Under the Covers

One of the most fun aspects of being a musician is coming up with covers to play. My tastes run toward the esoteric, and lately I've been trying out some of my favourite Guess Who songs. Now, when it comes to The Guess Who, you're probably thinking "These Eyes," "American Woman," "No Time," maybe "Clap for the Wolfman."

Well, not in Vern's World (though I love those songs, too). I've been working up "His Girl" (flop single from 1966), "She Might Have Been a Nice Girl" (1971), "Smoke Big Factory" (1972) and "Cardboard Empire" (1973), the last three obscure album cuts all. Oh, and "Silver Bird" (1970), from the abandoned sessions for a follow-up to the American Woman album.

Something I've learned in trying to pick out these chords by ear: rock guitarists, even the greats—and I count Randy Bachman, Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw among them—are lazy. Okay, maybe not lazy; but like me, they prefer chords that are easy to play, easy to change to and from, and ring out well (in other words, the chord contains plenty of open strings). So, if I'm trying out a chord and it's finger-contorting, chances are I've got the wrong formation even if it sounds right. There must be an easier way to play this difficult chord, and it's up to me to find it.

Sometimes the guitarist might be playing in an alternate tuning, though that's not the case with The Guess Who save for "Heaven Only Moved Once Yesterday" (1972), another one I attempted that's in dropped D (DADGBE, low to high, for those of you following along at home). Two of the songs suddenly clicked for me once I found the correct capo position: that would be Capo 2 for "Cardboard Empire" and "Smoke Big Factory." And in the latter and "She Might Have Been a Nice Girl," what sounded at first like crazy-ass jazz chords were simply a ton of open strings with one fretted note, usually but not always the root. Both songs use an easy-strum G6: GxDGBE. (The "x" means you block, mute or don't play that string.) I also discovered two rather strange (but dead easy to play) A chords: one I'll call Aopen (xAEGBE) and the other, Adcg (xADGCG). The A might not be the actual root in either case, but try 'em, you'll like 'em. They sound fabulous.

I've also discovered that Randy Bachman, at least for a time, had a love affair going with major and minor sevenths. Once I grasped that—and they're all fairly easy to play, at least in the key of G—"Silver Bird" fell right into place. Randy sometimes capos as well, and way up there, too: "No Sugar Tonight" is Capo 4 and "Lightfoot," a delightful obscurity off Wheatfield Soul, is as far as I can tell an inventive layered combination of Capo 5 and Capo 7.

All this merriment has added some killer covers to my repertoire, and most importantly I've learned some great chords that will soon find their way into my own music. I know that because it's already happened: a chord I discovered while working up Husker Du's "Could You Be the One" was re-purposed for "Lady Air." The secret chord, which I call Fmould, is FCxGDG, and you play the F with your thumb. (By the way, this chord also appears in The Guess Who's "Hand Me Down World," so it could just as plausibly be called Fwinter.)

And why do I give these chords such zany names? Well, I have to remember them somehow and you won't find them in any guitar chord book.

Do You Know the Way to San Obscure?

I do, I do! See, I'd hoped to include in my busking set more popular songs that are actually popular, but none of that material felt right; it all got tossed. In its stead I've come up with a set of utter obscurities. Nary a "Hotel California" in the bunch. It may change before I unveil it in April or May, but as it stands now, here 'tis:

1. It's a Beautiful Day Today (Moby Grape)
2. Spanish Harlem Incident (Bob Dylan)
3. Hello Mary Lou (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
4. That's Entertainment (The Jam)
5. One Tin Soldier (The Original Caste)
6. Skyway (The Replacements)
7. Wasn't Born to Follow (The Byrds)
8. The Hills of Greenmore (Traditional)
9. Spanish Is the Loving Tongue (Traditional)
10. You're a Better Man Than I (The Yardbirds)
11. Girls of Wild Strawberries (Guided by Voices)
12. My Mind's Eye (The Small Faces)
13. Bike (Pink Floyd)
14. The French Girl (Ian & Sylvia)
15. Boxcars (R.E.M.)

I ran through it today to time it and in its wilfully bent way, it rocks. I'm hoping that part of my charm as the World's Most Introverted Busker (TM) is the exuberance I bring to these little-known gems. If I love to play them you'll love to hear them, so the thinking goes. Tweaking the arrangements and putting my own stamp on them has been a blast in and of itself.

Buskman's Holiday

Over the years I've amassed a nice stash of Via Rail gift cards, courtesy my beloved brother and sister-in-law. They know I love to travel, but for a variety of reasons I've grown weary of venturing to nearby small towns and wandering. It's lately felt more like a brood-fest than a day trip. This Christmas when the latest installment arrived, though, I had a brainstorm: what if some summer Sunday I brought my guitar along, staked out a good spot on Main Street, Smalltown Ontario, and busked?

Though I've performed hundreds of times, solo and with bands, I've yet to try busking. I figure a small town might be a good, low-pressure locale in which to get started. I have at least a few months to prepare repertoire, figure out where I'll go and check local bylaws to ensure my free-spirited warbling doesn't net me a fine or citation. Both Via and GO (our intercity bus/rail provider) accept guitars as carry-on baggage, so it's logistically possible on public transport.

I've already begun scoping out locales and have narrowed it to 30 cities and towns, all within three hours or so of Toronto. The funny thing: I don't even know if I'll like busking. Guess I'll find out. It's occurred to me too that I ought to bring some recognizable covers into the mix, as my tastes tend toward the obscure. ("Exactly What We Don't Want to Hear" by Game Theory, anyone?) My wading through the Billboard charts of yesteryear is ongoing.

Locally, I've discovered that street performers in Toronto need a licence and I'm considering applying for one. There are a few bureaucratic hoops to navigate, but it looks doable and not terribly expensive ($41 a year).

Anyway, the adventure starts in May and I plan to write about what happens here, so stay tuned. All aboard for the Buskman's Holiday!