Listening Room: Doobie Brothers — “China Grove”
I was talking to TheWifeToWhomI’mMarried the other night, against her will, about the extent to which The Doobie Brothers have been under appreciated by the high-brow rock snobs. The poor thing, she is constantly on the receiving end of my tedious dissertations on this band or that. The woman really is a saint.
While trying to make this point, I tried to convince her she knew more of these songs than she thought she did. I even attempted to sing “China Grove” to her. That was a mistake on so many levels. For starters, the riff to that song is the important part. There is also the fact I am an awful singer. I deserved what happened next. While trying to sing the song, I tried to sing both the lead and the echo of the chorus.
“Talking ’bout the Chi- bout the China Grove, whooaa! Whoaaa, China Grove!”
“Vagina grove?” she asked.
I was floored.
We are still laughing about this. Go ahead, sing the song in your head. I think she might be on to something. John Mayer might want to take notice. I think we have a sequel to that appalling, “Your Body is a Wonderland.” Everyone says he is such a great guitarist if by great you mean someone who knicks Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jim Hendrix every chance he gets. Why not knick a Doobie riff for “Vagina Grove?”
One of the great riffs in the history of rock, and I will never hear this song the same way again.
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you need to come up with a new cliche for dissing on Mayer.
I disagree. It happens to be true. He is derivative and boring. I can’t help that. Tell him not to suck and I’ll change my tack. Fine, if you insist:
“Everyone says he is such a great guitarist if by great you mean colorless flash with little substance or heart.”
who has bigger ears mr. fanboy? me, tom johnson or you?
neener, neener, neeeeeeNER!
i know, this is no argument. but there’s a lot of fine guitar playing on that trio record that does not sound like Stevie Ray in the least.
fuckin’ hell, there’s a minute of my life i’ll never get back.
I’m less concerned about the minute you spent defending Mayer than I am the minutes you’ve spent listening to him.
At your request, I expanded the critique beyond comparing him to SRV and Hendrix. I can keep expanding it, but I don’t see any reason to pile on further. Besides, “Vagina Grove” would make a good sequel to “Your Body is a Wonderland.” That shit’s just funny. Lighten up.
just because somebody plays with a wah-wah pedal does not make them a Hendrix thief.
and i didn’t get Springsteen tickets today so i will not lighten up!
Once again, I extended the critique to include more than Vaughan and Hendrix derivations. I agree the presence of a wah-wah does not a Hendrix make. Are you telling me you don’t hear any repackaged Hendrix licks in his playing?
In that case, you’re entitled to be as bitter and abusive as you need. I could mention at least he plays within your time zone, but I don’t suppose that helps. I could also mention you at least have tickets to see him once on this tour, but that’s probably not much consolation. So, by all mean, let’s get it all out of your system, then. All sarcasm aside, I’d be pissed if I missed out on the tickets, too.
any blues-based rock is bound to have some Hendrix in it.. shit, that’s what a lot of people used to say about Stevie Ray as a way of dismissing him. i didn’t agree with that either.
frankly, i heard more B.B. King in his playing than Hendrix anyway.
is it friday yet? fuck!!
We’re dangerously close to now having that “nothing new under the sun” conversation and that’s one I want to avoid because it gets us nowhere.
I got called an amateur for saying JB Hutto wasn’t an innovator. I don’t think he was. I think he owes a huge debt to Elmore James — something I believe he would admit were he alive to be asked the question. The difference for me is I hear something uniquely Hutto within the context of his borrowing for Elmore James. He was influenced and inspired by James, but his own personality shines brightly and loudly in his playing.
Mayer’s playing, by contrast, doesn’t give me the same sense of identity. I hear too much of his influences and not enough of him, whatever he is. I don’t hear it. When I don’t hear his influences, I don’t hear anything. It’s just not there.
ok, so you don’t hear it. i believe you, and i’m not disputing that fact.
but similarly, i hear nothing in Elliott Smith’s voice. does that mean there’s nothing to it? nope, it just doesn’t resonate with me. i’m not bring up Smith to be a jerk, i’m just saying that sometimes, that’s the way things go.
oh, and i should have said that i hear B.B. King in certain instances (obviously solos)…but my favorite part of Mayer’s playing is the rhythm bits.
You waited about four posts later to bring up Elliott than I thought you would. I knew it was coming.
…but it’s the perfect example.
wait, is there anybody else who you love and i can’t stand?
It’s actually apropos of nothing, especially considering this thread started about the Doobie Brothers, but I digress.
and do rock snobs really not like the Doobies? too bad, i always did. but then again, i don’t think i’m a rock snob. hell, i’ll listen to Kiss.
If you dig The Doobies, have you seen Yacht Rock? Seek it out online.
Here’s $20, you two go get a freakin’ room.
Sheesh!
;&)