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O.K., now the Boss AND Paul Simon are gonna sue me! Naw, I just did a rock & roll version of a song from Simon's first solo album ("Me & Julio" etc.). The hits on that record are cute, but MAN, the other cuts are outstanding! Really deep stuff.So I decided to rearrange "Run That Body Down" for a rock band.Here's how it came out:http://www.box.net/shared/jip9n26f61BTW, I now know how to spell "plagiarize." Hope you enjoy this cool song cranked up!Ern

Feb 26, 2009, 12:13pm, ernstinen wrote:O.K., now the Boss AND Paul Simon are gonna sue me! Naw, I just did a rock & roll version of a song from Simon's first solo album ("Me & Julio" etc.). The hits on that record are cute, but MAN, the other cuts are outstanding! Really deep stuff.So I decided to rearrange "Run That Body Down" for a rock band.Here's how it came out:http://www.box.net/shared/jip9n26f61BTW, I now know how to spell "plagiarize." Hope you enjoy this cool song cranked up!Ern Ern, what an awesome arrangement! I love this song. Nice choice for a cover.Steve

Ern,Great stuff! It has a lot of different vibes going on here.I feel like I'm hearing a ton of different influences in there. Lennon, Zevon, ELO, and several others in terms of singing and instrumental presentation. Cool stuff.GB

Feb 26, 2009, 12:56pm, stevebarden wrote:Ern, what an awesome arrangement! I love this song. Nice choice for a cover.SteveFeb 26, 2009, 3:14pm, gburgess wrote:Ern,Great stuff! It has a lot of different vibes going on here.I feel like I'm hearing a ton of different influences in there. Lennon, Zevon, ELO, and several others in terms of singing and instrumental presentation. Cool stuff.GBThanks, Steve & GB! I'm working on doing a "deep tracks" live rock trio, where I'm choosing songs you probably haven't heard in awhile, or were never "hits," but you might remember them. It should be fun!As far as influences, you nailed it, GB. I like every one of the artists you mentioned, but I'm surprised my "Lennon" influence is so apparent. --- Well, maybe not, because he's probably my #1 rock hero! And Zevon was so cool because of his attitude. Maybe that rubbed off on me some --- A bad attitude! Ern

Ern,You clearly have your own style. Yet in my opinion, some of your vocal and instrumental mannerisms reflect their styles—which I think is pretty cool.Mr. Lennon is right on top of my list as well. I was thinking just the other day how cool would it be if he were still around. Given how great the guy already was, it sort of sounds strange for me to say this, but I believe he was on the verge of even greater things when he died. Believe it or not back in the summer of 79 I had an experience that in the loosest of ways linked me to him. During summer vacation I was living on a really small college campus as a student and security guard in Northeast New Jersey. At some point Tony Coxes and Kyoko (Yoko's teenage daughter) came to live in the dorm I was living in for a period of time. I saw them a lot and spent some time talking with Tony.Tony was in hiding at the time as he had fled with Kyoko when she was younger. So it was sort of a weird situation for me being such a big Lennon fan and yet knowing Yoko's daughter was in hiding, living down the hall from me, and about a 20 to 30 minute ride from where John and Yoko were living. Crazy stuff. GB

Mar 1, 2009, 7:37pm, gburgess wrote:Ern,You clearly have your own style. Yet in my opinion, some of your vocal and instrumental mannerisms reflect their styles—which I think is pretty cool.Mr. Lennon is right on top of my list as well. I was thinking just the other day how cool would it be if he were still around. Given how great the guy already was, it sort of sounds strange for me to say this, but I believe he was on the verge of even greater things when he died. Believe it or not back in the summer of 79 I had an experience that in the loosest of ways linked me to him. During summer vacation I was living on a really small college campus as a student and security guard in Northeast New Jersey. At some point Tony Coxes and Kyoko (Yoko's teenage daughter) came to live in the dorm I was living in for a period of time. I saw them a lot and spent some time talking with Tony.Tony was in hiding at the time as he had fled with Kyoko when she was younger. So it was sort of a weird situation for me being such a big Lennon fan and yet knowing Yoko's daughter was in hiding, living down the hall from me, and about a 20 to 30 minute ride from where John and Yoko were living. Crazy stuff. GBWow, great story, GB! Shows how small the world is.I still remember when I was a little kid (I'm older than you! ) when my older sister got a nice AM radio. We would listen to all the pop/rock stuff, and most of it was schlock.My sister bought a series of records recorded by "the originals."As it turned out, "The Originals" was a scam band that covered the original artists as well as they could (which wasn't very well). It was one of those TV/Radio offers that had a low price for multiple recordings, and after we got it we knew why! It was so lame (even fake Elvis), but we were kids and didn't know how to respond to this obvious fake scam.BUT, they did NOT try to do covers of the Beatles. No way.When I first heard "Please Please Me" with Lennon singing, I just about shat my diapers. And then their other hits came along, and I was hooked for life. McCartney is my #2, but Lennon SPOKE to me like no one in my life ever had. He just connected to me, and obviously influenced my pop/song writing, attitude, and arranging immensely.Other (guitar) influences are certainly Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and as a guitarist/songwriter, Neil Young.Oh, I just listened the other day to "Nevermind" by Nirvana. I'm not quite that hard-core, but I believe Kurt Cobain was extremely influenced by John Lennon. --- If you ever wonder what Lennon would be doing these days, I'm sure it would be pretty hard-core in its emotions. His first solo album is one of the greatest records ever made, even though it may be hard to listen to by the uninitiated.Anyway, thanks for your response!Ern

This is really good Ern!Very Lennonesque vocals. Especially those long notes.Reminds me of his Mind Games/Walls and Bridges era.I'd agree in believing Lennon was on the verge of more great things,and I reckon he'd have been making things uncomfortable for a few people!And we've agreed before how great his first solo album was!Yeah GB, I remember all that hideout stuff, and the fight for custody.Dave.

Dave, “Yeah GB, I remember all that hideout stuff, and the fight for custody.” Years later while I was watching some sort of history of John’s life, when they got to the point where they spoke about Tony and Kyoko’s situation and the impact it had on them, I could not help but think in a very small way I was part of that history. As Ern said, “It’s a small world.”Ern, Regarding Beatles covers, I agree. For a long time their stuff was sacred ground. Let’s face it, even for the greatest of performers, the Beatles were so hot and so big that for the most part, there was only one direction they could take a cover and that was down.I liked Neil Young as well. Like Lennon, he went beyond the surface stuff. I like guys that would challenge me to think not just to listen.It's difficult to love the the modern guitar movement without loving Eric Clapton. That first verion of Layla spent many an hour pouring out of the speakers in my car.Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner--more than cool--an awakening.I can't argue with your selections. If you were putting together a baseball team you'd be well on your way to securing a playoff spot with that team!-----I purchased a copy of the first Lennon album as well. And one song on the album changed my concept of "music" and its ability to communicate a near impossible message--“Mother.”“Mother” grabbed my concept of music, slapped it around, kicked it in the butt, and said "be gone with ya." I mean if ever I felt like I was looking into the soul of another human it was then--the "chorus" of course. Given the innocence of that day and age, the song should have had a warning on it "Beware of raw human emotion and bare naked honesty." For those of you that have never heard “Mother” you can check it out at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85rPsIEHkyUOf course, given the day and age we now live in, I doubt it will have the same impact on those listening to it for the first time as it had on me back then. It’s getting tougher to find things that shock people now a days. But I believe it still can give you a good jolt. GB

Mar 2, 2009, 4:19pm, gburgess wrote:Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner--more than cool--an awakening.An awakening is correct! Wow, is that mind-boggling!'Quote:I can't argue with your selections. If you were putting together a baseball team you'd be well on your way to securing a playoff spot with that team!Well, I'm ready to play! I was an All-Star first baseman when I was young, and then when I got older I played shortstop for a great softball team that won the league championship, so we would have a GOOD squad!Ern

I played some hard ball in college--3rd and a little pitching. I also played some city league softball which I loved as well. Never a baseball All-Star so congrats on that. Wrestling was my sport. My freshmen coach referred to me as a "street wrestler." I never cared much for style, just going out and finishing the match quickly.While serving with the Army Rangers back in the 70s, while at Ranger School, during hand to hand combat training they paired me up with a Green Beret, and I was warned by one of the instructors because the guy complained that I was too rough. Too rough? It’s hand to hand combat. Once a street wrestler-- always a street wrestler.In my later years I’ve limited my aggressive nature to racing snowboards regionally, with a few trips to the Nationals. I’ve come to realize that age and gender do not matter as much with this sport. It’s just a matter of having a fast board and being able to handle the speed. If you ever have an opportunity to do some riding do it. At first you’ll feel a bit out of it, but once you figure it out, when you’re racing down one of those big mountains (Rockies, Tahoe, and the like), it is an awesome experience.Ern, I saw your comment about being older than me (which I'm more than willing to give you the props on that one), but as I listen to your vocal, I'm thinking that you have a very strong and young sounding voice. Your cords sound like you're in your mid-twenties.What in the world are you spraying in that throat to keep those cords sounding so good?GB