Old Cape Cod - 10 string E13 - Youtube

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 2 May 2010 4:37 pm

"Old Cape Cod" played on a 10-string Lap Steel, 1940s Epiphone Alkire Eharp.

-----> CLICK

E13 tuning:

G#
F#
E
C#
B
G#
F#
E
D
B

The bottom 6 strings are the same as pedal steel guitar E9 tuning. This is Tom Morrell's 10-string tuning, except I tune string 10 to B, not low E.

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 2 May 2010 5:16 pm

Neat guitar!
Neat playing!
Neat tuning!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 2 May 2010 5:34 pm

Thanks, Roy. I really like this old Epiphone Eharp. It's made of good quality materials. The fretboard is a massive piece of rosewood, and the tuners are very ornate. It's like a time machine back to another era.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 2 May 2010 5:55 pm

One of my favorite 50s pop songs ... especially when driving beautiful Rte. 28 between Chatham and Orleans or ambling down 6A on the Cape. Really nice performance, Doug but you need to over dub yourself in unison like Patti Page for the full effect!

Those old E-Harps sound pretty good.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 2 May 2010 6:00 pm

Thanks, Andy. Yes, this song really captures the spirit of the Cape. My family spent summers in Falmouth when I was a kid in the 50s, early 60s. This tune was a hit in 1957, and it's forever burned into my brain!

norm mcdaniel · Post by **norm mcdaniel** » 3 May 2010 3:43 am

Doug!!! All I can say is WOW---Great Ole song and great picking.

BTW Im having fun with your new C6th Course. It Has turned on the lights for me

Norm in Waco Tx.

Andrew Roblin · Post by **Andrew Roblin** » 3 May 2010 4:33 am

Great music, Doug. I really like hearing your steel on this classic song.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 May 2010 8:34 am

Thanks Norm and Andrew, I'm glad you like it.

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 3 May 2010 10:12 am

Beautiful playing Doug. It makes me think about getting my Eharp out of the case...but then I'd have to change those crumbly old tuners.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 May 2010 5:35 pm

Thanks Steve, yes, break out your Eharp! There's nothing like 10 strings with wide spacing.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 5 May 2010 2:49 am

Hey Doug, you've got Old Cape Cod stuck in my head this week! Here are two other nice performances I found on YouTube ....

Kees Nipius on archtop guitar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx183owkMvM

John Davis on pedal steel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8i0f3cE04E

I worked out the head in 6-string C6th by ear in about 1 min with three and four-note chords. It's a fairly diatonic tune. Anyway, thanks for all the sharing you do on the forum, Doug.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 5 May 2010 9:28 am

Thanks for the links, Andy. Those are some nice versions of Old Cape Cod. I too have this tune stuck in my head this week. ...I've even been searching on line for Cape Cod summer rentals!

It's neat that you've worked out the melody on 6-string C6. I'll have to try that when I get some time... and maybe experiment with a couple of other tunings to see if any are particularly well suited to this song. Thanks again for your kind words.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 29 May 2018 6:47 am

It's been a while... eight years! I'm starting to think about Cape Cod again.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 29 May 2018 7:02 am

Nice Doug! I picture hula dancers in grass skirts, coconut trees swaying in the Atlantic Ocean breeze and the surf rolling in...on Nauset Beach!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 29 May 2018 7:05 am

That's it's, Jeff. Paradise here in Massachusetts!

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 29 May 2018 7:19 am

We'll choose to ignore those nasty little greenhead flies that will take a chunk right out of you!

Steve Atwood · Post by **Steve Atwood** » 29 May 2018 10:00 am

Doug and Jeff, If you're planning on lunch at Liam's Clam Shack at Nauset Beach, better make other plans:

Before (2008):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTFtAC4pako

After (2018):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDViGTfkEN4

Plenty of salty air but you'll find some sand dunes are missing.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 29 May 2018 10:10 am

Wow..I haven't been there in years - that's a real eye opener. Did that all happen in one storm or have the dunes been gradually eroding over time so there wasn't much protection when a big storm hit?

Steve Atwood · Post by **Steve Atwood** » 29 May 2018 10:27 am

A lot of that happened in four storms we had this winter. It was an easy winter as far as snow, but wind knocked out power several times. Erosion is always going on. My family owned a camp 6 miles to the south and we had to tear it down some time ago before the beach was washed out from under it. This whole area is under water now:

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 29 May 2018 10:36 am

What a shame...amazing the power of Mother Nature. I was in the Coast Guard during the "Storm of the Century" in 1993. Those were the biggest seas off Cape Cod I've ever seen.

Steve Atwood · Post by **Steve Atwood** » 29 May 2018 10:44 am

You must have a strong stomach Jeff. Anything over 4-6 feet and I'm seasick. I don't know how the fishermen can stand it.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 29 May 2018 11:53 am

Cape Cod is one of those tunes that, if you're old enough, is thoroughly nostalgic and Doug's rendition on steel is perfect. The Cape sure got pounded this winter but you can still find those "quaint little villages with an ocean view."In fact, I can definitely see myself at the Brewster Fish House this summer!

And ... Patty Page doesn't get enough credit for pioneering that perfect vocal double tracking in the 1950s that you hear nowadays on every female vocal in Country Music. Case in point: Kacy Musgrove.

It's really hard to do on steel. I was amazed at how well Auldridge, Douglas and Ickes played three steels together in such perfect tune on their Three Bells CD.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 May 2018 8:08 am

When I listen to my recording of Old Cape Cod now, it sounds a little slow to me. I checked Patti Page's original, and mine is about the same tempo. Maybe there is something about the steel guitar, the flowing sound of the instrument, that makes songs seem slower.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 30 May 2018 9:42 am

Tempo seems dead on to my ear, Doug. If it lacks anything, I'd love to hear it with a real double bass and a skilled drummer playing brushes. Sadly, BIAB doesn't come with any human musicians.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 May 2018 7:34 pm

I know what you mean, Andy. This was one of my first videos, and the backing track is BIAB only, played through an amp, room sound, recorded on a little iPod Nano. In recent years my recording setup has improved quite a bit. Still BIAB bass and drums, but live guitars and uke, and the tracks are recorded direct to computer. Not recorded by an iPhone or some other device. Like everyone else, I'm constantly trying to improve my playing and recording.

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Old Cape Cod - 10 string E13 - Youtube

Old Cape Cod - 10 string E13 - Youtube

Ole Cape Cod