Our House by Graham Nash (guitar cover)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Railroad Bum

Glenn, another beautiful one, my friend. Don't stop recording songs as long as you enjoy it, and it does mean a lot to many people, including me. Thank you for the great work and for being such an outstanding human being as well. We need more Glenns these days! Best wishes--Tim.

Thank you Tim,

I appreciate your watching, your kind words, and your encouragement. I hope things are going well for you!

- Glenn

[TheGITM]

Love this song, and great rendition, Glenn (as always) -

I remember an interview where Graham talked about writing this song. I just looked it up, and here's the quote from Graham...

“One day Joan and I got up and went to breakfast at a delicatessen on Ventura Boulevard, and a few doors away there was a little antique store, and in the window Joan saw this vase, went inside, fell in love with it, bought it and brought it back to the house.

It was a kind of a cold gray morning as it sometimes can be in Los Angeles, and I said, ‘Why don’t I light the fire and you put some flowers in the vase that you just bought.” So she’s cutting stems and leaves and arranging flowers in this vase, and I’d lit the fire. Now, my and Joan’s life at the time were far from ordinary … and I thought, ‘What an ordinary moment.’ Here I am lighting the fire for my old lady and she’s putting flowers in this vase that she just bought. And I sat down at Joan’s piano and an hour later, ‘Our House’ was written."

I especially enjoy and appreciate songs written from an experience that happened in a moment - CSN(and Y) seemed to have quite a few that were born that way...

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by started with 1

Great one Glenn. Nash is a quiet genius. I loved your stripped down arrangement on this one. Singing, playing and production are all great.

Thank you Joe,

Yes, I agree, Graham Nash does seem a bit like a quiet genius.

And I'm very pleased that you like the way I put this cover together. Thank you for taking time to offer support and appreciation.

I hope your summer is going well.

- Glenn

[Gitfiddlemann]

Hi Glenn,
Great job with that! Big CSNY fan here, ever since their beginning. I don't think those songs will ever grow too old for our ears. They always remind of the talented musicians we were fortunate to experience in their prime as were growing up.
Two things really stood out for me in your cover: That was a super tasteful and very well considered way of arranging the song for guitar. Really works! That was difficult to pull off in my view because Nash's piano accompaniment is so iconic to that tune. Nicely done! I don't recall seeing that Scheppard guitar either from your arsenal. I remember him (Gerald Sheppard) years ago from the 13th guitar forum. I had considered one of his guitars. They all seem so well built. Yours sounds wonderful.
And your vocals. I'm not a singer but that seemed to me to be a particularly challenging tune to sing completely solo. Well done!
Great stuff Glenn. You're a real pro in the way you go about putting this music together. Thanks for sharing this one.
(Incidentally, I'll have to check your channel. I came across a tune the other day, a favorite of mine, on the car radio, and I thought to myself: I wonder if Glenn ever covered it, since it seemed be such a great fit for your style: Donovan's "Catch The Wind". Another great artist from that era with signature tunes.)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Gitfiddlemann

Hi Glenn,
Great job with that! Big CSNY fan here, ever since their beginning. I don't think those songs will ever grow too old for our ears. They always remind of the talented musicians we were fortunate to experience in their prime as were growing up.
Two things really stood out for me in your cover: That was a super tasteful and very well considered way of arranging the song for guitar. Really works! That was difficult to pull off in my view because Nash's piano accompaniment is so iconic to that tune. Nicely done! I don't recall seeing that Scheppard guitar either from your arsenal. I remember him (Gerald Sheppard) years ago from the 13th guitar forum. I had considered one of his guitars. They all seem so well built. Yours sounds wonderful.
And your vocals. I'm not a singer but that seemed to me to be a particularly challenging tune to sing completely solo. Well done!
Great stuff Glenn. You're a real pro in the way you go about putting this music together. Thanks for sharing this one.
(Incidentally, I'll have to check your channel. I came across a tune the other day, a favorite of mine, on the car radio, and I thought to myself: I wonder if Glenn ever covered it, since it seemed be such a great fit for your style: Donovan's "Catch The Wind". Another great artist from that era with signature tunes.)

HI Andre!

Thank you for listening and for your kind comments! Very much appreciated!

I'm really pleased that you thought this cover worked out okay. I really enjoyed messing around with this song and kind of making it my own.

Donovan's Catch the Wind would be a good song to cover. I have never done a Donovan tune. Thanks for the idea, Andre!

I always liked his Mellow Yellow song!

I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

Love this song, and great rendition, Glenn (as always) -

I remember an interview where Graham talked about writing this song. I just looked it up, and here's the quote from Graham...

“One day Joan and I got up and went to breakfast at a delicatessen on Ventura Boulevard, and a few doors away there was a little antique store, and in the window Joan saw this vase, went inside, fell in love with it, bought it and brought it back to the house.

It was a kind of a cold gray morning as it sometimes can be in Los Angeles, and I said, ‘Why don’t I light the fire and you put some flowers in the vase that you just bought.” So she’s cutting stems and leaves and arranging flowers in this vase, and I’d lit the fire. Now, my and Joan’s life at the time were far from ordinary … and I thought, ‘What an ordinary moment.’ Here I am lighting the fire for my old lady and she’s putting flowers in this vase that she just bought. And I sat down at Joan’s piano and an hour later, ‘Our House’ was written."

I especially enjoy and appreciate songs written from an experience that happened in a moment - CSN(and Y) seemed to have quite a few that were born that way...

Hi GITM,

Thanks so much for taking time to listen and to comment here. Very much appreciated!

You know, I may have heard a similar interview with Graham Nash. It's a shame the way things turned out between him and Joni Mitchell because they both seemed so happy together for a while. I can't imagine a more magic time than being in a room with Joni Mitchell and her playing her songs on a grand piano for hours and hours while I soaked all that up. Then again, I have had some magic moments myself over the years, for which I am profoundly grateful.

Hope all is well for you and that your deck project is working out well.

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by raysachs

A reasonable assumption, Glenn, but not correct in this case. As a “tween” in the late 60s and early 70’s, CSN and CSNY were one of my favorite bands (along with Hendrix, Cream, and the Stones - go figure!) and I loved their stuff, even Graham Nash’s less heavy stuff. If I came to it later in life, I might not have been into it, but it caught me at a very receptive time, and I always liked it. So hearing your version was just a great take on an old favorite!

And BTW Glenn, I get your feeling of having done most of the songs you ever wanted to, but if you’ve picked most of the low hanging fruit, you just need to get a little longer ladder. I’ve been moving out of my comfort zone more lately and playing stuff that’s somewhat more challenging to me (based on lack of familiarity, if nothing else). It’s occasionally a bit frustrating, but it’s cool to expand my boundaries a bit. I’ll only stop when and if I ever stop enjoying it. There’s really no larger point to it than that. It’s nice being able to post stuff sometimes to such a supportive and encouraging group, but that’s a secondary or tertiary reason I play and record, waaaay down the list of reasons I do it. I just love how it takes me out of my head and day to day concerns and puts me so squarely in the moment. I hope you find the motivation and reasons to stay at it, whether you keep sharing as much here as you have or not.

-Ray

Thanks for your thoughts and encouragement Ray.

Like you, I have been looking for new songs to do. You're right, it does help keep a person's interest up. And in retirement, I need things to do and music is something that usually motivates me and I do obtain a sense of accomplishment and reward from working on these projects.

And your comments on CSN&Y are interesting, as well. I have always enjoyed their music.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to this thread again, Ray. I really appreciate it.

It's interesting that one of my grandson's just came back after a week down in Eugene, OR at a drum camp. He had a great time. although it's a whole lot warmer down there than it is up here in southwestern Washington near the coast. So he was pretty warm down there with all the physical activity and marching around!

- Glenn

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi GITM,


Hope all is well for you and that your deck project is working out well.

- Glenn

Thanks! I finished up the heavy lifting work last weekend and got everything to the dumpster and hauled out. There is still some finish work I can do, some custom trim stuff and lighting, but the deck itself is finished!!

Original contractor quote (tear down & rebuild smaller deck): $18,500
DIY cost (refurbish existing deck - stairs, deck boards, railing): $2,500

Now I'm looking forward to new windows and siding!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

Thanks! I finished up the heavy lifting work last weekend and got everything to the dumpster and hauled out. There is still some finish work I can do, some custom trim stuff and lighting, but the deck itself is finished!!

Original contractor quote (tear down & rebuild smaller deck): $18,500
DIY cost (refurbish existing deck - stairs, deck boards, railing): $2,500

Now I'm looking forward to new windows and siding!

Wow, good for you! The best way to save money is not to spend it.

What did you use for a deck covering?

- Glenn