LINER NOTES TO #124CD SOLO GUITAR PROJECT- VOL 2 by HARVEY REID


1- Star Island Jig* (H. Reid) [4:07]
2- Magnolia Promenade (H. Reid) [3:18]
3- Norway Suite 1: The Waterfall* (H. Reid) [4:21]
4- Norway Suite 2: The Fjord* (H. Reid) [3:05]
5- Woodchopper’s Reel– Jimmy in the Swamp (Trad.) [3:48]
6- Lost Lullaby (H. Reid) [4:05]
7- Five Cent Cigar (H. Reid) [2:29]
8- Above the Clouds (H. Reid) [3:24]
9- For Whom the Bell Tolls (H. Reid) [5:15]
10- The Minstrel’s Dream* (H. Reid) [22:18]
11- Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad (Trad.) [3:14]
12- Minuet in G (J. S. Bach) [1:32]

*These tracks use a partial capo. For more information about the partial capo, visit http://www.partialcapo.com. Harvey pioneered this idea, and has recorded over 120 tracks using more than 20 configurations of partial capos.

Harvey Reid 6-string, 12-string & slide guitars
Arrangements, Production, Engineering Harvey Reid, Jeff Landrock
Recording Woodpecker home studio, The Cottage, Fishtraks
Re-Mastering Thomas Eaton, Newburyport MA
Guitars See individual track notes... The 6-string banjo & autoharp on the cover do not appear on this album, though the other guitars do.
Design & Graphics Aphro-Graphics
Front Cover photo Nancy Moulton Wyatt (1990)
Special Thanks Joyce Andersen, Rex Holmes, Tom Daly
For more information about the partial capo, visit www.partialcapo.com. Harvey pioneered this idea, and has recorded over 120 tracks using more than 20 configurations of partial capos.

All selections ©1981-2000 by Harvey Reid (Quahog Music BMI)
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 11,12 were recorded with MOTU Digital Performer, Audio-Technica 4047 mikes, API 3124 pre-amps & Apogee 8000
Tracks 2, 7, 8, 9 were recorded using Panasonic DAT machines & Audio-Technica 4051 mikes
Track 10 was recorded to TEAC reel -to-reel using Nakamichi mikes
Track 5 was recorded to DAT at Fishtraks, Portsmouth NH, engineered by Jeff Landrock

About the Tracks...
1- Star Island Jig (H. Reid) First written and recorded in 1992 on the 12-string, this version was re-recorded on 6-string in 2002. It was remastered and released in 2009 for the book/CD set Wreck of the Isidore. Star Island is off the coast of New Hampshire. This piece is one of the Esus partial capo jigs I play the most often, and is one of the only tunes that I am happy to play either on 6-string or 12-string. It is still very hard to play after almost 20 years. (T)(* Esus) FP. Partial capo 0 2 2 2 0 0 (122)
2- Magnolia Promenade (H. Reid) This was supposed to be a tribute to Merle Travis, though it got out of control, drank coffee, ate sugar and ran off with the circus. It became almost a Sousa march. It reminds me of the South, and since I used to live there, I feel qualified to occasionally write such a tune. This is now #4 in my series of such ragtime guitar tunes. It took its name during a walk under the magnolia trees on the Grand Promenade in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Sousa already wrote a march called the Grand Promenade I learned. [Standard tuning-1.] [Recorded: 4/6/98] FP (T2) (113)
3- Norway Suite 1: The Waterfall (H. Reid) Inspired by the haunting Norwegian Hardinger fiddle. I can imagine this being done on one, since they usually play them with more sustain and less speed than Celtic fiddlers, due to the resonant drone strings. Irish fiddle music is often too fast for guitar. There is a trend today among guitarists away from fingerpicks, but I like the drive and attack. They sure work for Earl Scruggs. There are almost an infinite number of waterfalls in Norway, more than people, they say. (L) FP [4/5/00] Tuning: E A D G C E/ Full + partial capos: 2 2 4 4 4 2 (114)
4- Norway Suite 2: The Fjord (H. Reid) Inspired by the amazing scenery around the fjords, and a blissful afternoon I spent playing guitar staring at the blue water and dramatic landscape. Huge natural vistas make me think of slow airs and majestic, long notes. I should try to stop yearning for instruments like cellos, whistles and horns that can play those long, long notes. (L) FP [3/31/00] Tuning: E A D G C E/ capo 2 2 4 4 4 2 (114)
5- Woodchopper’s Reel/ Jimmy in the Swamp (Trad.) Two of my favorite obscure fiddle tunes, transcribed quite faithfully from the fiddle and flatpicked with David Surette on rhythm guitar. (T) Capo 2. [7/17/89] (105)
6- The Lost Lullaby (H. Reid) I found this in a box of old dusty reel-to-reel tapes I had been meaning to go through for years. It was dated 1984, and luckily it was labeled with the tuning, since I don’t play in this tuning much, and might have had trouble guessing it. It was weird learning something from myself as though it was on somebody else’s record. I had no recollection that the tune ever existed, and it barely made it from the Realm of Lost Songs into the physical world. (LK12) Open G, dropped 2 frets. FP [4/1/00] (114)
7- Five Cent Cigar (H. Reid) The third in my “series” of ragtime style guitar pieces. I always loved the sound of down home Merle Travis-style picking, though it seems to be an increasingly lost art and no longer the cutting edge of cool it was in 1948. Maybe it will just skip a generation. Standard tuning, C position. (T) FP [1/6/93] (108)
8- Above the Clouds (H. Reid) I have no idea what kind of music this is or where it came from, but it sure feels good to play it
bottleneck style. It’s easy to think of slide guitar and the metal-body instrument as only suitable for blues, but they can make sweet & dreamy music also. Open D tuning. [Recorded: 4/6/98] (D2) BF (113)
9- For Whom the Bell Tolls (H. Reid) Somehow evokes the flavors of Spanish guitar, even though my only background comes from soundtracks of bad Westerns. Works well for the campfire scene, when the bullet-draped banditos challenge Dean Martin in a knife fight for control of the outlaw gang. Also suitable for many Hemingway books. FP (T) [5/26/89] (101)
10- The Minstrel’s Dream (H. Reid) A guitar solo of epic proportions. There are many levels of trickery in this tune, including a partial capo and a lot of unorthodox guitar techniques. It is bravely presented here live and entirely unedited, without overdubs or splices. I'm pretty sure I did a more perfect take of it just before this one, but I forgot to turn on the tape machine. That particular perfection belongs to the North wind now. The bagpipes stuff is done with two hands on the fretboard, Eddie van Halen style. This was the first of my faux-bagpipes pieces, written in 1984. After I got my first guitar with a pickup in it I was able to perform things like this that featured an amplified acoustic guitar that rang and resonated. It really pre-dates the whole celtic music craze, and wanders through dozens of sections, several modes and tempos. The drumming is done with 2 fingers on the top & bridge. BF (T) [10/20/86] Partial capo 0 2 2 2 0 0. (103)
11- Life is Like A Mountain Railroad (H. Reid) It’s a victory when you can make an effective instrumental out of a song, especially when you like the melody more than the words. This one is credited as being a traditional gospel song. “Life is like a mountain railroad, with an engineer so brave, we must make the run successful, from the cradle to the grave...” Like a Christmas carol, the verses get progressively weirder. I suspect a nice melody like this must have come from an older song, but I don’t know which. I usually play with a glass slide, but for some reason a heavy brass one spoke to me. Slide guitar & gospel music have a mysterious relationship. BF Open D (D2) [4/12/00] (114)
12- Minuet in G (J.S. Bach) I recorded this on my first LP in 1982, and re-learned and re-recorded it in 2001 at the request of Apple Computer, who used it for the soundtrack for their popular iPhoto software. I have no classical training, and can’t read music, but am honored that I was chosen instead of some “real” classical players they were also considering. It has a capo to brighten the sound, so it’s not in G. I think this is pretty much Sophocles Pappas’ transcription of Segovia. I’m not disciplined enough to play classical music, and always seem to change things, which you of course shouldn’t do. (L3)(BF) [12/17/01] (116)

(*)= partial capo used (BF)= bare finger (FP)= fingerpicks (T)= 1984 Taylor 810 Rosewood dreadnaught guitar #3086, (T2)= 1990 Taylor 810 Rosewood serial #10500, (LK12)= 1999 mahogany Taylor Leo Kottke model serial #990409140, (D1)= Early 70’s metal-body Dobro #0410, (D2)= 1996 round-neck Dobro Model 90 Deluxe serial #B107696, (L)= 1999 rosewood Larrivee model C-10 serial number #27236, (L3)= Larrivee 1999 Model LS-05 serial #27236

All selections ©P1981-2010 by Harvey Reid (Quahog Music BMI)

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