Itzhak Pealman And John Denver Playing Bluegrass

[Steve Ostrander]

I'm not a deputized member of the BG police, but isn't that an F4 that John is chopping away on in the last clip? Not his best work, but he obviously had an appreciation for the genre.

[Timbofood]

Nick, you're a batter man than I! I had to stop at 1:42, I'm sure serial killers must feel a certain amount of fun in what they do, that was pretty awful on SOOOO many levels!
I won't take back ALL the nice things I've said about you Scott but, seriously rethinking some.


I seem to recall quite a bit of cwap flying off the musical shelves back then but, there was some good too.

[FLATROCK HILL]

Nick, you're a batter man than I! I had to stop at 1:42...

No ear-buds with me today.
I foolishly clicked on that video while sitting here in the airport terminal. Judging by the faces on the folks sitting nearby, letting it play until 1:42 may have been hazardous to my health.

[allenhopkins]

Yeah, all right, but could Carter Stanley dance like that? Could Scruggs play banjo and bass drum simultaneously? And how many "trad" BG bands could incorporate the subtleties of 'cello and bass fiddle?

You guys are really harsh...

[DataNick]

Yeah, all right, but could Carter Stanley dance like that? Could Scruggs play banjo and bass drum simultaneously? And how many "trad" BG bands could incorporate the subtleties of 'cello and bass fiddle?

You guys are really harsh...

Thank you Allen for your carefully placed words of "correction"...shame on us, I think...LOL!

[Mark Gunter]

Thanks for posting, Nick, and thanks to everyone who shared photos and videos of John, cool stuff!

Gibson oval-hole in this shot, but can only post a link: http://www.jdgrs.com/guitar_photos.php?ID=582

John would probably have expected the negativity from this thread, it always irked him that so many critics belittled his music as sugary pop not to be taken seriously - whether folk, country, BG, whatever, people have always loved to hate on JD. At the same time, he wrote and recorded some of the most successful songs and albums of his time. He was overshadowed by the rock and roll tidal wave and the cutting edge rock developing from it.

IMO he was a great musician and he loved roots music (folk, blues, BG) although his vocals and general style were not well suited to roots music in general.

I raise my glass to another great, imperfect musician - here's to you, John!

[ccravens]

Wow.

Avett Brothers haters abound...

[Timbofood]

All I can say is, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
Have at it folks, I will go watch "Munsters, Go Home" and, pour bad dialogue in on my own.
And really Chris, I'm not hating them, I do not know them enough to hate but, at this moment, I will take Bartleby the scriveners stand:" I would prefer not to."

[DataNick]

All I can say is, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
Have at it folks, I will go watch "Munsters, Go Home" and, pour bad dialogue in on my own...

You're killin' me brotha, you're killin' me...LOL!

[David Lewis]

Thanks for posting, Nick, and thanks to everyone who shared photos and videos of John, cool stuff! Gibson oval-hole in this shot, but can only post a link: http://www.jdgrs.com/guitar_photos.php?ID=582 John would probably have expected the negativity from this thread, it always irked him that so many critics belittled his music as sugary pop not to be taken seriously - whether folk, country, BG, whatever, people have always loved to hate on JD. At the same time, he wrote and recorded some of the most successful songs and albums of his time. He was overshadowed by the rock and roll tidal wave and the cutting edge rock developing from it. IMO he was a great musician and he loved roots music (folk, blues, BG) although his vocals and general style were not well suited to roots music in general. I raise my glass to another great, imperfect musician - here's to you, John!

It was also hardcore country guys. Remember Charlie rich burning the card announcing johns winning of an award 'after he's said my "good friend" John Denver.

IMHO he was a great songwriter. Did I like every song of his? No. But I love some of them. Did he construct them well? Did he play to an emotional truth? Yes to both.

Let the poor guy rest in peace and appreciate it for what it is.

[BryanS]

JD never cut a bluegrass album. The album Autograph has the "Ballad if St. Anne's Reel" (see video clip below) and a version of "How Mt. Girls Can Love" on it. There is a somewhat fuzzy photo of John playing mando on the inner sleeve of the vinyl of his "Back Home Again" album, 1974. While I am a biased, life-long JD fan, the guy had incredible guitar chops (three chords for the masses and a jazz player in his hotel room), solid mando chops, good piano skills, played the fiddle enough to saw away in front of 15,000+ people, and was known for his banjo playing when he joined the Mitchell Trio in the mid 1960s.

Oh, and let me throw a bomb in the room...hey this is an old thread and nobody is going to read this anyways: "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" is probably the bestselling bluegrass song of all time.

[Mandoplumb]

[QUOTE=BryanS;1464325]JD never cut a bluegrass album. The album Autograph has the "Ballad if St. Anne's Reel" (see video clip below) and a version of "How Mt. Girls Can Love" on it. There is a somewhat fuzzy photo of John playing mando on the inner sleeve of the vinyl of his "Back Home Again" album, 1974. While I am a biased, life-long JD fan, the guy had incredible guitar chops (three chords for the masses and a jazz player in his hotel room), solid mando chops, good piano skills, played the fiddle enough to saw away in front of 15,000+ people, and was known for his banjo playing when he joined the Mitchell Trio in the mid 1960s.


Oh, and let me throw a bomb in the room...hey this is an old thread and nobody is going to read this anyways: "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" is probably the bestselling bluegrass song of all time.[/QUOTE


In what universe is "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" a bluegrass song? I've not even heard it done in "bluegrass" style. See some one is reading this post.

[Mark Gunter]

In what universe is "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" a bluegrass song? I've not even heard it done in "bluegrass" style. See some one is reading this post.

LOL, got a chuckle at both comments: his and yours. It was good to hear from a JD fan, I was never much of a JD fan, but I have a lot of respect for Johnny and his many talents as a musician, which BryanS pointed out, but - how is Thank God I'm A Country Boy bluegrass, much less the best-selling bluegrass song of all time?

[travellerbytrade]

In what universe is "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" a bluegrass song? I've not even heard it done in "bluegrass" style. See some one is reading this post.

"Best-selling" is a quantitative thing. Being a researcher, I would want to see the numbers. Maybe it was best selling among those music buyers that actually think it's bluegrass.

Which brings us back to the original clip of Itzhak and John. Since it came from Itzhak's website, I feel the person who wrote the caption for the video should be called to the table. It wasn't John and I'm guessing it wasn't Itzhak either, so let us all let them off the hook for it.

Someone needs to put their arm around this caption-writer person's shoulder and gently point out that it's an awkward blip that would greatly benefit from a little adjustment...because people are talking.

[DataNick]

...Which brings us back to the original clip of Itzhak and John. Since it came from Itzhak's website, I feel the person who wrote the caption for the video should be called to the table. It wasn't John and I'm guessing it wasn't Itzhak either, so let us all let them off the hook for it.

Someone needs to put their arm around this caption-writer person's shoulder and gently point out that it's an awkward blip that would greatly benefit from a little adjustment...because people are talking.

Joyce,

I should remind you that Mr. Pearlman himself captioned the photo in the OP on his Facebook page as he and John Denver "playing bluegrass". It stands to reason that Mr. Pearlman certainly thinks it was bluegrass, and that the person who captioned the video probably just followed his lead.

[travellerbytrade]

Joyce,

I should remind you that Mr. Pearlman himself captioned the photo in the OP on his Facebook page as he and John Denver "playing bluegrass". It stands to reason that Mr. Pearlman certainly thinks it was bluegrass, and that the person who captioned the video probably just followed his lead.

Then someone needs to put their arm around Mr. Pearlman's shoulder and gently tell him that the caption needs a little adjustment. It's OK, he's classical. They're a stickler for details.

Note to Joyce with arm gently around shoulder: It's "Perlman," not Pearlman.

[Mandoplumb]

Joyce,

I should remind you that Mr. Pearlman himself captioned the photo in the OP on his Facebook page as he and John Denver "playing bluegrass". It stands to reason that Mr. Pearlman certainly thinks it was bluegrass, and that the person who captioned the video probably just followed his lead.

I think you just hit on what bothered me about this "bluegrass" tribute. I've heard so many people say they don't like BG and then hear some good BG band and say they like them. The problem is they associate blue grass with poorly done acoustic music from acoustic country to old time to bluegrass to who knows. Any group of people with one of them banging on a banjo is BG in their mind.what John Denver did was give that mind set credibility,that music was not up to par with his other music, as if he was saying " good enough for BG". I will never put down his ability to sing play and write songs I like a lot of them I just think he did a disservice to BG with his apparent lack of professional consideration that he had with his other music.

[MandoPlayer]

What is the name of this song?

[RustyMadd]

Here's video for the photo, apparently from a tv special Denver does seem to be playing a mando.



BTW, Special Consensus released a Denver tribute bluegrass album in 2014.

Not seeing any link to any video? Help?

[michaelpthompson]

Wow[/url]!
Not bad fiddling by Pearlman who is mostly a Classical guy!

Perlman is apparently quite versatile. A few years ago, I watched a video of him going to Poland and learning some Klezmer music. The folk musicians said his style definitely reflected his classical background, but they all had fun with it.

[jimmy powells]

I totally agree with Datanick. I reckon John Denver probably had Gibson make him an F4 with block inlays. That's what it looks like. All musicians are entitled to dabble in all forms of music, as and when they wish. Similar to Willie Nelson and his 'bluegrass' album to name just one.

[tmsweeney]

I heard a classically trained violinist who was also very into Bluegrass, describe Pearlman's playing as Bluegrass executed from a classical perspective. There is a lot less scooping and sliding into notes than Kenny Baker for example, Pearlman tends to follow it as if it was written though he probably learned it by ear.
As for John Denver, I do think a lot of his songs are kind of sappy, but they will remain popular for some time to come, because, they are great songs.
I was never very into John Denver, but then I saw some recordings of his early 70's T.V. performances, he really was a gifted and skilled guitar player, with that ever so powerful voice.

[rnjl]

Oh, a couple of things here.

Re: Itzhak Perlman, no less an authority than Andy Statman, who has gone out on tour with him in recent years, calls IP a brilliant improviser. That's pretty high praise coming from Andy. Their klezmer inspired music is no less an improvisational art form than bluegrass, so IMO, a world-class violinist who plays with one of the preeminent klezmer musicians of our age could probably hold his own in a bluegrass jam. Wouldn't sound like Curly Ray Cline, OBM, but then, who does?

Re: bad bluegrass JD covers. Went to my first (and possibly only) Rockgrass this year. Molly Tuttle closed out the festival in her encore with "Rocky Mountain High," straight up, done beautifully, and it had thousands of Rockygrass fans standing and singing along. Was one of those magical festival moments I'll remember.

(On the other hand, Rocky Mountain High is a very weird song. Guy moves to the Rockies, finds himself spiritually amidst all the natural beauty, then gets pissed that others want the same thing. It's the NIMBYist thing.)

[journeybear]

On the other hand, Rocky Mountain High is a very weird song. Guy moves to the Rockies, finds himself spiritually amidst all the natural beauty, then gets pissed that others want the same thing. It's the NIMBYist thing.

I don't think that's really what he doesn't like. It's the development, the ruining of natural beauty to build on it and thus bring more people in. It's the "scars upon the land" to which he objects. Yes, it says "more people," but it seems to me that wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the scars.

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
While they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

BTW, my favorite Colorado musical moment came back in 1977 when I was living in Boulder. A few of us went to Red Rocks to see Linda Ronstadt, at the time possible the biggest star in the country. She hit the stage right at sunset, with the setting sun setting the Red Rocks ablaze, singing "Hey, Colorado ..." Glorious.