1952 Vincent Black Lightning....

[historicus146]

Here is a Richard Thompson song broken down for learning..

Good finger picking tune that could be a great tele tune ....imo.

I sure alot already knew of this song...but it is new to me...and I think it is a pretty neat tune....

here is a performance...




and here is a lesson ...

[MiloCroton]

Isnt that the name of a motorcycle?

[Breen]

Its also the name of a Richard Thompson's song, yes.

Its a wonderful tune. I'll never be able to play it though! Never say never? well.... But for this minute, it seems like it!

[Jack S]

Here is another version of the song done as a bluegrass tune. I have played it more like this a lot with some bluegrass players that I regularly play on Saturday sessions. This is Del McCoury's group and I like this arrangement a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgxXr...eature=related

[Lenderman_k]

Here is Reckless Kelly's version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlylarCRayI

[GigsbyBoyUK]

Great lesson for a superb song.

[Sherpa]

One of my favorites - thanks for posting those clips!

[historicus146]

Love to see a good country tele stab at this....with some good pedal steel licks...

Any thoughts?

[Lenderman_k]

I figured out the little riff once, but I cheated by using a capo on like the 9th or 10th fret lol
I also have personally seen Del McCoury and Reckless Kelly play this tune. Its a fantastic song. The two greatest things on earth redheads and motorcycles.

[binkydognose]

Cool, can't wait to get home to view the lesson, an all time favorite song.
How about "Whenever kindness fails" by Joe Ely next (don't know why that popped into/out-of my head)!?

[Del Pickup]

Good lesson here but I think it could have been easier if he hadn't played it quite as fast. It seems to be faster than the original to my ears.

But it's always interesting to see how other people play these riffs and runs.

[BoogerRooger]

Originally Posted by Breen

Its also the name of a Richard Thompson's song, yes.

Its a wonderful tune. I'll never be able to play it though! Never say never? well.... But for this minute, it seems like it!

I thought that about John Fahey stuff. I love his playing and got a couple of instruction books by him just out of interest. I got stuck in and I surprised myself and was playing songs I never thought I'd be able to. Give it a go, you'll probably surprise yourself!

Thanks for posting the vids. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning is one of my favourite songs ever!

[Triton Thrasher]

Originally Posted by MiloCroton

Isnt that the name of a motorcycle?

It was the road (pavement) racing version of the 1000cc Vincent V twin, made post-War in England, up to 1955. The sports road version, the Black Shadow, was credited as fastest ever production bike for an embarrassingly long time after the factory closed down.

[FatTeleTom]

I'm trying to get this song nailed down for a gig next week. Challenging, to say the least. Here's one of several good examples available on YouTube of Mr. Thompson himself playing it:



What a great song it is.

I had the pleasure of seeing RT play it in person at a tiny venue here in Evanston, IL last year. My seat was maybe 15 feet away from RT, and it was really amazing to see him at work from up close like that.

[historicus146]

Was it at "Space" in Evanston?

Are you going to tackle it on your tele? or acoustically?

[FatTeleTom]

Yep, at SPACE. Great show. He sold out two nights there, I think. The first show sold out about 5 minutes after tix went on sale online.

Doing it on acoustic, with a friend covering the vocals.

We'll see how it goes--I can play it reasonably well at this point, but at that speed, it's all to easy to lose the groove or otherwise go off the rails.

I've simplified the arrangement a bit--there's just no way I can pull of some of the stuff he does, at least not without a lot more practice.

[Panheadless]

Originally Posted by Triton Thrasher

It was the road (pavement) racing version of the 1000cc Vincent V twin, made post-War in England, up to 1955. The sports road version, the Black Shadow, was credited as fastest ever production bike for an embarrassingly long time after the factory closed down.

Jay Leno has at least one of each, including the Rapide and the very rare Black Knight.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/motorc...incent/#videos
It must suck to be Jay Leno.

[Jack S]

Here is one of the most famous motorcycle pictures ever taken of a Vincent Black Lightning setting a US National speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1948. By stripping to his swim suit and following a black line so that he could ride like this he achieved and average speed of just over 150 mph.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...record_run.jpg

[historicus146]

Originally Posted by FatTeleTom

Yep, at SPACE. Great show. He sold out two nights there, I think. The first show sold out about 5 minutes after tix went on sale online.

Doing it on acoustic, with a friend covering the vocals.

We'll see how it goes--I can play it reasonably well at this point, but at that speed, it's all to easy to lose the groove or otherwise go off the rails.

I've simplified the arrangement a bit--there's just no way I can pull of some of the stuff he does, at least not without a lot more practice.

Thats a great video you provide......and I like the look he's getting from that sultry woman sitting next to him....

Its strictly pattern picking...but the trickey part for me is working that opening with the quick pulloffs on the E string....into that pattern picking...
Sometimes if falls into place ... other times not. Got to work on it...

[Del Pickup]

That's a great video of RT playing this song - and also proves the point that it doesn't have to be played the same way every time.

Mind you if anyone other than RT had played some of the dissonant notes in the lead break then I'm sure the audience would have been thinking that they were just bum notes!! He's got such a knack of making the dissonance sound so right.

Brilliant song which also proves that it's not just American place names and motoring icons that can be used in a song - would anyone else think of writing a song about people from Boxhill in Kent??