My OperaKeith Richards "Life"
Monday, January 24, 2011 4:03:14 AM
I started reading "Life" of Keith Richards a month or so ago. I can hardly have an hour straight to sit for reading, but I really enjoy every paragraph I read. Today I found a very interesting passage; it's very interesting to me as a person who plays the guitar. It goes like this;- To this day there's a Scotty Moore lick I still can't get down and he won't tell me. Forty-nine years it's eluded me. He claims he can't remember the one I'm talking about. It's not that he won't show me; he says, "I don't know which one you mean." It's on "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone." I think it's in E major. He has a rundown when it hits the 5 chord, the B down to the A down to the E, which is like a yodeling sort of thing, which I've never been quite able to figure. It's also on "Baby Let's Play House." When you get to "But don't you be nobody's fool/Now baby, come back, baby..." and right at that last line, the lick is in there. It's probably some simple trick. But it goes too fast, and also there's a bunch of notes involved: which finger moves and which one doesn't? I've nver heard anybody else pull it off. Credence Clearwater got a version of that song down, but when it comes to that move, no. And Scotty's sly dog. He's very dry. "Hey, youngster, you've got time to figure it out." Every time I see him, it's "Learnt that lick yet?" -
What an interesting story! I'm sure every person who plays the guitar has the same experience as Keith is talking about in this book. One of the greatest guitarists ever is trying to figure out one lick for forty nine years! Who could ever give up learning?
