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Topic: John McFee with The Doobies |
Chris Templeton
From: The Green Mountain State
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Will Houston
From: Tempe, Az
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Posted 15 Aug 2018 5:59 pm
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Nice, one of my favorite Doobie songs. Thanks for posting. |
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Chris Templeton
From: The Green Mountain State
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Posted 15 Aug 2018 6:06 pm
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You are welcome, Will. I had a chance to meet John when he was playing in Hiroshima, Japan, backing up Japanese artst, Yazowa. I'm not that familiar with his playing, but I certainly enjoyed that. _________________ Excel 3/4 Pedal With An 8 String Hawaiian Neck, Tapper (10 string with a raised fretboard to fret with fingers), Single neck Fessenden 3/5
"The Tapper" : https://christophertempleton.bandcamp.com/album/the-tapper
Soundcloud Playlist: https://soundcloud.com/bluespruce8: |
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Craig Stock
From: Westfield, NJ USA
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 3:35 am
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Thanks Chris, great song, great band. _________________ Regards, Craig
I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.
Today is tomorrow's Good ol' days |
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Chris Templeton
From: The Green Mountain State
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Roger Rettig
From: Naples, FL
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 6:15 am
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That's super! The whole thing is just so musical.
Would Michael MacD have been the pianist at this point? There's only a fleeting glimpse. _________________ Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Fred Treece
From: California, USA
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 7:31 am
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Looks like a post-Michael MacD lineup. There is a keyboard player but it’s not him.
Nice post, Chris.
I got John McFee to autograph my Strat at a Southern Pacific concert, about 1987. Like an idiot, I dudn’t protect the magic marker and it wore off. He was the band leader at the time and doing most of the lead vocal, so no steel playing. His lap steel playing on Reno Bound is what caught my ear.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ktEYvzRqQ |
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Joachim Kettner
From: Germany
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 8:03 am
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Roger Rettig wrote: |
Would Michael MacD have been the pianist at this point? There's only a fleeting glimpse. |
There were other keey board players also. See credits. _________________ Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Mark Eaton
From: Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 8:54 am
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I've probably watched this video 10 times since it first showed up on YouTube. A popular one for sure - the views number close to 1.3 million.
I grew up in San Jose, the original band's base of operation in the '70s so they were sort of like "the home team" when it came rock bands in the area. _________________ Mark |
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Larry Dering
From: Missouri, USA
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 3:47 pm
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Great song. John McFee has an extensive background in music with all sorts of artists. Incredible talent as multi instrumentalist engineer and songwriter. Look him up and prepare to be stunned. |
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Joachim Kettner
From: Germany
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Posted 17 Aug 2018 7:43 am
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The keyboard player is Dale Ockerman and the horn player (soprano sax?) is Cornelius Bumpus. Lots of Moby Gape connections. Skip Spence was on the thanks list of their first album which is an acoustic guitar fest, btw.
Dear Chris Ivey wrote me once in a pm that he lived in a house with Pat Simmons for some time and that he was amazingly good.
I figured out the chords for the sax/ pedal steel solo. They are: a-minor /// b-minor /// C /// d-minor /// Db F G _________________ Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Walter Stettner
From: Vienna, Austria
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John McClung
From: Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 20 Aug 2018 10:25 am
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John's steel work on Boz Scagg's "Moments" album (about 1970) first attuned my ears to this thing called pedal steel. Wonderful player, re-listening to it makes me want to rush out and buy a modern Echoplex emulation pedal. _________________ E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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Marc Muller
From: Neptune,NJ USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2018 6:35 am
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I remember hearing Pride Of Cucamonga on Dead's Mars Hotel and thinking, wow, Jerry's been practicing! Turns out it's McFee. |
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Joachim Kettner
From: Germany
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Posted 21 Aug 2018 8:59 am
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John McClung wrote: |
John's steel work on Boz Scagg's "Moments" album (about 1970) first attuned my ears to this thing called pedal steel. Wonderful player, re-listening to it makes me want to rush out and buy a modern Echoplex emulation pedal. |
"We've Been Away" was the song that he played on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74nUpp38ajM _________________ Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Mike Beley
From: Alberta, Canada
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Posted 24 Aug 2018 9:51 am
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This song made me chuckle.
I used to play with a guy who used to pull out the acoustic and play this song at rehearsals...I hated it!
I never heard the real version, and now that I've seen this...wow, what a masterpiece, and just perfect steel playing for the song.
Now I love this song! |
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Mark Eaton
From: Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 24 Aug 2018 10:31 am
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Mike, the only version you ever heard was from a guy during rehearsal playing it on an acoustic?
Not only is that amazing - that is literally decades of deprivation!
Below is a link to the original (remastered) studio version with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on pedal steel, released in 1973 on one the Doobies finest albums, The Captain and Me.
Two big hit singles on the record, Long Train Runnin' and arguably their greatest straight ahead rock song, China Grove.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLtRvUKoVAc _________________ Mark |
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Mike Beley
From: Alberta, Canada
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Posted 24 Aug 2018 1:03 pm
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Mark Eaton wrote: |
Mike, the only version you ever heard was from a guy during rehearsal playing it on an acoustic?
Not only is that amazing - that is literally decades of deprivation!
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LOL...I knew the second I typed that, I'd hear about it.
I know I heard it...just tuned it out, as it was ruined for me.
I guess I was just sensitive in those days.
For sure I had a bit of musical tunnel vision, and definitely the first time I heard MANY songs was by somebody doing a bad version of them standing 3 feet from me.
Then again, was exposed to a lot of great stuff that way too...just depended on who's version I was hearing first.
The same way a few guys just absolutely ruined John Prine for me, and it took me a couple of decades to circle back to him also. |
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Joachim Kettner
From: Germany
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Posted 25 Aug 2018 5:45 am
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It's played in the G-tuning on the acoustic. _________________ Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Pete Burak
From: Portland, OR USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2018 6:50 am
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As mentioned above, John McFee played some great Pedal Steel in the studio on the Phil Lesh song "Pride Of Cucomanga", an interesting song (to me) with a few more chords and timing change ups than standard issue.
(He was with "Clover" during this timeframe, I think).
I wish all songs had this much Pedal Steel in them!
Here is the link, great playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFSnOZy955U |
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Joachim Kettner
From: Germany
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Pete Burak
From: Portland, OR USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2018 7:48 am
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Wow that is a great one, too!
I want my band to start doing this one. |
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Kenneth Kotsay
From: Davie/Ft Lauderdale, Florida
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Posted 25 Aug 2018 10:21 am
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Excellent, and it was a live performance. |
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