THE GUITAR SHOW with Cornell Dupree

[AirRaidAaron]

Beautiful.

[Aggeasy]

Legendary guitar player of RnB !

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

All this writing back and forth on this thread about Cornell Dupree, got me in the mood for his music, so I listened to "Teasin'" today... man, the playing, composing and arranging on that record is just through the roof. We'll never see the likes of those players again, something tells me. "Bop 'N Blues" is up tomorrow...

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Bop 'N'Blues is a KILLER CD by Mr. Dupree! A fantastic, slinky, version of "Bags Groove" and a tasteful one of "Round Midnight".

He does a great take on "Freedom Jazz Dance"...a very tricky tune.

"Uncle Funky" is also a great CD from Cornell. "Teasin" had a one of a kind, King Curtis, feel to it. Sort of Muscle Shoals too.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Re: ""Teasin" had a one of a kind, King Curtis, feel to it. Sort of Muscle Shoals too." I hear those things, but alot of Ray Charles influence in there, plus some hard-bop east coast jazz, too. Tenorman Fathead Newman was with RC for years, which accounts for that flavor, I guess. The record is a beautiful hybrid of southern soul, blues, and east coast jazz, at least to my ears. Urban and rural, sophisticated and basic - at the same time. Amazing record... desert island pick.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

In later years, Cornell played a custom Tele knock-off; what did he play in his glory days? I'm betting a telecaster then, but have also seen shots of him with a thin-line Gibson. Anyone here know what his 'classic" amp and guitar eqpt. setup was? Of course, it was all in his hands and head, but still nice to know these things...

Would also be interested in a listing of his most famous sessions, if such exists...

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961

On the cover of "Teasin" it shows him with a Gibson ES- type guitar (maybe a 335). He used Telecasters before designing his own model guitar for Yamaha.. the Yamaha "Dupree Jam" it was named.

There is an interview on ytube where he talks about his amps etc.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Apologies, the name of the guitar Cornell customised was a Yamaha "Dupree SUPER JAM". Fashioned on the Telecaster but with a thinner neck.

[shushu1982]

R.I.P 

[jogga16]

hey how can I purchase a full copy of this please?

[95dshore]

I will NEVER view your videos on YouTube again, you never allow the song to complete. A teasing promo doesn't cut it.  FrontRowMusicNYC and it's owner SUCK!

[FrontRowMusicNYC]

@95dshore

You are entitled to your opinion. Don't worry you never have to look at the site again. I have seen your bogus site and it is you my friend that suck. It's amazing that with over 500,000 views on FrontRowMusicNYC that I have literally gotten (3) people with coments like yours. All of artists have rights that they deserve to be protected. It's cheap opinionated people like the (3) of your that feel ripped off that they didn't get everything they wanted for free. Get a life.

[taildragger53]

@FrontRowMusicNYC As far as i'm concerned, ANY snippet of Cornell, even if it's 3 secs long, is surely worth it. You are 100% right. It IS for FREE and we take this all for granted as greedy humans.

I'm truly grateful for this clip because i've just managed to learn the chords to  'How Long Will This Last?" after some 36 yrs.(ha ha!!)

[lralbrecht]

@FrontRowMusicNYC now, do you know where they sell the whole guitar show series?

[jogga16]

Let your spirit flow as smooth as your guitar playing! The world misses your guitar playing !

[taildragger53]

The greatest ever! R.I.P Cornell Dupree.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Did Cornell Dupree pass away? I hadn't heard the news, I hope it isn't true. I am one of his biggest fans, or was, anyway... His LP "Teasin'" (1974), is a modern classic of big-band blues and R&B. Dupree himself was one of the most recorded guitartists in history thanks to 1000s of sessions.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Sadly .yes, May 8. 2011 at the age of 68. Emphysema, a serious lung condition, was the cause.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Sadly .yes, May 8. 2011 at the age of 68.(relatively young these days) Emphysema, a serious lung condition, was the cause.

You are right. I recall, from 1969, you could pick up any noteworthy LP and Cornell would be on it.

Anyone from Streisand to King Curtis.

The man had immaculate taste.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Thanks for the sad news, taidragger... saw the notice of his death thanks to your tip. Man, I was sorry to see that... he was a great musician and a fine gentleman. Along with Steve Cropper, and a very few others, he defined R&B guitar at its finest. He is also one of the inventors of the hybrid "lead-rhythm" style of playing, and one of its finest practitioners. I'm gonna go listen to "Rainy Night in Georgia," maybe some "Memphis Soul Stew" and some "Teasin'" also... RIP

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Thanks for the sad news, taidragger... saw the notice of his death thanks to your tip. Man, I was sorry to see that... he was a great musician and a fine gentleman. Along with Steve Cropper, and a very few others, he defined R&B guitar at its finest. He is also one of the inventors of the hybrid "lead-rhythm" style of playing, and one of its finest practitioners. I'm gonna go listen to "Rainy Night in Georgia," maybe some "Memphis Soul Stew" and some "Teasin'" also... RIP

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 I agree with you 200%. Cornell was the master of the glissando and bend technique which was also a thing that Eric Gale did.

I saw Eric Gale & Cornell when they were with "Stuff" around 1976.

Both of them were the finest session musicians and real nice guys.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Great taste in music, taildragger. Bet we like alot of the same artists. Eric Gale is another one of those unappreciated greats and "musician's musicians" largely unknown to the public. I rank "Teasin'" as one of the best blues-R&B-jazz recordings around... Cornell's playing on it is sublime, and the rest of the cats are right there with him. Fathead Newman's sax work is amazing. I wish I could find another record in the style of this one, that is as good, but no luck so far.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 "Teasin'" was/is a unique album. I have about 6000 CD's and it's one of the few that i always reach for to this day. I recall buying in on vinyl when it 1st came out in the UK and there wasn't another album that had that Blues -Vintage R'n'B feel together with the finest assortment of session musicians (Jon Faddis, Chuck Rainey, Seldon Powell & Fathead). Cornell played well on Joe Cocker's "Stingray' LP and also on the 1st "Stuff" LP.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Agreed about "Teasin'" being unique. It was the right time and place for all of those heavy, heavy cats to play together. What are the chances that you can even get all of those busy touring and session guys in one place long enough to do a date? And hiring a big band full of first-call guys - the economics would probably kill that sort of project today. And who would greenlight this recording in the early days of disco? not too many companies, glad Atlantic was there to do it.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 What you say here about "Teasin" being issued during the early days of Disco is something that always intrigued me. You are absolutely right.

Around the mid 70s Blues wasn't that popular and yet ATCO released that LP.. When i purchased it i thought that, inspite of the very 70s cover art, the recording had been done in 1969.

Cornell did do a sort of Disco feel LP around 1976 called "Shadow Dancer" but even on that you KNEW it was Dupree within the 1st bar!

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 As i'm sure you know, when someone of Cornell's standard passes there a huge, unfillable, void. Eric Clapton did a version of "Teasin" in 1970 with King Curtis and many view that version as the ultimate. (unfortunately, i don't) Apologies to any Clapton fans. Mel Brown sounded abit like Cornell and he did some real funky LP's (The Wizard) around the early 70s.

Also , Melvin Sparks and Ivan "Boogaloo" Joe Jones. But nothing as varied as "Teasin"

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Thanks for the additional comments. Yeah, Cornell was an original - like all the great artists are. I first heard of him not on a recording but in a Rolling Stone record guide, which gave it high marks. I busted my butt finding that record - vinyl in those days, no CDs yet - it was so rare... but man, was it worth the effort! Took me alot of work to get a CD of it, too, for a while... Japanese import. Miss those old days of prowling out-of-the-way record shops for rarities...

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: "As i'm sure you know, when someone of Cornell's standard passes there a huge, unfillable, void." Yes, and in more ways than one. These days, most people go to music school to learn to play their axes. Some play very well indeed, but they all sound alike. In Cornell Dupree's day, you came up the old-fashioned way and learned your axe, the tunes, theory, whatever - on the job, by playing gigs, sessions, and touring. That's how you found your individual style, made it your own.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Oh yes! Even my late father was a huge fan of Cornell Dupree and he always said "This guy is like Kenny Burrell in that he's instantly recognisable within just a few seconds". There aren't too many one can say that about.

It's true, there were certain very slinky phrases and the way Cornell slid into notes that made him unique. His phrases sort of "spoke" to you.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Most of those artists from wayback had incredible ears.

Today we need all forms of techno, tabs and God knows what in order to play..we are SO spoilt! (ha ha)

Inspite of all this, most around don't acquire the FEEL for music, which people like Cornell, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass had.

Most learnt just from copying sounds from their scratchy radios ( as with Joe Pass).

You are 100% correct about everything.IMHO.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Taildragger, Wes Montgomery was - as far as I am concerned - among the finest dozen or so jazz musicians ever to have lived, and the greatest jazz guitarist ever. There's alot of contenders for the crown, but no one has reached the heights of musical genius Wes did. Benson came close but no cigar. Wes doesn't get the respect he deserves, because guitar is kind of the bastard stepchild of the jazz world, but real musicians, the top cats in the world, all think Wes was a genius.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@GeorgiaBoy1961: (Continued) I never saw Wes live, but I own all his music, and have heard and met many of the guys he played with, such as Pat Martino, Harold Mabern, Jimmy Cobb, Tommy Flanagan, and Johnny Griffin. All spoke in very reverent terms about Wes. And no one, not one performer, has been able to cop Wes's sound and performances successfully and accurately. Some very talented folks have tried, some have gotten close, but none were able to do the job. That's how unique he was. 

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 My father had a friend in the UK who was quite a well known jazz guitarist. Ike Isaacs was his name. Ike interviewed Wes Montgomery when Wes played in London in 1965. Part of that interview is available on CD.

In it, Wes spoke very humbly about his total lack of any musical theory. Didn't read, didn't know names of chords, nor did he read chord boxes. Never practiced scales & didn't know any.."I practice tunes but not scales" he says.

He was a great person.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Taildragger, sure, I know of Ike Issacs. Wes didn't know how to read music at all, and didn't know how to talk about music theory but knowing how to discuss it and how to apply it on the bandstand are different things. For example, playing an ascending melodic minor scale a half-step up from the dominant (V) chord, gives an altered dominant sound that "wants" to resolve down to the tonic (I) chord. Wes used this "sound" all the time, but he probably couldn't say how. Just did it.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 That's true.

On the interview, Wes says he can't explain the chords he uses..he only goes by how they sound.

He said, e.g . on Body & Soul, the 1st chord maybe G minor, but Wes will use another substitute that has some of the notes of G minor BUT isnt it. Django Reinhardt was the same. It's the sign of pure genius.

But i always laugh when i envision all those students in Berklee try hard to "analyse" Wes' & Djangos phrases!(LOL) They just played them without thinking.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Re: "On the interview, Wes says he can't explain the chords he uses..he only goes by how they sound." Cannonball Adderley, who discovered Wes, used to say that he played in the wrong key when soloing, but that it didn't matter because of how great it sounded. Wes and others like him had discovered substitution of scales and arpeggios and melodic lines - much like a skilled pianist will sub chords in a std. tune. Everyone hip does this now, but it was rare then and cutting edge.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961

Yes, Adderley was quite the talent scout wasn't he!

As jazz guitarist Martin Taylor says "With only 12 notes in the scale you can hit any note and it's bound to fit at some point. The Chromatic Scale is the only one you need".

Wes says in the interview " I deliberately avoid playing cliches."

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 One of the guys who knew Wes well was Jimmy Ponder and Jimmy can really get a close "Wes Octave Style" going. Ponder is also one of the nicest people around, like Wes was. NO EGO whatsoever.

Cornell falls into that same category as Wes, in that he developed his own special signature style of playing.

One of the first times i heard Cornell was on a Donny Hathaway funky tune called "The Slums" where he pulled out a dynamic, KILLER guitar solo.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: I own several of Jimmy Ponder's recordings, and he was (he passed away, I beleve) a brilliant player - very talented - but he was no Wes, not at least to my ears. He gets close, but he fails the blindfold test. I can immediately tell it isn't Wes playing, but someone who knows his style and devices well. A guy in Chicago named Henry Johnson can play Wes' style as well as anyone (Benson, too), he gets pretty close... another very gifted player who deserves more recognition..

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Jimmy Ponder is still around. As far as i know, he still plays live and issued a new CD not long ago. Oh no, he says he doesn't go out of his way to become another "Wes clone"..there are so many. Like Cornell, Ponder has an R'n'B signature (vintage R'n'B that is) similar to O'Donal Levy. But there's a J. Ponder track here on ytube called "Jennifer" (written for his daughter & on the 1974 "Illusions" LP), Wow, it's SMOOTH.

One of the finest guitar solos i've ever heard.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Benson is a dynamic player who knew Wes on a close basis.

I was never into George's 'pop vocals era' but then even Wes had to go commercial and Benson said it was the only time he saw Wes eat well, dress well and drive a better car. But i've found that Benson is from a pure R'n'B foundation, quite different to Wes.

I recall i saw Benson in 1972, when not many knew him, and he literally tore the stage apart..octaves with added 4ths, 6ths and loads of imagination.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: The late Frank Dawson, a good friend of mine, and a fixture on the Chicago jaz scene for more than four decades, saw both Wes and Benson live, in jazz clubs, in their primes. He said both guys could blow you away in terms of their stage presence, command of the instrument, and musicality. Some very well-regarded player rank Benson as the greatest ever jazz guitarist, not Wes. GB himself picks Wes, a nice tribute to his one-time mentor. I'm jealous you saw GB live - wow!

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 That's amazing info about your friend. Thank you for that. I really loved Bensons' early yrs..the CTI yrs where he became, with Eric Gale & Cornell, almost part of the houseband for all those Farrell,Turrentine, Hubbard LPs.

He played some of his WILDEST solos during that time. (The Gentle Rain" being one) Wes was alawys SMOOTH...Benson could be a little rough around the edges with quite a clangy, rock type tone on his Guild Starfire( ha ha!)

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Re: Jimmy Ponder, I am pleased Jimmy is alive and well; I must be confusing him with someone else. He's definitely a very tasteful player, and has his own sound. Wish he'd come to Chicago. I'll check out his new recording, plus the numbers you recommended. Many thanks...

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Wes, Cornell, Benson - all of these guys play by ear, and were/are so advanced they don't need to think too much about what chord or arpeggio or scale goes where - they're past that. They've so internalized the language of jazz that they are fluent in it. Like Miles Davis said, you study and work hard so that you can just play on the bandstand. I've met many jazz greats and all of them, without exception, have "ears" you wouldn't believe.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Unfortunately, seeing George Benson in the early 70s was quite different to when he was popular for "The Greatest Love Of All" in 1978. I saw him again during the pop vocal period and he hardly played guitar.

When he did, it was hugely distorted.(sound was so bad at Wembley Conference Hall)

His vocals are adequate but for most of us his guitar work is the thing.

But i do understand that he was , firstly, a vocalist from the age of 4 yrs old.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@taildragger53: Jazz guitar afficiados love GB's hard-bop chops on the axe, but general audiences' eyes glaze over at too much instrrumental music. As a jazzman myself, I've seen it firsthand... not everyone appreciates be-bop and standards. Sad but true. Maybe that's why Benson sings so much. I think he also just enjoys himself. Benson's late 1960s/early 1970s playing was just fearless... he'd play anything and make it work.

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Yes, in the 60s-early 70s i noticed Benson had fused alot of "outside the box" phrasing.

'Fearless' is the correct word. He played alot of open string, Gabor Szabo-type (Eastern) drones which was just amazing.

People, especially today, just haven't got the attention span to listen to an instrumental.

When one is a musician, one analyses, but most just want a background noise.

The attention span was alot longer during the 60s-70s, what with Allman Bros 45 min solos! (LOL)

[taildragger53]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Yes, mind you, Benson didn't only just sing he went the full distance and got facial re-structuring and his skin was lightened on some LP covers (ha ha!) Joined the FULL commercial circus.

I don't blame him for doing so but i sort of dismissed him as another R'n'B star and avoided his LPs from 1985.

It was nice enough music, compared to today, but so many were doing it.

[ptdatnurpipensmkit]

R^I^P

[bebopprof]

合掌。

R.I.P.



[phogroian]

Just spun your old LP "Teasin'" in your honor. Thanks for the great music Cornell Dupree

[angelakee1]

RIP Uncle CL Angie K

[machirimachiri]

R.I.P......from japan

[VonSaxenCoburg]

Rest in peace, man, show'em some tunes up there!

[nancyalis2]

R.I.P.

[hanage687]

R.I.P

[stuffny]

R.I.P.

[MegaMoniman]

cool! please listen to my video

[manne1962]

tut nicht!!!boring!!!

[mickhutchinson]

He's great

[taildragger53]

This is beautiful..Cornell is unique and i've listened to him for inspiration since his days with King Curtis. Can't get enough of Cornell.

Thank you for this clip.

[duncbot]

anyone know where to get any of his stuff tabbed out? or where to get a hold of his "mastering r&b guitar" video?

[SPRVD]

@duncbot I found it on emule, try there (-:

[duncbot]

@SPRVD thanks!

[mrJimCharles]

@duncbot This is some Stuff all right! With a capital "S"!

[manne1962]

isnt so good,fucking shit

[Agent4Wisdom]

It's good enough, you don't know shit.

[smoovegittar]

"How Long Will It Last" debuted on Stuff's first album.... not to be missed with Richard Tee's piano and Steve Gadd on drums.

[sudsypullover]

does anyone know what song that is?

[snarnok]

It is called "How long will it last" from Cornell's solo album "Teasin'". This track sounds similar to Lee Ritnour's albums from the late seventies.

[bobgure]

Does anyone know where the Cornell Dupree video of 'Honky Tonk' went to?

Anyone?

[LittleV7]

he's the coolest

[SonnyREast]

SOUL!

[plectroman]

How long will it last? Reminds me of Mikells!!!

[weecathy]

beautiful! makes you smile every time you hear cornell play

[podfunaug30]

yum!

[Samuelf92]

magic