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  #46  
Old 07-17-2018, 11:16 PM
Dustinfurlow Dustinfurlow is offline
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Really cool reading the comments here. Me, being 24, actually heard the Jerry Douglas version of this featuring Mumford and Sons before I heard the original...they have that high harmony real far back in the mix to where I appreciate it more listening to this cover, and the original...On the other hand, Jerry’s solo just made that tune for me...

Anyway, great job as always Glenn...that guitar sounds huge and absolutely perfect for this song. It’s an odd feeling - thinking of how it must feel to own a guitar for half your life...the longest I’ve owned any guitar (other than my first electric, which I still have) is only about a year and a half. My custom Larrivee and Beneteau’s I plan to keep for life and I can’t wait to see how they sound and feel in a few decades.
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  #47  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:28 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow View Post
Really cool reading the comments here. Me, being 24, actually heard the Jerry Douglas version of this featuring Mumford and Sons before I heard the original...they have that high harmony real far back in the mix to where I appreciate it more listening to this cover, and the original...On the other hand, Jerry’s solo just made that tune for me...

Anyway, great job as always Glenn...that guitar sounds huge and absolutely perfect for this song. It’s an odd feeling - thinking of how it must feel to own a guitar for half your life...the longest I’ve owned any guitar (other than my first electric, which I still have) is only about a year and a half. My custom Larrivee and Beneteau’s I plan to keep for life and I can’t wait to see how they sound and feel in a few decades.
Hi Dustin,

Thanks for your thoughts and comments! How nice of you to take the time!

I looked up "The Boxer" as performed by Mumford & Sons with Jerry Douglas. I thought it was okay, and I agree with you about Jerry Douglas's contributions. He has a way of making just about anything sound magic!

Regarding my old '67 D-35, I got that guitar in the spring of 1969, so 2018-1969 = 49 years. I turned 70 in the spring of 2018, so I have had that guitar 49/70 = 0.70 or 70% of my life! So it's even more than half my life. It does kind of feel like a part of me!

Glad you liked my version of this song, Dustin! Thanks very much for commenting!

- Glenn
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  #48  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:29 AM
OldGuitarGuy OldGuitarGuy is offline
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Beautiful, Glenn. This song never fails to move me. I'm also glad you kept your cover true to the original. Some songs you can make your own, others you can't. This is one of those songs.
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  #49  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:35 AM
OldGuitarGuy OldGuitarGuy is offline
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BTW, Glenn, the D-35 sounds magnificent. I sold my D16 years ago because of the 1 11/16 nut. I'm a finger picker and the dread did not provide enough real estate. I believe the D-35 is 1 3/4. I'm feeling a sudden onset of GAS.
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  #50  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:37 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by OldGuitarGuy View Post
Beautiful, Glenn. This song never fails to move me. I'm also glad you kept your cover true to the original. Some songs you can make your own, others you can't. This is one of those songs.
Thanks so very much OGG!

I really appreciate your comments! I'm very glad you felt that this came out okay!

Yes, the song tends to move me, too, I'm not sure why. The chorus has something, even with no real words, that just gets me. And the S&G harmony also makes the song, at least for me, and that's why I wanted to add the harmony if I could.

Regarding keeping a cover true to the original, yes, that's always a matter of feel. I like the original version so much that I couldn't help wanting to do it their way. I don't sound like Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, and I wouldn't want to try to emulate their voices. But the approach to my rendition of the song is a fair approximation of the approach S&G took.

I'm very glad you appreciated this! Thanks for letting me know!

- Glenn
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  #51  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:46 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by OldGuitarGuy View Post
BTW, Glenn, the D-35 sounds magnificent. I sold my D16 years ago because of the 1 11/16 nut. I'm a finger picker and the dread did not provide enough real estate. I believe the D-35 is 1 3/4. I'm feeling a sudden onset of GAS.
Hi OGG,

My old D-35 does have a lovely sound to it, once I use the right strings to tame the trebles. The John Pearse PB light gauge strings are what I am using now and they work, I think, just perfectly. So thank you for appreciating this old guitar!

Regarding nut width, my old D-35 has a 1 11/16" nut width, but since my fingers are fairly slender, I have never had any trouble finger picking this guitar. But as you know, that nut width doesn't work for everyone.

I bought a new Martin D-45 this year (2018) and it has a 1 3/4" nut width. So some of the newer Martin models, especially the "reimagined" models, have a wider nut width. So these models might help you. The new reimagined D-35 and HD-35 models, I think, have 1 3/4" nut width, for example. A quick check on the Internet confirms this.

I do apologize if I have added to your GAS problems OGG!

- Glenn
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  #52  
Old 07-18-2018, 08:52 AM
OldGuitarGuy OldGuitarGuy is offline
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Yes, you have. Thanks, I think.
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  #53  
Old 07-18-2018, 09:39 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Yes, you have. Thanks, I think.
You're welcome.

Take care!
- Glenn
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  #54  
Old 07-18-2018, 03:36 PM
john57classic john57classic is offline
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Another great effort Glenn, I figured we’d be seeing more of the harmony wizardry in one of the videos.
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  #55  
Old 07-18-2018, 04:28 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Another great effort Glenn, I figured we’d be seeing more of the harmony wizardry in one of the videos.
Thank you John!

I appreciate the vote of confidence! I'm glad you like this! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment here!

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  #56  
Old 07-20-2018, 10:55 PM
BJ9RW BJ9RW is offline
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Always excellent, Glenn. Love your covers, your voice is so good, the picking spot on.

Since other commenters have touched on the intro, the extra verse, the wordless chorus, and the drums, here's some trivia I picked up about the original recording, from the book The Wrecking Crew, about the group of studio musicians who played on so many of the great singles and LPs of the 1960s and spent 100 hours with Simon & Garfunkel recording The Boxer.

The drum part is legendary. Hal Blaine (the de facto leader of the Wrecking Crew) suggested to Paul Simon that he do an explosion with the drum on the chorus. They found a spot in the hallway facing the elevator where the echo was just right. At one point, the elevator doorsopened right as Blaine banged the drum, the security guard inside getting quite a fright.

The wordless chorus was a placeholder, Simon intending to write lyrics. But he never did, and they all liked it with the lie-lie-lies, so they left it that way.

The intro was created by Fred Carter Jr., the second guitarist on the track. He said he had his high E tuned down to D and his low E tuned up to G, which may explain why it's so hard to get it right when you play it in standard tuning.

The extra verse was cut out of the original recording because they wanted a solo, and the song was already too long by the standard of the day for singles. Simon always sang the verse in concert (still does). The solo by the way is a piccolo trumpet and pedal steel guitar playing in unison.

So if you want to re-do the song, Glenn, now you know what you need -- just kidding of course, your cover is fantastic.

Dubi
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  #57  
Old 07-21-2018, 06:50 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Glenn, what a fantastic rendition! Vocals and picking. That D-35 has probably had more songs played on it than many a guitar out there.

Brings me back to the days I was starting on the guitar 30 years ago and learning this song ... and it didn't sound like that .
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  #58  
Old 07-21-2018, 09:17 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BJ9RW View Post
Always excellent, Glenn. Love your covers, your voice is so good, the picking spot on.

Since other commenters have touched on the intro, the extra verse, the wordless chorus, and the drums, here's some trivia I picked up about the original recording, from the book The Wrecking Crew, about the group of studio musicians who played on so many of the great singles and LPs of the 1960s and spent 100 hours with Simon & Garfunkel recording The Boxer.

The drum part is legendary. Hal Blaine (the de facto leader of the Wrecking Crew) suggested to Paul Simon that he do an explosion with the drum on the chorus. They found a spot in the hallway facing the elevator where the echo was just right. At one point, the elevator doorsopened right as Blaine banged the drum, the security guard inside getting quite a fright.

The wordless chorus was a placeholder, Simon intending to write lyrics. But he never did, and they all liked it with the lie-lie-lies, so they left it that way.

The intro was created by Fred Carter Jr., the second guitarist on the track. He said he had his high E tuned down to D and his low E tuned up to G, which may explain why it's so hard to get it right when you play it in standard tuning.

The extra verse was cut out of the original recording because they wanted a solo, and the song was already too long by the standard of the day for singles. Simon always sang the verse in concert (still does). The solo by the way is a piccolo trumpet and pedal steel guitar playing in unison.

So if you want to re-do the song, Glenn, now you know what you need -- just kidding of course, your cover is fantastic.

Dubi
Hi Dubi!

Wow! What a fantastic bunch of information you have managed to share with us about The Wrecking Crew and their work on "The Boxer." I'm going to have to get hold of that book!

I knew a little bit about the "lie-lie-lie" chorus and how Paul Simon had intended to write words later, but it seemed to work as it was. I think it's the power of their singing and their harmony that made the chorus work so well even without words. It's hard to imagine words in there now, it has become such a part of the song.

That is really interesting stuff about Hal Blaine and that big echoing drum during the choruses. I considered adding a big echoing drum, but decided that for me on a video like this, it would just seem hokey. The good thing about leaving the drum out is that the guitar is so much more up-front in the recording, and being a guitar player, I like that.

I knew none of the information you shared about the extra verse and that instrumental verse with the piccolo trumpet and pedal steel guitar playing in unison. That is really interesting stuff!

Thanks so much for your comments and the interesting information you've added to this discussion! And I am very pleased that you like how this song came out!

Thanks so much for your contributions here, Dubi!

- Glenn
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  #59  
Old 07-21-2018, 09:28 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Glenn, what a fantastic rendition! Vocals and picking. That D-35 has probably had more songs played on it than many a guitar out there.

Brings me back to the days I was starting on the guitar 30 years ago and learning this song ... and it didn't sound like that .
Hi Dru!

It's great to hear from you! I'm so very pleased that you like this rendition of this great song!

You are no doubt right about how many songs my old D-35 has had played on it. The guitar has been fully refretted once and had partial refrets twice over its lifetime. The neck (fortunately) has never had to be reset. So it has been played a LOT!

"The Boxer" is one of those songs that really does evoke memories. It was a big hit for Simon & Garfunkel and so many of us took a stab at learning to play this song. And when a person puts in that kind of time, all the background of those days seems to be part of what gets stored in our brains. In many ways it's fascinating to relive something like this.

For me, having recently recorded the song, it took me about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes to get set up and record the main vocal and the guitar part because I know the song so well. But never having sung the harmony before, the recording for the harmony took another four hours. I had to learn Art Garfunkel's parts and then I actually had to figure out how to sing those parts even halfway close to the correct notes. Art Garfunkel had a way higher vocal range than I have ever had.

So in recording this song recently I added a bunch of experiences to my long experiences with this song in the past. It's kind of interesting for me now how this whole experience has been both new and old at the same time.

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment here Dru! You always have interesting things to say! And I can't help noticing that you have even more posts racked up on the AGF than I do! Good for you!!

- Glenn
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  #60  
Old 07-21-2018, 09:06 PM
Bronzeback Bronzeback is offline
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Well done Sir. I was at a music festival this past weekend playing around a campfire at at 2:00am when someone asked "Do you know The Boxer"?...indeed I do... 20-30 people singing along... ah d die!!! it was marvolous! Nice work on the D35 too...one year older than I am.
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