Instrumental Exploration - Feb 12, 2010
Recently someone gave me grief about playing a lot of instrumental music. You know, “songs” without vocals. They said something like “No singing? Nobody in rock has ever done that. It might be okay in jazz or classical, but it will never be accepted in rock.” I couldn’t help myself. I had to point out that many of the early rock hits were actually instrumentals. Artists like The Ventures or Booker T & the MG’s were staples on early rock radio. Guys like Dick Dale (whose hit “Miserlou” was featured in the movie “Pulp Fiction”), Duane Eddy, and Link Wray were the original guitar heroes, each with multiple radio hits. Songs like “Rebel Rouser” and “Rumble” are still used in TV shows, movies, and commercials today because of their powerful sound & previous popularity. What about “Wipeout” by The Surfaris, “Walk, Don’t Run” by The Ventures, “Apache” by The Shadows, “Pipeline” by The Chantays, or “Tequila” by The Champs? Come on, these are some of the most popular songs of their time! They helped shape the very core of rock music!
In a typical conversation like this (yeah, I’ve had this many times) the other person says something like “Well, okay, maybe ‘old time rock-n-roll’ had instrumentals, but no one modern does instrumentals.” Well, let me think… hmmm… oh, wait! I just bought a new Steve Vai CD, that’s mostly instrumentals. And then there is my latest Joe Satriani CD, which is all instrumental. Then there is a new Buckethead CD, the new John 5 CD, the new Paul Gilbert CD – then they cut me off. “Those are all guitar nerds. Okay, maybe there are still some guitar-nerds making instrumental music. No one I’ve ever heard of has played instrumentals.” Oh really? Ever heard of Jimi Hendrix? His version of “Star Spangled Banner” is an instrumental. So is “3rd Stone From The Sun.” Ever heard of “Boureé” by Jethro Tull? No? How about “Moby Dick” by Led Zeppelin or “Wring That Neck” by Deep Purple? Surely you have heard of those artists? Maybe you’ve heard of Stevie Ray Vaughn? He did an instrumental version of “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix and wrote one called “Scuttle Buttin’.” You’ve heard of Frank Zappa right? “Peaches En Regalia” and “Zoot Allures” are just a couple of his tunes. How about “Stoked” by The Beach Boys or “Buck’s Boogie” by Blue Oyster Cult or “Was Dog a Doughnut” by Cat Stevens? Ever hear of Ray Charles (“Rockhouse,” “One Mint Julep”) or Pink Floyd (“Atom Heart Mother”) or Carlos Santana (“Europa,” “Soul Sacrifice” & others) or Fleetwood Mac (“Albatross”)? Van Halen? (“Eruption” “Little Guitars”) Electric Light Orchestra? (“Fire On High”) You’ve heard of Queen? (“Last Horizon”) I could go on, but I don’t.
“I mean someone current,” they say. Current? Santana was just a presenter on the Grammy Awards prime time broadcast! How about Jeff Beck? Too many instrumental compositions to even start to list, and the Grammy Awards had him perform on their latest prime time show. Is Metallica current? (“Orion,” “The Call of Ktulu”) Is Rush current? (“YYZ” & “La Villa Strangiato” among others) How about The Flaming Lips? (“The Wizard Turns On…”) They’re both current and trendy. Do the Who count as current? I know they are old & have been around awhile, but really! They were the half-time entertainment at the latest Superbowl game! They have more instrumentals than just “Quadrophenia” and “Underture” and “Overture” but we’ll stop there. Is DJ Krush (“Kemuri” plus others) current? Then there are the current artists you probably don’t know like Dream Theater or Neil Zaza or Eric Johnson or Symphony X or George Lynch or–! At this point I get cut off again.
“Alright, alright, I get it,” they say. “Maybe there is a whole world of music I didn’t know existed.” Really, that’s all I want is to get them to open up to new music a little bit. Now they have. At this point I usually gush about all of the aspects of instrumental music that appeal to me, and we will talk about how exploring new worlds in music used to be fun & exciting, and how it can still be exciting if the listener is willing to drop a preconception or two. I eagerly offer tips on my favorite artists, and sometimes I will even whip out the iPod & play some of the music. The normal reaction is something like this: “That’s Steve Vai?” (Or whatever artist I play for them.) “I had no idea! That’s really good! I thought it would be a bunch of endless wanking! This song is awesome!” Ah, enlightenment! After that, I’ll say to myself “We have lift-off into another world of music,” and go on my merry way.
It really is almost cosmic, when you think about the possibilities. Join me and my band sometime for one of our musical explorations. You’ll discover some new and amazing things; many of them instrumental. Just fasten your seatbelt & enjoy the ride!