her mom is striking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9QxZhlc9vg

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 11 Jan 2011 1:04 pm

Jenni used to be in Todd Rundgren's band years ago. You can see her here on the left. She was an excellent backing vocalist with this group, as they all were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O8S5pdXUpQ

I used to bump into her in Greenwich Village--she lived next door to the apartment we (Moonlighters) rehearsed in.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 11 Jan 2011 8:32 pm

Midnight at the Oasis really is a magical tune - sort of like the perfect East Coast meets West Coast bag, right before Hollywood pretty well took over pop culture. Of course, Amos' guitar solo is on the list of a helluvalotta guitar players top 10 solos, and for damned good reason. It's perfect. Sorta' sounds like it's recorded right into the board dry, almost like an acoustic guitar, thereby violating most of the rules about what's supposed to constitute 'good guitar solo tone', but it's hard to imagine it any other way now.

Sometime, try to play that solo and really get it right. There aren't a tone of notes, and it's not at a hyper-warp speed. But good luck.

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 11 Jan 2011 9:55 pm

Great stuff. Thanks for the link, haven`t heard that in a long time. I saw Amos Garrett playing at the Winnipeg Folk Festival sometime in the late 1970s, doing a guitar workshop with local talent Danny Casavant -- it was super relaxed playing, started off simple, got amazingly, jaw-droppingly complex -- but always with a wonderfully relaxed feel.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 12 Jan 2011 3:54 am

It wasn't done dry into the board. Amos played an Epiphone sheraton at the time but it was slightly out of tune/set-up from weeks on the road so he borrowed David Nichtern's Gibson ES-330 played through the house's Fender Twin. According to Amos, "The solo was the first overdub. It was basically improvised other than one little run of triads that I’d previously worked out to play on another sort of North African song, Lady of the Evening, an old pop standard from the 1920s." And appropriately, it was recorded right around midnight!

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 12 Jan 2011 5:48 am

I saw her perform that at the philly folk festival back in 1973 or 72, can't remember which, but it was a great time for a lot of retro music: Bonnie Rait was doing her acoustic slide blues thing, Leon Redbone was just coming out.

It was too bad she wasn't able to achieve that kind of success again. She was a great performer back then.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 12 Jan 2011 7:36 am

Whoa, that song took my head off when I was an adolescent. Some sexy chick singing, "You won't need no camel when I take you for a ride"! Well! Didn't that fire my imagination!

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 12 Jan 2011 8:40 am

Yea. What Cohen said.... I remember the song well but knew nothing else about her as I had a pretty sheltered musical childhood.

After listening to the interview Andy posted, it sorta ruins the mood to imagine her playing the fiddle and singing Carter Family stuff.

Still snowed-in in Atlanta with time to participate in the Forum

,

Brian McGaughey · Post by **Brian McGaughey** » 12 Jan 2011 11:05 am

Fun stuff. That song takes me back to '75. It was still in heavy rotation at the 1000watt AOR (remember "album oriented rock"?) AM station where I worked the mid-day shift.

From 2003...

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 12 Jan 2011 1:02 pm

Wow, he does a Huge string bend in Sleep Walk... The first note of the melody. Every time he does that I think the string will break for sure.

It's a major 3rd bend on the G string and he does right in the middle of the string length - if your tuners hold, it's not that scary. But you only get so many per string....

The multiple-string bends in it (1:18 and others) are the tricky ones. While practicing, it's about as much fun to listen to as a beginning slide guitarist - no mention of a Mrs. Garrett anywhere, hmmm.