Bruce Hornsby

[SprintBob]

I've always been a big fan of Bruce Hornsby and last night I was watching a live DVD performance of him and his band recorded in the late 90's with guests Pat Metheny, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir, Don Henley, and a dance slot by Gregory Hines.

His music is primarily centered around his piano playing so I wonder how well some of it works with acoustic guitar. I downloaded the lyrics and chords to End of the Innocence (actually done originally by Don Henley but co-written with Bruce), Mandolin Rain, and That's the Way It Is.

Anyone had good results working with his music? I'm looking forward to exploring the three songs above later today with both strumming and some fingerstyle patterns.

Thanks!

[jseth]

Love Bruce Hornsby's playing, singing and songwriting! He's put out many wonderful recordings... I believe that I have the record that inspired the show you saw, as Pat Metheny, Jerry Garcia, Bela Fleck and Don Henley did guest spots on the recordings...

Be interested to hear how it goes for you! You have chosen some great tunes to experiment with...

[Ruppster]

I play a version of End of the Innocence. Fairly simple and audiences seem to enjoy it, though they think of Don Henley, not Bruce Hornsby when they hear it.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Ruppster

I play a version of End of the Innocence. Fairly simple and audiences seem to enjoy it, though they think of Don Henley, not Bruce Hornsby when they hear it.

My two favorite versions of the song are one where Henley sings and Hornsby plays piano and then another live version with Hornsby also. I like the original too, it's just such a great song.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

My two favorite versions of the song are one where Henley sings and Hornsby plays piano and then another live version with Hornsby also. I like the original too, it's just such a great song.

I've been working for the past week on the original Don Henley End of the Innocence version which is in the key of G# or Ab. Pretty straight forward and the only challenging chord to me is a Bm barre. I downloaded the lyrics and chords off GuitarTapp and it's mostly accurate but you have to listen to the song carefully to pick some nuances of the chord progressions especially on the bridge section with the sax accompanying about 2/3 in. My spruce/rosewood and cedar/rosewood guitars work best, the 522 (all hog) is just a bit too dry and woody for this song. It also works nice to plug in and add reverb to the tone. When strumming the chords, less is more seems to work nice on the pattern and I use a light pick for a light touch. I also tend to emphasize the low end of the chords rather than the highs except in a couple of spots.

I may try a pinch type Travis pattern later to see how that works with the song.

Fun stuff.

[H165]

I've seen Hornsby in concert twice - both times with Raitt.

It was almost humorously obvious that he played these gigs WAY below his skill and talent levels. I actually got the impression he was probably bored to tears most of the way through.

When Raitt gave him 4 minutes to "stretch out a bit" he went off the road straight overland with some great playing. During that break, I could sense some of the audience getting uncomfortable with it.

It was kind of weird. It reminded me of something like going to an improvisational jazz performance where part of the audience was expecting to hear Wind Machine.