I want to love you louisiana style

[Walter Tore]

Hi All: I recorded these this afternoon. Mark Rubinstein was by our house yesterday and he offered me a few new mic placement ideas to tinker with. This is my first attempt with them. Mark is a genuis keys and of sound recording. He was just hired to run Ohio State University's recording engineer program and his credits are deep, including engineering for Natile Cole, running sugar hill recording studio, and tons more. It was great to see him again. We figured it has been 16 years since we last saw each other. We will be playing together in the near future once he and his wife get settled up here(they are coming from San Antonio in August). He is a great keyboard/accordian/bassist. Walter

I want to love you Louisiana style
loving a strange woman
tip toe boogie
twist them hips
your love gives me the blues

 

[stevieb]

Well, darn you! I sooooo wanted to say something like "Really, buddy, lose the one-man-band schick and concentrate on your harp playing..." and then I watched your vid and knew I'd have to eat my words if I had said that for real.

Just please, tell me you are not doing the "Esteban" thing with all the names you drop on your Soundcheck page. Please.

 

[Walter Tore]

Well, darn you! I sooooo wanted to say something like "Really, buddy, lose the one-man-band schick and concentrate on your harp playing..." and then I watched your vid and knew I'd have to eat my words if I had said that for real.

Just please, tell me you are not doing the "Esteban" thing with all the names you drop on your Soundcheck page. Please.

thanks for checking out my music stevieb. I thought I was becoming a 1 man band because I was tired of dealing with keeping a band together. I don't do this for a living anymore and the level of musician I am use to having in my band can't be found without being able to pay them because it is their livelihood. Many of the guys that played with me over the years were on salary from other bands, or making it good on their own. They usually told me to keep the small amount of $ we would make playing in the small clubs that were my full time home for 25 years. During those years I always lived in a major music city and these guys were local. Now I live in a small Ohio village and the musician pool is near empty........


Well, to be honest, I love doing the 1 man band thing, and doubt I will ever go back to having a real band behind me. I still enjoy playing with musicians that are enthusiastic about what I do, and can go with my unorthodox flow.
I like to change chords/tempos when I want. When I get with amatuers, even technically good ones, I usually end up following them, and that just doesn't fit me. I guess I have been in the process of becoming a 1 man band for about 30 years. I started out as a harp player. Next, every band I got in needed a singer, so I started singing. Then I got frustrated with not being able to convey to guitarists what I heard in my head, so I learned guitar. Next came the frustration of keeping a bass and drummer. I would regularly book gigs/tours with no clue as to who would be available. My approach to music was never accepted by the music business and the money I could earn was barely enough to survive on my own. So, I use my thumb as the bass, and the built/modified gear and learned to do the drums on my feet. I am not sure what you mean by the Esteban thing because I don't know who he is. I use the soundclick page a presskit, thus my bio is there. There you have it! Walter

 

[stevieb]

Esteban is a not-terrible (but not real good, either) guitarist, who plays mostly flamenco-style guitar. His playing is actually not bad (although there are probably dozens of guitarist who are at least as good), but what hacks off many people is that he has promoted himself as being a "favorite student" of Andrés Segovia, by hyping a very brief letter he has, signed by The Man. The letter says something like "You love the guitar, and the guitar loves you;" Esteban claims it as an endorsement, where it appears that the truth is, it was no more than an autograph. Esteban did not start making his outrageous claim until after Segovia's death, so the great man is unable to refruit it.

Esteban literally adds injury to insult, by hawking sub-standard accoustic guitars, complete with his own "method" of instruction and unneeded, cheap amplifiers (what beginner player needs to amplify an accoustic guitar??) via TV infommercials. It seems the majority of his buyers are well-meaning great aunts who buy the kits as gifts for their young nieces and nephews who have expressed a desire to learn to play the guitar, only to find the guitars difficult, if not impossible, to play. The "injury" part is, by reports, real: one young lady reportedly cut her fingers on the horribly dressed frets of an "Esteban" guitar when she tried to play it.

Whew. Man, I am now sorry if I seemed to compare you to him- please accept my apologies.

 

[Walter Tore]

Esteban is a not-terrible (but not real good, either) guitarist, who plays mostly flamenco-style guitar. His playing is actually not bad (although there are probably dozens of guitarist who are at least as good), but what hacks off many people is that he has promoted himself as being a "favorite student" of Andrés Segovia, by hyping a very brief letter he has, signed by The Man. The letter says something like "You love the guitar, and the guitar loves you;" Esteban claims it as an endorsement, where it appears that the truth is, it was no more than an autograph. Esteban did not start making his outrageous claim until after Segovia's death, so the great man is unable to refruit it.

Esteban literally adds injury to insult, by hawking sub-standard accoustic guitars, complete with his own "method" of instruction and unneeded, cheap amplifiers (what beginner player needs to amplify an accoustic guitar??) via TV infommercials. It seems the majority of his buyers are well-meaning great aunts who buy the kits as gifts for their young nieces and nephews who have expressed a desire to learn to play the guitar, only to find the guitars difficult, if not impossible, to play. The "injury" part is, by reports, real: one young lady reportedly cut her fingers on the horribly dressed frets of an "Esteban" guitar when she tried to play it.

Whew. Man, I am now sorry if I seemed to compare you to him- please accept my apologies.

Hi stevieb: Thanks for that info. I have seen his info commercials and his cheap used gear on craigs list. I had no idea who he was though/ He knows how to do business that is for sure! I hung around Roy Smeck in his latter years. He was a true friend to Segovia. Roy was a genuis and a master of music theory. He had assembled a bunch of younger players to back him up on recordings and shows. He was interested to have me join in, but I knew nothing of music theory. I still don't, and am totally self taught by ear. Anyway, at the same time, I met Louisiana Red and he let me live on his couch. Red spoke nothing of theory and just played. That was the match for me. No appology necessary. I took no offense and was just wondering about esteban. Thanks again for checking out my music! Walter