52 Guitars: Week 15
04/12/2014
Michael Hedges
Here is the third (not in any significant order) of the Windham Hill guitarists who attracted so much attention (well, relatively speaking) in the late '70s and early '80s. I can't say he is my favorite, but he's pretty spectacular from the technical point of view. Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries were in the collections of the same people who liked Ackerman and de Grassi. I always wondered how he made the sounds in "Aerial Boundaries" (from the album of the same name), and didn't really see how it was possible for one person with one acoustic guitar. Well, here's a live performance proving that it is. I think he has some electronic help in creating that huge booming sound, but the actual production of the notes seems to be all him.
I was not previously familiar with this one, "Because It's There," but I think the strange instrument he plays does appear on some of the albums.
Hedges apparently didn't want to be known only as an instrumental virtuoso, and his later albums included vocals, and his own songs as well as covers. I haven't heard much of that; it's good, but not as appealing to me as his guitar work. He died way too young, in a 1997 car crash, at the age of 43.
Michael Hedges was phenomenal! What he did with harmonics and alternative tuning on his guitar was pure genius.
Posted by: Charles Kinnaird | 04/12/2014 at 08:04 PM
Yep. The word "genius" doesn't seem too much.
Posted by: Mac | 04/12/2014 at 10:37 PM
One of my favorites, and I love his vocals. His version of 'All Along the Watchtower' is right up there with Hendrix's. Speaking of Hendrix: I was discussing 'Wrecking Ball' by Emmylou Harris last week and you commented. Do you remember her (and, big time, producer Daniel Lanois') version of 'May This Be Love"? In which they do for Hendrix what he did for Dylan.... unfortunately I can't find the studio version online....
Posted by: Daniel Nichols | 04/13/2014 at 09:29 PM
I'm not that keen on his vocals myself. Not bad or anything but they don't really touch me, either. But here's an interesting vocal and guitar by a young Michael Hedges. He's playing that guitar part pretty much identically to the original, which is no small feat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35gseUUyc5g
I don't even remember "May This Be Love" from Wrecking Ball. Obviously I need to hear the album again--it's been a long time. But I don't recall being that much taken with the Hendrix original.
Posted by: Mac | 04/13/2014 at 10:38 PM
That is a nice clip; I was under the impression that he did not sing early in his career.
Here is the least bad live version of 'May this be love', understandably mislabeled 'Waterfall'. The studio version is way better, but you get the idea:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPmdnjeDm0c
Posted by: Daniel Nichols | 04/14/2014 at 05:39 AM
Something I ran across while writing this post gave me the impression that he was impatient with being thought of as only a guitar wizard. Grass is always greener...
Ok, now I recall that Harris/Lanois version of Hendrix. Wow--*way* better than the original, I would say, even with that bad sound. I always thought of that song as kind of a throwaway on the Hendrix album, except for the guitar solo.
I don't think, btw, that Hendrix's "Watchtower" is better than Dylan's, which I know a lot of people do. Way different, obviously, and really good, but I've always liked the stark simplicity of the original.
Posted by: Mac | 04/14/2014 at 09:53 AM
I agree, regarding the merits of the original 'Watchtower'. I was only commenting on how Hendrix took that relatively simple tune and found such rich possibilities in it; I think Daniel Lanois did the same with the Hendrix song, which as you note, was not one of H's greatest by any means. Not until Daniel Lanois and Emmylou got ahold of it, anyway.
Posted by: Daniel Nichols | 04/14/2014 at 05:34 PM
I wasn't sure where you stood on the Watchtower question. There is a contingent that mocks and abuses the original, so I'm glad to hear you're not one of them. Heathens.
Posted by: Mac | 04/14/2014 at 11:13 PM