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I was reading the thread about players who have experience playing at weddings etc. and it reminded me of some of the incredible questions that members of the public have asked me over the years. ("Flamingo" being the most common faux pas) The most annoying thing of course is when someone comes up to you and tries to have a full conversation with you while you are actually in the middle of a piece...I mean, i know its supposed to look easy but there are limits!
One guy came up to me and said "do you know anything by pink floyd?" I reacted by playing recuerdos de la Alhambra. A couple of minutes later he returned teary eyed. "I never heard that version before" he blubbed.
After triumphantly finishing "la catedral" by Barrios someone asked me if I could do anything Johnny Cash. He looked disapointed at my reply and so tried to make me feel better by requesting Jose Feliciano.
Another guy asked me if he actually needed a guitar to be able to learn to play the guitar???????????
Do you know da,da,da,da...da,da,da....? is another good one. (prize if you can guess)
Another infuriating wedding problem is that despite the 20 years of practice at getting some of the pieces right, the biggest applause comes at the end of the improvised version of "la Bamba"
People are so ignorant.... I would leave the stage immediately if the biggest applause was for La Bamba.
I leave stage if they request it. Actually, some one requested, yet again, besame culo, and my partner played it as a joke instrumental, while the singer/rhythm guitarist and myself just tunned our guitars and talked loud. (This was at a rumba gig not flamenco show).
The only request I get in flamenco show regular is "Malagwainah". I say "shure" and start singing Malagueña de Mellizo full voice and loud. They look shocked so I stop and say, "oh, you mean a different malagainya?"
Sorry Lionel, i wasnt trying to "dis" pink floyd cos I like them too. I just find it odd that someone would make that request in a Spanish guitar set and then confuse the music with Tarrega.
I forgot about Besame Culo. You cant go anywhere without hearing it. There is a guy on the coast who endlessly repeats that and "una paloma blanca" like a bad flamenco nightmare version of the blues brothers!
Shroomy, La Bamba is not the worst request I got. I was in a club with a jazz player and a couple asked us to do "i wanna be like you" from the jungle book. We hammerered out an improv version and quickly left the stage to find the bar. We got a huge applause!!!!!
RE: Questions from the public (in reply to Pimientito)
I always get "Nothing Else Matters".
One time a while ago I was playing on a bench with some other guy for fun and a group of cool guys came up and started making fun. Started yelling in German "Hey cool, dude, yeah, olé, hahaha!" got right up in my face and started teasingly clapping, so I broke out loud in English "WHO ARE YOU WHAT DO YOU WANT WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???", threw 'em off a bit then one asked shyly in English with a heavy accent "Can you play anything we'd know?" and I replied "NO I'M ABOUT THIS CLOSE TO RAPING YOU" and they left. One of the very few moments in such a situation where I rocked. Maybe you had to be there though
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Posts: 1877
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
RE: Questions from the public (in reply to Pimientito)
I was playing a gig and a goth looking girl asked for la bamba-I just glared at her until she slinked away. But another time I was playing with a trio-another guitarist and a conga player I'd never played with. Someone asked for la bamba, and I started to say no, but the conga player goes yeah, I know it. So we start it and the guy starts singing it incredibly. He was a Mexican, and he sounded fantastic, I mean really good. I really got off on his performance. It was one of the night's highlights for me. Ya never know.
Yeah Mark, I think one can be too snobbish about this... If you are playing a general "rumbero" gig to non-flamencos, then you should expect that kinda stuff.
You are all really good guitarists.
You should practise and totally blow them away with a BRILLIANT version of La Bamba, the likes that they've never heard before, so that everybody comes away talking about you!
Hey, Paco has even recorded "Besa Me Mucho" and "Celosa" and "Que Sera, Sera" amongst other great cheesy goldies....
In fact now that Led Zepplin is getting back on tour again, what you need to work on is a really great Flamingo version of "Stairway to Heaven", 'cos that's what the audience is gonna be wanting now!
One of my all time favourites is Juan Serrano's version of "Autumn Leaves"....it practically anticipates PdL with the phrasing and technique IMO.
I don't have the LP anymore, since someone stole it from me, they loved the album so much....
That's a pretty good compliment to Juan!
cheers,
Ron
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A good guitar might be a good guitar But it takes a woman to break your heart
I used to play a lot of electric guitar and learned the solo in stairway-I think it's a great solo, but I've never learned the intro that every wanna be rock god butchers in music stores around the world. I mean, unless you've got a guy to sing it really good, it's hard to cover that tune well.
And since you can't do justice to the solo on a nylon, I'll have to pass on your advice for now. I did see a you tube of a string quartet doing stairway, and the violin player nailed the whole solo. Oh, and "Celosa" is a kick butt solea por buleria by Paco. Duende recorded it and he absolutely nailed it. I was celoso
In fact now that Led Zepplin is getting back on tour again, what you need to work on is a really great Flamingo version of "Stairway to Heaven", 'cos that's what the audience is gonna be wanting now!
check this out,
not really a flamenco version, but perhaps a few rasgwados and a bit of Alzpua and ya never know.
Posts: 1877
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
RE: Questions from the public (in reply to Pimientito)
More "Stairway"-I saw a concert with Beck, Page, and Clapton many years ago. Beck was by far the best player of the three, but Page owned the night because of his catalog. When he played stairway, there was no singer, and none needed, because the 15,000 in the hall sang the entire song, and he moppped the place up with his classic solo. It showed how people value songs as opposed to solos, which, IMO, why Paco, and VA are the top guys-memorable pieces.
Here's Beck with an incredibly stunning performance:
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