Good use of mandolin in "mainstream" rock

[Charles the Bear]

Hey, here's a few cool uses of the mandolin which I've found:

REM - losing my religion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhp5E6bINVk

REM - you are the everything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmTqxB_9A58

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4nkAUT-7mQ

Pouges - Dirty Old Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUZuVZWHkk

An advisory with this last one to the sensitive - there is full frontal Banjo action quite early in the clip.

I love the mandolin being used in all kinds of music, including mainstream stuff.

Would love to hear of other good examples

cheers

Charles

[Santiago]

Search on Youtube and you'll find Maggie Mae and Mandolin Wind, a lot of Seals and Crofts too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEF470mXqU4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqZKi00MQTs

[Charles the Bear]

Thanks Santiago.

I think I'm really after something that people would stop and say "hmmm, that's quite cool" to. I don't know about where you are, but I'm afraid Rod stopped being cool here in Scotland long, long ago...

:))

Charles

[Jim MacDaniel]

Water Boys - Fishermans Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIil8k5QnFU

Bonepony - Bleeker Street

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxXqZuD4nKk

Reckless Kelly - Wicked Twisted Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpUXrDrUfDM

Jimmy Ryan - To The Bone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzUBVJrMk0

The Hooters - 25 Hours a Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lss6UJtX1Ps

Cheri Knight - If Wishes were Horses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU_ZzMMTEOI

[JeffD]

An advisory with this last one to the sensitive - there is full frontal Banjo action quite early in the clip.


:)):)) I snorked my coffee on that one.

Might be a good warning on a band's poster, like a parental advisory: contains full frontal banjo.

:))

[Santiago]

Charles,

You didn't ask for "cool" you asked for mainstream. Here in New York, mainstream is seldom cool.

[Charles the Bear]

Charles,

You didn't ask for "cool" you asked for mainstream. Here in New York, mainstream is seldom cool.

Ha, good point. :grin:

Any "cool" offerings welcome. :cool:

Charles

[Jim MacDaniel]

I can't find a youtube vid of him solo, but any of author/poet/mandolinist John Kruth's (http://cdbaby.com/cd/kruth2) CD projects definitely qualifies as "cool" IMHO.

[journeybear]

Pouges - Dirty Old Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUZuVZWHkk

An advisory with this last one to the sensitive - there is full frontal Banjo action quite early in the clip.

I love the mandolin being used in all kinds of music, including mainstream stuff.

Would love to hear of other good examples

cheers

Charles

Charles:

I'm going along with some of Jim's selections, though I've not seen them all yet, but particularly:




Jimmy Ryan - To The Bone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzUBVJrMk0

Cheri Knight - If Wishes were Horses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU_ZzMMTEOI

You didn't specify, but it looks like you meant on youtube? If so, then in addition to there are but two others from this fine fine artist:

Cheri Knight "All Blue"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQrUG3kN9A0

Cheri Knight "Black Eyed Suzy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q95R7pjDUc

These three are from a date at The Mercury Lounge in NYC 3/14/98. Noted lefty Jimmy Ryan takes a nice ride on "All Blue" at 2:37. "Black Eyed Suzy" feqatures the lap steel player more. I'm not sure how you mean "mainstream" as Cheri never made a big splash despite putting out two excellent solo albums after all her fine work with Blood Oranges. I'm glad there are at least these three videos. Amazed in fact. :disbelief:

I hope there are more videos of Jimmy Ryan out there. These are the only three I've found of Cheri Knight - and I looked extensively some five months ago. You can read my somewhat gushy commentary, it's all good. :)

BTW, whatever relation Rod Stewart has to cool in Scotland these days, back in the day he did a tremendous thing for the mandolin with "Maggie May" (though now every mandolin player gets hit with a request for it or "Mandolin Wind" - by which is usually meant "Maggie May"). Also, in case you didn't know, he did a fine job with "Dirty Old Town" on his first solo album. :mandosmiley:

[Charles the Bear]

I'm not sure how you mean "mainstream" as Cheri never made a big splash despite putting out two excellent solo albums after all her fine work with Blood Oranges. I'm glad there are at least these three videos

No, I'm not entirely sure what I mean either (except for good stuff not easily pigeon holed as, for example, folk or bluegrass). I am, however, grateful to you and to Jim for introducing me to Cheri Knight, whom I had not heard of before.

:) Charles

[journeybear]

No, I'm not entirely sure what I mean either (except for good stuff not easily pigeon holed as, for example, folk or bluegrass). I am, however, grateful to you and to Jim for introducing me to Cheri Knight, whom I had not heard of before.

:) Charles

She is rather reclusive, I think disenchanted with the biz, and probably hasn't played out in a long time, preferring to raise and sell flowers at farmers' markets. Some of this activity finds its way into the imagery of her second solo album, "Northeast Kingdom." I feel honored to have seen her a couple of times, though talking with her was a little tough. She's friendly but private, or shy. You should be able to find her albums (this and "The Knitter") at amazon used for not much, maybe ebay too. Jimmy Ryan's work on "Rose In The Vine" is exemplary, some of the strongest mandolin tones I've heard on record. Emmy Lou sings on a couple of songs too. Blood Oranges stuff may be a little harder to find, but if you do, pay whatever you can for "The Crying Tree." It's phenomenal.

[Charles the Bear]

I can't find a youtube vid of him solo, but any of author/poet/mandolinist John Kruth's (http://cdbaby.com/cd/kruth2) CD projects definitely qualifies as "cool" IMHO.

Yep, pretty cool.

Speaking of mandocaster action, Warren Ellis plays a mean riff with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, see:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7aP8_hUFIc

[Jim MacDaniel]

I once saw a great concert video of Dave "Goody" Goodrich playing his mandocaster (one that was formerly owned by Sam Bush BTW) with Peter Mulvey, and Goody had this awesome funky jazzy groove going on as Mulvey sang If Love is not Enough. I can't find the video on youtube or google, nor can I find a live audio recording, but here (http://www.amazon.com/If-Love-Is-Not-Enough/dp/B000QLYMAM/ref=sr_f2_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237494185&sr=102-3) is a version with Goody backing Mulvey up with an acoustic mandolin.

[Charles the Bear]

BTW, whatever relation Rod Stewart has to cool in Scotland these days, back in the day he did a tremendous thing for the mandolin with "Maggie May" (though now every mandolin player gets hit with a request for it or "Mandolin Wind" - by which is usually meant "Maggie May"). Also, in case you didn't know, he did a fine job with "Dirty Old Town" on his first solo album. :mandosmiley:

Good points. Maybe we should see him as a national treasure.

Mon the Rod. :confused:

[Santiago]

Actually, some of these links are pretty cool.

[Richard Moore]

...whatever relation Rod Stewart has to cool in Scotland these days, back in the day he did a tremendous thing for the mandolin with "Maggie May"

Actually it was Ray Jackson of the band Lindisfarne who played that mandolin part (and also the one on Mandolin Wind). Bit of a story to that which is well documented here at Mandolin Cafe

http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/mandolins_00938.shtml

Talking of Lindisfarne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cIMRaNujLA&feature=related

[journeybear]

[QUOTE=Richard Moore;643677]Actually it was Ray Jackson of the band Lindisfarne who played that mandolin part (and also the one on Mandolin Wind). Bit of a story to that which is well documented here at Mandolin Cafe[QUOTE]

I know, I know, I know, I know, I know - honest I do - and if I were Ray Jackson I would have been a wee bit irritated at the credit (or lack thereof) - "... the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind." - oh, that would chaff me. It is indeed a great article. Amazing that what is now considered a classic example of mandolin in rock was recorded as an afterthought, and nearly didn't make onto the album, and was originally the B side of "Reason To Believe." :disbelief: You see what we're up against? What I mean concerning Rod's contribution here is that he thought to have a mandolin in the first place. It had been used seldom outside of bluegrass previously - even in country. We could start a whole new thread on this - "First Time I Heard Mandolin On A Record Or Radio Or TV" - but not just at the moment. :) Before MM there was, um, lemme see ... GD using DG for "Friend Of The Devil" and "Ripple," I suppose Seals & Crofts, though it didn't sound too mandoliny except on "Ridin' Thumb," Ry Cooder ("Goin' To Brownsville" from his first record is amazing), I'm sure there are others. My point is, thanks to Rod Stewart, the mandolin became much more widely known than before, and among listeners who had rarely if ever heard one before. I completely agree that Ray Jackson deserves and deserved credit for his contribution, :mandosmiley: but it's Rod's name on the album and single.

Let it not be forgotten that, despite this impact, it would be some 19 years until a mandolin-driven song would again crack the Billboard Top Ten, that being REM's "Losing My Religion," which I believe stalled at #2 - so "Maggie May" still holds the distinction of being the only such song to hit #1. Someone oughta do something about that!

Rod has been taken to task over the years for some of his later musical "adventures" and gallivanting with celebrities and such, and for me my interest waned after he moved on from the folk/rock he'd done so well on his first four albums, but I'll always have a warm spot in my mind's ear for him for what he did then. :mandosmiley:

[Jim MacDaniel]

I once saw a great concert video of Dave "Goody" Goodrich playing his mandocaster (one that was formerly owned by Sam Bush BTW) with Peter Mulvey, and Goody had this awesome funky jazzy groove going on as Mulvey sang If Love is not Enough. I can't find the video on youtube or google, nor can I find a live audio recording, but here (http://www.amazon.com/If-Love-Is-Not-Enough/dp/B000QLYMAM/ref=sr_f2_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237494185&sr=102-3) is a version with Goody backing Mulvey up with an acoustic mandolin.

Wow -- I downloaded the above studio track of If Love is not Enough (http://www.amazon.com/If-Love-Is-Not-Enough/dp/B000QLYMAM/ref=sr_f2_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237494185&sr=102-3) , and though it features acoustic mandolin instead of the mandocaster as in the concert video I saw, it is hot! Goody jams along with Mulvey very well, and then lets loose with an awesome solo as well -- well worth the 99 cents cost to download the track!

Also well worth the cost of the download is Widespread Panic's Pickin' up the Pieces (http://www.amazon.com/Pickin-Up-The-Pieces/dp/B00138DT42/ref=sr_1_240?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237573159&sr=1-240) -- this and the Mulvey tune are awesome examples of how well and acoustic mandolin can work in a rock tune as a rhythym and lead instrument.

John Kruth's trippy acoustic cover of the Yardbird's Over, Under, Sideways, Down (http://www.amazon.com/Over-Under-Sideways-Down/dp/B001071CX6/ref=sr_f2_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237573502&sr=102-3) is also a blast.

[Jim MacDaniel]

A few more of my favorite mandolin-centric rock tunes available for download follow:

Emma Gibbs Band - Black Road (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QM5QM4/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1237573716&sr=8-2)

Jimmy Ryan - Hard Time (http://www.amazon.com/Hardtime/dp/B0013R9DG6/ref=sr_f2_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237573907&sr=102-5)

Steve Earle - Galway Girl (http://www.amazon.com/The-Galway-Girl/dp/B00178BN3W/ref=sr_f2_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237573964&sr=102-3)

Shooglenifty - Bjork's Chauffer (http://www.amazon.com/Bjorks-Chauffeur/dp/B0012MXF8E/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237574114&sr=1-28)

Afro Celt Sound System - When You're Falling (http://www.amazon.com/When-Youre-Falling-Album/dp/B001230EP0/ref=sr_1_64?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237574289&sr=1-64)

Bonepony - Poor Boy Blues (http://www.amazon.com/Poor-Boy-Blues/dp/B000QPCYTE/ref=sr_f2_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237574648&sr=102-1)

The Gourds - Moon Gone Down (http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Gone-Down/dp/B001IA89GS/ref=sr_1_624?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237574972&sr=1-624)

The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues (http://www.amazon.com/Fishermans-Blues/dp/B000TDETLY/ref=sr_f2_4?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237575108&sr=102-4)

Reckless Kelly - Wicked Twisted Road (http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Twisted-Road/dp/B001EWA8AU/ref=sr_f2_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237575208&sr=102-1)

(NFI)

[journeybear]

Goody jams along with Mulvey very well, and then lets loose with an awesome solo as well -- well worth the 99 cents cost to download the track!

... or 89 cents, depending ... Dadgummit, I have that album! Tucked away in deep storage, natch, as is my memory of it ... ;) I've seen Peter and Goody a couple of times, years ago, and I agree that Mr. G knows his way around a mando. "Rapture" is the album, and I also have "Deep Blue." I think Goody surprised me by saying he didn't use effects, just a little reverb. Good solid sound. Wonder what kind of pickup he was using? Then again, like "they" say, it ain't what ya got, it's what ya do with it that counts! ... :whistling:

Boy oh boy Jim, you are doing some in-depth research!

[Jim MacDaniel]

...Boy oh boy Jim, you are doing some in-depth research!

Research, or obsession -- I'm not quite sure which is more applicable.

Now I'd better get back to work -- but not before posting two more links: ;)

I've been listening to the Blue Dogs' Halos and Good Buys (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011YTDUM/ref=dm_ap_alb50?ie=UTF8&qid=1237583053&sr=102-1) in the car a lot lately, which features mandolin on every track -- but the standout tracks include "Wrong Love at the Right Time", "Mr. Rain", and "Walter".

The Jayhawks' I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FL86UE/ref=dm_dp_trk2?ie=UTF8&qid=1237583309&sr=1-3), from their CD Smile, features some feel-good mandolin driving the song.

[Jill McAuley]

I was never a Rod Stewart fan, but gotta put a mention in for the late, great John Peel standing in as the mandolin player when the Faces performed (vs. "played", as they of course lip-synced it) "Maggie May" on Top of the Pops in '71.

Cheers,
Jill

[Santiago]

Watching the live Jesus of the Moon video, between the guy playing both mando and flute (a woodwind) and the sad vocals, I'm getting an inkling of what Richard Thompson and Andy Statman might have come up with last year during their session in New York. Really good video here, and sort of whets my appetite for other things to come when they get around to it.

[Carolyn Hastings]

Well, not sure if these qualify, but:

Stan Ridgway - Classic Hollywood Ending (http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Hollywood-Ending/dp/B0019U934Y) I think Stan himself is playing the mando but I'm not 100% sure.

Morten Harket, lead singer of the pop band a-ha, from one of his solo albums - Tilbake til Livet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR7zVg_7FEA) (that's a weird fan video, but it uses the album version and provides a translation of the Norwegian lyrics).
It's either a mandolin or a close relative. Here's a live version, and you can see the player, and it's a guitar-shaped instrument -live version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP5weIvLECA)

That's one of the songs that made me realize that the sound I liked so much in certain music was, in fact, the mandolin.
The other song that convinced me was definitely folk, but I'll put it here anyway:
The Wailin' Jennys - One Voice (http://www.amazon.com/One-Voice/dp/B000S45I6O)

[journeybear]

I would just like to amend what I said regarding Cheri Knight's album "The Knitter." I dug it out after not listening to it for a while, and though it is a very good album well worth having, there's no mandolin on it.
But Jimmy Ryan is on half the songs on "Northeast Kingdom." :mandosmiley:

Dang! No lefty mandosmiley! :mad: :grin: :whistling:

[Jill McAuley]

Doesn't that fella out of the Arcade Fire play a resonator mandolin on some of their songs? I know I've seen him with one in live footage on the telly, but sure maybe he's only wearing it!

Cheers,
Jill

[journeybear]

I think you're right. I think it was them that surprised me when they were on SNL this season, or was it ACL?
I have no idea if they used it when recording, though. He was actually playing it, as well as wearing it. ;)
I'll have to look through the archives, but I think it was a regular A model. Thankfully I have videotape. :)

[Jim MacDaniel]

There are some very tasty mandolin licks on Mindy Smith's You Know I Love You Baby (http://www.amazon.com/You-Know-I-Love-Baby/dp/B001EWBGC4/ref=sr_f2_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237822578&sr=102-1).

[journeybear]

Doesn't that fella out of the Arcade Fire play a resonator mandolin on some of their songs? I know I've seen him with one in live footage on the telly, but sure maybe he's only wearing it!

Having gone to the video tape ... Yes, in Arcade Fire's SNL appearance 2/24/07, on their second song Win Butler played a resonator mandolin, and rarer still, someone else (Regine?) played a hurdy-gurdy. He was just strumming it, so I can't recommend this as a good example for this thread. There may be something more in their Austin City Limits appearance, but judging from this I doubt it.

One reason he was playing this is he smashed his guitar at the end of the first song. Just before they went live for their second song, host Rainn Wilson asked him in a deadpan voice what happened to his guitar. :))

Good luck finding this on the interweb. NBC clamps down on people posting their footage, and I couldn't find it at the NBC site. Here's a pic anyway. There's more here (http://stereogum.com/archives/video/sak-vid-pa-kanpe-arcade-fire-on-snl_004705.html), pretty fan-oriented.

[onassis]

Jim's mention of the Gourds Brought to mind their version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice". Now that's good family fun! Nuthin' but mando, bass and drums. Raucous and rockin'.

[Jim MacDaniel]

They also do a fun cover of Ziggy Stardust :mandosmiley:

[journeybear]

Jim's mention of the Gourds Brought to mind their version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice". Now that's good family fun! Nuthin' but mando, bass and drums.

THAT'S who it is?!?!? I love that! A friend of mine said it was Hayseed Dixie, then he said he wasn't sure. He and I have done that a few times at gigs, gets a great response. Especially when I say "my mind on my money and my money on my mind" as low as I can. Think Ike Turner on "Proud Mary" of The Coaster's bass singer on "Yakety Yak." Fun it is!

BTW & FWIW, The Gourds are wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales' favorite band (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/magazine/18wwln-domains-t.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin). Here is a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAM3C3dpIA) of some guys goofing around with it. There are several live versions at youtube. Here's audio at lastfm (http://www.last.fm/music/The+Gourds/_/Gin+and+Juice)

[Jim MacDaniel]

If you like that, you'll likely also dig Dynamite Hack's acoustic cover of Boyz In Da Hood (http://www.amazon.com/Boyz-N-The-Hood/dp/B001NU1B9U/ref=sr_f2_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237838468&sr=102-2). It has zero mando content, but it is a blast as well.

[Charles the Bear]

Jim's mention of the Gourds Brought to mind their version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice". Now that's good family fun! Nuthin' but mando, bass and drums. Raucous and rockin'.

Marvellous :grin:

[CES]

Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to find and post links, but there's a fair amount of mando in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' music, and I've found recently that a few of their songs (ie, King's Highway, for one) sound pretty darn good with the mando playing the intro and really getting on some of the faster chording parts...OK, so single malt was involved in the discovery but it still sounded good the next day :mandosmiley:

Cool thread...I tell ya, if I didn't own a really old truck with limited sonic capabilities (without significant work/expense, anyway) I don't know that I'd ever really listen to the radio...

[journeybear]

Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to find and post links, but there's a fair amount of mando in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' music ...

Just so you understand that Mike Campbell plays a - well, I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a twelve string with a half-length neck which brings its range into the mandolin zone. He may play mandolin too, but be sure which is being used. The guy from Lucinda Williams' band (Doug Pettibone?) used one of these too, as on the song "Car Wheels." Using this makes it possible for guitarists to get the mandolin sound without learning how to play one, just as a banjolin enables mandolinists to get the banjo sound without even touching such a (insert derogatory term here). :mandosmiley:

[Jim MacDaniel]

I've heard them called mando-guitars, as well as 12-string octave guitars, and here (http://www.mandolin-guitar.com/info/what.jsp) is a link to someone's web site dedicated to this instrument, its predecessors, and derivatives. (Check out the wicked-cool Danelectro-inspired Jerry Jones "Shorty".)

[mrmando]

Yep, pretty cool.

Speaking of mandocaster action, Warren Ellis plays a mean riff with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, see:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7aP8_hUFIc

Actually, try "Midnight Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3knSYCXcQ0&feature=related)" for some more 'caster action from Warren. Is that a '50s Mary Kay he's playing? His red SB4 is on a stand behind him.

In this version of Midnight Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjZQYWGrT8E&feature=related), however, Warren is playing the SB4.