Monday, July 14, 2014

Original Song Project: Jack Hayden, Olivia Is Here

So here's a song I wrote not too long ago for the child of a close friend of mine entitled Olivia Is Here. I had intended to put something together at the time of her birth, as I had done for his son, but this one didn't see daylight until she was a good five years old.  Which means she was able to give it a good listen for herself soon after it was recorded.  I'm playing a 1948 Gretsch Synchromatic in an open tuning.  Not much more to say other than that at the time I was listening to a lot of Merle Travis early instrumentals, so if you know that music you might detect that influence.

13 comments:

  1. Very nice Jack! I really like the ascending/descending arpeggios and how you "play across the bar lines"--extending measures and/or adding measures to a phrase. Thanks for posting.

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  2. I love this song on so many levels. The melody is as sweet as the performance is impressive. The finger rolls you do at :50 are really impressive and quite unexpected. Then you come out of it with a very nice bopping melody. That, and your finger vibrato. Bravo.

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  3. Guys, thanks for the comments, I appreciate them. Mr GeeBee: Yes I often play with a loose approach, even in a song with a well-defined structure such as this one, and I’m glad you appreciate it. Sometimes I cross that line intentionally, more often it just happens. Do you have any self-penned songs around? I’d love to hear some.

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  4. I do have some songs recorded, I'll be posting one soon.

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  5. Just to circle back, I've listened to this 1000 times now. This is really phenomenal.

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  6. Hey Jack-

    That's such a wonderful tune. And your geetar sounds fantastic too. I really hope you post more!

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  7. Lisa, Holly: Thanks for the compliment - I'm glad you like it. My guitar thanks you too Lisa. Good to have you join in the discussion here.

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  8. Jack,your song has inspired me to leave my days of blog-free darkness behind and join the blog bright world. Great song for a great girl. We all miss Morgan in the old neighborhood, but frankly, it was his kids who really livened up the place. I haven't listened to the song 1000 times, but will continue to listen. Thanks to all of you for populating this blog and forcing music in through a crack in my exoskeleton.

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  9. James, Nice to have you on board and out of the darkness. Glad you liked the tune and, yes, she is a sweet one! I look forward to hearing more of your observations.

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  10. This song just came up on my iPhone. Best song ever.

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  11. Thanks. But we all know your favorite song ever is Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's Bend It. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTR06YItGVo

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  12. Love this folky rag! That super fast tremolo flows so well with the rest of the song.

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