IN THE ARTIST’S WORDS ~ ~ The Grateful Guitar
project was an idea that came to me years ago when I started including
Grateful Dead classics in my shows. I got them all recorded in a very
productive session using my Taylor steel string guitar sporting the new
Dean Markley ALCHEMY strings. A note-for-note TAB/ Standard Notation
transcription of 10 tunes from Grateful Guitar will be available in the
Fall. It will also include a Lesson CD with performance tips on each
tune in the book. I’m very happy to be able to have both the audio and
printed versions available for all the Grateful Dead Fans out there. It
has always been fun to play these tunes in their solo arrangements
capturing the vibe and feel of an acoustic Grateful Dead show. ~~ DC
David Cullen : Grateful Guitar
Mention the Grateful Dead to a group of friends and
it is doubtful that you will receive many ambivalent responses. As with
liver and onions, there is no middle ground — someone either loves the
Dead or does not. Fans, affectionately known as “Deadheads”, can recite
infinite amounts of minutiae regarding the band, while non-fans might
struggle to name a single song.
Some might question the decision to use the music of the Dead as the
vehicle for a solo acoustic guitar CD; covering 15 Dead “classics” with
no vocals and just a solitary 615ce is an ambitious undertaking with
inherent risk. But on Grateful Guitar, the idea bears fruit.
One of the most common sights at a Grateful Dead concert was what
Deadheads called “The Parking Lot” — a large gathering of people
sitting or walking around with their acoustic guitars, playing their
favorite Dead songs. David Cullen has fashioned Grateful Guitar in that
straightforward spirit — if you can imagine one of those strolling
minstrels being an accomplished player.
Cullen tackles the Dead “classics” head-on, reducing the music to its
purest elements by using his 615ce to morph the songs back into the
folk forms from which they sprang. “Sugar Magnolia” blossoms into an
entrancing rendition, with intricate overtones seeping through every
note. Such well-worn songs as “Friend of the Devil”, “Casey Jones”, and
“Shakedown Street” are covered with precision, fervor, and aplomb.
As a reward to serious fans, Cullen fastens some of the rarer and
less-performed Dead songs to the end of the CD. Deadheads will
particularly enjoy the inclusion of “They Love Each Other”, “Rueben and
Cherise”, and “If I Had the World to Give”.
But the great thing about Grateful Guitar is that you don’t have to be
a Deadhead, or even know who the Dead were, to enjoy the music. Those
who revel in the deceptive simplicity of skilled acoustic guitar
playing will appreciate the CD, while those who might be curious about
the Dead but require a “safe” portal into the band’s oeuvre will be
well served.
Stripped to their fundamentals, and without the “tribal” trappings and
the self-conscious “heaviosity” (apologies to Woody Allen) slathered
onto them by ardent fans, the band’s more familiar tunes can be judged
on their own merits. In that regard, “I Know You Rider” is a
revelation. Cullen’s performance captures nuances that are lost in the
multi-instrumental layering of the recording(s) and concert
performances.
Cullen’s deft, delicate touch, and the resulting soft decay wring
heart-rending expression from his 615ce, allowing the listener’s
imagination to capture and explore the expressive mood of “Rider”. On
“Ripple”, Cullen’s guitar prowess continues to shine. With subtle
clarity, he weaves a comforting tapestry that conjures images of a
peaceful summer in the country. The next track, “Going Down the Road
Feeling Bad” is a welcome change of pace — an up-tempo arrangement that
allows Cullen’s guitar chops to run loose. Appropriately, the final
song on the CD is “Bid You Good Night”, which the Dead would play as
the last song after a particularly good performance. It is a fitting
choice to close this honorable tribute.
— David Kaye WOOD & STEEL
David Cullen "Grateful Guitar", Solid Air SACD 2041, 2003
Nearly ten years ago, the death of Jerry Garcia marked the end of the
long, strange trip known as the Grateful Dead. David Cullen figures
enough time has passed to properly evaluate the band's contribution to
American music. Though they were noted for psychedelic overtures and
percussive space jams, it could be argued that the Dead were a "guitar
player's" band. This San Francisco born guitarist proves that plausible
theory on this brilliant collection of solo acoustic renderings of the
Dead's classic cannon. For fans of "Working Man's Dead", "American
Beauty", "Reckoning", and "Dead Set", Cullen's "Grateful Guitar" is a
perfection companion. Tribute albums which tread on sacred ground are
almost always a dangerous endeavor. Cullen ably confronts the daunting
task of re-working songs etched in stone in the same easygoing manner
as did his mentors with two important distinctions: he never drifts
from the original structure of each composition, and his improvisations
stay true to the song's primal melodic appeal. For "Uncle John's Band"
Cullen employs a myriad of arpeggios and two and three note groupings
to gradually reveal the motif in the verses. The pedal tone on open D
for "I Know You Rider" builds just enough anticipation until the
familiar melody kicks in. The disco-Dead get their rootsy props on
"Shakedown Street" as Cullen often quotes Phil Lesh's descending bass
line and adds a few more 7 chords into the mix than did Garcia and
Weir, who were then under the tutelage a very funky, and commercial hit
conscious Lowell George. Cullen emphasizes the jazzy, shuffle feel of
Garcia's solo gem "Sugaree" with detailed finger-picking and soulful
chord intervals. The most famous acoustic guitar intro of all time,
"Friend of the Devil" stays put, though Cullen's up-tempo rendition
affords the verses a vigorous shot-in-the-arm which was not something
the Dead often accomplished, if ever. You'll be amazed at the breadth
of the Greteful Dead's contribution to acoustic music from this disc,
and this album will also serve as an inspiration and lesson to guitar
players to explore the classics in the same manner as Cullen.
© Tom Semioli Minor7th
Artist: |
David Cullen |
Product Type: |
AMR CDs |
Item #: |
SACD2041 |
Price: |
$15.00 $12.75 |
|