Guitar Licks and Tips

Happy Canada to all of my loyal readers of both this blog and Guitar licks, we’re 141 years young!

Here in Canada we celebrate the 141st anniversary of our Confederation. We also mark and celebrate the founding of the Canadian state 400 years ago; from Champlain to today.

I got up today a little later then normal and had to take our dog Midnight out and heard what sounded like a drum band marching down the street. I soon realized that it was the East York Canada Day Parade. It’s one of those events that happen in your neighbourhood (this is how we spell it in Canada), that you’ve always wanted to go but you either forgot or didn’t have time for. Not knowing how long it would last, I said why not and walked at a brisk pace towards the parade.

By the time we got there the damn thing was over and the crowd was walking towards us! Boy was I a little bit pissed, but there is always next year!

Keep on Jammin’ Canada!

One of my favorite new bands was just on The Hour, and it was fabulous to say the least!

In Canada we love our national TV channel, well most of us do, and they have this guy George Stroumboulopoulos who has a show called on CBC called The Hour.

In this interview, George reveals this guy next door image of the lead singer Chris Martin from Cold Play, that seems really genuine to me. I’ve not seen a lot of interviews of this guy but this one did ring a nice bell. He comes across as a guy who you would love to go camping with. Just imagine the campfire songs here kidz!


In videos of these guys playing huge venues, the band, especially the lead singer, look more then at home then most bands I’ve seen in a long time. They always seem to be in the groove all the time and the dynamics of sound they have are scary!

We only get to see the instrument versatility of Chris on most albums and I wonder what the rest of the band is like this area. Does anyone have a insight into any of these guys instrumentally that they’d like to share? In the interview, George show us that he is not that bad on the keys and it seem that Chris might even agree on this one.

Just thought I’d share this one with you all!

Keep on Jammin’

If you were alive in and around 1971 you might remember the “Coke Song” … and what a anthem it was for the 70’s!

It was a good feeling time in all of our lives, in mine anyways! We tended to look at life with rose colored coke glasses back in the days. Ohhhh, what a feeling it was.

Keep on Jammin’

To all of you who thought that Guitar Hero was difficult to master … try this one out for size!

Keep on Jammin’, accordion style! This one’s for you TONY of Pylis fame!!!!

Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys was the unsung hero of the band. In my eyes that is. He was not only a talented drummer but a genius of composing.

Dennis Wilson was just as complex a man, a musically gifted one and as charismatic as his brother Brian. Even though today people view the Beach Boys as the god fathers of soft pop surfer hits, cars and girls, they have this other side that is often forgotten. They helped forge the aesthetic psychedelic lifestyle and elevated American visionary musician’s and their cause to main stream culture.

The only difference was that Dennis’s torch burned out long before it should have.

The tragedy of being musically brilliant is not only Brian’s to hold. Due to many factors, he was more then a little mis-understood in the eyes of people long ago. In today’s world, his identity as being a wild man and that he was at constant odds with it, would have been taken into account and we all would have given him more lateral leeway in regards to his actions off the musical stage.

Sadly after 15 years had pasted on their massive Good Vibrations success, he was NSF and more often then not homeless. After being put under arrest once, expelled from the band which he helped found many times, and was also not acknowledged for his brilliant work on all their hits, was sadly taken from us only a short 3 weeks after celebrating his 39th birthday.

Todays poperatzy would sure to of had a field day on this poor soul.

Do any of you have some great positive memories to add to the late great Dennis Wilson. Is there anything else that you would share to the future music aficionados to help celebrate the accomplishes of the under appreciated member of the Beach Boys? Please help untangle the truth and myth of this once great fellow lover of the art of music!

Keep on Jammin’ Dennis, we’re still listening for you