Description: Powerhouse Records continues the Tom Principato 50 Year Anniversary celebration by releasing Tom Principato "It's Tele Time!" CD New 2022 tribute to Roy Buchanan & Danny Gatton:I have never thought of myself in the same category as Roy and Danny--these guys were my heroes, and through them I heard the playing of my other heroes like Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Roy Nichols, Charlie Christian and James Burton. And although I have played different models of Fender and Gibson guitars over the years, (Roy and Danny didn't always play a Telecaster either), I have always thought of myself in my own way, as being part of the "Washington D.C. Telecaster tradition". I always brought more than one guitar on a tour or to a concert, and one of them was usually a Telecaster. There would be a part of the show where I would strap on a Telecaster, joke about "it's Tele time!" and "unleashing the chickens", and for a part of the night everything that I learned or absorbed from Roy and Danny would come pouring out. Here are my thoughts about this collection of live performances...Tom Principato I first became aware of the sound of the Fender Telecaster in the early 60's when I first started playing guitar, when I heard James Burton's guitar solo on Ricky Nelson's 45 RPM "Young World". I watched the Ozzie & Harriet T.V. show where James appeared with Ricky at the end of each show accompanying him on a song, and I could see that James was playing a Fender Telecaster. The tone he got on that recording is some of the most pure lead pickup Telecaster sound I've ever heard. As I began learning guitar throughout the 1960's, I became more familiar with that bright twangy Telecaster sound through the sounds of Roy Nichols in Merle Haggard's band, and Don Rich on Buck Owen's records. The Fender Telecaster has a very unique identifiable sound. The neck pickup is soft and mellow sounding, which works good for ballads and jazzy stuff, the combination of both pickups gives a warmly twangy sound which is similar to the kind of sound Chet Atkins used to get on his records, and hitting that pickup selector switch to select the lead pickup is like shifting into overdrive with a bright biting sound with lots of musical overtones that can overdrive any small to mid size combo amp. I always say that Roy wrote the book on the "Telecaster on Mars" style of playing and Danny added his own chapter. Both were virtuosos in their own personal and individual ways. In 1971 I first heard Roy Buchanan's "Buch & The Snake Stretcher's" Burlap LP, and then saw the PBS television special that catapulted Roy to national recognition. That album and T.V. show made a big impression on me, and soon after I was able to see Roy at My Mothers Place, a very small club in Washington, D.C. Roy was so shy and self conscious he played a lot of the show with his back to the audience. .Only a couple years later in 1973 I saw Danny Gatton play for the first time at a little club in Washington, D.C. called the Childe Harold. As I recounted in my book...They Tell Me I Had A Good Time! seeing Danny that night was a revelation: "I sat there stunned as Danny ran through all those Les Paul, Chet Atkins and Charlie Christian licks I was struggling to play—and he was doing it ever so nonchalantly on a 1953 Telecaster with a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position through an Echoplex tape delay and a tweed 1950's Fender 4-10” Bassman amp. I just couldn't believe it, that someone could re-create those records (and so much more) live." "Apricot Brandy"- The first rock instrumental I remember hearing that featured the Telecaster was a song called "Apricot Brandy" by a group Rhinoceros in 1968. It's in the unusual key of F# minor. Danny did his own arrangement of "Apricot Brandy" in 1990 on the Elektra records 40th Anniversary Album. "8 Counts For Rita"- The influence here is Danny all the way; lots of chops, flying by the seat of your pants stream of consciousness soloing. Lots of chicken pickin' and squawks, a cat fight, and even a "Last Train To Clarksville" quote. After Danny passed away, I returned to Washington in 1995 after spending a year in Austin, Texas. I began work on my Really Blue CD and I wrote a Telecaster inspired instrumental "One For Danny" for that album and dedicated it to Danny Gatton. One night at a concert someone from the audience yelled "Hey Tom, play your tribute to Danny". I answered by saying "every time I play a Fender Telecaster it's a tribute to Danny Gatton---and Roy Buchanan!". That's when I realized just how much those two had affected me, my music, and my life. "See See Rider"- This is one of the few songs that Roy used to sing. This performance is from a tribute to Roy Buchanan at Strathmore Music Hall in Bethesda, MD. in 2004. On drums is the late Robbie Magruder, who played with Roy in the early 70's around the time of Roy's Livestock album. He was a great drummer and really nice guy. Robbie was also a member of my band when we did the shows in 1984 with Danny Gatton that became known as Blazing Telecasters. I was recently re-united with Robbie and long time Danny Gatton bassist John Previti who also is the bassist on the Blazing Telecasters CD's and DVD, to play together again for a tribute concert at the Birchmere Music Hall that was filmed for the documentary about Roy and Danny Anacostia Delta. At the end of "See See Rider" you can hear Robbie say "yeah man!". Whenever I hear that on this recording I will always smile and think of Robbie. I learned "Travis Picking" from Danny when he showed me how to play Scotty Moore's guitar figure for Elvis' "Mystery Train". It's the syncopation that's important. That same technique can be applied to groups of chords and that's the kind of guitar figure I play for "Don't Think Twice". Coincidentally, this is one of the songs we played at the original Blazing Telecasters shows in 1984, only taken at a slower tempo here. Joining me on this performance are long time band mates Joe Wells drums, and two musicians who played with both Danny and Roy; Tommy Lepson organ, and Steve Wolf on bass, who was an original member of "Redneck Jazz Explosion" with Danny. "Saturday Night Fish Fry"- I've seen Danny take songs like "Orange Blossom Special" at a much faster tempo, but I don't believe it's possible for me to play any faster than I do here. Lots of Les Paul style riffs, fast Danny style soloing, Travis picking and open-string chords, whistling harmonics, and even a nod to Ray Charles song "Mess Around". "Done Daddy Dirty"- One of the best decisions I ever made was to form my own Record Co. After my own releases were established in the market place, I was able to release three archival CD recordings by Roy and two by Danny, as well as two Blazing Telecasters CD's and a DVD. One of the things I discovered while searching for archival recordings of Roy to release was the song ""Done Daddy Dirty", which was one of the lesser known songs from Roy's 70's repertoire and a song that I wasn't familiar with. It quickly became part of my live repertoire and we included it on the Guitars On Fire CD. "Slow Down"-from Roy's 70's repertoire. A rocking New Orleans R&B number from Larry Williams, and a Rock 'n Roll Classic. When Phil Carson was in Washington, D.C. researching his biography of Roy Buchanan American Axe, we became friends and he suggested I get in touch with guitarist Jim Weider---after speaking with both of us he felt we had a lot in common. Not long after, my band opened for Jim's band "Percolator". We had such a great night that Jim eventually invited me to participate in one of his projects "Masters Of The Telecaster" with G. E. Smith. I refer to these guys as "my Telecaster buddies in the 21st Century", and we've done more than one tribute show to Roy and Danny. Roy's iconic "The Messiah Will Come Again" is from one of the shows we've done together. Here's the soloists: Tom verse 1, Jim Weider verses 2 & 3, G. E. Smith verses 4 & 5, Tom verses 6 & 7, Jim Weider verses 8 & 9, Tom & Jim harmony on verse 10, Tom, Jim and G.E. interplay and improvisation to end. Tom Principato Available to Europe through the Ebay Global Shipping program.
Price: 9.98 USD
Location: Falls Church, Virginia
End Time: 2024-10-13T16:52:32.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.63 USD
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Style: Electric Blues
CD Grading: Mint (M)
Inlay Condition: Mint (M)
Instrument: Electric Guitar
Case Type: Eco Wallet
Type: Album
Features: 6 panel eco-wallet
Color: Multicolor
Case Condition: Mint (M)
Language: English
Edition: Live
Format: CD
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Blues
Artist: Principato, Tom
Record Label: PowerHouse Records, Pwrh
Release Title: It's Tele Time! a Tribute to Roy Buchanan & Danny Gatton