Fret Filings - (Anne's Blog)

Monday, November 21, 2011

THE RUNAWAYS - "GETTIN' HOT"
Topic: New Tab Postings

From the 1977 album Live In Japan.

The tab:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/vartab/runaways-gettinhot.txt

Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxU87u4UHxk

Posted by planet/zerofret at 3:20 AM EST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Monday, November 14, 2011

TARA'S SONG
Topic: Guitar

Just over a week ago I wrote about Tara in a blog post. Today's post is about "Tara's Song". It didn't start out as her song, but it became hers. It would have been back in about 1996. Tara and her pal Paddy were still very young cats, about a year old. They were outdoor cats, but were always inside by midnight to spend the night indoors. One night Tara didn't come home. For a little while, we figured she was just being a typical little feline, doing things on her own schedule. We called for her, searched in the immediate area for her. No Tara. Then her absence stretched into hours, late into the night, something she had never done. Naturally, I was really worried about her.

Around that same time, during the previous couple of weeks, I had been fiddling around with a musical idea on guitar. I had been trying to do some modal ideas (beyond Ionian or Aeolian, that is), and I was attempting to write something using the Phrygian mode. In the end, it didn't come out that way, it was just your basic minor key tune. That night, filling time playing guitar while I wondered where Tara was and worried about her, I decided to dedicate the song to her.

Someone once told me, after hearing the song, that they thought it sounded like horror movie music. I got a kick out of that. I suspect that opinion was influenced by the dissonant intervals in the bridge part of the song. But that dissonance suggested the notion of peril, which seemed appropriate. On the night of the missing cat, I worried about any number of dangers and hazards possibly being the reason why she hadn't returned home.

The next morning...the cat came back. Just like the song says. But cats don't tell you where they've been or why they didn't come home at the time they should have. However, our neighbour across the street a few doors down was able to tell us. He said that first thing in the morning when he opened his garage door, a little black and white streak zoomed past him. He recognized her, so was able to tell us where she had been. So she had been stuck in a neighbour's garage all night, and arrived safely home the next morning. I was extremely relieved, and very happy to see her.

In the meantime, she had gained a song. I didn't really add anything more to the song, just put the verse and bridge parts together to form a short instrumental. I recorded it on my little Tascam Porta 03 4-track recorder. Very low tech. A few guitar tracks (the melody part is double-tracked) and some programming on an old Roland rhythm machine.

After Tara passed away late last month, I decided I'd post the song as a small tribute to her. (Click on the song title to hear it.)

"Tara's Song" by Anne Drury (Written and recorded in 1996)

Tab for "Tara's Song":
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/annesblog/annedrury-tarassong.txt

Posted by planet/zerofret at 2:16 AM EST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Friday, November 11, 2011

REMEMBRANCE DAY
Topic: General

Posted by planet/zerofret at 3:44 PM EST
Updated: Friday, November 11, 2011 3:46 PM EST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Saturday, November 5, 2011

TARA
Mood:

blue
Topic: General

Earlier this week I posted to wish people a Happy Hallowe'en, but for me it was actually quite a sad week. Last Saturday morning (October 29), my beautiful little cat Tara passed away at the age of sixteen and a half. She went peacefully, at home, lying in one of her favourite spots. She was a wonderful cat right up to the end. Even in her last couple of weeks, she would gamely muster up a purr in response to attention given to her and for help given to her in getting to food and water dishes and comfortable sleeping spots. I kept hoping she would start to eat more, so she could get some strength back and rally, but it wasn't to be. She has a lovely final resting spot in a stand of woods out behind the house, with a ravine and a stream, her prowling grounds for many years. I miss her terribly.

Born on March 20, 1995, we got her in May of that year. Our neighbours across the street were getting a kitten from some people they knew, and arranged to get us one, too. So Tara lived right across the street from one of her sisters. We had been planning to get two kittens from them, but that didn't work out. So a couple of weeks after getting Tara, we got a second kitten from a newspaper ad. Since Tara was here two weeks before Paddy (and two weeks his senior in age, as well), she always figured she was boss cat. Since Paddy is three times bigger than Tara, he always thought he was boss cat. So it worked for both of them. ;-)

Tara with me 1995

Tara 2010

Of course, I have countless wonderful memories of Tara, from kittenhood right up into her senior years. She liked to watch hockey games with me. I think she liked all the swirling motion on the screen, so whenever I was going to watch a game, I'd say, 'Do you want to watch the swirley guys tonight?' She was a huge lover of Swiss Chalet chicken; she loved Swiss Chalet take-out nights. She liked to stand on me and knead away for minutes at a time, heedless to all the little holes she was poking in me. (Ouch.) Purring up a storm as she did it. Speaking of storms, she liked to watch thunder storms, provided it was from a nice dry spot. She liked to 'help out' with jigsaw puzzles by sitting on them and swishing her tail through the pieces that weren't put in yet. She loved everything about Christmas...the tree (she'd pick a spot under it for sitting), wrapping and tissue, boxes to explore, ribbon (which we had to keep away from her).

She'd hang out with me while I was playing guitar, which is how she'd sometimes turn up in my guitar videos. Rolled up in a ball here, you can only see half of her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLzZM0H5al8 And I gave her and Paddy a video of their own, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flyFAUOUpNs When she was younger, she liked to go up on the roof of the house, then meow down just to make sure someone saw she had gotten up there. Then pretend she needed help getting down (even though she didn't need help). She loved running along a balcony railing in the house, too. Like most cats, she could be quite the acrobat.

This past Christmas, my sister gave me a swivel office chair to set up with the computer I had just gotten. Tara took an immediate liking to it, and decided it was hers. So which one of us got the chair when they wanted it? See below. But she let me use it sometimes. :-)

Paddy's been sticking close to us this week. He misses her, too.

Tara's Office Chair

Paddy and Tara

Always in my heart, little one, you will be sadly missed, but fondly remembered forever.

Posted by planet/zerofret at 6:10 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, November 5, 2011 6:15 AM EDT
Post Comment | View Comments (2) | Permalink | Share This Post

Friday, November 4, 2011

OCTOBER 2011 REVIEW
Topic: Tab Views

Most-viewed tabs for the month of October 2011:

37 - Harlequin - Thinking Of You
36 - Honeymoon Suite - Burning In Love
35 - BTO - Takin' Care Of Business
34 - Harlequin - Innocence
33 - Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
29 - Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns
23 - Doucette - Mama Let Him Play
23 - Helix - Deep Cuts the Knife
23 - The Poppy Family - Where Evil Grows
23 - Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know
23 - Trooper - Boys In the Bright White Sports Car

Total Tab Views for October: 1,278

By section: Canadian-950 Girlschool-99 Various-85 Chords-144

Most-viewed tabs overall (up to Oct. 31/11):

1,027 - Honeymoon Suite - Burning In Love
989 - Doucette - Mama Let Him Play
806 - The Kings - This Beat Goes On
755 - Harlequin - Thinking Of You
613 - Honeymoon Suite - Stay In the Light
594 - A Foot In Coldwater - (Make Me Do) Anything You Want
592 - The Kings - Switchin' To Glide
584 - Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
560 - Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns
558 - April Wine - Cum Hear the Band

Tabs reaching 100 overall views this month: Ready For Love, Cousin Mary, Love On the Rocks, Edge Of Seventeen, A Criminal Mind

Posted by planet/zerofret at 4:42 AM EDT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Monday, October 31, 2011

HALLOWE'EN
Topic: General

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWE'EN

Posted by planet/zerofret at 2:31 AM EDT
Updated: Monday, October 31, 2011 2:36 AM EDT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Thursday, October 20, 2011

IAN THOMAS - "MOTHER EARTH"
Topic: New Chords Postings

Long Long Way was the 1974 follow-up to Ian Thomas's self-titled debut album. It produced two successful singles, in the title track and "Mother Earth". It also gave the 1974 Most Promising Male Vocalist Juno award winner his second consecutive gold album. Thomas showed he was well on his way to becoming the hit-making machine he would be known as in Canada.

"Mother Earth" is actually a tale of two tunes. On the album, the song has a rootsy, folk-rock sound. The foundation of the track is a strummed acoustic guitar, enhanced by piano and keyboard parts, with a single vocal track by Thomas. By the time the song was released as the album's second single toward the end of 1974, it had undergone a total make-over, having been entirely re-arranged and re-recorded. The acoustic guitar had given way to a more fully keyboard driven sound, and backing vocals had been added. Overall, it was a slicker, more ear-catching arrangement, perhaps for the purpose of helping the song to stand out in the AM radio crowd. The single peaked at #41 on the RPM 100.

As far as I know, the only album the single version has ever appeared on is the 1980 greatest hits compilation The Best Of Ian Thomas. In 1993, when Thomas released another comprehensive best-of compilation (called Looking Back), "Mother Earth" wasn't included on it.

This chord chart can be used for either version of the song. The main chord chart is of the single version, because I think that's probably the version more people are familiar with. At the end of the chord chart I've included the added parts for playing the LP version.

The chord chart:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/crd/thomasian-motherearth.txt

Audio (album version):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEQupbsS6gs

The single version:

Posted by planet/zerofret at 12:01 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 8:02 AM EST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Friday, October 14, 2011

SPOONS - "NOVA HEART"
Topic: New Tab Postings

"Nova Heart" was the first single drawn from Arias & Symphonies (1982), the second album from Burlington, Ontario new wave band the Spoons. Released in April of 1982, the song became a Top 40 hit in Canada. It was followed by two more singles, the album's title track and "Smiling In Winter". The success of all three singles propelled Arias & Symphonies to gold status.

Singer/guitarist Gordon Deppe has described "Nova Heart" as being "a spiritual take on the end of childhood."¹ In describing the album, he commented, "We think our appeal lies in keeping the music simple, while the lyrics ask you to explore remote places and uncommon ideas...That idea runs through the whole album."²

You can see a good live version of the song here. The video is from 2007, and has the band looking and sounding a bit more 'rock-ish' than in their new wave/new romantic days. (That video had embedding disabled, though, so I couldn't include it here in this post.)

The tab is of the album version of the song, not the single edit. The album version is linked to below.

The tab:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/cantab/spoons-novaheart.txt

Audio (studio/album version):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFA5G3F2Xpw

Live version from the 1980's, with the full original line-up of the band:

1. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/walkoffame/thespoons.html
2. http://www.thespoons.ca/Images/Arias-press_release.jpg

Posted by planet/zerofret at 12:01 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 8:22 AM EST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Monday, October 10, 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Topic: General

Posted by planet/zerofret at 12:50 AM EDT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Thursday, October 6, 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011 REVIEW
Topic: Tab Views

Most-viewed tabs for the month of September 2011:

31 - Honeymoon Suite - Burning In Love
22 - April Wine - Cum Hear the Band
21 - 54-40 - Baby Ran
20 - Harlequin - Sweet Things In Life
19 - Doucette - Mama Let Him Play
18 - Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
17 - The Kings - This Beat Goes On
17 - The Poppy Family - Where Evil Grows
16 - April Wine - Just Between You And Me
16 - Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns
16 - Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know

Total Tab Views for September: 867

By section: Canadian-625 Girlschool-94 Various-42 Chords-106

Most-viewed tabs overall (up to Sept. 30/11):

991 - Honeymoon Suite - Burning In Love
966 - Doucette - Mama Let Him Play
785 - The Kings - This Beat Goes On
718 - Harlequin - Thinking Of You
593 - Honeymoon Suite - Stay In the Light
579 - The Kings - Switchin' To Glide
576 - A Foot In Coldwater - (Make Me Do) Anything You Want
551 - Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
538 - April Wine - Cum Hear the Band
531 - Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns

Posted by planet/zerofret at 2:04 AM EDT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Newer | Latest | Older

«	November 2011					»

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30