I've read about some of the guitarists who influenced Garcia, but I've never heard anything regarding Grant Green (Grant Green "Alive!" almost sounds like a Legion of Mary jam session). I've always thought their styles sounded similar, but I'm not a musician, so I could be way off base here. Does anyone with a deeper historical and technical knowledge know if Garcia was influenced by Grant Green?
Yo Soy Boricua!
Bo Didley and Chuck Berry are two grate guitarists in their own right, Jerry HAD to have been influenced by them...
"The highway is for gamblers, you'd better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence"
I've heard Grant Green get pretty worked up on studio sessions but not like he does on "Alive!" The guitarist I hear and think, "Jerry listened to this guy for sure" and copied his style, is Django Reinhardt. I do hear similarities in Green's and Garcia's attack - especially when their playing single note stuff. I'm sure Jerry heard Green somewhere along the way because he was an ardent listener of anything. My favorite Green discs are:
Grant's First Stand
The Complete Quartets w/ Sonny Clark
Idle Moments
Solid
Talkin' About!
There are at least another five to add to this list - have you heard any of these?
"From day to day, just lettin' it ride,
You get so far away from how it feels inside,
You can't let go, 'cause you're afraid to fall,
But the day may come when you can't feel at all."
Never heard of Grant Green - now I gotta check him out!
I've read interviews with Vince Welnick and Weir in which they cite the piano playing of McCoy Tyner from Coltrane's band as a big influence. He's now one of my favorite players - so tastefully filling in the spaces. And after reading an interview with Phil about how hard it was to follow Miles Davis during the Bitches Brew era, I had to check that out. I must say I like Miles' cooler stuff from late 50s/early 60s, but Bitches Brew is good and weird and funky.
"Got a few wrinkles but that's OK, hang out in the breeze and they'll blow away"
I think the single note stuff you refer to is what I'm hearing. BTW, how about Idris Mohammad's sweaty funk drumming on "Alive!"? Wow!
Yeah, I've got all of the Green albums you mentioned. Outside of Garcia, Grant Green is my favorite guitarist. He might not have had the technical abilities of Wes Montgomery or George Benson, but he had soul. Outside of "Alive!" my favorite Green album is "Live At The Lighthouse." I broke out into a sweat the first time I heard Windjammer!
sw fla chip, are you the same chip from the old boards? If so, good to see you made the transition! You can't go wrong with Grant Green's late sixties-early seventies funky period.
Yo Soy Boricua!
Billy K. was into jazz. Does anyone know which of the drummers influenced him the most? Has he mentioned somewhere what records he used to wear out?
"From day to day, just lettin' it ride,
You get so far away from how it feels inside,
You can't let go, 'cause you're afraid to fall,
But the day may come when you can't feel at all."
Yep, hopped over to this board - glad to see you and some of the others did too.
I don't know much about jazz guitar - I know I like the CD I have of Django Reinhardt and mandolinist Stephane Grapelli (not sure I spelled either name right) at the Hot Club in Paris in the 30s, and whoever played on Billie Holiday's records. And I remember a few years back reviewing a disc by this guy named Norman Brown who I thought was pretty slick.
As for the poster who inquired about Billy K's influences, I think I recall reading somewhere that he was into Elvin Jones, the drummer for one of Coltrane's groups.
www.myspace.com/chipwithrow
"Got a few wrinkles but that's OK, hang out in the breeze and they'll blow away"
Thanks - I'd forgotten that they really had been focusing on Coltrane at one time. The guy who made an impression on me on a couple few Billie Holiday records was Barney Kessel. If you're familiar with the song by Julie London, "Cry Me A River", he's the one who plays that killer intro. You know Jerry's solo disc "Reflections"? I really think the Django thing is apparent there. Whataya think?
"From day to day, just lettin' it ride,
You get so far away from how it feels inside,
You can't let go, 'cause you're afraid to fall,
But the day may come when you can't feel at all."
"From day to day, just lettin' it ride,
You get so far away from how it feels inside,
You can't let go, 'cause you're afraid to fall,
But the day may come when you can't feel at all."
Clarence White was a big influence on Jerry, He played guitar with the Kentucky Colonels - bluegrass, he was just a kid then and there is some other acoustic stuff of his out there. Later He played with the Byrds -check out the Eight Miles High jam on The Byrds- Untitled. Also on the Byrds Fillmore disc that came out a few years ago. Tragically he was killed when he was hit by a car while loading equipment after a gig. I believe that Tony Rice has one of his guitars and played it on the Pizza tapes.
Stephane Grapelli was a violinist not mandolinist who played with Django Reinhardt in the Quintet of The Hot Club.during 1935-1939. The quintet is essential listening. I first heard of him in an album he did with Jean Luc Ponty. Grappelli also did one with David Grissman. He had a recording career of 58 years! I just saw the group Pearl Django several weeks ago, they play in this style. There are festivals and a subculture devoted to the Quintet and their music.
The influence of The John Coltrane Quartet was huge, not just for the Dead but for all the other great San Francisco groups - Quicksilver, the Airplane, Big Brother, Country Joe. I would bet that it was the Quartet who influenced The Butterfield Blues Band on the East-West jam which in turn was a big influence on the Dead and other S.F. psychedelic bands. I think Phil mentions seeing the Quartet in Searching For The Sound.
I love Miles, Cream, JA, Quicksilver, Widespread Panic, Phish, Moe, Gov't Mule and Dexter Gordon for their jamming. But to me there are four that tower at the top, Coltrane, Hendrix the Dead and the Allman Brothers, My two most treasured boxed sets sit next to each other - Coltrane's The Classic Quartet-Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings and Fillmore West -1969 The Complete Recordings. But you have to check out Coltrane live - The Village Vanguard just soars into the stratosphere.
McCoy Tyner-piano, Elvin Jones- drums , Jimmy Garrison -bass, John Coltrane- soprano and tenor saxophone - these names and their music should be known in every household. Let the sounds of the Heavens echo and ring
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
Walt Whitman-Song of Myself
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Posted: May 29, 2007 - 8:41am
All musicians steal from other musicians, as the saying goes. Members of the Dead have citied influences from Bill Monroe to Charles Ives. Share knowledge and questions here!