killbabykill34
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 3201
Jacksonville, AL
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Posted on Mar 08 2016 04:05 PM
I have been wanting to hear this solo album by James Mankey for ages. It seems it finally made its way up on Youtube and CDbaby. I always admired James' guitar playing in Concrete Blonde, despite being wrought with 80's rack effect crap. Anyway...I thought some of you might appreciate this. Not surf...but absolutely wonderful composition and playing.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsPbngNRGzSNUj08T7KQvgA8l1hG5_KH4
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caddady
Joined: Feb 14, 2010
Posts: 802
N.E. Ohio
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Posted on Mar 09 2016 09:47 AM
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Mar 09 2016 11:36 AM
I didn't know about this album. I was a big Concrete Blonde fan around '90-'91. Of course, Dusty Watson played with them for a while, and recorded either their first or second album with them! I really loved Mankey's style back then. I'll definitely have to check out this solo album. Did it just come out?
BTW, Mankey contributed his incredible, gorgeous version of "Back Home" to MuSick's tribute to the Shadows "An Evening in Nivram" - check it out:
— Ivan
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Last edited: Mar 09, 2016 11:44:29
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killbabykill34
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 3201
Jacksonville, AL
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Posted on Mar 09 2016 12:52 PM
IvanP wrote:
I didn't know about this album. I was a big Concrete Blonde fan around '90-'91. Of course, Dusty Watson played with them for a while, and recorded either their first or second album with them! I really loved Mankey's style back then. I'll definitely have to check out this solo album. Did it just come out?
BTW, Mankey contributed his incredible, gorgeous version of "Back Home" to MuSick's tribute to the Shadows "An Evening in Nivram" - check it out:
Ivan,
This solo instrumental album has been out for about a decade and a half but was out of print for a very long time. It seems to have just recently been made available on CDbaby.
I believe Dusty played on the track "True" on their first album. Their actual drummer has come and gone over the years, depending on the state of his drug addictions at any given time. Around Bloodletting they had the drummer from Roxy Music.
I caught on to them in the late 80's when "Free" was released. I sort of fell out of favor with them around the time they split up and didn't pay attention to their 00's reunion albums. And upon giving them a listen, I don't seem to have missed much.
I love James' playing style. But I will always take issue with that 80's overly effected, overly compressed guitar tone. And he was far from the worst offender. It was very much of its time. And there is a good reason it hasn't come back into favor.
— THE KBK ... This is the last known signal. We offer Sanctuary.
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Last edited: Mar 09, 2016 21:16:46
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Mar 09 2016 02:36 PM
Noah, I just listened to the whole album. Yeah, pretty ho-hum. Reminds me a bit of some of Jeff Beck's work from the '80s and '90s. Mankey must be pretty influenced by him - fingerpicking on a Strat, using a LOT of tremolo bar, very similar tones, whether clean or distorted. But overall there is not that many songs on there - or at least the kinds of songs that I like to hear. I was surprised to hear so much jazz=fusion influence, I didn't expect it, but maybe that's also from Beck. I heard a bit of surf there here and there, maybe the most on "Caution - Gun at Work", but maybe I'm just imagining things! Anyway, overall I didn't find the album all that interesting, though clearly Mankey's a great guitarist. (I don't know if I'd describe his sound as 'processed', I think he's just got compression and distortion on there, I don't hear a lot of chorus, delay, reverb, phaser, whatever else.)
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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killbabykill34
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 3201
Jacksonville, AL
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Posted on Mar 09 2016 03:13 PM
IvanP wrote:
Noah, I just listened to the whole album. Yeah, pretty ho-hum. Reminds me a bit of some of Jeff Beck's work from the '80s and '90s. Mankey must be pretty influenced by him - fingerpicking on a Strat, using a LOT of tremolo bar, very similar tones, whether clean or distorted. But overall there is not that many songs on there - or at least the kinds of songs that I like to hear. I was surprised to hear so much jazz=fusion influence, I didn't expect it, but maybe that's also from Beck. I heard a bit of surf there here and there, maybe the most on "Caution - Gun at Work", but maybe I'm just imagining things! Anyway, overall I didn't find the album all that interesting, though clearly Mankey's a great guitarist. (I don't know if I'd describe his sound as 'processed', I think he's just got compression and distortion on there, I don't hear a lot of chorus, delay, reverb, phaser, whatever else.)
Indeed. I just knew there were a few fans here on SG101. I found a couple of songs that stood out to me. But I agree that the album, as a whole, is pretty forgettable.
— THE KBK ... This is the last known signal. We offer Sanctuary.
www.thekbk.com
http://www.deepeddy.net/artists/thekbk/
www.reverbnation.com/thekbk
www.facebook.com/thekbkal
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