The Weight

[Jim Broyles]

I'm posting this here also along with the Song and Tune Projects forum. It isn't really the kind of project the Cafge looks for. Let me know what you think.


A few of us over at TDPRI, the Telecaster site, submitted parts for this project. Yours truly with the mandolin parts, including the intro and second solo and all mando fills.

TDPRI Project

[MikeEdgerton]

Really nice.

[Barry Platnick]

Man, that's great!

[Eliot Greenspan]

wonderful

[Mark Hudson]

You can look for my "Fans of The Band" thread on this site...
and yeah, I *like*! ;-)

[CES]

Really nice! One of my favorites--

[AlanN]

Nice, Jim. I like the drummer, too.

Tell us, was that an Ultex 1.14?

[Jim Broyles]

Yes!

[Gelsenbury]

Brilliant!

[Malcolm G.]

One of my all time favorite songs - ya done it proud!

[Ed Goist]

Outstanding!
Well done Jim.

[Jim Broyles]

Thanks, everyone. I also played high strung acoustic guitar on it. It's a regular six-string, but the bottom four strings are tuned an octave higher than normal, in case you didn't know. There's a thread about the project over at the Tele site and I posted a video about how I did it.

[eadg145]

Very nice, Jim! The whole band has a nice clean sound.
I need to learn this tune, as guys I jam with on my annual pilgrimage to Pennsylvania really like to play it. Maybe I'll learn it this year. Seems like everyone plays it in a different key. Makes me crazy.

[Rodney Riley]

Thanks, everyone. I also played high strung acoustic guitar on it. It's a regular six-string, but the bottom four strings are tuned an octave higher than normal, in case you didn't know. There's a thread about the project over at the Tele site and I posted a video about how I did it.

Didn't look at your video. Just an FYI. D'Addario has a set of "High Strung Nashville" strings. EJ38H. I'd heard of people taking 12 string sets and just using the octave strings. Little cheaper to just buy this set.

[Jim Broyles]

Yeah I used 1/2 a set of GHS Silk & Bronze 370-12L strings. I had originally put some strings I had laying around on it to see if I liked it. The problem with the octave 12-string method is that I really can't use the standard pitch strings on my other acoustic as they are too light at 11-49. The set I have on it is 11 14 9 14 23 29. IMO, it's a little light. The EJ38H set is way too skinny to suit me.

[Rosemary Philips]

This is excellent! Great rendition of a great tune....

[journeybear]

Nicely done! Kind of wish the guitarist didn't come in on your solo (mando-centric guy that I am) but I imagine that was planned out, so ... so be it. Good to hear a version like this, that is reminiscent of the original and still new, at the same time. There is something about this song that makes it so universally loved by so many people with such diverse tastes, ages, and backgrounds. If any of you remember the movie "It Might Get Loud," this is the song the three guitarists finally jam on, at the end, on acoustic guitars if I recall correctly. It's common ground for so many. My band does this at almost every show - we almost always start with "Up On Cripple Creek," but this gets its due as well, and I love playing the little piano riffs in the chorus, and when I get a good solo out of it, it's one of the high points of my night. But this, with full orchestration and harmony, is a real treat. Thanks for sharing!

[Jim Broyles]

The guy who ran the project mixed it and put the stuff where he felt it went the best. I originally recorded the mando solo for the first solo which is only as long as a verse without a chorus. I am not that crazy about any of the guitar solos, but it sounds okay as a whole. We just sent the guy audio files and he put it all together. I think the vocals are especially good on it.

[journeybear]

Thanks for explaining the process. Yes, the vocals are great. The way they build, and the timing (always a bear) - excellent. I would have brought up the organ and piano in the mix, but then, in my mind I keep hearing the way The Band did it. All in all, this is one of the best of these projects I have heard. Now I'm thinking of working up that intro myself.

BTW, what happened tthe second verse? I'm worried about Carmen now, stuck with the devil ...

[David M.]

Very nice! Love it! I named my 2nd son LUKE (Crazy Chester didn't go over well w/my wife).

[Ed Goist]

Here's a wonderful version of The Weight by the New Prairie Sunset Band, featuring the Cafe's own Michael Pastucha on mandolin.
Great stuff!

[Elliot Luber]

Thanks for sharing this Jim. Sounds great.