I was wandering through a store picking up some stuff for my daughter last night. One of the clerks had a boombox, tuned to “The Current” (MPR’s alt-music affiliate)…
…and I had one of those musical bolts from the blue I occasionally get. Not sure why, but a song just stopped me in my tracks, something I hadn’t heard in probably decades. Vaguely southwestern-sounding, with a scrummy slide-guitar part and a tenor singer I couldn’t quite place, and a sober but engrossing hook…
…anyway, I stood in the aisle for probably three minutes, watching the boombox, like if I walked away the song would stop.
I probably bought more stuff than I should have, to reassure the staff I was really OK.
Oh, it was the 1970 original of this song, by the late George Harrison – with a band featuring G.E. Smith – a guitar player whose intrusive, aggressive style I have always desperately wanted to dislike, but just can’t – on the signature slide part.
That’s what’s nice about the internet. You hear a song on the radio, want to know who it is, you go to their web site.
It’s espically useful for stations like the current with their play list being a little unorthadox.
Is it Harrison covering a Dylan song, or did Dylan cover a Harrison song?
G.E. Smith is one of those guitarists whose circumstances you look at and just go, wow. Right place at the right time, the right talent; dude made it all work. Hall and Oates, studio stuff, SNL band. I’d say that guy left his mark and got his licks in.
Sid McGinnis from the Letterman band was another dude like that. Those were a couple of the coolest, highest-profile gigs a guitarist could think of getting in the 80’s – 90’s. I’m sure they made good money and had a great time doing it. You can’t prep for a career like that – you fall into it – but you’ve got to be good enough to handle it when opportunity knocks. Those cats were inspiring.
I assume those guys are still on those gigs – I don’t watch either show anymore, and looking them up on the net would take seconds of precious time…
Harrison covering Dylan.
I only know that because I looked at the songwriter credit for Olivia Newton-John’s (very, very inferior) version at my first radio job, and was amazed to see Dylan’s name.
(Not as amazed as I was to see that Barry Manilow’s “Ships” was written by Ian Hunter, though…)
Smith is listed on Wikipedia as playign with some band I’ve never heard of.
Sid? Dunno!
Manga tak, herr Berg.