My first electric guitar was a Harmony Rocket; a red-burst, with 2 gold-foil pickups and a poor excuse for a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. It was a bolt-neck, with a rather beefy neck, and skinny frets. My parents bought it for me when I was about 12 or 13, a year after I had begun taking lessons from the local guitar teacher, Charlie Keintz. I guess he had some sort of distribution deal with Harmony, because they were displayed all over his teaching studio, which was in a second-floor loft above his small barn/garage. In time, I was able to purchase my first amp, a Silvertone Twin Twelve, with money I’d saved up from my paper route. Both proved to be serviceable instruments, but were most definitely considered to be lower-end “starter” instruments.

Nonetheless, this combination got me through my first steps to becoming a musician, and many performances with the fledgling garage bands of my early teen years. But it wasn’t too long before I saw others my age – and perhaps a bit older – performing with more desirable “pro” gear, which, in this case, meant Gibson and Fender instruments. Of course, they money I was pulling-in from my paper route was wildly insufficient for buying that kind of gear, especially “new.” So I was more than intrigued when a friend of a friend showed up with an early 60s Gibson Les Paul SG. My dream guitar, insofar as an older player in my cousin’s band had one…

This one, however, was sadly pristine. In fact, it was in pretty sad shape. The finish had been stripped, and the entire thing had been painted black, with latex house paint… using a 3-inch brush! It was butt-ugly. But it was a Gibson SG, and the electronics had not yet been molested, so for something like $250,I was able to score my first very Gibson!

Being an early iteration of the Les Paul SG model, the neck-to-body joint was a tenuous one, at best. In fact, it was downright wobbly! The guitar wouldn’t stay in tune for more than a couple of chords, and it was basically unusable. On closer inspection, you could actually see the cracks forming in the body on either side of the neck joint. And, it was only a matter of time before the neck snapped right off the body, and not in any way resembling a “clean break.” I was upset, to say the least.

Now, have little-to-no experience with musical instrument construction or repair, and not enough money to buy another guitar… or even to repair this one, I opted for a somewhat hare-brained “Plan B.” I was going to build a new guitar, with parts salvaged from this one.

Now, way back in 1972, I had no knowledge of how to undertake such a venture. Nor did I have enough knowledge to even know that I didn’t have enough knowledge to undertake it in the first place!  I knew of no one to assist – or even to guide – me, and back then, there was no easily-accessible information on how to do such a thing. So, I plowed-ahead, making things up as I went along.

Based on my then-rudimentary knowledge of woodworking, rejoining the neck to the body seemed impossible. There simply wasn’t enough wood there to ever restore a solid connection, which is why Gibson changed the neck-to-body joint on later models of the SG. So, I set out to make a new body, to which I would bolt-on the salvaged neck of the SG. There wasn’t enough wood on the end of the neck to make a proper heel, so i couldn’t envision any way to make a solid connection other than wood screws, as in a Fender-style instrument.

As much as I liked the SG shape, I decided to try something different. I had seen – and liked – the earlier, slab-bodied Les Paul Junior shape, particularly the double-cut version. So, acquiring some pattern-grade mahogany (a fairly thick slab, at least 2″ thick, but surprisingly light in weight. It was, after all, 40+ years ago), I cut-out a similar shape, and used sandpaper and rasps to soften the harsh edges. Taking measurements from the SG, I figured out the placement for the pickups, bridge, stop tail, and controls, and also determined the location, depth, and angle of the neck pocket. I didn’t have a router, so all of my routing was done using a couple of old chisels, and even some flathead screwdrivers. I simply didn’t know any better!

Eventually, I got the body to the point where it looked pretty good, and then it was time for the finish. A friend’s father worked in an auto body shop, and I was able to get him to grain-fill and spray an automotive-grade black finish onto the sanded and shaped body. When I got it back from him, I was absolutely amazed at how good it looked! So, on to assembly and electronics. I put the guitar together, and – after experimenting with a soldering iron to get the hang of it – wired up the pickups and controls. I had already stripped the black paint off of the back of the neck, and opted for some thin coats of lacquer, which I had buffed-out to a semi-gloss finish. After it was all assembled, and after some tweaks to the bridge, I was actually able to get decent intonation, and the guitar looked great. But better still, it sounded great! And so, it became my regular “gigging” guitar! One unlike any other!

Unfortunately, my enjoyment was short-lived, and only lasted until the end of my senior year of high school, in 1973. At that point, I was in a band, and a bunch of us had rented the upstairs of an old house alongside some railroad tracks, where we could rehearse, jam, and just hang out. The downstairs was rented-out to some motor heads, but we all got along pretty well. One afternoon in June, I was at my high school for rehearsal for graduation later that evening. And when I got back from rehearsal, the band house had been broken into, and my guitars, a couple of amps (including a stellar ’64 Super Reverb), my stereo system, and hundreds of my record albums were all gone! Needless to say, it put a damper on the evening’s festivities.

We were never able to discover who the culprit was, nor was any of the gear ever recovered. And to this day, I still don’t know how I was able to cobble-together a more-than-serviceable instrument from scavenged parts, without so much as a shred of knowledge of how to put together a guitar!

–  Dave Orban

 

 

Here, in no particular order, is a list of 15 of my favorite acoustic blues recordings, spanning many styles and eras… Hope you enjoy them!

Geoff Muldaur – Got to Find Blind Lemon, Part 1 – The Secret Handshake
Paul Butterfield’s Better Days – Nobody’s Fault But Mine – Better Days
Reverend Gary Davis – Samson & Delilah – At Newport
Steve James – Milwaukee Blues – Two Track Mind
Roy Bookbinder – He’s In the Jailhouse Now – Live Book: Don’t Start Me to Talkin’
Taj Mahal – Frankie & Albert – The Essential Taj Mahal
Keb Mo – You Can Love Yourself – Just Like You
Blind Blake – Southern Rag – Ragtime Guitar Blues
Dave Orban & the Mojo Gypsies – Someone Else’s Woman – I Heard You Twice the First Time
Rory Block – Joliet Bound – Gone Woman Blues: The Country Blues Collection
Bonnie Raitt – Love Me Like a Man – Give it Up
Ry Cooder – Police Dog Blues – Ry Cooder
Rolling Stones – Love in Vain – Let It Bleed
Robert Johnson – 32-20 Blues – The Complete Collection
Skip James – Cypress Grove – Folk Music: Skip James

What are some of your favorites?

OK, here’s another Spotify playlist. This time, it’s my Top 10 Guitar Solos of Ever, in no particular order. Hope you like them!

Paul Butterfield Blues Band – “Where Did My Baby Go” – Buzzy Feiten, guitar
Maria Muldaur – “Midnight at the Oasis” – Amos Garrett, guitar
Little Charlie and the Nightcats – “Percolatin'” – Charlie Baty, guitar
Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers – “Sinister Woman” – Alex Schultz, guitar
Robben Ford and the Blue Line – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” – Robben Ford, guitar
Cream – “Crossroads” – Eric Clapton, guitar
Eric Clapton – “Let it Rain” – Eric Clapton, guitar (Note: this one’s a two-fer… that middle solo is none other than Stephen Stills)
The Allman Brothers Band – “Statesboro Blues” – Duane Allman, guitar
Steely Dan – “Kid Charlemagne” – Larry Carlton, guitar
Dire Straits – “Sultans of Swing” – Mark Knopfler, guitar

Unfortunately, Rod Piazza’s live version of “Sinister Woman” from his “Live at B.B. King’s” CD is NOT on Spotify, so you’ll just have to track it down on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/OG8qYnXGYS0. It’s well worth it to hear Alex Schultz tear it up! (And of course, Rod ain’t no slouch, either…)

How about you? What are some of your favorite guitar solos?

Boy, this one was a tough one… I sat down to put together a list of the songs that first got me into the blues, along with the ones that have had the most impact on my development as a musician. I really wanted to narrow it down to 10. And as you might imagine, that wasn’t particularly easy.

My very first exposure to the Blues (with a capital B) was hearing the Paul Butterfield Blues Band‘s recording of “Walkin’ Blues,” way back around ’67 or so. My older cousin, the late Jim Horner, was in a band that played some blues and soul music, and his band mate, Preston “Perky” Harrison was the guy who turned me on to Butterfield. Before that day, I had never heard anything as soulful as that harmonica, and it launched my into the blues orbit that I occupy to this day.

In any case, here they are – in no particular order – the ten blues songs that have had the most impact on my development as an appreciator of the blues, and as a blues artist:

• I Can’t Be Satisfied – Muddy Waters (1947 recording)
• Walkin’ Blues – Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Long, Tall Mama – Big Bill Broonzy (1932 recording)
• Crazy, Mixed Up Kid – Little Walter Jacobs
• Big-Legged Woman – Freddie King
• Frosty – Albert Collins
• Sittin’ on Top of the World – Chester Burnett, aka Howlin’ Wolf
• Long Distance Call – Muddy Waters
• Hard Times – Ray Charles
• She’s Dynamite – B.B. King (1948 recording)

Of course, Muddy gets “two” in this list, as well he should… even if Willie Dixon actually wrote many of the songs that Muddy is known for. And, the list of songs – and artists – that these tracks led me to is infinitely longer, and covers a wider range of styles. But these were the ones that started it all, at least for me.

Here’s a Spotify playlist with all 10 songs (by 9 different artists):

So, how about you? What are some of your favorites?

Songs, and music in general, are curious things. Unlike pretty much any other art form, songs can infect you in a way that a book, or film, or painting can not. Ever wake up with an “ear worm?” You know, that song that is already spinning around in your head when you wake up in the morning, and you can’t get it out of there, no matter how hard you try? This morning, it was “Georgy Girl,” the Seekers’ song from the 1967 film of the same name. I have no idea how it got into my head, but it certainly stayed there for the better part of the day. Songs can steal upon you in the dark, on the road, far from home, anywhere. All other art forms require that we engage directly with them in some way. But songs live “in the air,” and seem to come to us, miraculously, whenever they think we have a need for them.

After years of playing other people’s songs, I finally decided to begin writing music back in 2010, following the unexpected deaths of two musician friends. I initially started writing as a way of expressing my feelings about losing my friends. As I got further into it, I began to recognize a desire to develop a musical voice that would more accurately express who I am. Years of performing other people’s music had provided me with a framework for the types of music that I enjoyed playing, which would then serve as a foundation for creating my own music.

In the spring of 2016, I had been working with a lineup of wonderful musicians: Mike Scott on sax, Flourtown Fats (aka Jeff Michael) on bass, and Mark Shewchuk on drums. These guys were, without doubt, the finest group of musicians that I had ever played with, and our live performances were really starting to gel. I decided it was time to document it in the studio.

I began writing in earnest, and pulled-together a couple of songs that I’d been working on over the last couple of years. As I polished them up, I was inspired to write even more. Bits and pieces of songs or ideas came to me all hours of the day… while commuting, while working, while watching television… you name it. Ideas were coming to me from all directions, so, as always, I made notes and put them aside, to be worked on later. I quickly wound up with about 18 songs, 14 of which eventually found their way onto “I Heard You Twice the First Time.”

In this occasional “Talking About Songwriting” series, I will talk a bit about the genesis of specific songs from the CD. Here’s the first installment.

“I Heard You Twice the First Time” is the title track from our latest CD. I actually had the song title for years, before finally deciding to do something with it. In fact, when I decided to make this CD, I had already decided on using it as the title for the CD, mandating that I write the song to go along with it. Sometimes you just need that little kick in the ass…

“I Heard You Twice the First Time” was a bit of dialogue spoken by a character in David Simon’s exceptional HBO homage to New Orleans, “Treme.” The character, trumpeter Delmond Lambreaux, wonderfully played by Rob Brown, is responding to a comment made by his irascible father, Albert, played by the always fun-to-watch Clarke Peters: “I Heard You Twice the First Time!”

I heard that phrase, and it really stayed with me. I later found out later that it was quite possibly a nod to New Orleans-based trumpeter Branford Marsalis’ 1992 album of the same name. In any event, I thought, “what a great retort!” Someone has just told you something in no uncertain terms, and you need to let them know that you got their message, loud and clear. So, I filed it away until such time as I might put it to use.

In the summer months of 2016, recording sessions for the CD were well underway at Bobby Dreher’s Beach Bunny Sound studios in Doylestown, PA. And the time had come to put pencil to paper for what would be the title track. One of the great things about the Treme series was how much great “live” New Orleans music was packed into each episode. The opening credits featured John Boutté’s lively second-line march, “The Treme Song,” and that song has tickled me since the very first time I heard it. I decided that a second line drum rhythm would provide the foundation for my song, as well.

Once I had that nailed down, the lyrics actually came very quickly. As with the phrase’s original context, I built the song around someone responding to another person who had admonished them. In this case, I decided it would be a simple story about a man and a woman, which, while admittedly stereotypical, would place it into a humorous context that could be appreciated by many, especially within blues audiences.

Here are the final lyrics:

I Heard You Twice the First Time
@2016 by David Z Orban, all rights reserved. BMI

Well, I love my baby… she’s the keepin’ kind…
But there are some days, she drives me out of my mind
She tells me I didn’t hear a word she said…
Some days it’s best to just stay in bed She’s a sweet little girl, but she’s drivin’ me out of my mind

My baby lets me know she’s right and I’m wrong…
And without her around, that I wouldn’t last long
She says that I don’t listen… that I’m only here for some kissin’
She’s a sweet little girl, but she’s makin’ me sing this song

CHORUS
I heard you twice the first time, don’t you know?
Sayin’ it more than once don’t make it so
You made you point, so let’s move on…
Even if it’s totally wrong
I heard you twice the first time, don’t you know?

Some say that I’m a fool to keep you on…
But truth be told, I’d be lost if you were gone
You say I don’t pay attention…
And numerous other things that you mention
But at the end of the day, you keep me keepin’ on!

CHORUS
I heard you twice the first time, don’t you know?
Sayin’ it more than once don’t make it so
You just keep on talkin’, only makin’ it worse…
No need to keep wailin’ on that poor old horse…
I heard you twice the first time, don’t you know?

Yes, I heard you twice the first time, yes I did…
Oh, don’t hold back, little girl…  Don’t keep it hid
You made your point, no need to make it again…
I’ll cry “uncle,” I’ll even say “when…”
I heard you twice the first time, yes I did!
I heard you twice the first time, yes I did!
I heard you twice the first time, yes I did!