Last night I performed at a cool venue in Los Angeles. It’s called Cafe Cordiale. A friend of mine had booked night of comedy and music centered around the movie of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I was asked if I could do a solo acoustic version of Kashmir and Moving In Stereo. Most self respecting musicians would probably say no way dude. Instead I said sure, I love a challenge.
To put it mildly these two songs are key points in the movie. Though the line in the movie is: Put on Led Zeppelin IV (in relation to being cool with a girl and getting laid), the song Kashmir that got used is actually from their second disc. It’s a huge song. It’s a powerful song. It’s a crazy thing to think one can play it and sing it all alone. I was surprised at the response I got from the crowd. A musician is always their worst critic but when people come up congratulating you on how you did it and how cool it was is cool. Especially when you have someone known for being brutally honest with their opinions saying it was cool.
Then came the song from the infamous masturbating scene involving to main characters, Moving In Stereo. I’m a fan of the Cars (if you’ve been reading recently I featured the song). There’s a song that really took on a different vibe done on a solo acoustic guitar. Why? Because a big part of that song is several electric guitars playing lots of different motifs, plus a large amount of different synth layers doing all kinds of things. I pared it down into something I could work with. The response on that one was much bigger. I’m not sure why. It even prompted another performer to come up and immediately tell me they would post how cool it was on Facebook…
The Quote: “its sooo tough.. but you did it! great version of a cars song impossible to be that enjoyable… you were moving in stereo times two.. Quad”
Fun stuff!
The amazing performer of the night had to be a cat named Zachariah Selwyn. I think that’s how he spelled his name. He does this cowboy punk rap thing with an acoustic guitar. He was outstanding hilarious. What was highly impressive was that it was entirely improvised on the spot and it flowed like you wouldn’t believe.
Here’s a clip of him doing something similar – same chords, but this is probably scripted:
Alas, I need to get some music now. I light of last night I’m going with Jackson Browne’s Somebody’s Baby. Another key point in the movie was backed with this song. Jackson had some very classic hits back in the 70’s and 80’s. Don’t believe me? Google him. He and his brother had some serious talent for writing songs. Probably still do. I almost feel like this has been a retro week of sorts. Capturing tunes from eras gone by. The great thing is, a great song stands up even years later. Something that this song certainly does.
The sentiment in the song is something a lot of guys will relate too, though now they might say it a little different. However, I bet they still think it like this in their head.
Dig the song? Go get it now!