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Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 12:47 am
by thumbslinger
Besides the interesting arranging and techniques to pull this off, watch when he drops his pick......amazing. He kind of..looks down for a second and then thinks, "eh, I own these strings anyway.."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgIC6KOF ... e=youtu.be

Re: Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 10:51 am
by NSM
Without meaning to be argumentative or controversial, I have to say that I think this is a very poor performance. He slides a finger up and down a string and 'tremolo picks' with his plectrum.....the result is quite messy and to my ear at last, quite unpleasant to listen to. It's also not really how the tune goes.......this version is, IMHO, hugely superior...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUSSIt_F ... re=related

Re: Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 4:00 pm
by RandeDager
Even though I respect Jose Feliciano, I'll have to agree that his notes weren't as distinct and separated as I would have liked. I agree about the performance of Los Indios Tabajaras. I used to watch them on the "Tonight Show" a few decades ago when Johnny Carson was the host. He was a big fan of theirs.

Having said all of this, my favorite guitar version of this was the YouTube video that I was directed to right after Feliciano was finished. His name seemed Greek. I admired his technique the most. There was no sliding and each note that was picked was fretted by a separate finger of the left hand. He also picked with his fingers rather than with a flat pick, which Jose also eventually did except for the sliding up and down the neck that he did with his left hand. My tendency would be to pick this with the thumb, first, and middle finger.

Re: Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 4:38 pm
by RonBloor
RandeDager wrote:Even though I respect Jose Feliciano, I'll have to agree that his notes weren't as distinct and separated as I would have liked. I agree about the performance of Los Indios Tabajaras. I used to watch them on the "Tonight Show" a few decades ago when Johnny Carson was the host. He was a big fan of theirs.

Having said all of this, my favorite guitar version of this was the YouTube video that I was directed to right after Feliciano was finished. His name seemed Greek. I admired his technique the most. There was no sliding and each note that was picked was fretted by a separate finger of the left hand. He also picked with his fingers rather than with a flat pick, which Jose also eventually did except for the sliding up and down the neck that he did with his left hand. My tendency would be to pick this with the thumb, first, and middle finger.

I'd have to agree with you Rande. That performance by Dimitris Kotronakis was outstanding. However, I certainly didn't dislike the other videos mentioned they all have something to offer that I certainly couldn't... I remember buying Jose's first (I think) album when he was 23... In fact I think that was in the title. I thought he was great, but mostly because of his Latin (ish) carefree style.

Re: Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:39 pm
by RandeDager
Ron, I'm sorry if I seemed to indicate that I "disliked" the other performances. I liked them all but I was comparing and choosing a "favorite". If I feel that the technique in a performance is inefficient, then I'm not usually inspired to try and learn it other than to modify it to fit my way of thinking. Knowing that, I can say that when I watched Chet there wasn't anything I wanted to modify. I was studying every little detail and salivating to implement it!

Rande

Re: Jose Feliciano: Flight of the Bumble Bee

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:40 pm
by RandeDager
Ron, I'm sorry if I seemed to indicate that I "disliked" the other performances. I liked them all but I was comparing and choosing a "favorite". If I feel that the technique in a performance is inefficient, then I'm not usually inspired to try and learn it other than to modify it to fit my way of thinking. Knowing that, I can say that when I watched Chet there wasn't anything I wanted to modify. I was studying every little detail and salivating to implement it!