Stormy Weather Jeff Lynne inspired version | electric
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An electric guitar lesson on how to play "Stormy Weather". This is my take inspired by Jeff Lynne's version from his brilliant 1990 solo album "Armchair Theatre".
I've had this one on my list for a while but with what's happening in the world, it seemed now was a good time to do it! I think this song pretty well sums up how gloomy a lot of people may be feeling right now. I went a bit "artsy" on the demo video! While no one's ever going to mistake me for Federico Fellini, I wanted to express the sentiment that no matter how bad things look, nothing is forever. The lines from Lao Tzu's poem kind of hit it home, even though it was written over 2600 years ago. I came across that poem when I was looking into "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison one day. George had read Timothy Leary's translation and used it for the lyric of "All Things Must Pass." I only learned about that a few years ago! Anyways, if you've been hanging around planet earth for a while, you've undoubtedly been through a few crisis before and come out on the other side. As bad as it seems right now, this situation we're all in will come to an end and we'll be in better shape than ever. As far as the song goes, it's such a classic. Originally written in 1933 by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. It appeared in the 1943 film of the same name where it was sung by Lena Horne. It's been covered by a ton of artists including Etta James, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Even Bob Dylan, George Benson and Ringo (Ouch!) I always liked the feel of Jeff Lynne's version and that's what I went for with mine. I rolled the tone control on my Les Paul all the way back. I really like that sound. The main chord progression includes both a diminished and an augmented chord. Those are two chords that just don't get used very much today, and it's too bad because they offer a whole other level of expression. In the lesson which I'll put up next week, I'll go over those chords and give you possibly a new way of thinking about diminished chords especially. For the melody, I kinda just felt my way through it, and except for that one fast lick, played it with my fingers and thumb ala Jeff Beck, who for me is the most expressive guitarist of all time. I hope that you enjoy my demo/cover. If you like it, you can download the standalone audio track. Stay safe everyone. Cheers Andy |
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