Carefree Highway by Gordon Lightfoot (cover)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by noledog

Top-shelf Glenn! Sounds amazing from vox to that gorgeous Guild 12er!!

Hi Nole!

How nice of you to take the time to listen and comment! And I always appreciate your feedback, Nole!

Yes, I love the sound of that Guild F-512 12-string. I am so lucky to have it!

I hope all is well in your life these days, Nole! Be well out there!

- Glenn

[Stratcat77]

Glenn, your videos are always so well done. Visually and sonically, it's always impressive!! This is one of my favorites GL tunes and you sound fantastic as always. Nice guitar solo! And as has been the case with so many of your videos, this one is now on my list to add to our live show. We do Sundown regularly. We've also done If You Could Read My Mind and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (we had a request for that one last weekend - great song, but so many verses?!).

Keep the videos coming!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

Very nice Glenn. I liked that very much…so well done.

Interesting that you chose the D45 for the solo work rather than one of your electrics. Did you audition any of the electrics for the part, or just decide to go all acoustic from the outset? Sounds great, just wondering.

Roger

Hi Roger,

I'm so glad you felt this came across well! Thank you for taking time to watch and then to offer support here on the AGF.

The Martin D-45 is essentially a fancy HD-28 but with the best woods. So it's a good flat picking guitar, where I can hit the strings fairly hard and it won't "mush out" like my softer-top D-35 does. So I chose the D-45 for the flat picking solos, and did my best to get close to the solos used on Lightfoot's 1974 recording of "Carefree Highway" imbeded below. The first flat picking solo starts at about 0:52.



I never considered using any other guitar. I did listen to a live performance from recent years of Gordon Lightfoot and his backup band doing this song using an electric guitar on stage, but on this song, I much prefer the sound of the acoustic guitar.

I had to work a few days practicing that solo guitar part to get it down reasonably close to the early Lightfoot version, and while it's not perfect, I thought it was good enough for this kind of video. I debated with myself as to whether I should keep working on that and do a better version. If I were doing this live for a show, I most certainly would put more work into it. I am not a great flat picker, so I had to challenge myself to get this down. But, as you know, Roger, practice does help.

Thanks for your kind feedback, Roger. I hope all is well for you these days. It will be nice to get out of the doldrums of winter for you.

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Stratcat77

Glenn, your videos are always so well done. Visually and sonically, it's always impressive!! This is one of my favorites GL tunes and you sound fantastic as always. Nice guitar solo! And as has been the case with so many of your videos, this one is now on my list to add to our live show. We do Sundown regularly. We've also done If You Could Read My Mind and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (we had a request for that one last weekend - great song, but so many verses?!).

Keep the videos coming!

Hi Marty,

It's wonderful to hear from you! Thanks so much! And I'm so pleased that you liked this and even thought the guitar solos came out okay. I really had to work on those!

Regarding the Edmund Fitzgerald, yes, people love that song but it really does have a ridiculous number of verses and not everybody wants to hear all that stuff! And who can remember all those words when you're live up on the stage! I'd be tripping all over myself. But it's sure a great song.

Lightfoot has written so many great classics that so many people know!

You might have to try "Carefree Highway." The vocal range on this song is super easy and you'd do great with it! Thanks so much for checking in here and for your kind comments! Be well out there!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by rmp

Great job one this one Glenn.

Thank you Ray!

And thank you for taking the time to check this out! I really appreciate hearing from you! And I appreciate that you thought I did okay with this.

I hope all is well for you, Ray!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Another great cover production very well done
I personally prefer the full version which especially on my studio sound system (HP's and speakers) comes through in full glory
Mixing wise just curious are you doing any ducking of the bass for kick hit's ?

Hi Kevin,

Thanks so much for taking time to listen and comment! You know, I thought that you might like the full-band version a little better than the simpler guitar-and-voice version. You and I like to do multi-track videos, I suppose for the sound and the fun of the challenge.

I like both versions. I started out thinking I would try to emulate the arrangement from Lightfoot's 1974 recording, and after I had the mixdown finished, I thought to myself -- you know, there will be the usual responses of, well, we really prefer just a guitar and your voice. So I went back to the original 12-string recorded in stereo and added in the D-45 solos and the minimal background vocals. And I was actually surprised that it really sounded okay. But then when I went back to the full band mix, I thought, Oh, yes, that really does sound even better. So, I thought I would give people a choice.

There is no ducking on the bass kick drum. I really do not like the kick drum up at a high level, as so many people choose to do these days. (And my wife actually hates the kick drum up where she can hear it!!!) So on every drum track I ever do, I turn the kick drum down right from the start. So I didn't have to do anything fancy with compressor side chains. I just turned the kick drum down.

Thanks so much for your kind feedback, Kevin. I hope all is well for you and your wife. I bet you are looking forward to spring!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Honkycat

I don't know that song, but really like it and it suits your voice so well. The Guild is glorious as always (did you double it up or is that just it's own jangle?).
Great job!

Thanks so much Honkycat!

On the full-band mix version of this video, I made two recordings of the Guild F-512 12-string, one panned full left and the other panned full right. So that thickened up the 12-string sound considerably.

But on the guitar-and-voice version, I used only the first 12-string recording that I did live for the video, but having used two mics on that recording, I panned each mic channel left and right. That choice thinned the guitar out a little bit, but it also made the 12-string sound like it did in the room. I thought that choice made more sense for folks who might want to learn this song using the chord diagrams.

You have good ears, though!! I thought the guitar sounded a little bassy in the stereo recording, and I didn't want to use EQ to make it sound more jangly. Instead, I took my 2010 Taylor 12-fret that I have strung with Nashville high-strung guitar strings, and I finger picked the chords in synch with the strummed 12-string in the video. I never video recorded the high-strung guitar because I think those high-strung guitar shots just add confusion for most viewers, not understanding what that guitar is doing in there. But using some light high-strung guitar playing, it added just a little bit of upper frequency jangle that I thought was kind of cool. A little jangle that doesn't hurt anyone's ears!

So, I cheated a little for the sake of the recording, but I'm glad you noticed it.

I hope all is well for you, Honkycat! Thanks so much for your kind comments!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

I'm always impressed by your talent, Glenn. Love this.

Thank you Mr. Paul!

How nice of you. Much appreciated.

I suppose a person needs some native, innate talent to get reasonably good at playing or singing, but I am not sure where it might come from in my case. My parents liked music but were not at all interested in music making. I cannot separate how much is due to genetic gifts and how much is due to a lot of time working on this stuff. (Franz Schubert is actually in my family history on my dad's side of the family, but that is some generations ago.) I just love making music and so it's easy to put in lots of time, and all that time and practice really does help me improve.

And then, I have actively been playing the guitar and singing for 60 years now. I started at age 16 and I just turned 76. So, that's a lot of time to learn stuff!

I hope you are doing well, Paul! Spring is just around the corner!

- Glenn

[BillyH]

Nice cover on both versions Glenn. You just seem to be at ease on all of your stuff. Picking and singing both. That definitely helps the translation.

Bet you've got quite the Library by now!

Billy

[difalkner]

Both covers were very good, Glenn. I've always liked that song and you did a great job on both versions.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by BillyH

Nice cover on both versions Glenn. You just seem to be at ease on all of your stuff. Picking and singing both. That definitely helps the translation.

Bet you've got quite the Library by now!

Billy

Hi Billy,

Thank you! I really appreciate your thoughts and comments!

I suppose I am fairly relaxed after all these years of playing. And playing in the studio when I'm all by myself is very comfortable for me. If I mess up, I can always do something another time, so for me, there is very little pressure. And I am retired so I have plenty of time; this is what I love to do with my time aside from spending time with my wife and family. These are the things I live for these days.

I guess I do have quite a library of videos: 265 videos on my YouTube channel, linked below. I am slowing down now in my old age, though. Maybe one a month now instead of one a week!

Thank you for your kind words, Billy! Much appreciated! I hope all is well.

- Glenn

[MaurysMusic]

VERY nice- just like everything else you try

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

Loved both versions, Glenn! A long time since I've heard that great song - it was right in your wheelhouse! Thanks for all the work you put into these - you've got a lot of fans here!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by difalkner

Both covers were very good, Glenn. I've always liked that song and you did a great job on both versions.

Thanks so much David!

I'm so pleased that you thought this worked out. It's fun to hear the difference between the two versions. It does show that a person can do a decent job of covering a song with just a guitar and a voice.

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

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by MaurysMusic

VERY nice- just like everything else you try

Hi Maury,

Thanks so much for your encouragement and kind words! As a fellow guitar player, I really do appreciate your kind feedback!

I hope all is well as you close up your wonderful shop after all these years. You take care!

- Glenn