Free Classical, Spanish Acoustic Guitar Music From Dale Harris

Free Classical, Spanish Acoustic Guitar Music From Dale Harris

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DH Jan 2011

You've Got To Be More Than A Genius! (or 'Be Different')

This is a thought regarding something that happened at a gig last night. In preparation for a forthcoming solo 'variety-guitar' concert (where I play many different guitars in contrasting genres), I took out a guitar that seldom sees the light of day (as I prefer playing classical guitars). I decided to play three guitar pieces and one requires hundreds of tuning peg pitch changes. This achieves an effect similar to the pedal-steel or Hawaiian guitar. I got the feeling that most people hadn't seen this (trick) before. The guitarists in the audience were busy figuring out what was going on whilst the lay-men were just staring. Some people laughed, and the die-hard inbred types, well, god knows what they thought (they probably wanted more Elvis Presley or something old and well-known).

The 'trick', like most magic, isn't new. A well-known guitarist whom I saw play many times used to tour round the UK in the 1980's doing the same trick, and he used to get much a very similar reaction. His time in the U.K. was much less-successful than his later reception in the U.S.A.

These days, as I practice mostly classical and reserve the other styles for just airing at concerts so I don't take playing non-classical music that seriously. It's a bit of fun and hopefully injects some much needed variety. Now, I still see and read about many very clever solo musicians (especially guitarists) and they seem to fall into the same trap. Do one thing, stick to that one style and hope for the best. That approach might just work if you are in Nashville although the competition is stiff but it generally does not work. Take classical guitar concerts; very clever, great music, complex, beautiful and artistic but it does not attract the masses (half-masses would do!). I always wanted to be a classical guitar performer and the recitals I've done have reinforced my present view that too much of one thing (for entertainment, not intellectual purposes) is a bad idea. I wasn't under illusions in my experience taking just the one unusual guitar to perform with in a short three-song show and performing my allotted pieces in that style and sound. For me, it was practicing an aspect for my solo show. Certainly being an instrumentalist in London and performing in one style only just isn't enough.

Funnily enough, Ive taken that annoying blue guitar to many of my serious classical recitals.

DH





What counts is not shock-value or cleverness,

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Download Guitar Music by Dale Harris on MP3 for FREE!

I have made available two downloads of complete and unreleased tracks for FREE for access by anyone who visits my page at www.reverbnation.com/daleharris

PLEASE NOTE: to download the free music you must register with reverbnation (a simple process and they DO NOT hassle you!) and become a fan of Dale Harris.

There are other sample tracks available to listen and /or download at the following address: http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/1395281

I have future plans to post other exclusive tracks here as well so watch this space!

Thanks!

DH

Dale Harris: My First Release On CD

Over the years, I played with many artists in a variety of ensembles. My first commercial recording was with a Hertfordshire based group, 'Pretty Blue Gun' (herein referred to as PBG).
I possess a number of second-hand copies of the CD album that was recorded in the early 1990's. The CD is entitled 'Big Blue World' (herein referred to as 'BBW') and are extremely rare and difficult to obtain on disc these days. You can buy these direct from me at any of my concerts. Alternatively, you can email me using the contact details provided below.

PRICE £7.00 per CD

Postage & Packing Information (if ordering via email)

• UK: Please add £1.75 to your order
• Europe: (inc. Scandinavia) Please add £2.25 to your order
• USA: Please add £2.75 to your order
• Rest of World: Please add £3.75 to your order

These early recordings include some interesting electric guitar work by Dale Harris that will soon disappear altogether on disc. If you would like a copy of this rare CD please email me at: info@dale-harris.co.uk

All CD's are used and are in excellent condition and were only ever played a few times for promotional purposes only.

BBW includes 13 tracks and the artwork and liner notes are inaccurate and only mention the touring musicians names. The real line-up of musicians is wholly different and leaves out some incredible musical talents. I hope to provide salient track details for the interest of music enthusiasts and historians.

The BBW CD has long been deleted and there were only a few thousand copies ever released. BBW was a massive flop. This was partly due to production errors in the early stages of recording with some odd aesthetic choices concerning musical direction. Moreover, over-ambitious studio usage proved to be a strain on the finances of the record company (Cavell Records).


The liner notes states the musician line-up but this is only true for tracks 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10.

The personnel for tracks 1,2,4,9,11,12,13 are (if memory serves) as follows:

All tracks include Trudie Brogan on Vocals (T.B.) and Rhythm Guitar by Neil Fitzsimon (N.F.)


Track 1. - Big Blue World


TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar
Peter Hague: Drums
Unknown: Bass Guitar
Dan Reavey: Keyboards

Track 2 - Girl In A Gilded Cage
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar
Peter Hague: Drums
Unknown: Bass Guitar
Dan Reavey: Keyboards

Track 4 - The Only Girl
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar, Additional Keyboard Programming
Dave Bronze: Bass Guitar
Bob Jenkins: Drums
Bias Boshell: Keyboards
Norman Goodman: Keyboard Programming

Track 9 - One Minute Every Hour
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar, String Arrangement & Additional Keyboard Programming
Dave Bronze: Bass Guitar
Bob Jenkins: Drums
Bias Boshell: Keyboards
Norman Goodman: String Arrangement & Keyboard Programming


Track 11 The Drowning Pool
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar, Additional Keyboard Programming
Dave Bronze: Bass Guitar
Bob Jenkins: Drums
Tobias Boshell: Keyboards

Norman Goodman: Keyboard Programming

Track 12 - Scared Of The Dark
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard and Rhythm Programming
Peter Hague: Drums


Track 13 - Revolution Of The Mind
TB: Vocals
NF: Rhythm Guitar
Dale Harris: Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard and Rhythm Programming
Peter Hague: Drums

Original BBW artwork which was not used: From left to right: Dave McAndrew, Dale Harris, TB, NF.

PBG: Incidental Information

• Dave McAndrew was PBG's live drummer from circa October 1991-July 1992, and Bassist Chris Ryan was the live bass player. To my knowledge sadly, neither Chris Ryan nor Dave McAndrew performed on any of the BBW studio tracks although both were present during the recording sessions.
• Peter Hague took over drums in July 1992.
• Dale Harris left the band in circa March 1993 (due to a muscular RSI injury)
• The band personnel as mentioned in the BBW liner-notes is applicable from April 1993-1994.
• John Berry left the band in 1994.
• Guitarist Matt Cowe left the band sometime in 2000/01.
• Dale Harris rejoined June 2001-March 2003.
• Both Dale Harris and Peter Hague recorded and performed with the popular country/Rock n Roll singer-guitarist Lorne Gibson, although never at the same time.
• The musical arrangement for track 7 'Snipers Target' and the instrumental composition at the end of track 12 'Scared Of The Dark' is by Dale Harris (which was not credited at the time).
• Dale Harris borrowed additional guitars from Alexis Korner and Pip Williams on tracks 4, 9, 11.

Anyone who has further knowledge of the musician line-ups that I am unable to ascertain can contact me and I will update them accordingly.