Random mandolin sightings

**journeybear** · Sep-28-2011, 5:12pm

Just saw "Magic Trip," the documentary that finally got pieced together from all the footage and recordings compiled on the now-famous cross-country bus trip by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters back in 1964 - sure to become a cult classic, an encapsulation of some aspects of the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Just as I was thinking (mandolinist that I am), "But no mandolin!" (Ken Kesey playing his flute often, and a guitar and recorder/slide flute combo were seen often), Neal Casady drove the bus off the road into the sand in the Arizona desert, and they were stuck. So naturally, they decided to have some fun, took some acid, frolicked in a nearby pond, and there suddenly appeared a mandolin - a none-too-fancy bowlback, but still, groovy. (This is about 40-45 minutes in). It encored a bit later, when they showed up at somebody's friend's house before he got home from work and they had some fun running around playing every instrument they had - including the above, plus saxophone, trombone, and another recorder. Not that anyone seemed to know how to play any of these instruments, but that hardly seemed the point. Nor mine here. What I liked was learning that, in this nonsensical excursion that helped kick off the counterculture movement, there was a mandolin in the mix.

**BlackChris** · Sep-29-2011, 10:02pm

Aussie film called Mad Bastards - just new out - has two old musician guys who play different songs all the way through the film - first song up guitar and mandolin and the mando features later on too. Good film as well

**journeybear** · Oct-25-2011, 11:42pm

Tuned in to Leno tonight because the listing said "Yo-Yo Ma and Friends," so I had no idea whom that meant - like Chris Thile.

But it was thus a pleasant surprise, a song from the Goat Rodeo release. Not earth-shaking, nor mando-centric, but a pleasant ensemble performance.

**Steve Sorensen** · Oct-26-2011, 12:52am

Mandolin playing "Brewer Boys" sadly, unfortunately, wrongly, foolishly cut from the "X Factor". How could Paula Abdul be so cruel?

Steve

**Ben Milne** · Oct-26-2011, 10:48am

Originally Posted by journeybear

Just saw "Magic Trip," the documentary that finally got pieced together from all the footage and recordings compiled on the now-famous cross-country bus trip by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters back in 1964 - sure to become a cult classic, an encapsulation of some aspects of the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Just as I was thinking (mandolinist that I am), "But no mandolin!" (Ken Kesey playing his flute:

I'm guessing then this ain't the Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys fame then?

**journeybear** · Oct-26-2011, 11:24am

Ummm ... no, mate - different Murphy - or should I say, McMurphy!

**journeybear** · Oct-26-2011, 10:52pm

Lady Antebellum on Ellen today, playing their new single, featuring an OM or mandocello. Nice enough tune, nicer still that this is a single - "We Own The Night." I doubt it will do as well as their smash hit "Need You Now" - not in the same league songwriting-wise, and it is hardly country, even by current Nashville standards - but I like that something featuring a mandolin family instrument will be getting airplay on the level this will. It is most prominent in the opening hook, and then serves mostly as a rhythm instrument, with repeats of that hook.

**thewhitegts** · Oct-26-2011, 10:55pm

Originally Posted by StevenS

Mandolin playing "Brewer Boys" sadly, unfortunately, wrongly, foolishly cut from the "X Factor". How could Paula Abdul be so cruel?

Steve

That wasn't a bad looking F Model Washburn the kid played on there...

**journeybear** · Nov-09-2011, 11:07pm

Love 'em, hate 'em, don't give a hoot about 'em, give them a little credit - The Band Perry won three big CMA awards - song of the year and single of the year for "If I Die Young" (actually, the awards go to the writers and producers), and New Artist Of The Year, an award in their own right. They did not win for Vocal Group Of The Year - that went to Lady Antebellum, who did feature OM in their performance, and of course mandolin was featured by The Band Perry. Mandolin showed up in other performances as well, by Faith Hill and others. It was a nice bump in visibility for our beloved instrument.

PS: Biggest AWWW moment - Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert winning for Male and Female Vocalist Of The Year (respectively), the capper to a banner year for the happy couple. Best overall moment - Hank Jr. poking fun at himself, ably abetted by hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood; good PR, yes, but good comedy, too.

**mritter** · Nov-10-2011, 6:09am

And.....that Band Perry kid was playing an Ellis A at one time. Didn't see the show last night. Can't be all bad.

**journeybear** · Nov-14-2011, 1:08am

Another off-screen sighting - that is, an appearance on a soundtrack, this time in a recent episode of "Parenthood." The song played just after Christina has her baby is a pleasant little tune, fingerpicked guitar and nice vocal harmonies, with a bit of mandolin at the end. After some looking I found it was "Such Great Heights" by Iron & Wine from the "Garden State" soundtrack - definitely not the original techno version by The Postal Service nor the thrash version by Confide. Interesting to hear such divergent versions of the same song. I think they went with the right one.

**Ben Milne** · Nov-14-2011, 1:27am

Saw a sigma mandolin with electric pickup being used on stage with Bright Eyes over the weekend.

**KristinEliza** · Nov-21-2011, 11:57am

Saw a Banjolin/Mando-Banjo in a scene from Breaking Dawn yesterday. Only about 30 minutes into the movie, in the Rio Scene.

Probably not a lot of Twilight fans on this forum

**journeybear** · Nov-21-2011, 12:15pm

Prolly not.

though now that I know this, I am going to have to watch that. but first, I'll have to watch all three previous movies so I can get all caught up and put this in proper perspective.

Or not.

I saw Higher Ground, an odd but oddly intriguing movie about a woman's involvement in a fundamentalist Baptist community in the 1970s - 1980s (seems - the filmmakers were careful to avoid time and place references). It seemed like the South, but apparently it was upstate (or Hudson Valley) New York - because as I was reading the credits, listening to a bit of mandolin in the hymns, I noticed thanks to the NY film commision and a reference to the Hudson Valley. Also a couple of music credits that included Amy Helm. That's the mandolin-pickin' daughter of mandolin-pickin' Levon Helm from The Band, dontcha know.

Also, there was an appearance at the AMA Awards last night - The Band Perry doing their smash hit, "If I Die Young." Also, Taylor Swift went out of her way to go across the aisle and hug Kimberly Perry before she went up to accept her award for Artist Of The Year. Sweet.

**Mike Scott** · Nov-21-2011, 3:36pm

Last week the old Bogart classic "To Have and Have Not" based on the Hemingway book was on TCM. In a couple of the bar scenes there was an oval hole two point (as I recall) being played in the "group". I was shocked. All chordal strumming.

**journeybear** · Nov-21-2011, 5:40pm

Wow! How did I miss that? Maybe I was watching Lauren Bacall too closely ...

BTW, if you didn't know, that is Hoagy Carmichael at the piano.

**F-2 Dave** · Nov-21-2011, 5:50pm

Must have seen that movie a half dozen times. Mandolin sighting always slipped by me. Hoagy is the man and Bacall was definitely watch worthy.

**journeybear** · Dec-19-2011, 5:40pm

On SNL this past weekend, cast member Jason Sudeikas made two appearances as a minstrel of sorts playing a cheap Pac-Rim mandolin, during a parody of War Horse. Unfortunately, he strummed it a bit.

Not like the old days, when band leader and guitarist GE Smith occasionally would play mandolin as they went to commercial. No great shakes, but no slouch, either.

**Ben Milne** · Feb-15-2012, 11:58pm

Local Beer company's Cider ad featuring a hipsters playing a tater bug

**journeybear** · Mar-04-2012, 1:08am

Well, geez, I dunno ...

... I didn't mention Jack White's upcoming appearance on SNL because I didn't expect there to be any MC. Well, there was, sort of ...

... For the first song he played an acoustic guitar and was backed by all female musicians. Nice, but nothing extraordinary. For the second song he played an electric guitar and was backed by all male musicians, including fiddle and mandolin. His guitar was turned up so loud relative to all the other instruments that they couldn't be heard, even the drums (just barely), and it had some effect that kept changing pitch, which was pretty annoying. In fact, the whole thing was. So, yeah, it was a mandolin sighting, but not a mandolin hearing.

**SincereCorgi** · Mar-04-2012, 1:40pm

Originally Posted by journeybear

Well, geez, I dunno ...

... I didn't mention Jack White's upcoming appearance on SNL because I didn't expect there to be any MC. Well, there was, sort of ...

... For the first song he played an acoustic guitar and was backed by all female musicians. Nice, but nothing extraordinary. For the second song he played an electric guitar and was backed by all male musicians, including fiddle and mandolin. His guitar was turned up so loud relative to all the other instruments that they couldn't be heard, even the drums (just barely), and it had some effect that kept changing pitch, which was pretty annoying. In fact, the whole thing was. So, yeah, it was a mandolin sighting, but not a mandolin hearing.

Yeah, I saw this too and was wondering what people thought. What got me is that there was no place whatsoever in that texture to hear a mandolin, and the stuff that the guy was 'playing' on it seemed more like an excuse to make dramatic gestures rather than anything that would have any musical impact. Still, no denying that Jack White has a flare for visual impact. I thought the contrast of the white/female and black/male ensembles was pretty neat.

**journeybear** · Mar-04-2012, 1:44pm

Yep. I give him props for stage craft - casting, costume design, and such - and I did like the first song. The second was just too much guitar overwhelming everything else, and the effect he was so fond of wasn't working for me either. Music is still paramount in a musical performance, as far as I'm concerned (I may be a bit old-fashioned there

), so when it gets submerged or supplanted by other aspects I tend to lose interest. Still, this was a bit of an upturn after the last couple/few musical guests. Been a bit of a rough patch, and next week it's The Shins. Trying to be optimistic ...

**Ed Goist** · Mar-04-2012, 6:42pm

I've watched the Jack White SNL performance a few times now off the DVR.
I really liked both songs. However, I like just about everything Jack White does, and having been a big fan for several years, I'll admit to not being too objective.
All that said, I'm pretty sure that's a mandola being played during the second song...Talk about rare.

**GDAE** · Mar-04-2012, 7:14pm

He had one of the most expressive fiddlers in the world playing on that second song, Fats Kaplin, and you couldn't hear him at all. What a waste of a talented performer.

**journeybear** · Mar-30-2012, 9:26am

Last night on Letterman there was a performance by the cast of the Broadway musical, "Once." I was surprised to learn there had been an attempt to cash in on the rather limited success of this delightful independent movie - Oscar winner for best song notwithstanding - and approached with mixed feelings of curiosity and apprehension. It opened with a bunch of lively musicians dancing around and playing instruments, more theatrically than musically, even pushing an upright piano around while playing it - with a string section of fiddle, banjo and mandolin. Not that it could be heard, mind you, but this was a random mandolin sighting, for sure. At least when they settled down and segued into "Falling Slowly" things got better. Even then, it was odd to see the male singer play an intentionally distressed guitar - nicely polished except for the worn areas around the soundhole - even though the intent was to recreate the original from the movie. All in all, pretty weird, taking a pretty low key movie and trying to jazz it up for Broadway. Must have been quite challenge to turn a quiet little movie about a busker into a musical with splashy dance numbers.

Of course, Broadway rarely misses a chance to try and make a buck.

Sometimes this works, but this seems so counter to the spirit of the movie. Oh well, there was a mandolin on the tube. Woo hoo!