Busking Merle Haggard - Misery And Gin

wrsomers
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Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:08 pm

It seems I've been on a country music kick for awhile. I ran across this Merle Haggard song and just fell in love with it. "Misery and Gin" is a song written by Snuff Garrett and John Durrill. It was released in June 1980 as the first single from the album Back to the Barrooms. "Misery and Gin" reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 4 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks.

It's a simple song but I find Haggard's phrasing and vocal tricks quite amazing. I tried many times during my practice to capture his style and in places I think I did so, but for the most part, I just had to make it my own. I laid it down in 3 tracks panning the guitar and backing track left and right and the vocal in the middle. The video was laid down last and it was a struggle to get it synced as it always is.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Bill




davidrfinn99165
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Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:29 pm

Great to see another vid from you Bill, i really enjoyed that. I particularly liked the cool bass runs _ bravo !

/ david


spinland
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Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:04 pm

So very nice. Love your presence and your song choices.

Technical question: what do you use to record your vocals? I don't see any mic in the shot so I'm guessing it's either a lapel mic I can't see or a very good directional?

EDIT: after re-reading your post (for comprehension, this time) I might add: or simply recorded during a different take? :side:


michelew
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:18 am

Sounds great Bill.

Isn't synching a [insert curse here] most of the time.

Thanks for sharing.

M


TGNesh
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:24 am

Watching your video made me realize that I've missed you Bill, awesome to see another video of you! :cheer: (Well waiting a bit makes the anticipation of the audience grow stronger, I actually do like that effect. ;) )

Beautiful song, which you did justice for sure. You and your setup sounded fabulous as always!

Ness xoxo


wrsomers
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 6:52 am

Thank you David, Mark, Michele and Ness!

David - Haggard did this song in the key of F without a capo. In that key the bass runs were very difficult because of the cursed Bb barre. I was happy that I could capo it up and play it in the same key but with D shape chords and keep most of the runs intact.

Mark - I use a Samson condenser mic for recording. I usually try to keep it out of view, but yes, for this song it wasn't in the video because I recorded the sound track separately. I do that when I have a backing track because I don't want to be wearing headphones for the video. If that makes sense? I'm trying to think of another way to record my voice and guitar track together with the video (sans headphones) while I'm playing along with the backing track. Do you have any suggestions?

Michele - I could think of a few expletives to fill in that blank. I used a few of them trying to lip sync this one. It's amazing how one can phrase their own rendition differently over and over :silly:

Ness - Thanks for always making me feel good about my videos. Whenever I post one, I have your feedback in mind. It's good to be back posting some new stuff. I've been away from that for awhile because I've been busy doing open mic's once a week at a local bar. Practicing for that takes time. Again, as always, thanks for your generous support. xoxo

Bill


familyman4
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:31 am

Very nice Bill! I love to hear Merle Haggard songs.

Are you using backing tracks for your open mic's also? I see a lot more player's doing that now days.

Thanks for posting!

Bart


wrsomers
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 4:58 pm

Hi Bart,
Nice to hear from you, Happy New Year! Thanks for listening, Merle was one of the best, such a smooth silky voice!

I haven't tried using backing tracks at open mic's and probably won't. The open mic emcees in this area don't like too many gadgets. There's one bar in Cheshire, CT that I won't go back to because he gave me a very hard time about hooking up my harmony pedal...actually insulted me to the audience because he didn't like the slight disruption (like 2 minutes) it took for me to set up my pedal.

It's all good because my new place is lots of fun, attentive, appreciative audience that accepts all genres. Some really good player/singers there too.

Cheers,
Bill


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neverfoundthetime
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:12 pm

That was a great recording Bill, nicely done. I like all you did there and to do it all in just 3 tracks is PDG (Prettz Damned Good)!
Great sound again.


wrsomers
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Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:19 pm

Thank you my friend!!


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