Roy Smeck

[Superbaldyboy]

That was great. Jack Pepper was also a great player. Have you seen any footage on him?

[JChoneybell]

=•D

[eldocmiguel]

I was lied to! Everyone said Eddie Van Halen invented 'tapping' which is why he had to turn his back at early gigs befor the first Van Halen record came out. The tapping lesson mid-video is awesome on such a short scale instrument thast doesn't even have steel strings to give the 'tap' the bounce it needs.

[Will137]

Very nice indeed.... INDEED!

[xeractus]

Next time I see some twat with a Ukelele I'm going to be like "Play that you hipster cunt!"

[customneonshirts]

still the best uke player to wlk this earth

[TheMrOdagled]

He is crazy, but I like cliff edwards more.

[Traconiz]

what movie's that?

[thesicilianguitarist]

Whoa.... that was incredible. And he made it look so easy! (which is not)

No wonder there isn't one dislike on here.

[irishmikelley]

this guy is like, eddie van ukelele!

[DoubleMannings]

wow that was amazing :O

[edslides1]

looks like in addition to an eddie training vid, it also teaches you 'the moves' ala pete townsend

[marderhead]

@00:35

[BooMonsterOfficial]

AMAZING! He looked so happy when doing it too! :)

[geneffects]

I can do that but I don't wanna

[sondratillman5865454]

hëhê_í_sìgñèd_úp_at_füll_tìlt_­pòkêr

_ùsìng_refërrál_códè:_yOu600_ã­nd_got_a_600_dollar_bònús

[wuziq]

her reaction is hilarious. "eh"

[FastDashEight]

I wonder where that ukulele is now

[normspot]

the woman wasn't impressed... bitch...'

Calm down. It's a movie. She's an actress delivering her lines. No need to get foul about it

[SHARPtattoo]

he was shredding that shit!

[salvitagirl]

JE JE JE VERY NICE.....

[claudiofimiani]

Zarpadísimo violero! He's the true master of Eddie! \m/

[dovo]

I had always dismissed the ukulele as a novelty...until I saw this. wow

[choppersgun]

hahaha total METAL UP YOUR ASS!

[drob281159]

Didn't know Fred Frith was THAT old...

:-P

[Bertseven]

Is that Eddie Van Halen's dad? ;-)

[dragancer]

i just dont understand

[lordkoos]

"Radio Wizard of the Screen"  LOL

[samuraistalin]

@lordkoos I think he meant to say "Radio Wizard of the STRING"

[airelliure]

van hallen no invento el tapping !!!!

[L8tN1teSaterdA]

james hill is his reincarnation

[Autobotsrollout3]

@L8tN1teSaterdA not even close.

[ragtimejohn]

hahahaha "lady you ain't seen nuthin!"

[zbaby82]

Good stuff!

[menga111]

i wish i was a radio wizard of the screen

[Cyzos1]

Is that the first ever windmill at 2.02??!!

[steveuke]

Too Cool For Words...

[MattyMills420]

Tabs anyone or name of this song?

[Autobotsrollout3]

@MattyMills420 it is called melody in F

[turnpink]

i can do that. it's easy.

[raukzenta]

I play ELECTRIC UKELELE,...I put in a transducer and run it through an old Boss OD1 I altered with lower input impedance, and a Boss DD3 delay, then usually through a Danelecto amp with the 'Dirty-Sweet' on 11...I have jammed out this year with the MH Blues band with this rig! You should hear my I wanna be Yer Dawg wit dis thang!!!!!!

[dadolucky]

There's nothing new under the sun. Some guy probably finger tapped on his lute 500 years ago. And... got all the women.

[Autobotsrollout3]

but it is still amazing. roy smeck is the defenition of talent

[baldrick650]

He is like Andy Mckee's grandad

[jonathanbennett120]

It's very nice inded.

[memphist1]

Pete Townsend and Eddie Van Halen's Grandpop! Chicken or the egg? Ha Ha!

[francegurl]

i live roy smack. :P

[caravanofthieves]

oh boy!!!

[strangersound]

Don't listen to Zak, he wouldn't know smeck if he was on smack at a Smucker's.

[zakclaxton]

Smeck Rocks!

[greekflatpicker]

A natural talent!

[suuuupaadave]

Is there anyone out there that knows if this has ever been transcribed? I'd do anything for a good sheet on this.

[SeconLine]

I have a tab of this song from 1928

[scottyboyearl]

Hi SeconLine. Is there any way you can show us that tab? Thanks.

[Autobotsrollout3]

send it to me yeah?

[Autobotsrollout3]

@SeconLine It would be just great if you would be kind enough to photocopy or xerox it or email it to me.

[SeconLine]

The song he is playing is "Melody in F" by Anton Rubinstein.

I learned to play this from Roy when he was in his 90's.

Really great guy!

[rasputin63]

I thought it was the standard "We'll Meet Again"

[stratoman]

superb musicianship and showmanship. great video.

[123JoeD456]

Roy smeck is a hilarious name.

[rasputin63]

Smeck kinda sounds like "Shmuck", doesn't it?

Or maybe "drek" or "smegma".

[123JoeD456]

Not even that, smeck just sounds funny.

[DarkAngelEU]

I laughed so hard when I found out why you said it's a Van Halen training vid :')

It's like Eruption, but then the Ukelele version or something xD

[GODhimself37]

lol very nice indeed

[nakkiFIN]

That is made of awesome. <3

[superbadbrad]

Bravo!!!!!!

[BootHillTV]

Hmm??? Don't you mean WOW! -DWolfe

[timythedog]

Hmm, very nice indeed !!

[nuttysadguy]

One of my all time favorite performers, his uke playing is just part of the story. The man was phenomenal!

Thanks for posting it!

[SiMoFkr]

That is just incredible!!!

[SeconLine]

Roy taught me to play this about 20 years ago. The song is "Rubenstein's Melody in F". This is on the DVD "Smeck Shorts" (along with more amazing stuff) available from Elderly Instruments.

[999manman]

His fingers move like Bruce Lee's fists.

[Stewg87]

the woman wasn't impressed... bitch.

[TrowaRF]

I think she was expecting the uke to catch fire. It didn't.

[TrowaRF]

That, or she was just not impressed by his choice of agent.

[TheSphinxsPedagogy]

Amphetamines and Roy Smeck Both popularized in the !930's. Coinsidence? I think NOT! BTW, He is amazing! If I film myself in black and white while playing my guitar while on speed, while I'm slash Smecks schmegma will still play a better and fast string than I

[sidneyandherbie]

I learnt on a roy smeck uke 50 years ago which I still play (badly) hope you enjoy some of my postings

[OldBeanProductions]

john entwistle starting tapping on the bass way before vh. however this guy beats them both...

[themoud]

Oh my fuckin god, so crazy ukulele-man xD

[lexo30]

I fail to see how a comparison to Van Halen is silly. He's doing with a uke what Van Halen did decades later with a guitar; same level of virtuosity, same level of re-understanding what can be done with the instrument. Incredible stuff and very entertaining.

[ogdroadsong]

this is incredible!

always seemed strange to me no-one would have thought of tapping before eddie!

[ProspectorSam]

very nice indeed FTW. LOL!

Talk about a tough crowd...

[ethicomm]

At 2:02 Smeck does a mini-windmill.

[MangoDaVille]

Did you notice that he is using a baby "soprano" ukulele with only 12 or so frets? His right hand equals Jake Shimabukuro's speed, his tapping is clean as Van Halen, rhythm and meter are perfect & his embellishments and percussion "schtick" are great. He didn't get the effect he wanted however when he rubbed the back of the uke, it was supposed to sound like a fart, ha, ha. I've seen guys do it with their forearm on an acoustic guitar. Dazzling! Johnny Pal, MangoDaville

[veeshead]

This video was really great,but to read these thoughts on it made me real sleepy.Maybe you could keep your thoughts to yourself from know on.Dan

[AvengingAngel6]

Hey veeshead or is it scrotumhead? It works the other way asswipe. It is as clear as the turd on your face that you are extremely jealous of MangoDaville. Intelligent people appreciate MangoDaville's informative information aboutMr. Smeck while a sociopathic dolt like yourself gets off on pulling guitars out of cases. You are a strange quixotic bird and I suggest you get some counseling soon. Read my goal on my channel prick. I'm on to you.  AvengingAngel6

[veeshead]

Wow,I certainly know where to go next time I need a little attention.Just insult MangoDaVille.And all you fellas even liked my videos.Keep the feedback coming.I love all you .Dan

[veeshead]

AA6,So we have here a really great video.I'm sure you and I can agree on that.If I don't care to see someone give his lame blow by blow review(ruining the beauty of it) with all of those ridiculous comparisons,I'm bad?He put those comments out there.Positive feedback is all he(and you-his protector)can deal with?Don't think a comparison to Van Halen is a little silly?Insult me all you want.I'm cool with that.You are on to me?Gonna come get me?Dan

[AvengingAngel6]

Veeshead, peckerhead, you don't get the point and never will because you have a mental splinter and lack critical thinking skills. Objectively, even your children are embarrassed by your bizarre behavior. Thank god they didn't inherit your behavioral problem. Criticizing someone's positive comments? that's too weird. Do yourself a favor and go out and get drunk and be somebody. Just stay the fuck away from legends like Roy Smeck with your sick assed pathology. Stings dont it. MangoDaville

[veeshead]

AA6,it hurts real bad that I don't get your point.Did DaVille hire you to take care of this?Maybe he's really cool and you are just making him look bad.You know,a smart person would ignore someone like me.I also find it real funny that you made fun of my videos.I worked so hard on them.dan

[scibby2]

Oh My God. Part of me wants to give up the uke, part wants to try harder. What a genius.

[yaycelesteyay]

van halen acid?!?!? polka (:

haha nonetheless roy smeck iiss the best

[LStrachey]

I think he practised a lot. Thanks for posting this.

[wininboy]

Now that's entertainment!!

[Ukemin]

Whenever I think I'm getting just a little bit better at ukulele, I stumble across a new Roy Smeck video and cry.

[brownroyal]

holy crap.i just got schooled.

[wwelti]

I second that :)

[Woodshed1]

Oh, yes. Very nice indeed.