Wednesday, June 29, 2016

A Musical Interlude

Sergio Aragonés is primarily known for his feature Spy Vs. Spy in Mad Magazine. He did other features for Mad as well, such as one called The Diplomat

In one instalment of that feature, Aragones showed the protagonist at a boxing match. After the match most of the people from the audience went to get the autograph of the winning boxer. The diplomat, however, sought the autograph of the referee.

That comic came to mind while I was listening to this song. In the United States, more people are familiar with the 1962 version of Apache by Jorgen Ingmann. The song originated in 1960 by the British group The Shadows, who took it to the number one spot on the British charts for six weeks.

You cannot have this recording without the haunting lead guitar of Hank Marvin. However, like the diplomat seeking the autograph of the referee, the thing that really makes this recording for me is the acoustic rhythm guitar of Bruce Welch. Clean, clear, and exquisitely timed, Welch is what makes this something I can't get tired of hearing.

Even if they have him on an electric in the video.

5 comments:

  1. I've always loved this, I was a Shadows fan growing up. They are part of my musical canvas. Thanks for posting Matt x

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  2. That was awesome.

    How does Welch achieve that crisp of a sound??? I mean, it looks like he's playing an electric guitar (solid body), but is it plugged in? Or is it miked somehow? I want to know how he does that.

    It's superb. I'm not sure I've ever heard anything that good from a rhythm guitar player.

    Fantastic Matt. Now I'm going to listen to it for a third time.

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    1. It was the instrumental equivalent of lip syncing. Perhaps you noticed you could still hear the bass after Jet Harris stopped playing and got his cigarette.

      Some of these videos were hilarious, though (perhaps) not intentionally. I should do a post on that sometime.

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    2. I thought you would appreciate the playing, Lady Red.

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    3. Yes, please do a post! I admit that I didn't notice they were "intrument-syncing". That explains the acoustic sound emanating from the solid body guitar, lol!

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