By
Theseustoo
Just in case anyone was wondering what kind of noises were made at the Famous ‘Burnside Refugees’ Jam Session, I’ve decided to post a couple of examples of some of our best… First, here’s John Lennon’s “Imagine”:
"Noice wun T2... not bad at all that were... not bad at all!"
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
Thanks for those kind words of encouragement, Emmjay… it’s all I was looking for… I realise that what we have posted is far from a polished work, but I just thought people might like to be in on our music at our ‘garage tapes’ period (we’d be a ‘garage band’ IF we had a garage to practice in!)… BEFORE we get all rich and famous… (Not that I think that’s particularly likely, mind you!) Of course, I suppose it’s not quite the same phenomenon, a ‘garage-tapes’ period BEFORE becoming rich and famous….
I was hoping that people would listen to our efforts, not with their ‘good music, intensive listening’ ears, but with their ‘out for a good time, pub band listening’ ears… and maybe even sing along; but I think I’m just feeling nostalgic for the days when families got together round the Joanna and had a hearty, if somewhat less than tuneful, singalong… But I can’t help but feel that to judge us at this stage, in comparison with polished and perfect, studio-produced professional recordings would be somewhat less than fair… (And I’m glad that you, at least, appear to understand that!)
😉
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Gentle friends, I listened and did not comment because I am light on for understanding the context of the recording.
I am cautious about being critical and it’s been like 40 years since I mucked around in a garage band. Your session reminded me of those days and I recall my own experience was that it always sounded better if you were there.
Jamming successfully is immensely difficult and takes time and practice, and I’m certain that you will crack it.
Wait till you hear the stuff in my coming new piece on contemporary young pub music. You chaps are so far in front.
But the 70s gave many of we old farts pretty high listening standards – even those of us, like me, who can’t play for shit myself. When I sing (and I use the term loosely), dogs howl, cats scurry away and birdies fall from the sky. In fact, I don’t even sound very attractive when I talk – let alone sing. I sound like someone poured concrete up my nose while I was sleeping. I speak in the key of chockers sinus. Ask Gez and Helvi !
But I spent 5 years teaching my kids Suzuki violin – having never played one myself before that – we had a great teacher, sadly no longer amongst the quick – and I learnt that with practice we can all play well. Suzuki method is often criticised because it is very deeply rooted in listening and not so much sight reading – leading to the criticism that Suzuki students play with good feeling but poor accuracy. If that’s so, so be it, I reckon.
Practice. Dr Suzuki’s mantra. The magic P word. To play well, you must practice, practice, practice. Concert standard violin is held to require 30,000 hours of practice. 5,000 hours and you can play. 10,000 hours (like bloody 3 years full time) and you can play well. But playing well TOGETHER is a miracle.
Now go back and have more fun, practice, practice, practice and tighten the fuck up. 🙂
Admiringly yours, Emm
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Can’t play or sing for shit, but I can (and sometimes do) write for shit – check out my stuff at Unleashed ! 🙂
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This was the very first thing we played together, Hung; I thought considering that it sounded pretty good… Even John approved!
I guess I could be wrong though; 24 hours and not a single response apart from yours… it’s depressing, Hung…
😉
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Record when we actually know the whole part
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Well, of course, that WOULD sound better…
Funny, you know… How much do you suppose a recording of the first thing the Beatles ever played together is worth nowadays… Wonder if they had the same problem…?
😉
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And I kinda like recording all practice sessions too, Hung; they can be used as diagnostic tools (especially when used in conjunction with Windows Media Player!) Abner and I had a bit of a ‘post-mortem’ on the jam after you left…
🙂
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And what did you and Abner come up with?
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Well, we had a long chat about ‘potential’ and I reminded him of how bad we two sounded when we first started playing together… But we both agreed that we saw a lot of potential in our first jam…
And we were both quite blown away by how much we actually managed to hold it together, given the fact we’d never played together before. I think audiences, sadly even the piglets apparently, are perhaps a bit spoiled by ‘canned’ music, which, of course, is always perfect, never hits a wrong note or beat and is polished to perfection in the studio; very few bands can produce the same sound live that they do in a recording studio…
You see, it seems that, ‘a muso is without honour in his own pub’ in much the same way that ‘a prophet is without honour in his own land’; and for much the same reason, I suspect… familiarity breeds contempt.
😉
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Gee DL we need work
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‘Course we do Hung… this is the START of our project; not the end!
😉
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