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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Permalink The Song Baja by the Astronauts

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I sounds pretty close to me. looks simple to play. thanks im gonna try it. anyone else have any thoughts?

Last edited: May 19, 2012 10:17:49

as much as I love the "Surfin' with the Astronauts" LP
look for this one.
Movin' The Best of the Intrumentals
http://www.amazon.com/Movin-Astronauts/dp/B00004U8SZ

image

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: May 24, 2012 14:09:58

why does the 2002 cd cost 150$ and the 2008 "only" 40$? is there any notable difference between those two?

Every one plays it cause its such a great song!
Here's the T-chiefs playing it way too fast on the beach in Califel Spain.

The Thunderchiefs

NIB wrote:

why does the 2002 cd cost 150$ and the 2008 "only" 40$? is there any notable difference between those two?

well 1 is new, and 1 is used,
and the the newer one is supposedly remastered.

I think there was also a re-release that was in Mini LP cardboard sleeve.
mine is a regular cd jewel case. I payed 15 bucks wholesale. Wink

Jeff(bigtikidude)

by the way, I found this cd for 1 dollar in a used CD bin.

image

it is a mix of instros, surf/hot rod vocals, and the later non surf/hotrod
vocals.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

krupanut wrote:

Every one plays it cause its such a great song!
Here's the T-chiefs playing it way too fast on the beach in Califel Spain.

One of my favorites....have watched many times.

Here's our too fast version.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Last edited: May 24, 2012 18:56:12

My guitar student wanted help figuring out the bridge to Baja, so I videoed myself playing it. Now, a short search on youtube along with the above videos show there's a myriad ways of doing it. I contend this is exactly what the Astronauts player is doing, though they have a lot more finesse. Am I right? You have to listen closely to the original to find out.

note: I know the slide at the end is off time a bit.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Last edited: Aug 20, 2012 23:24:29

Danny FWIW, that's also what I came up with. Like you, I think that is basically how the Astronauts played it. You may be combining the rhythm and lead, which I think is good, and practical, since most players aren't going to have the luxury of three guitars doing all the parts.

I must have tried to decode that first bridge in Baja an easy 100 times. Here's a link to my SoundClick page where I've recorded what my ears hear. Click on 1st Solo.mp3. The other riff is from a B-52's tune.

Play 1st Solo.mp3

Please, keep in mind I'm not a great guitar player, nor pretend to be, but this is what I'm hearing on that first bridge. It sounds better at full speed and with band accompaniment. I don't have a very good sense of timing when I'm noodling around by myself.

While I like Danny's bridge, I think it's more complex than what the Astronauts are playing. I do think Danny has combined rhythm and lead parts.

I also think that last slide from the 4th to 9th frets is the rhythm guitar. It's really hard to make out exactly what the Astronauts are playing since there is so much reverb and the guitars sound so similar.

EDIT: I'm listening to the 1st bridge now through Audacity at 90% of full speed. There are definitely 2 guitars playing with one strumming.

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

Last edited: Aug 20, 2012 21:28:18

Sorry Doc, I can't go along with that. I think there's simply too many resonating notes going on that perfectly match the chord figures I'm using.

Forgive me for getting overly analytical here, I'm actually finding this exercise a lot of fun, sort of like solving a detective mystery. Back to my defense... Blah Blah

As a well seasoned guitarist I have found myself capable of picking out a specific guitarist's approach and find a consistent pattern. For instance, the bridges in Surf Party, and Hot Doggin' are also built around chord patterns, not individual notes. To me this is very telling. Look carefully at what I'm doing in the video, I'm simply moving a bar chord around and adding a note with my pinky, not only is that easy to play, I contend it's easier to remember how to play, which is just as important.

Another thing, if you listen closely to the 3 guitar parts in the song, their tones are very distinct. One's playing the drip, he's out. The rhythm guitar - who plays the sustained chords in the verse - has a thinner more washed out tone. You can still hear him playing in the bridge, that only leaves the lead guitarist to be playing both your individual notes and the resonating other strings from the chords that I'm adding.

Any others out there have an opinion?

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Last edited: Aug 20, 2012 23:26:51

I think you're right. I went back and listened again and the rhythm guitar is much thinner sounding and seems to drop out just prior to the bridge. The drip part is still being played throughout.

This makes things a lot more complicated for me because I like to learn the right way to play a song. Very Happy

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

Now this is the kind of thread I can really sink my teeth into!... REALLY working at working out the whole logic of a tune and deciphering it's parts...thank you Danny for putting the time in on this magnificent classic...

You're welcome DP.

Forgive me again, this time for getting preachy and off topic.

Doctor_Morbius wrote:

This makes things a lot more complicated for me because I like to learn the right way to play a song. Very Happy

For all we know, the Astronauts are playing it wrong, has anyone heard Lee Hazlewood's original?

My point is that I really think that's the wrong approach to playing surf music. The only right way to play a song is to stick to notes that don't clash with the chord structure (too much) and play at the same tempo as the rest of the band.

Have you seen how many videos there are of Baja on youtube? Hardly anyone plays it the way I just figured out, and there's no reason to. In fact there's every reason not to, as playing a guitar is mostly a means of personal expression, and one should play what feels natural, or enjoy the challenge of finding their own particular approach to a part. But mostly one should just revel in making a lot of noise.
Rock

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Danny, you've given me something to learn in that video. I've always just picked the single notes I remember from the melody a bit higher up on the neck...but I've heard so many different versions of that song over such a long period of time (plus the times I've played it) that I'm going to have to go back and listen to The Astronauts version again to see if that's largely what I'm remembering of it.

The Mystery Men?
El Capitan and The Reluctant Sadists
SSS Agent #31

Here's my attempt from earlier in the thread (I had since edited it). It uses the same positions as Danny's, but the lead notes are more picked out, and is a bit less "strummy". The beauty is that you play the melody note out of the chord positions anyway, so rhythm can be added to suit your taste or interpretation.

Danny, that is a really good question...what did the writer Lee Hazlewood intend? I hadn't thought about it before, but Hazlewood did produce AL Casey doing Baja on the "Surfin' Hootenanny" album. It's quite different than the Astronauts version.

I found this version on youtube..are any of these ctas you or members here? I like it..it's not the Astronauts but I dig the vibe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rmvhxWJ_Uo&feature=colike

Lose the 9s Delbert

After 25 years of listening to it, I just decided to learn how Baja is actually played and wanted to confirm what I found here. I'm a little late to the conversation but I noticed there was never a fully accurate description of the key documented.

Number9 stated correctly that it's in E Mixolydian but then everyone kept saying it's in E, which isn't really correct if you're going by the standard convention that this implies E major. It's enharmonic with A major.

But then there's the bridge that no one mentioned! That's in G major. A 1-5-4-5.

What a brilliantly simple and perfect song.

My favorite version of this song is on Jack Nitzsche's "The Lonely Surfer" and is played in a Bass VI by none other than David Gates, whom went on to form Bread in the late sixties.

Bread was a Soft Rock bank that had a number of hits in the early '70s. On at least some of their tunes, there was some mellow, but somewhat twangy guitar work, reminiscent of Duane Eddy.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

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