by philipchevron Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:05 pm
O'Blivion wrote:philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.
A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public
Geez. Hadn't thought about Mary Hopkin since, um, 1968, I guess. She disappeared from America's radar screen after the aptly titled "Goodbye".
If I may be so bold - what tuning is "Blackbird" played in? I only ask because I know it in straight concert tuning and it always sounded at least close to being accurate.
I said Mary taught me how to play "Blackbird", I didn't say I remembered how 30 years later!
Mary Hopkin was a wonderful singer but a very reluctant star, constantly battling against the industry, which is not surprising since she somehow managed to embrace Panto with Tommy Steele at the London Palladium,
Opportunity Knocks (the
Idol of its day) AND the Eurovision Song Contest (she was placed second to Ireland's Dana). You have to have seriously unsympathetic management to achieve the triple crown of pop naffness. Despite this, she managed to produce a couple of good albums for Apple, the first
Postcard produced by Paul McCartney, the second, the more folky and representative
Earth Song/Ocean Song, produced by her then husband Tony Visconti. In his recent autobiography, Tony revealed they recorded at least two more albums of work together but Mary was unable to get a record deal which did not also require her to get back on the promotional hamster-wheel, so she always politely declined, preferring to make music on a low-key level with great folk musicians like Danny Thompson. Her 1972 "live" CD (released privately and available from her website) is well worth hearing, as is a charming compilation of her early, pre-Apple Welsh language singles.
I last saw Mary backatage at the London Palladium, where she had just done a show as a guest of the Chieftains. This would have been in 1990 or 1991, the same week the Chieftains played with The Pogues at the Brixton Academy. She always seemed quite happy working with other people, and can be heard on backing vocals on numerous Visconti-produced recordings from the mid-late 70s, including "Sound And Vision" (David Bowie), "Dear God" (Thin Lizzy) and "Walking Home Alone Again" (The Radiators).
At one stage, I think I'm right in saying, she was part of a group called Oasis (no relation) also featuring John Williams.
And now I think about it, "Blackbird" may just have had odd chord shapes, not different tuning.
[quote="O'Blivion"][quote="philipchevron"]Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.
A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public :D[/quote]
Geez. Hadn't thought about Mary Hopkin since, um, 1968, I guess. She disappeared from America's radar screen after the aptly titled "Goodbye".
If I may be so bold - what tuning is "Blackbird" played in? I only ask because I know it in straight concert tuning and it always sounded at least close to being accurate.[/quote]
I said Mary taught me how to play "Blackbird", I didn't say I remembered how 30 years later!
Mary Hopkin was a wonderful singer but a very reluctant star, constantly battling against the industry, which is not surprising since she somehow managed to embrace Panto with Tommy Steele at the London Palladium, [i]Opportunity Knocks [/i] (the [i]Idol[/i] of its day) AND the Eurovision Song Contest (she was placed second to Ireland's Dana). You have to have seriously unsympathetic management to achieve the triple crown of pop naffness. Despite this, she managed to produce a couple of good albums for Apple, the first [i]Postcard[/i] produced by Paul McCartney, the second, the more folky and representative [i]Earth Song/Ocean Song[/i], produced by her then husband Tony Visconti. In his recent autobiography, Tony revealed they recorded at least two more albums of work together but Mary was unable to get a record deal which did not also require her to get back on the promotional hamster-wheel, so she always politely declined, preferring to make music on a low-key level with great folk musicians like Danny Thompson. Her 1972 "live" CD (released privately and available from her website) is well worth hearing, as is a charming compilation of her early, pre-Apple Welsh language singles.
I last saw Mary backatage at the London Palladium, where she had just done a show as a guest of the Chieftains. This would have been in 1990 or 1991, the same week the Chieftains played with The Pogues at the Brixton Academy. She always seemed quite happy working with other people, and can be heard on backing vocals on numerous Visconti-produced recordings from the mid-late 70s, including "Sound And Vision" (David Bowie), "Dear God" (Thin Lizzy) and "Walking Home Alone Again" (The Radiators).
At one stage, I think I'm right in saying, she was part of a group called Oasis (no relation) also featuring John Williams.
And now I think about it, "Blackbird" may just have had odd chord shapes, not different tuning.
