Great string arrangements in rock and pop songs

originally posted by: ColeYounger
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Cool! I was messing with a cello at the music store. Just slowly drawing the bow over the strings, and I was hooked!
I must get one.

Yea, it's an interesting instrument. I once saw a rock show where the lead singer was jamming out on a cello. She was playing it while standing with the peg fully extended so it looked kind of odd, but she was certainly pulling it off. Up until that moment I had never considered using a cello in a rock show before, except maybe as part of an orchestral accompaniment to a prog rock band:

a reply to: ColeYounger

Yes the guitar is glorious. I find it's the instrument most similar to the voice (especially with amplified guitars). You can make so many beautiful and terrible noises, and hit notes in between notes, etc etc haha

And open tunings just multiply the fun possibilities!

ETA I'm checking out Jim Oblon now! Thanks for that, these are some deep tracks!

a reply to: ColeYounger

I'm not sure if you'd classify these as strings but they have strings in them. I liked yours, by the way. Awesome stuff.



These are definitely strings. Really cool stuff.

a reply to: WizardVanWizard

I'm in the process of converting What I Got into a mandolin tab. For the moment I am just strumming the D and G chords over the lyrics and I'm not sure I want to scribe the actual guitar part Bradley plays just yet. Though I HAVE scribed the solo he plays after the first verse and I plan on tremoloing the first few notes of that solo to add the "mando touch" to the song, among other things.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Nice! I've never heard or even thought of Sublime on a mandolin. Now that you mention it, though, that solo would sound cool 'mando-ed up'. If you ever end up recording it post a link!

a reply to: Skid Mark

Nice! I literally JUST saw OCMS and Trampled by Turtles at Delfest. And yes, OCMS played Wagon Wheel lol. Though I like Tell it to Me better. Wagon Wheel is a bit overplayed in my circle of friends. They also played that song as well.



Though if you are going to list Bluegrass greats how about Del McCoury himself?



Or the likes of Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, John Cowan, and Pat Flynn in New Grass Revival?

a reply to: Skid Mark

Ahh OCMS kicks so much ass (even though they kicked out Willy Watson, my favourite member--check out his solo album if you haven't)

I, for one, would definitely consider them a string band.

a reply to: ColeYounger


From the greatest album ever produced.

a reply to: WizardVanWizard

I see a lot of "newgrass" shows (basically jam bands meet bluegrass, and considering the two musical styles its a match made in heaven), so I have seen quite a few contemporary rock songs converted into bluegrass songs.

ETA: David Grisman plays the Mandolin on Ripple

a reply to: ugmold

Mick Ronson of course did some fantastic string arrangements for Bowie too, Life on Mars is stunning yet on the whole the gentleman is remembered mainly for his guitar work which while fantastic, didn't show the scale he brought to such an epic song. RIP Mick, Legend.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I wish 'Wagon Wheel' would just die haha.

a reply to: WizardVanWizard

It's one of those songs like Friend of the Devil. Over played, but every now and then it's great to listen to and jam out to because it truly is a good song. Though for the most part, I agree.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Oh nice. I haven't delved into the 'newgrass' stuff, well at least not live shows (and I never get to see any shows, really, living in the middle of the woods haha) but yeah there's a lot of room for crossovers. I guess it's all pretty much the same ballpark of progressions, just with different instruments playing different intervals and rhythms

And yeah I don't like when overplaying taints a great song (Stairway, anyone? haha). I think after 4 or 5 years of not hearing it, I'll be able to appreciate it again haha

a reply to: WizardVanWizard

Here are my two favorite newgrass bands performing contemporary rock covers

originally posted by: ColeYounger
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Cool! I was messing with a cello at the music store. Just slowly drawing the bow over the strings, and I was hooked!
I must get one.

These dudes have range

I went to my first Frank Zappa concert in 1969 at Pauly Pavillion in UCLA. I was allowed to go by my folks because the LA Philharmonic was on the bill.

There were technical difficulties (sound was not the art it is today) and the orchestra couldn't play the number they were there to perform so Frank invited members of the Orchestra to jam with the band - well only one member did - a mid-level cellist.

It was a great concert.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Cool! I'm liking the Paul Simon tune. And I'm sure I'll love Crazy Train.

a reply to: WizardVanWizard

Yea, Greensky Bluegrass has some amazing players. I really like their mandolinist (surprise! lol) and their dobro player. Though Yonder's members are skilled too. Their fiddle player is great (she's a recent addition though). But the musician I fell in love with the band, Jeff Austin (mando player again. Surprise!), left; though his replacement isn't that bad. I think he left because of ego issues and possibly his drug habit (I'm speculating here, but every time I've seen Jeff Austin he ALWAYS looks and sounds coked up to the extreme).

a reply to: Krazysh0t

That must have been one hell of a show! I like the videos you put up. Nashville Cats is an awesome song.

I don't know if it falls under your classification of Rock or Pop but if you're talking strings you have to include Soul II Soul...

www.youtube.com...