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Thread: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

  1. #1
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    I did not know Steve Winwood played mandolin...




    Looks like a Breedlove.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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  3. #2
    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    I've always assumed that the riff to Blind Faith's Had to Cry Today was written on mandolin, just 'cuz it fits so well.

    When Back in the High Life came out, I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to jam in a hotel room with Spencer Davis. I had a '57 mandocaster with me, and he really wanted to hear "Stevie's tune". A great guy, super-humble, appreciative of the opportunity to be jammin' with American musicians (I'm Canadian, but whatever). And he was freely sharing his case of warm Harley Davidson beer.
    mando scales
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  4. #3
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    Apparently Steve plays many instruments, keyboard,guitar,mandolin,bass, clarinet and sax.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    not a donut Kevin Winn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    Steve is one of the great musicians of our age. As noted, he plays lots of instruments, and all of them better than most people that call those their primary instruments...
    "Keep your hat on, we may end up miles from here..." - Kurt Vonnegut

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    Registered User Eric F.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    That's really good. Thanks for posting this. And yeah, pretty sure it's a Breedlove McKenzie. One of the four finest mandolins I've ever played.

  8. #6
    Registered User Francis J's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    Do my eyes/ears deceive me? or is the mandolin tuned to something other than standard GDAE ? ...CGDA perhaps

  9. #7
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    I think it's standard tuning on the record. It was one of the first songs I jammed along to when I got my mandolin a few weeks ago. I'm a newbie that's played guitar for 40 years. I found the song pretty easy to pick up by ear, though I'll admit it was far from perfect. I just checked out the video, and I do think it's in a different key than on the record.

  10. #8
    Registered User tree's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    It's in the key of D on the record, and not shockingly, he does it in C in the video. It's crazy high to sing it in D, even if you're Stevie Winwood and you once did.
    Clark Beavans

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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    As Kevin says: "Steve is one of the great musicians of our age." I sure agree, he does it all with complete virtuosity. I am really privileged to have seen him perform live, only once unfortunately (so far), and it was an amazing tour de force of musicianship. Until then I was also unaware of his mandolin chops. His touring band is as good as it gets also - don't miss seeing him if you get the opportunity!

  12. #10
    Registered User Julian Morris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    One of my old favourite albums id Arc of a Diver, Winwood played all the instruments on it. It still sounds fresh. The mandolin part o this song doesn't look too tricky, may give it a go myself.

  13. #11
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steve Winwood "Back in the high life again"

    I played that part on mandolin in a "pickup" rock band we threw together at a company I worked for. We rehearsed once a week for a couple of months and played for the company's annual business meeting. We actually sounded pretty good. As I remember, the fingering on the part is pretty easy, but the timing is deceptive.

    There are multiple videos out there of him playing that tune. It seems he has a different mandolin in each one of them, from ultra cheapos to decent instruments. I guess he plays "whatever is a available." I have also heard an electric guitarist do a pretty good cover of that mandolin part.

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