Motown on mandolin

[stevenmando]

I was a teenager when Motown was in but I was wondering if any mandolin music has been used in the present day for those great pieces of music , I was remembering the great Bass and steal guitar , but the questions is , has mandolin been used to play Motown in present day ?

[JimRichter]

I was a teenager when Motown was in but I was wondering if any mandolin music has been used in the present day for those great pieces of music , I was remembering the great Bass and steal guitar , but the questions is , has mandolin been used to play Motown in present day ?

Don't know of any use of mandolin in Motown, though I'm sure it has at some point.

Here's my arrangement of Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke

[journeybear]

I think it's much, much, much more likely that Motown has been and still gets played on mandolin than the other way around. I think one came up in last night's pickup band, backing the local Dead Head queen, though the night's a blur ...

I've done "My Girl" plenty of times over the years, and a few others. I don't see any reason a mandolin doesn't work on them. It's a very versatile instrument, more so than a lot of people, even its players, give it credit for. But I don't recall it being used in any Motown recordings. It just doesn't seem to fit into "the Motown Sound," which was built on bass, drums, guitars, organ, piano, horns, and string arrangements. Now and then something else would get used, like bassoon and flute on "Tears Of A Clown," but that's almost a novelty tune as a result. People are a bit more clued-in about the instrument's capabilities now than fifty years ago, though it still lags behind where it could be.

[k0k0peli]

I've done "My Girl" plenty of times over the years, and a few others.

Funny, as soon as I saw the thread title, I reached for my Coileman to play MY GIRL. We must be of an age. Now I'll have to go drag out my old MOTOWN SONGBOOK. I know it's back there somewhere... But no, I don't think mandos were part of the Motown Sound. I saw a documentary about the players some time back and I don't recall any mandos in the mob.

[stevenmando]

I have always been open to possibilities when it comes to music and the mandolin , some times I can hear a piece of music and grapple with the idea of that song and tweak it a bit to fit the range of the mandolin but sadly some times it dilutes the music ,some songs were meant to have that bass and drums and everything that makes the Motown sound but sometime you come across a tune like Stevie Wonder sir Duke and that sounded great and exciting when play by Jim Richter

[Austin Bob]

Run C&W comes to mind. A novelty bluegrass inspired type of band with some very good players. Heavier on the banjo, but I believe there is a mandolin on some of the tracks.

[zedmando]

Well if someone hadn't already done it--it would happen eventually--and it's cool.

[crisscross]

I prefer STAX on mandolin. We do a cover of "In the midnight hour" and the backbeats Steve Cropper played on his Tele work really well as mandolin chops.

[journeybear]

Worked up "Dock Of The Bay" last week for a pick-up gig. Fun to play the whistling part at the end. Also fun to enlighten the singer about the VI chord, that it's major, not the usual minor. Good old soul music!

[David Lewis]

Interestingly though, the beach boys used mandolin around the same time Motown didn't use it.

I think in part there are some social issues that prevent its use in Motown but mainly I think it's that it was a 'country' instrument (despite its use in jazz) and Motown was solidly urban.

[journeybear]

Yes, I'm sure mandolin wasn't on Berry Gordy's radar. Heck, in the 1960s it wasn't on anybody's radar outside of country and bluegrass. I'm not sure what you mean about its use in jazz, either, other than Jethro Burns, again hardly a blip on the general public's radar screen. The first instances I can recall of mandolin being used in rock music are The Rolling Stone's "Love In Vain" (thank you, Ry Cooder) and The Band, on a few occasions, notably "Rag Mama Rag." These were both in 1968. Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span may well have used it some; I'll have to check, or someone will ring in. Rod Stewart and Seals And Crofts came along in the early 1970s.

The Beach Boys used mandolin? Really???

[David Lewis]

Yes, I'm sure mandolin wasn't on Berry Gordy's radar. Heck, in the 1960s it wasn't on anybody's radar outside of country and bluegrass. I'm not sure what you mean about its use in jazz, either, other than Jethro Burns, again hardly a blip on the general public's radar screen.

Yes but if I'd ignored jethro, I'd be flayed alive


The first instances I can recall of mandolin being used in rock music are The Rolling Stone's "Love In Vain" (thank you, Ry Cooder) and The Band, on a few occasions, notably "Rag Mama Rag." These were both in 1968. Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span may well have used it some; I'll have to check, or someone will ring in. Rod Stewart and Seals And Crofts came along in the early 1970s. The Beach Boys used mandolin? Really??? [/QUOTE]

Two of them on 'Wouldn't it be nice'.

[David Lewis]

Yes but if I'd ignored jethro, I'd be flayed alive The first instances I can recall of mandolin being used in rock music are The Rolling Stone's "Love In Vain" (thank you, Ry Cooder) and The Band, on a few occasions, notably "Rag Mama Rag." These were both in 1968. Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span may well have used it some; I'll have to check, or someone will ring in. Rod Stewart and Seals And Crofts came along in the early 1970s. The Beach Boys used mandolin? Really???

Two of them on 'Wouldn't it be nice'. An eight string and a 12 string.

[journeybear]

Whoa! Apparently so.

And also, this has come up before hereabouts. No big surprise - we don't let much slip past us! I agree with this assessment, though, which is why it never occurred to me it was a mandolin. Or two mandolins, if you really want to count a 12-string half-neck as a mandolin. There is an awful lot of reverb on that, which makes it sound more like a harp. Also the doubling and cross-picking.

I've never thought that the intro to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was played on any fretted instrument. It sounds more like a harp to me.

[M.Marmot]

Don't forget, Sam and Dave by Sam and Dave.

'Hold on I'm Strumming' http://mandolinmagazine.com/reviews/grisman_bush.html

[Tony Pearce]

That I would like to hear.

[journeybear]

Wha? Whoa! Me too! Wish there were a little more soul music on it ... maybe ...