A benefit of retirement is finally having the time to do more than merely dabble in one's interests — and double so during these #sitchybumathome days. To that end, I've spent much of the past six months immersed a crash course in music theory. I think that I'm about where a freshman major at any school of music would be after about a week, but hey, you've got to start somewhere.
There have been two completely wonderful consequences of all this. The first is that my wife, who is an excellent pianist, and I can finally converse in the language of music. The second is that I've been able to renew acquaintances with many of my musician friends. We've been forming virtual bands to tackle several ambitious projects.
With modern Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) and a few hundred dollars' worth of recording gear, it's possible for musicians thousands of miles apart to collaborate and record musical pieces. For all of the attendant hassles, the modern age is not without its benefits.
As I get sucked into the musical vortex, I've found myself dabbling in more than one instrument. Besides guitar I'm now working on bass, drums and keyboards. To my fellow guitarists out there, I cannot recommend highly enough that you spend some time familiarizing yourself with the basics of a piano keyboard. Once you figure that out, I promise that exciting new worlds await.
As a result of all this, I've developed a whole new appreciation for a lot of the music that I already liked. As I've gone through my catalog of favorites, I've zeroed in on some albums that not only blew my doors off the first time I heard them, but do so even more now that I have a better understanding of what went into composing them.
One such album is “The Royal Scam,” a 1976 release by Steely Dan. I still remember sitting in my apartment in Lexington, Kentucky, stunned at what I was hearing the first time I put this album on a turntable. If you are younger than 40, there is a chance that you've never heard of this album. That, if true, is unfortunate.
Steely Dan was a rock band of the ’70s with sophisticated and wry twists in their compositions. Their lyrics were sardonic and obtuse paeans to a variety of offbeat characters — generally in some bind. The chord voicings and harmonic changes they employed suggested a jazz influence. The Royal Scam was the beginning of the group's departure from blues-based rock into more jazz-influenced pop.
Musician and producer Rick Beato has a wonderful YouTube channel dedicated to musical education. This channel contains a number of “What makes this song great?” videos. Episode No. 3 is all about the opening track from “The Royal Scam,” “Kid Charlemagne.” I recommend that you check it out: youtu.be/xKIC9zbSJoE.
I always appreciated this song for Larry Carlton's ripping guitar work — perhaps my favorite in all of guitar world. But the entire track is exudes high-levels of musicianship and complexity. I always thought that learning how to play it would be impressive. As it turns out, learning to play it is one thing; having composed it is quite another.
The musicians on this track — Donald Fagen, lead vocals, organ; Larry Carlton, lead guitar; Walter Becker, rhythm guitar; Don Grolnick, Fender Rhodes electric piano; Paul Griffin, Hohner Clavinet; Chuck Rainey, bass; Bernard Purdie, drums; Michael McDonald, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, background vocals — are a who's who of studio talent in that era. The groove on the track is a mile wide and as powerful as a locomotive. None of the Pro Tools tricks: AutoTune, quantizing, etc., that dominate modern pop music. Just extremely talented players laying it down.
That's the way they did it back in the day.
Carlton actually does two solos in Kid Charlemagne. The first is perhaps the most famous 50 seconds in guitar driven rock. The spatial and harmonic complexity of this solo are, in my opinion, unmatched in popular music. Carlton is know for cleverly arpeggiated chord voicings in his solos and this one takes the cake. It still blows me away every time.
Carlton did this in two takes, in less than two hours, through a simple rig — a Fender Tweed amp and Gibson 335 guitar. The second, outtro solo was entirely improvised on the spot. One take. It boggles the mind.
I don't know if this era in popular music will ever be recreated. Getting that amount of talent in a room, playing live, just seems increasingly unlikely in the modern era.
If you have never heard this song before, I recommend that you Google it up and give it a listen. It'll blow you mind. And if you listen with the right ears, it will expand your musical vocabulary.
Here’s how it turned out: Kid Charlemagne performance
Associated Press and Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer, consultant and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time raising children, llama farming, riding mountain bikes and motorcycles and playing guitars.
Try this, https://youtu.be/rJrHHMYHFF0
Hi. Just saw your post on Ted Goia's page, and checking everyone's stuff out.
Unfortunately, your video was taken down. My old band used to play "Kid Charlemagne" and we were basically a Steely Dan cover band. 20 out of our 30 songs, anyway, with deep tracks (and a few classics) from Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Cream, etc...
I started out on drums, and would strongly recommend working on that. Timing is so important, and once you get a "drummer brain" you can really set some great foundation for the "skin" (melody, riffs, solos).