Surfing_Sam_61
Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
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Posted on Jan 15 2019 08:43 PM
I learned to play 100's of Surf Instrumentals on lead guitar, but can only remember like 30 songs and play without review before hand. Now I usually do pick it up again very fast, but just wish I could remember them all.
I just learned a song by The Super Stocks (I know they were a fake band) but they had killer car songs on the three LP's that was put out by Gary Usher. The song is Newport Beach, three Key changes (5th apart) I think. I think this maybe the hardest song to learn myself (Pipeline is a piece of cake to this monster). After working on it a while I got it. But this beast is amazing really. I like it.
It took me a while to learn Mr Rebel by Eddie and The Showman - Three key changes - most if it is in D then a short D# to E sequence etc then back ...this took me a while to . ..The key change thing does make it hard and the speed Bertrand played at and skill level is off the charts, you wonder how he ever came up with the song in the first place.
Most of the others I know are pretty easy to play - I like the car songs - they seem to use the same type of progressions no matter what the key is.
Just wondering if anyone tried out these two songs or have any others they think are hard to play.
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Stoopy
Joined: Dec 27, 2012
Posts: 110
Ex SoCal -> Gainesville VA
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Posted on Jan 15 2019 08:53 PM
For me, that would be XKE by the Boss Martians as well as Go Go Emergency by Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta.
Not so much because they are particularly challenging from a structure or composition point of view, but the original guitarists are so damn good and have such a great feel they put into the original recording, it takes all I have to put that same energy and timing to get the same groove. I find that to be the case on most anything Evan Foster plays, I just dig his style.
— Member in good standing, Mentone Beach Syncopation Reverberation Association
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Surfing_Sam_61
Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
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Posted on Jan 15 2019 10:08 PM
Yeah I will have to check those song outs Stoopy - thanks
This is the song I was talking about (Newport Beach) ...does anyone know this one? It sounds like Glenn Campbell on lead, not sure he played a lot on The Super Stocks 3 LP's
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Surfing_Sam_61
Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
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Posted on Jan 15 2019 10:16 PM
I love playing this tune - Richie Allen was only a performance name and he did a lot of studio work in fake Surf and Car bands + country - In one year he put out ten albums like this
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Surfing_Sam_61
Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
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Posted on Jan 15 2019 10:27 PM
I just got this CD in the mail today. I know most of the songs already, but I had to get this anyway. This song is a old Russian tune Eddie transformed into a Surf Instrumental - He said in a 2007 interview this was his favorite song to play.
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simoncoil
Joined: Sep 28, 2012
Posts: 897
Berlin, Germany
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 01:50 AM
It's interesting to see, that "difficult to play" means different things to different people. For example "Newport Beach" is not a problem for me, the same goes for "Quiet Surf" (which I have played at almost every gig I did in the last five years or so).
Difficult stuff for me would include:
Fender IV - Everybody Up (Often people simplify the rhythm on the first note of the melody a little, which imho greatly diminishes the song.)
Dave Myers & the Surftones - Gear (The glissandi are just impossible for me.)
New Dimensions - Cat on a Hot Foam Board (Speed, drive and consistency...)
Bambi Molesters - Point Break (To play the rhythm part consistently has been haunting me for years now.)
Surf Coasters - Intruder (Just about everything  )
— Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!
Last edited: Jan 16, 2019 02:36:47
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Redfeather
Joined: Jul 30, 2016
Posts: 854
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 02:11 AM
I love that Super Stocks stuff! Those veterans of the studio left some really great examples of efficiency of composition in this album. Newport Beach and my favorite, Ventura, are like master studies in how to take the simplest ingredients and turn them into a delectable main course.
Newport Beach is just a Dorian i-IV-v--three damn chords--and then they transpose it up a major third (not a fifth) two times and arrive back at the same spot and then done! It sounds so great and yet for them it was like falling off a log.
And Ventura, with it's infectious happy groove, is super straight ahead, too. Standard chords and whatnot. It kind of illustrates a deeper truth, too, if we want to get philosophical. It sounds critical but it must be said that they weren't working very hard when they wrote these. The songs definitely bear the mark of studio pros "playing by the rules" musically and just busting out good, competent stuff quickly. They weren't writing "Blues Skies" with its mixed up majors and minors.
Moving on, I wanted to acknowledge Mr. Rebel as a personal standard by which I measure melodies. As in, my goal is always to come up with a melody as fanfuckingtastic as that one. It manages to be optimistic, poignant, uplifting, and yet a little sad all at the same time. The world is turning to shit around us, fellas, but at least once upon a time Eddie Bertrand wrote Mr. Rebel.
Last edited: Jan 16, 2019 02:12:36
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nightsurfer
Joined: Jun 21, 2017
Posts: 12
Bristol,CT
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 05:32 AM
There are some pretty twisty lines in the surf repertoire. But there aren't a lot of really technically difficult tunes. I find that of all the songs my Surf band plays, the ones I write tend to give the band the most trouble. I'm not out to write difficult stuff, they just might be a little unconventional. Of all the covers we play, "Hawaii Five-0" probably gives me the most trouble. It's my favorite instro of all time. Always has been. The key changes,in themselves, are simple with their semitone movement. But with each key change, the melody changes. And the ending, while not all that complex a melody, bounces around quite a bit. The syncopation on those last hits are 'oh so golden. Others may disagree. But for me, It's the ultimate instrumental.
Last edited: Jan 16, 2019 05:33:22
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 06:58 AM
All songs are the hardest for me!!! The one song we perform that I need to visit occasionally in my practice time is Mr Lou by the Space Rangers and it's just the arpeggio sequence in the chorus. I am always amped up during our gigs by the time we perform Mr Lou and I always start the main part after my intro at 5-10 bpm faster than the original.(My Fault) By the time we get to the chorus I have to pull off a flurry of arpeggio picking which is my favorite part of the entire song! One of the greatest surf songs ever IMHO
I avoid The Madereira and all the other hard stuff!!!
— The Kahuna Kings
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447
https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 06:58 AM
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nightsurfer
Joined: Jun 21, 2017
Posts: 12
Bristol,CT
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 07:05 AM
stratdancer wrote:
Mr Lou by the Space Rangers
I love that tune too.
Last edited: Jan 16, 2019 07:06:59
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 07:22 AM
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Taifighter
Joined: Oct 31, 2018
Posts: 224
Indiana
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 08:03 AM
nightsurfer wrote:
stratdancer wrote:
Mr Lou by the Space Rangers
I love that tune too.
This is a rad tune, thanks for posting it
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 09:26 AM
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CrazyAces
Joined: Jul 31, 2012
Posts: 4052
Nashville, TN.
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 09:43 AM
Does Eleki count?
If so then "The Flying Guitar" by Takeshi Terauchi kicked my ass when my bandmate brought it in to add to our setlist.
It took a while for me and was challenging but fun.
— http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic
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DeathTide
Joined: Apr 13, 2018
Posts: 1343
New Orleans
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 10:00 AM
Whoops I deleted this whole damn post. Dammit.
— Daniel Deathtide
Last edited: Jan 17, 2019 09:55:33
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remora1
Joined: Jan 04, 2008
Posts: 1267
San Pedro, CA
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 12:18 PM
simoncoil wrote:
Surf Coasters - Intruder (Just about everything )
This song is and forever will be miles out of my league 
Watching Shigeo and the Coasters play it at the SG101 Convo a few years back was transcendent!
— Bill S._______
HELLDIVER on Facebook
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Squid
Joined: Aug 22, 2010
Posts: 1013
Portland, Oregon with Insanitizers
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 12:36 PM
It's how you play it more than what you play. I've been adding songs with fingerstyle technique, and it feels more complex and challenging than flatpicking. For each note I must choose which of four fingers to pick with, in view of preceding and upcoming notes as well as expression. Then I must avoid ripping up my fingernails. Sometimes I glue on plastic fingernails, and that too adds complexity. Control of string attack with fingers is another dimension. Finally, picking with two fingers together is another art.
Walk Don't Run fingerstyle on solid body electric:
https://youtu.be/X4oD660hw04
California Dreamin' fingerstyle on solid body electric:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jpR__sBr4E
My fingerstyle technique is a work in progress, as are these recordings.
— Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com
Last edited: Jan 16, 2019 12:40:07
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revmike
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 3742
North Atlantic
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 12:41 PM
I still feel Rumble is the hardest to play. It is all about time, tone, and attitude. Its simplicity is its challenge for me. I have heard a lot of bad covers of the song.
Rev
— Canadian Surf
http://www.urbansurfkings.com/
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Surfing_Sam_61
Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
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Posted on Jan 16 2019 03:21 PM
Yeah Surfer dudes ….Some good advise by everyone
I will check out Newport Beach again Redfeather but I swear I hear three changes or one is just a octave change or sounds like it to me
I agree Night Surfer that "Hawaii Five-O" is a hard one - I wish could remember that one without rehearsal first - yeah Its similar to Mr Rebel in that semi Tone Key Change thing - You can jam a little on this one - In fact that seems to be my natural progression I very stuff and some how luckily pull it off.
Yeah Death Tide - "Slaughter On Ten Avenue" is a hard one - When I practice it a bit I can pull it off and the key changes etc - It seems like the most entertaining songs as a lister are songs with the Key Changes in them and I like simple surf tunes like Moon Shine - it has some energy to it even though pretty simple in arrangement
I love this whole freaking CD - Know every song on here. This may be my favorite Surf album (Its hard to decide.) 
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