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Post new topic "Sylvia" by Dutch band Focus
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Author Topic:  "Sylvia" by Dutch band Focus
Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 7 Jun 2020 8:15 pm    
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One of my all-time favorite groups, I've been wanting to rearrange and record some of their music for fun and this is the first one I've worked out. I can remember being 10 years old when this was released in 1973 and having the single and later the LP and the live version. Jan Akkerman was such an influence on me and I guess he still is today.

This was a really tough tune one to figure out and play, especially on rhythm guitar, and for the steel I worked pretty hard to get the phrasing the way I wanted it. It's doubtful that this will become part of my repertoire but I do have plans to put my own kind of spin on it at some point.

https://soundcloud.com/ionahoopii/sylvia-mike-neer-comp-thijs-van-leer
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Peter Jacobs


From:
Northern Virginia
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 4:25 am    
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Very cool, Mike - I love the vocal quality of your playing. It’s rhythmically tricky, as you said, but sounds to me like you nailed it.

Now, if you could do “Hocus Pocus” with the yodeling, well, then you’d really have something!
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 6:14 am    
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What a fine tune, and done so well!

Thank you.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 7:09 am    
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Cool tune! Love the steel tone and vibrato.
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 9:48 am    
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David M Brown wrote:
What a fine tune, and done so well!

Thank you.


Thanks, it really is a great composition. So elegant and stately. It was tough to get all the organ voicings on the guitar, there are so many modulations in the tune, but ‘singing’ it on the steel is very satisfying.
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Jim Mckay

 

From:
New Zealand
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 12:48 pm    
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That's some of cleanest accurate single note playing I've heard on here, great playing Mike.
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Craig Stock


From:
Westfield, NJ USA
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 2:44 pm    
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And don't forget about Hokus Pokus by Focus, I'm assuming its the same band!
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Jim Fogarty


From:
Phila, Pa, USA
Post  Posted 8 Jun 2020 4:00 pm    
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Geez, Mike........at first I thought you wrote that you were doing "Sylvia's MOTHER"

........which would be........interesting (although it does have a steel on it!)

https://youtu.be/7LXpnNKNxJI
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