Big Rock Candy Mountain

[keith.rogers]

Cover, obviously.

I did this yesterday to just record an old guitar I made back in 1980 that I hadn't seen for a long time. A friend bought it from me as I was finishing it up along with a couple other for a GAL show in SF.

This and a D made of the same wood (Mahogany and Western Red Cedar) were made very quickly. Amazingly, they are still together. I had the D which had developed a lot of serious cracks when I moved from Oregon to Pennsylvania in December 1981, basically a 100% to 20% RH change, and left the guitar leaning against the wall, or other such abuse. This guitar went from Oregon to Phoenix to LA and then to the Bay Area, where it suffered a fair amount of abuse in the hands of my friend's nephew.

Anyway, I swapped my D for this one because I wanted to see if it would help my shoulder issues playing the D seated. (Jury still out.) Replaced the first 10 frets, took off the lifting bridge and worked on a crack in it, and tried to address some top cracks that both guitars share in common. (Another story).

Quick run through here. More or less Harry McClintock's version off O Brother with some fat-fingered stab at single note noodles. (Also realized it's impossible to whistle right after singing a few minutes!)

[TBman]

That was good Keith, nice job! I enjoyed that.

[islandguitar]

Nice, Keith! That looked like a lot of fun!! I enjoyed that one!

[reeve21]

Great job. Loved it!

[ceciltguitar]

Thank you for sharing this video. My dad used to sing this tune all the time when I was a kid. Amazing how many lyrics There are to this tune, as he sang some different lyrics, such as. “ The box cars they are empty, all the railroad bulls are blind. There’s whiskey two anda pot of stew, you can paddle all around in a big canoe, in the big rock Candy Mountain.

[thomasinaz]

Loved it! That guitar and your voice sound great together. I first heard that version on Oh Brother Where Art Thou, you do it justice.

[keith.rogers]

Thanks to everyone that listened and commented. It is a great song, and keeping the words straight (whichever version you choose!) is a good memory exercise!

P.S. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get everyone in a multiquote - it would be nice if there was a way to clear those selections out and start over, because it's a little maddening, though maybe a 10 hr day at a music festival yesterday followed by a ALCS game (GO 'STROS!!) has my neurons a little fuzzy at the edges...

[Glennwillow]

Fun song, Keith!

I remember hearing this song on the radio when I was just a kid! Very cool to be playing a guitar you actually built on this video! Sounds good!

- Glenn

[Fast Frank]

Thanks Keith! That guitar sounds great -- but of course that has a lot to do with the player

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Fun song, Keith!

I remember hearing this song on the radio when I was just a kid! Very cool to be playing a guitar you actually built on this video! Sounds good!

- Glenn

Originally Posted by Fast Frank

Thanks Keith! That guitar sounds great -- but of course that has a lot to do with the player

Hey, I just did a multi-quote and it worked!

Appreciate the listens and comments.

The guitar sounds surprisingly good to my worn out ears. More balanced than the D (same wood, but more structural problems at this point) and exhibiting the usual mahogany punchiness, and the wr cedar still has some good tone. It has Douglas Fir (yes) bracing from a piece of very old growth wood I came across - it was hard as nails and the grain is as tight as anything I'd ever seen, i.e., not your lumber yard DF. I remember having to sharpen chisels repeatedly while trying to shave the braces on those two guitars.

[d_w]

Darn it Keith, I thought I could play and sing that song but now I see I was wrong on both parts! You nailed it!

[Johan Madsen]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

Cover, obviously.

I did this yesterday to just record an old guitar I made back in 1980 that I hadn't seen for a long time. A friend bought it from me as I was finishing it up along with a couple other for a GAL show in SF.

This and a D made of the same wood (Mahogany and Western Red Cedar) were made very quickly. Amazingly, they are still together. I had the D which had developed a lot of serious cracks when I moved from Oregon to Pennsylvania in December 1981, basically a 100% to 20% RH change, and left the guitar leaning against the wall, or other such abuse. This guitar went from Oregon to Phoenix to LA and then to the Bay Area, where it suffered a fair amount of abuse in the hands of my friend's nephew.

Anyway, I swapped my D for this one because I wanted to see if it would help my shoulder issues playing the D seated. (Jury still out.) Replaced the first 10 frets, took off the lifting bridge and worked on a crack in it, and tried to address some top cracks that both guitars share in common. (Another story).

Quick run through here. More or less Harry McClintock's version off O Brother with some fat-fingered stab at single note noodles. (Also realized it's impossible to whistle right after singing a few minutes!)

Very nice playing (and singing), your guitar sounds great, so how does it feel on the shoulders compared to the dread?

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by d_w

Darn it Keith, I thought I could play and sing that song but now I see I was wrong on both parts! You nailed it!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Johan Madsen

Very nice playing (and singing), your guitar sounds great, so how does it feel on the shoulders compared to the dread?

Thanks John. I have this guitar in my little mess of an office, downstairs, so it gets a fair workout, making me lazy about walking upstairs to the "music room" too . It definitely allows me to play for a longer period of time before the shoulder starts nagging. But, I've also come to realize that a good bit of that is due to tension that may be posture related, i.e., I'm lifting my shoulder maybe more than necessary. Not sure I want to go to a smaller/parlor guitar, or try to address the posture issue. So far, I just put it down if I feel I'm on the edge of overdoing it.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Great work. That's such a fun song, and you pull it off beautifully. Your voice is perfect for it.

Thanks for Sharing!

Scott Memmer