Word: wah
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Wah happennned...
...that draws equally from the last five years or so of rock guitar playing. He has a very heavy tone, almost ponderous and always close to the listener; the result of combined use of sustain and vibrato from the usual bank of foot switches filtered through a slightly open wah-wah pedal. You can hear shades of everyone from Eric Clapton to John McLaughlin. His solos were short, to maintain a structural balance, but beautifully constructed out of soaring lines and tasteful phrases. Connors has a subdued sense of attack, preferring not to bludgeon a solo, and really playing...
...structure, thanks to Rich Schlosser's wonderfully slipshod drumming. Gary Mallaber's vibes add to that unreal quality. Labes' piano struggles to cement the song and fails, yet remains as coloring. Platania's noodling and inconsistency work perfectly here. This is a song of instants, like the vibes and wah-wah fusion for a haunting vibrato under the single word "dream," or Schlosser's cymbal crash in the middle of what passes for a chorus...
There's a lot of guitar here and on the rest of the album, more so than on any previous Traffic albums, yet Winwood still seems unsure of his guitar playing--I've always thought it the weakest of the instruments he plays--because his wah-wah lead is way back in the song's mix. Chris Wood appears only once, with a skirling flute phrase and then fades into the background during the song's overlong one-riff finale...
...center of things Spike and Mary Lou were the focus of attention. Shake, Baby, Shake, Et Cetera, Et Cet-er-a, Back and forth. Back and forth, Jitterbug, jitterbug, jailhouse rock. Do-wah... Do-wah... Diddy... Diddy... "Wow, Spike, you sure can move!!" "Yeah." The band stopped. A satisfied drop of perspiration rolled off the end of Spike's nose. Mary Lou sighed...