MEDIA
Preview
BY CHRIS KIES AND JOE COFFEY
Books
through the process of mixing them using
today’s contemporary techniques.
There’s a lot to take in. There’s Waters’
sheer embodiment of the blues in songs like
“Mannish Boy” and “I’m a King Bee,” with his
authoritative vocal command and his restrained
thumbpick licks between repeated verse lines.
His aggressive pinky slide technique is still raw
and emotive in “Call Me Muddy Waters” and
“She’s Nineteen Years Old.” Johnny Winters
hangs around for several songs and takes
some solos on his Les Paul. Mighty Joe Young
and Big Twist also make an appearance, turning “Five Long Years” into an improvisational
tribute to Waters, much to his delight. The
video closes with “Got My Mojo Working,”
where Buford channels Little Walter and whips
the crowd into a frenzy. Placed in the proper
perspective, this performance from the end of
Waters’ career is a nice little gem. —JC
List $13.98
Shoutfactory.com
Ultimate Hendrix
Ever wonder what Mr. Hendrix did on
October 25, 1966, or any other day of his
legendary career? Ultimate Hendrix is one
way to find out—that day was the first
documented London performance for the
newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience. The
book presents a chronological outline of
Hendrix’ career from his army discharge to
his death in 1970. Entries for performances
and recording sessions contain details
about where Hendrix was, which songs were
played or worked on and who was in attendance. Author John McDermott compiled
this new journal-esque record with help
from producer Eddie Kramer and long-time
Hendrix friend/bassist Billy Cox.
Martin packs a wealth of knowledge about
mixing guitars into this contemporary primer
that covers every instrument. Regardless
of whether or not you dig today’s country
music, the songs cover a wide range of
stringed instrument sounds and their specific mixing strategies. The prerequisite
acoustic, lead, bass, steel and fiddle tracks
are there for you to learn with, as well as
dobro, mando, banjo, baritone, bouzouki,
talk box guitar and more. Actually moving
the pots and pans yourself to manage the
soundscapes for chart-topping songs involving dozens of tracks is a crash-course in
professional mixing that is as addictive as it
is educational. —JC
List $59.99
halleonard.com
Videos
By combining unreleased interviews with
bandmates and studio staff, general dialogue from raw tapes and information from
rarely seen photos, Ultimate Hendrix peels
back the curtain on a legendary guitarist
who created a lot of jaw-dropping material
over a short period of time. —CK
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of
Invention–In the 1960s
A clean cut, young man dressed in his Sunday
best is whisked to center stage on The Steve
Allen Show where two bicycles are waiting for
him. He proceeds to make music with them,
blowing into handlebars and running a bow
across spokes—and just like that, the 22-year
old artist is introduced to the US.
List $34.95
backbeatbooks.com
Mixing the Hits of Country
Anyone who dives into Dave Martin’s Mixing
the Hits of Country quickly learns that a
better grasp of the process—its possibilities, limitations and tricks—will change your
approach to the mixing board and even the
way you play. The 348-page book comes
with two discs featuring stand-alone tracks
for sound-alike versions of 10 recent country
hits by artists like Martina McBride, Brooks
and Dunn, George Strait and Rascal Flatts,
as well as professional mixes of the same
tracks. Essentially, you load the tracks into
your preferred DAW and Martin takes you
Muddy Waters—Live at ChicagoFest
Of all the Muddy Waters eras you’d love to
go back in time to experience—like early ‘40s
Muddy in Coahoma County, MS, or mid-‘50s
Chicago Muddy—you probably wouldn’t
set the flux capacitor to 1981 ChicagoFest
Muddy. The blues master was in the twilight
of his career, playing the ChicagoFest outdoor
music festival with a practically brand-new
backing band put together by long-time friend
Mojo Buford. That this performance was even
recorded is surprising, so it’s unfair to knock
it for its quality or for Waters’ performance
compared to those of his prime. With that
being said, this performance can still provide
quite a schoolin’ for any blues player willing
to pause for a moment and appreciate such a
crossroads of time and place.
This clip is among the 134 minutes of footage in the newly released DVD, Frank Zappa
and the Mothers of Invention—In the 1960s,
which documents Zappa’s oddball musical
journey. Zappa was an avant-garde composer and drew from a mixed bag of influences that ranged from Howlin’ Wolf to Igor
Stravinsky. His ability to challenge people to
rethink the possibilities of music was entertaining and impressive.
In addition to archival television appearances, the DVD contains studio footage,
previously unreleased interviews and new
interviews with band members and music
journalists, offering a well-rounded perspective on the band’s evolution and an insightful
glimpse into what made Zappa tick. —CK
List $19.95
mvdb2b.com
