"Coming Back to Me" by Jefferson Airplane (cover)

[Railroad Bum]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Tim!

Thanks for your thoughts and comments! I'm glad you felt I did okay with this great old song.

I had always assumed that Marty Balin came up with the guitar arrangement, but I had no basis for that assumption beyond the fact that it was his composition. It's a fun piece to play and finger pick. And it's not particularly hard to play and sing the song at the same time, either. I hope folks find the chords helpful.

And I hope all is well there for you and your son, Tim.

- Glenn

Glenn, it's my pleasure.

You know, it might well have been Balin. I never really thought about it. I assumed it was Jorma or Kantner. It's a really cool piece. I love those chords that use a lot of open strings, which make everything sound fuller. You did a wonderful job.

Jack and I are doing pretty well. Thank you for asking. I hope everybody is well out your way on the left coast.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Honkycat

Loved this! The reverb on the guitar gives a really lovely feel to the song and the "recorder" adds so much to the vibe as well.

Hi Honkycat!

It's wonderful to hear from you again!

That cathedral reverb on the guitar really was different. I don't normally use much reverb on the guitar in my recordings, but in listening to the Jefferson Airplane's original recording of "Coming Back to Me" there really was a lot of reverb on the guitar. It seemed to me that was where some of that ethereal character of the song was being generated. So I played around with reverbs after I did my guitar/vocal recording and could only get close to what they had when I used some of the cathedral reverbs in my recording setup. I went back and forth so many times on how much to add or subtract... I'm glad you thought this worked out okay.

And I'm glad you thought the sampled recorder worked out okay. The softness and airiness of a recorder really seems to add something magic to a guitar, almost like a layer of velvet over the sound. And a recorder can sound so old, as if you pulled something from Shakespeare's time and dumped it into a modern song.

I hope all is well for you Honkycat! Thanks for your kind words!

- Glenn

[PeterM]

Glenn,

I also appreciate that you are "on key" as it were. The record of course was "whatever"

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by PeterM

Glenn,

I also appreciate that you are "on key" as it were. The record of course was "whatever"

Thanks Peter.

I think I am mostly "on pitch," but human singers are never perfect. I think my pitch was halfway decent because I had practiced this so much the previous week or so with recordings. I can hear a few places where I am off a little, but to my ears it didn't hurt the overall effort.

Of course, singers can be pitch corrected to the point where you can pretty much take the humanness out of their voices. There is no pitch correction on what I did. A live recording with guitar leaking into the vocal mic would not allow pitch correction, anyway.

Much appreciated, Peter.

- Glenn

[KevWind]

On of my Favorite JA songs . You do it justice, very well done indeed

[AlyKat]

This is absolutely perfect. I love the "recorder". Just beautiful. Not familiar with the song at all and will have to check it out.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Railroad Bum

Glenn, it's my pleasure.

You know, it might well have been Balin. I never really thought about it. I assumed it was Jorma or Kantner. It's a really cool piece. I love those chords that use a lot of open strings, which make everything sound fuller. You did a wonderful job.

Jack and I are doing pretty well. Thank you for asking. I hope everybody is well out your way on the left coast.

Thanks again, Tim. I like those open chords, too. I have always thought the guitar part for this song was really interesting, long before I had any idea how it was played. It just sounded good.

We are doing well. Glad you and Jack are well!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by KevWind

One of my Favorite JA songs . You do it justice, very well done indeed

Thank you Kevin! Much appreciated. I'm pleased that you thought I did well with this.

I hope all is well for you up there on the edge of the wilderness. Take care.

- Glenn

[Gitfiddlemann]

Hi Glenn,
That one really brought me back!
Very thoughtfully conceived and tastefully rendered, as is your usual M.O. Glenn. You set such a high bar.
I remember the song well, even if it wasn't amongst the ones that got the most play on the airwaves back then. Surrealistic Pillow was one of the great albums of that era. The height of the Haight-Ashbury days. We had a terrific FM radio station in Boston back then: WBCN, and they often played lesser known tracks from so many LP's, rather than just the hits. "Today" is another memorable one from that record that I first recall hearing on that station. I think it's those songs too that really showed how broadly talented they were as a group. As you said, Comin' Back To Me sets a tone as a very personal and contemplative tune. You captured it beautifully.
And then there's your gear of choice for the performance. I always like to see what you select from your shelf. A+ on the Olson. It's a modern guitar but it has that woodiness of tone like a vintage Martin OM. It complements the arrangement well, especially from that era.
Great job Glenn! Enjoyed the memories from a long time ago!

[Pippin]

This is amazing!
Thank you, Glenn!
Pp

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by AlyKat

This is absolutely perfect. I love the "recorder". Just beautiful. Not familiar with the song at all and will have to check it out.

Hi AlyKat,

Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed this cover. I enjoyed taking on this project.

Below from YouTube is the original Jefferson Airplane recording from the "Surrealistic Pillow" album. You'll note that the tuning is in between notes as so many recordings of that mid-60s era were since electronic tuners did not exist then.



This is a video from the Fur Peace Ranch of Marty Balin in more recent times, and this one you can play along with in standard tuning. I figured out how to play this from this video.



- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Gitfiddlemann

Hi Glenn,
That one really brought me back!
Very thoughtfully conceived and tastefully rendered, as is your usual M.O. Glenn. You set such a high bar.
I remember the song well, even if it wasn't amongst the ones that got the most play on the airwaves back then. Surrealistic Pillow was one of the great albums of that era. The height of the Haight-Ashbury days. We had a terrific FM radio station in Boston back then: WBCN, and they often played lesser known tracks from so many LP's, rather than just the hits. "Today" is another memorable one from that record that I first recall hearing on that station. I think it's those songs too that really showed how broadly talented they were as a group. As you said, Comin' Back To Me sets a tone as a very personal and contemplative tune. You captured it beautifully.
And then there's your gear of choice for the performance. I always like to see what you select from your shelf. A+ on the Olson. It's a modern guitar but it has that woodiness of tone like a vintage Martin OM. It complements the arrangement well, especially from that era.
Great job Glenn! Enjoyed the memories from a long time ago!

Thanks so much Andre!

Yes, these old songs are almost like time machines! I do think choosing a song this old (1967) has its perils because many older players of today are 10 years younger than I am and were just little kids when this song came out. I was in my 2nd year of college in 1967.

I lived in a dormitory at the time. We'd come up from dinner, light some candles, and listen to an album like "Surrealistic Pillow" before getting down to work when "Quiet Hours" started at 7 pm. Often we'd be drinking coffee. And this song, "Coming Back to Me," would fit right in with the candles and everybody sitting around quietly listening. So... there's my time machine.

When I am looking for songs to put up on my YouTube channel, most of the time I am looking for something acoustic that other players might be interested in. And this song is one that fits that category. The "Today" song, as you mentioned, is another. I always liked that song, too.

Thanks for all your kind comments and observations. I do agree that the Olson SJ really does have a very mellow, woody kind of sound, not quite so chimey as a guitar with a spruce top. (The Olson SJ has a cedar top, for those who might not know...)

I hope all is well for you, Andre! Thanks for taking so much time in your encouraging comments!

- Glenn

[TBman]

Nice one Glenn! Excellent production!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Pippin

This is amazing!
Thank you, Glenn!
Pp

Thank you Pippin!

I appreciate your encouragement and enthusiasm! I'm glad you felt this worked out well!

It's great to hear from you again! I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TBman

Nice one Glenn! Excellent production!

Thank you Barry!

I appreciate your taking time to listen and comment. I hope all is well for you these days.

- Glenn