Rock and roll and the pennywhistle

madguy · Post by **madguy** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 6:58 pm

Just sitting here reading the message board and listening to "Pet Sounds" and trying to adapt some of the songs to the pennywhistle. t's sad for a married man to be so bored!

~Larry

chas · Post by **chas** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 9:32 pm

I was just thinking while mowing the lawn today: does anyone play along with any progressive rock? Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Eno, Camel, Yes, Genesis. . .? I suspect much of it is chromatic, but there are probably a bunch of songs that are doable with one or two accidentals.

Switchfoot · Post by **Switchfoot** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 10:44 pm

I was just thinking while mowing the lawn today: does anyone play along with any progressive rock?

Oh! Oh! That would be me!

Actually, I'll play along with just about any style I can (much to the dismay of those around me) a few half holes, a few accidentals, but you'd be surprised (outside of the truly instrumental music) how limited modern music's range can be. I actually have more trouble figuring out which key its in, meaning the song is half over before I locate the correct whistle

And more often then not I dont have "that peticular whistle" (I actually have several whistles for the express purpose of playing a single song, which would be ok... If they were cheapies)

alex · Post by **alex** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:57 am

Hmmm... here I was, wandering over, thinking some rock group FINALLY let a whistler join in, but no...

Of course, I read a great article in the paper a few weeks ago about Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and his flute - showing that woodwinds DO belong in rock music. Now if only he'd learn whistle...

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 1:29 am

chas wrote:I was just thinking while mowing the lawn today: does anyone play along with any progressive rock? Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Eno, Camel, Yes, Genesis. . .? I suspect much of it is chromatic, but there are probably a bunch of songs that are doable with one or two accidentals.

I've never actually tried to play along with old prog rock records. I think some would be quite accessible, others less so. But prog rock is alive and well today in the hands of survivers from 70s bands and young people many of whom weren't even born first time around. Probably more CDs are released in this style than in Irish music. But the majors won't touch it and the music stores don't have a separate section; the old classics that survive are just lumped in with general rock, at least in this country. There is however a very active scene with distribution largely mail order and through the internet. This style is still hugely popular in places like Germany, Mexico and Brasil. If anybody is interested, the American company Cuniform is at the forefront of promotion and distribution.

I play high and low whistle on a new prog rock record by a friend of mine who still has a substantial cult following from his many 70s recordings. The whistles are not especially prominent but fit quite well IMO. I also play electric six string and accoustic 12 string guitars, anglo concertina and do a vocal. I wonder if concertina has ever been employed in prog rock before? It was a lot of fun.

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 3:34 am

'Gentle Giant'..Now there's a blast from the past! I still have a couple of their vinyl albums somewhere.I saw them play once.Between them,I think that the three Shulman brothers played just about every instrument going,including Rec**d*rs (consort type playing)and did a bit of 'madrigal' type harmony singing as well!!
If you check out maker Tony Dixon's website,you'll see that he has a link to Alan Wakeman's (son of Rick) site.Tony has played whistle,flute and U. Pipes on one of Alan's albums.

P.S. Alex, Ian Anderson DOES play whistles,what about the track 'The Whistler' (on 'The Best of')where there are multi-tracked whistles?
I last checked the 'Tull' website a couple of years ago,and amongst their very comprehensive gear list,were Ian Anderson's 'Generation' whistles(and Patrick Olwell bamboo flutes)!

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 8:22 am

Wombat wrote:. . .If anybody is interested, the American company Cuniform is at the forefront of promotion and distribution.

I play high and low whistle on a new prog rock record by a friend of mine who still has a substantial cult following from his many 70s recordings.

Kit Watkins, erstwhile of Happy the Man and Camel, and father of Cuneiform Records, lives just down the road apiece from me. Wombat, would you care to give us info on the recording you play on -- who's it by, how would one order it?

kevin m. wrote:'Gentle Giant'..Now there's a blast from the past! I still have a couple of their vinyl albums somewhere.I saw them play once.Between them,I think that the three Shulman brothers played just about every instrument going,including Rec**d*rs (consort type playing)and did a bit of 'madrigal' type harmony singing as well!!

Yes, they used to have a semi full of all sorts of things when they were on tour. It was not unusual for them all to be playing recorders, all playing guitars, or all playing xylophones at once. THOSE guys were talented, and I think they were really the pinnacle of art rock (not meaning to start a flame war here), although not all that accessible to most people.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 8:47 am

OK, just ONE word this time: Iona!

corinthia · Post by **corinthia** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 2:10 pm

I play along with Seven Nations and Carbon Leaf, but that's Celtic Rock.

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 3:39 pm

I originally read this topic yesterday and kept thinking of songs that might be worth a toot or two. Here's a couple that spang to mind.

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
Rhiannon
All Along the Watchtower.
White Room.
Come Together.
Elinor Rigby.
Satisfaction.
Blackbird.
Rocky Raccoon.
Somebody to Love.
Proud Mary.
House of the Rising Sun.
Southern Cross,
Daylight Again
Black Magic Woman

A little nostalgia to ...

pete humphrey · Post by **pete humphrey** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:38 pm

What about Led Zepplin Stairway to Heaven & any Eagles song(yes they are popular in UK)

pete

Switchfoot · Post by **Switchfoot** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:23 pm

Blackbird, wow, that brings back some thoughts
That was the first little ditty I learned on my whistle, my bro taught it to me one night when he was bored

ugh, I was so bad then

alex · Post by **alex** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 9:24 pm

LOL Kevin, you're absolutely right... That's what happens when I post at 3am... In fact, "The Whistler" is one of my favorite tracks...

Tak_the_whistler · Post by **Tak_the_whistler** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 2:34 am

IONA is a good example, yes. I guess it's easier to feature a "raw instrument" i.e.e.g. whistles, flutes, violins..when a band is trad/prog oriented. Karnataka with a flute player, although not strictly a trad-rock band like Iona, for example.

But how about a whistler in a "metal" band? That would be interesting as well....well, to some extent, for certain number of people of certain tastes...like me

The intro of the song "Mother Earth" by celt-sympho metal band Within Temptation, for one. Or the "folk-metal" band (I forgot the name) featuring Meister Colin Goldie(!).

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 3:06 am

chas wrote:
Kit Watkins, erstwhile of Happy the Man and Camel, and father of Cuneiform Records, lives just down the road apiece from me. Wombat, would you care to give us info on the recording you play on -- who's it by, how would one order it?

Small world, eh Chas? The musician is Steve Braund who recorded solo in the'70s and also with the band Cybotron. The band was Australian but had, and still has, a cult following world-wide. They had a distinctive style, blending Germanic electronic rock with jazzy saxophone workouts. Steve plays keyboards and all the usual members of the sax family: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone. The whole of his back catalogue has just been remastered and reissued on CD officially, although I think German and French bootlegs have been doing the rounds for years. I'm pretty sure Kit Watkins would know Steve well.

I only have a test pressing of the CD we recorded and I don't know how close it is to commercial release. Recently he and his wife stayed with me for a couple of weeks and he mentioned contacting a mutual friend to do the artwork, so I'd say commercial release is still some way off. Unfortunately, his wife Vicky had a bad fall dislocating a shoulder and breaking both arms so that rather took our minds off music.

I'm sure that there is a website where you can hear the old stuff, if not the new, but I'll have it checked out and let you know in a PM. I think the new CD has already been properly mastered so samples might already be available on the internet. BTW, Steve plays saxes on my stuff which is much more jazzy and folky than electronic. Amusingly, Steve suggested that Cuneiform might be the best outlet for my music.