Can you help me understand what I am missing in this solo?

[ragman1]

Blues gets the crowd going.

[rpjazzguitar]

Maybe Eric is more of a feel, groove, and rhythm guy, because I am not feeling his playing on this solo. I figured he was trying to go for the blues with the bends and motifs, but his phrasing wasn't terribly smooth and there were a lot of clams when he tried to speed things up and it made the timing go wonky. Maybe the blues is not really his wheelhouse.

I think he was trying to do a lick that's on the original recording, but his pick speed was not quite there -- which happens.

[DonEsteban]

It is interesting to read here the different interpretations concerning a concert that took place decades ago.

First of all, I must say that Eric's behavior seems "uncomfortable" to me from the beginning. Somehow the tempo seems to be not right for him and he stumbles constantly with his lines.

Towards the end he seems to look eagerly at Grover and kind of asking him to finally wave in the cue for the end of the solo.

OK, what went wrong?

From my experience...

You have the wrong guitar/wrong stringing?
You have the wrong volume? (feedback)
Sultry weather, fingers get sticky?
It's the wrong tempo?
You had stress in dressing room before gig, (tension between Eric and Grover)
Your amplifier is dead, you hear yourself over the PA?
Your girlfriend left you that morning?
You team lost 19 : 0?

We'll never know!

All this remains an object of pure speculation. Both musicians passed away a long time ago, all we have are the videos...

So, what is the point for the speculations?

I'd like to sum it up as "a gig that went not so well for the 6 string guy"

Happens all the time... :-)

[rtt]

i like what rpjazz said.

if you'll indulge a few thoughts. Eric is a wonderful guitarist that is NOT out of the Wes or George Benson bag. He liked playing the blues and liked getting funky. His ideas were meant to be simple and make people move and groove. I do know what yoo mean about his rhythm. When i play live in bigger spaces sometimes I cant hear the other instruments and it causes sort of wobbly playing. if you have a moment check out Eric with Herbie, Stanley Turrentine, Jack Dejohnette, Ron Carter, and Freddie Hubbard. Live Volume 2 at the starlight theatre. Eric was great in that bag. He wouldnt have been on that gig if he couldnt hang.

One bad solo does not mean mean someone cant play. thank god! ( i know nobody has said that) but i think its important to remind ourselves that. It helps takes the stress and anxiety out of our playing. When we are relaxed we can focus more on groove, lines, and the moment.

a quick second point, although watching videos are pretty amazing, i prefer to listen and not watch. Grover was a show man. He was responsible to promoters, to the audience and his record company that people have a great time. So sometimes when we see our heros going nuts over a solo we find less than desirable, we get confused by the reactions of other people. There is , unfortunately a lot of psychology involved in music and giant groups of people too. sometimes its hard not to get caught up in it ourselves.

I hungout with Bob James one night and he talked about Eric Gale for an hour. At one point he started to sort of break down saying how much he missed him. He said he was so quiet and self depricating. Maybe Grover was trying to inspire his friend and relax him. Another thing to remember is that alot of these guys were best friends. They loved one another and support came whether you played well or not.


Again these are just my opinions. thanks