About a song: Tiny Toon (1)

February 13, 2008

First of all, I had no idea that a cartoon of the same title existed until recently.  The song was written right around the same time as the cartoon, but there is absolute no connection.

Darn.  I thought it was a catchy title.  Apparently somebody else was smart, also.

Tiny Toon is probably the oldest song in my current repertoire.  I don’t recall the exact date of my writing it, but I know I was playing it live by ‘96 — so it was probably written in 95.

It’s a special song that really stood the test of time.  The basic structure is simple, but already I have a number of key characteristics that are part of my sound.  It has my signature strumming style, complex chords, driving groove, catchy melodies, and layering of parts.  It does come across a bit simplistic compared to the rest of the songs — there are 4 chords total — but still, the third chorus features a harmonized main melody, call-and-response vocal part, and a guitar counter-melody, all without sounding least bit busy.

This song is a good reminder about how a song doesn’t need to be complicated to be good.  As a musician (an educated one at that), I tend to strive for complexity — but sometimes it’s quite enough to groove on just one chord.

Now, I do have to mention the guitar solo.  As I said before, most of the solos on this album are composites of multiple takes (gazillions, sometimes).  Not Shark, not this one.  I think it was like the third take.  I also did the outro lead part in a single take.  I love wah wah pedal, in fact I overused it on this album — I didn’t have many other effects to use — 5 out of 10 songs have wah on it,  including the first four.  I just love how expressive it is.  I enjoy playing the whole system of electric guitar — the guitar, the effects, the amp — so I gravitate toward effects that I can “play” instead of just turning it on to change my tone.

In any case, it is as fine a guitar solo as I could ever hope to play, and I was happy that I caught it “on tape.”  Some parts of this album expose the areas where I am underdeveloped — but not my guitar work.  I am primarily a guitar player, and I am happy to report that I delivered as one on this output.

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