This
song tells the story
of
a fellow that goes to Jamaica to learn to play reggae music
but they send him home because he always sounds like The Beach
Boys singing Kokomo :>)
It’s
a fun song but it is also a lament because it is
hard to make a go of playing reggae music in the USA
if
you aren’t from the Caribbean.
The
band is called The Crick Rats. On this song, I
play lead guitar, sing lead vocal and play the the wah-wah rhythm track.
The
deep, “reggae mon” bass voice is Rick Bowman, our drummer, who
also produced this song at R&B Studios, which he
shares with his wife Bev who plays bass on the track. Of interest, Rick is
in the process of using R&B studios to produce a Johnny
Cash Tribute CD.
The other members of The Crick Rats band on the
recording are Keith Van Zandt on the skank rhythm guitar and
Kevin W. (he likes anonymity) on the Hammond organ. Everyone sings on the
backup vocals.
Finally,
I’d like to mention my beautiful wife, Sue, to whom I have
been very happily married since 1975. In addition to raising
our kids, we are great friends and we support each other in
our artistic interests.
Her patience with my guitar playing and tube amp hobby
cannot be beat.
In fact, she plays the Dobro a bit and we’ve made sweet
music together over the years.
Her artistic endeavors though
are primarily focused on Fiber Art, which is the use of fiber
for innovative wall hangings. Here’s an
example of one of her pieces, which was juried into
the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, where it was
awarded a Judge's Choice Award by Roberta Horton. It
is now being displayed in various shows around the
country. More recently, Home and Garden TV sent a
film crew to our house to do a feature story on Sue for
their Simply Quilts show, which airs internationally. She
has been featured in a national quilt magazines and has
had her work recently displayed in the Museum of Fine Art
in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Over
the years, Sue has developed quite the body of work that many
people have found rewarding to have in their homes and
offices. If you
would like to see more of her pieces and keep informed of
where her pieces will be displayed, you can check out her
website at:
Reference
Information:
As promised
earlier, here’s the tube amp reference information I keep at
my house. I don’t
pretend to know even 20% of what is contained in these books
and videos, but you have to start somewhere. I find that as I learn
more, I go back to these sources when I am able to grasp more
sophisticated concepts.
Here’s the list:
1. “How To Service Your
Own Tube Amp” (book and video) by Tom Mitchell – If you only
buy one, this is it, in my humble opinion.
2. "The Guitar Amp Handbook: Understanding
Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds" by Dave Hunter - An
excellent introductory treatise to the world of guitar
amplification. Very readable and he does a great job
of making the concepts understandable. Highly
recommended.
3. “Video 1 - Tube Amp
Basics for the Guitarist” by Gerald Weber – I found Gerald’s
videos and the one above by Tom Mitchell very, very
helpful. It’s
great to be able to see and hear about tube amp circuits
instead of just reading about them.
4. “Video 2 - Basic Tube
Guitar Amp Overhaul and Servicing” by Gerald Weber
5. “Video 3 - Advanced
Tube Guitar Amp Overhaul and Servicing” by Gerald Weber
6. “A Desktop Reference Of
Hip Vintage Guitar Amps” by Gerald Weber – Lots of good info
and schematics
7. “Tube Amp Talk For The
Guitarist And Tech” by Gerald Weber – more good info. Check out “The
Trainwreck Pages”
8. "Tube Guitar Amplifier Essentials" by Gerald
Weber - The latest in his series of books.
9. “The Ultimate Tone –
Volumes 1 and 2” by Kevin O’Connor
10. “The Tube Amp Book” by
Aspen Pittman of Groove Tubes
11. “Tube Amp Workbook” by
Dave Funk
12. “Audio Cyclopedia –
First Edition” by Howard Tremaine – The bible, with everything
knowable about tube circuits. Very technical. Make sure to get the
First Edition since after this one a lot of the tube circuits
were dropped in favor of solid-state. I bought mine used on
eBay and it wasn’t cheap.
13. “RCA Receiving Tube
Manual”
14. “General Electric
Essential Characteristics”
15. “Tube Substitution
Handbook” by Howard Sams
16. “The Fender Amp Book”
by John Morrish – a small book with the Fender models and
specs on each
17. “The Amp Book” by
Donald Brosnac – an introductory treatment
18. “Amps! The Other Half
Of Rock ‘N’ Roll” by Ritchie Fliegler – a good history of tube
amps with lots of photos
19. “The Complete Guide To
Guitar And Amp Maintenance” by Ritchie Fliegler – good
practical advise but not very detailed
20. “Fender Amps. The First Fifty Years”
by John Teagle and John Sprung – good history of all of
Fender’s amps with photos
21. “The Fender Inside
Story” by Forrest White – an insiders view of the history of
Fender
22. “Marshall. The Illustrated Story
Of The Sound Of Rock” by Michael Doyle
23. “Ampeg. The Story Behind The
Sound” by Gregg Hopkins and Bill Moore
24.
“Blue Book Of Guitar
Amplifiers” by Zachary Fjestad – Specs on many brands of amps
and what they are selling for now
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permitted without express written permission.
