…Add the catchy slide solo and we have the perfect example of how slide guitar can effectively lift a good song to the next level.
Steve Flack
The Cruel Sea @ The Metro Sydney.
I remember being invited by friends to see the “The Cruel Sea” at the Metro in George St Sydney.
The Metro as a venue could hold a lot of people, I don’t know what it’s capacity is but it’s a big room, and on this night it was packed with people wanting to see the “Cruel Sea” so to see such a large audience I knew that I’d be in for a real experience and it proved to be just that.
The frontman, Tex Perkins, is a show all by himself and stands tall in the tradition of Rock & Roll frontmen.
Then the band as a rhythm section and backing unit was strong and grooved nicely but for me, as a slide guitar player, what was hugely of interest was the slide guitar playing of Dan Rumour.
Slide Guitar Takes Centre Stage
I did a series of lessons for Australian Guitar Magazine on the The Cruel Sea and transcribed several of their songs – “Better Get A Lawyer” was one of the songs I covered.
From that first grungy, distorted slide riff that gets the song started it sets the tough, macho mood and attitude that is “Better Get A Lawyer”.
Add the catchy slide solo and we have the perfect example of how slide guitar can effectively lift a good song to the next level.
Grab the Tabs and Backing Track and Give It A Crack!
Nothing here is difficult but that’s the art of slide guitar.
How do we create attractive licks & riffs that compliment a song and grab the listeners attention?
“Better Get A Lawyer” can definitely be a direction pointer for us.
So learn it, get the tabs I wrote up, check out the lesson and play along with the backing track we made for it.
Steve