376

(7 replies, posted in My local band and me)

I love a song that tells a story ,I can see this  passed from musician to musician changing slightly each time some one sings it ,Good take on the idea of a blues ballad Peatle

377

(11 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Just listened to you sing this song Jeff ,when I read it through I imagined it with a reggae beat .Great lyrics ,love the picture you've painted in my mind.     

I like this  I'll give it a run through in the morning ,I don't think my wife would appreciate me banging a guitar at 3 . 25  am .lol     

379

(4 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Been visiting  a  few big cities of late  ,Here's  a  song for  the  homeless ,its  getting worse  in the  UK  daily.

Gutter

Am
When a man  lies  down in the  gutter
Dm
and  hes  tryin to  get  some  rest
Am
and  he  aint  got  no  religion
Dm
or  warm clothes on his  chest
C                                                     G
and  the  cold rain  beats your window
Am
but  your slippers  warm  yor  feet
Am
Just  remember  somones  dyin
            C                 G         Am             
on the  cold  stone  in the  street



Am
And youve got too many  T shirts
Dm
that your never gonna wear
Am
and the  golden roadto  paradise
Dm
you walk with  out  a  care 
C                                                           G
you pay  your  bills  with  your apple  watch 
Am
because you think its cool
Am
and you've  just bought a cup  of  coffee
            C                 G               Am             
and  the  man thinks  you're a fool



Am
Do you  ever  stop  to think about
Dm
the people at  your  side
Am
as you ride the subway  daily 
Dm
to  the  place  where  you  reside
C                                                   G
you eat  from Marks and Spencer


Am
not some dust bin in the street
Am
and you  never  give a single thought
            C                 G         Am             
to  the  people  that  you meet 

Am
all  they  want  is  a  chance  to  live
Dm
a life  like  you and  me
Am
but  situations  get  dealt like cards
Dm
the future we cant see
C                                                   G
so next time  as you  pass some one
Am
who's lyin in the  street
Am
spare  a  thought and  spare  some  change
            C                 G         Am             
and  help  them find  their feet 

380

(9 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Thanks for  the  positive  comments  guys . Phill  I do plan   to  do this   with  a  full  on rock chorus  and  a guitar solo   I  think  it  has  potential .I  also  have  a  couple  of  other  songs  I  need  to  do  with  a  full  band   but  its  difficult at  the  moment  as  the drummer situation hasn't  really  improved   ,I  did  get  together   with  a  couple  of  guys  over   in  Hebden  Bridge the  other  month   but  my schedule   is  getting  in the  way  at  the moment  so its  hard  to  make  time  for   studio  sessions  but  I  seriously need   to get an album together .     

381

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

In a  couple  of weeks  I'm playing  at  Salmesbury Hall a well known haunted  house near my  old home  town of  Blackburn .So I wrote  this  song about  the  lady  of  the  manor  who  haunts  the   place .
The  song is  about  the  ill fated  love  affair  between Salmesbury Halls White  lady  Dorothy  Southworth and  a  young  man  from the  Cof E De Houghton family who  was alegedly  killed  by  Dorothys brother Christopher.
One  version of  the  story  says  she  took her  own life  after  witnessing  the murder  the  other  says  she   was  sent  to  a  convent  and  later  died .My  song is  about  the  former .

White Lady
D                 Am                         C         G                       D
Ethereal mysterious  she walks her haunted  road
D                                Am                C                        G            D
searching  for  some  one  or  something  she  can never hold

D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy your love  can never be
D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy you never will be  free

D                                           Am   
You both conspired  to run away
        C                  G        D
and live  your  lives  alone
               D                               Am   
your  cruel brother  foiled  your  plan
           C                  G        D
your own true love  was  slain
        D                               Am
you took your life ,but never left
          C          G        D
your spirit still  remains
           D                                 Am
you'll  walk the  roads around  the hall
      C            G        D
for ever and all ways

D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy your love  can never be
D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy you never will be  free

D                                           Am   
People come  from miles around
        C                  G        D
to catch a glimpse of  you 
D                           Am   
Sceptics and believers
    C                  G        D
sometimes  a TV  crew
   D                                                  Am
You'll hide yourself and   let  them search
      C          G        D
but when they are alone
D                                 Am
they'll hear  the  distant
                 C            G        D
crying of a broken hearted soul

D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy your love  can never be
D                     G                 F                C       D
Dorothy  oh Dorothy you never will be  free

382

(9 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Quick  demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfuxHqFGADQ     

383

(9 replies, posted in Songwriting)

I've  been a bit  busy   of  late  so  this  is  the  first  chance  I've  had  to post  a new  song .
Its  called  Super hero   and  its  about  when  every  on relies on you and wants  a  piece of  your  day and all  you  want  to  do  is  go  home  and  relax  with  those you  love .
Acoustic  start  with  a  rock  chorus   hope  you like  it . I'll do  a  recording  when I  get  chance .

Super hero
       C                                       F                                     G                                             F~
The trouble with being a  spaceman is that you cant go home when you want to go
C                                                                                      G                                                 
When your  flying  out there  in the cosmos ,or on a journey some where in the
                                                                                                                                  F~
                                                                                                             great  unknown
C                                               F            G                                                   F~
The trouble being  a super hero ,is every body just wants to touch your cape
C                                                                G                                               F~
Even  if youve  just saved the planet ,or if youve just made a big mistake .

G strum

F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
Am~
   C                                    F                                      G                                             F~                   
Its so hard to be the peoples champion ,always trying to do the things thats right
C                                                               G                                                         F~
Must be  easier to just be somone .who doesnt need to take part in the  fight
C                               F                            G                                                   F~
Ordinarys better ,not complicated , dont have to hide ,you can just be you
C                                                                   G                                                            F~
No one will bother, no one will trouble,cause of the many things that you can  do
  G strum

F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
Am~


Bridge

Am
I'm not some one  special
F
I'm only just  a man
Am
Not  a super hero
G                                     G~
But I do the  best I can

G strum

F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand


F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C           G     Am
Dont want to be a super hero, I dont want to be a mighty man .
F                 C           G     Am    F                 C                     G     Am
Just want to be my alter ego ,coming home again to hold your hand
Am~ 

Well done Roger charities who aid the poor and needy are well worth supporting  The group we set up in Greece 10 yrs ago is still going strong (Bands against Poverty) and I still try to do my bit back in the UK so I applaud you and your band for the Stirling work you have done.     

385

(19 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Been a bit  busy  my  self  Phill   though I  do  check  the  site  most  days .I've  had  a  fair  amount  of  club and  festival  slots recently .     

It's a uke sized guitar tuned to A so that's like having the capo on the 5th fret.They are a really cool travel instrument.I take mine where ever I go .
I'll post a vid as soon as I get some spare time.     

I've just  fitted a piezo pick up and pre amp to my Yamaha guitalele.I'm very  pleased with the result .
I chose a ukulele pickup kit from Joyo which cost about 25 pounds.,the kit came complete with pre amp module ,a piezo bridge pickup and a jack socket/battery box.
To fit it I had to cut two holes in the body and deepen the bridge slot to accept the piezo..However the bridge was a little high and  a bit  wobbly as not enough was seated in the slot once the pixel was in place but I was able to rectify this by using a piece of  3/32 "  silver steel bar in place of the original plastic bridge piece.
The kit was intended for a uke so the original 4 string piezo pick up was replaced by a guitar one .
The only down side is due to the kit being designed for a uke the tuner will only recognise  the 4 high strings,but the sound quality is  much better than my previous attempts at electrifying this instrument  with a piezo type contact mic
I'll try and get a little video done over the next few days to  show what a neat piece of kit this is . 

388

(7 replies, posted in Electric)

Very  cool  Scott ,I  love my  tele  it  has  been faithful to me  over  the  years  and never  failed to rock the  house .Hope  yours  does  the  same .     

389

(2 replies, posted in Poems)

Like I  said  to  you  last  night  Scott i  see  this  as  an aggressive  rap  so turn up  the  volume  to  11 and  blast  it  out , well  done  .     

390

(0 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

If  I  try  to  access chordie  on my  kindle  fire  I  get  a message  saying  my  connection isnt  private and attackers may be  trying  to  steal  info, it says the server presented  a weak signature algorithm  which means security credentials may be forged  yet with my  pc  there is  no  problem  .i can bypass and proceed to chordie on the kindle but i dont know whats going on 

391

(2 replies, posted in My local band and me)

You know since I came back to live in the UK the biggest problem has been finding  a good drummer to play with .Currently I've  had  about.  four the new band I'm with  "Growing old disgracefully"  have had similar problems ,it makes me think of the film spinal tap when the drummers exploded  .Maybe the new one we have lined up will be a stayer.lol 

392

(3 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Sent it to Sue this afternoon she seems to like it so  when I get back to the UK well try it think I might put a slide solo in there ,what do yo think Jim?     

393

(3 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Well here I am lying in the sunny canary islands with instructions from one of my current band mates to write a song so this is what I've come up with so far  Sue Davey hope it suits your voice.
I see this as a bit of a country rocker ,let me know your thoughts.
E7
Lying by the pool,looking kinda cool,
Soaking up the suns golden rays.
I don't need a fuss,I'm not in a rush,
Maybe some cute will come my way.
Chorus
B.                              A.           E
So just give me another Coca-Cola,
B.                         A.                    E
While your at it add a shot of rum.
B.                        A.                 E
Just give me another coca cola
B.                            A.                      E
My holiday from heart ache has begun

I'm wearing rayban specs as part of my disguise,
The darkness hides the teardrops in my eyes.
I'm pretty sure that you would maybe see right through,
And then I would just have to hypnotize.........you.

Chorus

Shaded by a palm ,makes me feel so calm,
All those nasty feelings go away.
Another glass of wine,then I'm feeling fine,
Hope that I can find a way to stay.
Chorus.

This is  a  cover of The Ground hogs  song Thank Christ for the bomb
.I  think  its  sentiments  are  just as relevant today .Never again .
https://soundcloud.com/graham-windle/th … r-the-bomb 

395

(10 replies, posted in Songwriting)

I tend to start with lyrics,usually about somthing I feel strong about and then try to find a tune .It's an interesting way he works and I do see some advantages. Great source of info.     

396

(7 replies, posted in Songwriting)

cheers ctech glad you  liked  it .     

397

(6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

True CG I always buy on a budget  and have had good results with most of my purchases Having now tested the amp it sounds fine in the house just need to try it with the band now but that will be after Xmas.     

398

(6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Just picked up a 30 watt Laney line backer that I won on EBay for 20 pounds. A quick test and it seems ok I just needed a basic amp that would take my pedal board or my acoustic.I have a couple of line 6 spiders but they are way too loud for most small bars and my orange tiny terror is a little too dirty with my acoustic so I m hoping this will fill the bill and as it cost next to nothing  that's great 

just had  a look at  the  alpha  cruncher  Phill looks cool  also  had a  look  at  the sonicake  rock  bar  which looks  like a modern version of my  old Boss  Be 5     

Hi Scott to be honest for an open Mic performance I would be inclined to go with out effects ,maybe a little reverb that's all  if you have a good sound guy running the event then you will sound good with out the need for effects .Martin who runs the sessions at the bluesbar harrogate has a variety of effects on his pa and will set up what ever you require I don't know what set up you guys use over there  but I would enquire before lugging all my gear somewhere to play three or four songs .Can t wait to hear a vid