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Topic: Could this be the Paul Franklin tune Song For Sara? |
Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 11 May 2010 12:39 am |
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You know how you'll sit down to noodle a bit and a tune or melody will pop in your head and you play it, but you have no idea what song it is, or if it's a variant off of a song, or if it's even an actual song? Well, that's where I'm at with this tune.
I was going through some of my old practice and noodling tapes from years ago (back when I was playing my old 1977 MSA Classic XL) and listening to them when I ran across a melody that I'd forgotten about. Back then it was something that just always popped into the brain while noodling and had to be played, but it bugged me back then not knowing the title of it and now it's bugging me again to know for sure what it is. I just know that I'd heard something like it and always enjoyed throwing it into my noodling sessions.
Somehow I'm wondering if it might be a variant off of a song Paul Franklin did called Song For Sarah (if I have the title correct), but I haven't heard that song in quite some years. Can someone give this a quick listen and confirm if this might be that same tune?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLSKrewaZOU
It's one of those melodies that's fun to kind of play around with while noodling. Whatever tune it is, I'd like to find a backing track that fits it and work it back up as a serious instrumental sometime. It's really fun to play. 
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks)
Last edited by Jim Lindsey (Louisiana) on 12 May 2010 1:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Paul E. Brennan
From:
Dublin, Ireland
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Posted 11 May 2010 1:37 am
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Yes Jim you were playing Song for Sarah. At least you were most of the time  Let's say you played it with some variations.....
May I say your sound and touch are really beautiful. I'm very pleased to hear you're out of musical retirement. You need to be out there playing for folks. It sounds like you've been paying your dues lately with your tough times. I'm sure you'll come out of it playing some amazing steel - you have a story to tell buddy! You have my very best wishes.
(I hope this doesn't come across as condescending). |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 11 May 2010 9:42 am
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Thanks, Paul ... I'm glad to know for sure what that pretty melody is ... or, at least partly what it is. If I'm playing a variation of it, that might account for why it's been so familiar and yet I couldn't place it. Perhaps part of the song was stuck up in the old noggin enough to make it sound familiar and it became of case of "fill in the blanks" and make up the rest with a bit of creative license. It'd be cool to hear that song again and see how close some of it is and how far off the mark the rest of it is. And, not to fear; your post didn't sound in any way condescending.
I remember having a Paul Franklin album (I believe it was in the late 70s or very early 80s) and if I recall correctly, the album had a B&W photo of Paul on the cover and Song For Sarah was on it. I remember listening to it briefly a couple of times and there was this one tune on it that was so hauntingly beautiful that I guess it burned its way into my heart ... then, unfortunately, somehow I lost the album.  It simply vanished from my steel collection and I've no idea where it went.
Thank you so much for your comments on it. I must admit that this old noodling tape I dug out is exactly that ... something from years ago in the late 80s (around 1987 after I'd converted my MSA to metal necks). Every time I happen to run across this particular noodling tape and hear it, it makes me wish I had my old MSA back again to play sometimes. As much as I love my Mullen, I have to admit that old MSA always had a nice sound and then the metal necks really brought it to life in a very nice way.
I used to have a habit of recording all my noodling sessions at home so that if I happened to play something interesting I'd have the licks on tape and could commit them to memory rather than let them go down as example of those "one time" things where you play something that comes out nice, but afterwards cannot remember what or how it was played.
Invariably, I'd always end up playing this little tune that was stuck in the back of my mind while I'd noodle around and it always bugged me that it was so familiar and that I'd heard it before, but couldn't place it. I kind of suspected that it might be, at least in part, Song For Sarah, but wasn't sure. I haven't heard a recording of Paul playing it since the album left my collection so many years ago.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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David Beckner
From:
Kentucky, USA
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Posted 11 May 2010 11:04 am
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Took a while to get this up (slow dial up connection) but Wow what a pretty peice of music..Wasnt familiar with this but it is truly nice ..
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WILCOX SD10 (love the white mica)
WALKER SEAT
NASHVILLE 400
BEHRINGER RACK TUNER
CUSH CASE RACK
PEAVEY DELTA FEX
PARTS CASTER.Gospel and Classic Country Music
http://www.dbupholstery.yolasite.com |
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Wayne Franco
From:
silverdale, WA. USA
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Posted 11 May 2010 11:58 am Hi Jim
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| Glad to see you back amongst the "living" here on the forum. I remember that song. Paul put out a tab for it a long time ago. I think we were playing it here in Bremerton. |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 11 May 2010 1:11 pm
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Song For Sara is tabbed out in Scotty's Anthology Of Pedal Steel Guitar. The original recording by Paul F. is available free (as an item in the audio for the whole book) from the Mel Bay website.
www.melbay.com/93714
I don't know how to "extract" files from a .zip file, but if you follow the above link and click on "Download Extras", you can save the zip file to your computer, open it, and go to item 50, Song For Sara, and open it to listen to the song. |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 11 May 2010 1:16 pm
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| Song for Sara is a beautiful song. Paul doesn't do tab. |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 11 May 2010 1:43 pm
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Hi, David & Wayne ...
Yep, that is a very pretty tune, David. Today a very nice gentleman sent me an .MP3 of Paul's original cut so I could hear what it sounds like and (after listening to the original and then the way I've been playing it like on my old noodling tape) it does appear that I've been wallowing illicitly in the annals of taking some creative license with it accidentally changing it up from the way it's supposed to be.
What was played on my old noodling tape is similar in ways, but let's just say that there were definitely some variations from the original where I kind of went off into left field with it. My apologies to Mr. Franklin for not playing it correctly all these years whenever I'd noodle around on this beautiful tune of his.
Wayne, I remember us being mad scientists on a lot of things, but I don't recall us ever working on any of Paul's stuff. Could it be someone else that you'd worked on it with? I do, however, remember us working on Buddy's "Expedition E9th" tabbed thing a bit. Those were really fun days.
Hi Brint, I remember that "Anthology Of Pedal Steel Guitar" book ... I had a copy of it once and had just started going through it a little when another steel player friend wanted to borrow it ... so, I loaned it out and while he had it he moved away and I never saw the book again.
I agree, Theresa. It is a beautiful song and now that I've finally heard it again, I'm going to start playing it with the correct passages. I'd love to find a backing track for it somewhere so that I don't have to always play it with just my steel alone.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 11 May 2010 3:20 pm
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OMG, how absolutely funny that I should be talking about that old tape and then find this photo today. It's a horrible photo, a blurry thing from one of those little Kodak 110 cameras, but this was taken actually while I was doing that noodling tape. Jim Boen shot this photo of me while I was noodling around after converting my MSA from wood to metal necks. We had an 8-Channel Peavey mixing board up there with both my TEAC X-10R reel to reel and Pioneer CT-F750 cassette deck. I used to noodle and record all the time whenever I wasn't working on a steel.
With that tall Peavey ball cap and bundled in that jacket I look more like I should be out hunting instead of playing steel. 
Seeing this photo makes me shudder at the memory of how cold it was that day. This was at Jim Boen's shop where we were building the Boen guitars. Behind that blue tarp is an open balcony that overlooked his machine shop (his steel shop was up in a second floor loft). We'd hung that tarp as a curtain to keep what heat we could from a little electric space heater but it didn't work that great (hence the jacket and being all bundled up). His shop didn't have much in the way of climate control and we froze in the winter and burned up in the summer.
And that 1 1/4" diameter homemade bar! Though very smooth it was a dreadful heavy thing but it fit my hand very well and I'd used it for many years until Gary Hogue bought me a 1" BJS bar the day I bought my first Mullen shortly after this photo was taken. I'd forgotten how large that bar was until I found this photo today.
I was looking, a few moments ago, through a suitcase full of old tapes (from gigs, practices and noodle sessions) to refresh my memory on some old licks I used to play and found this in one of the inside pockets of the suitcase.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Paul E. Brennan
From:
Dublin, Ireland
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Posted 12 May 2010 12:56 am
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| Theresa's post reminded me that the correct title for the tune is "Song for Sara" and not "Song for Sarah". |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 12 May 2010 1:05 am
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Thanks, Paul ... good to know this. I didn't know if it was Sarah or Sara.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 12 May 2010 4:44 am
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Jim,
I like the way you played it! It's just alittle different from Paul's, as mentioned. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 12 May 2010 8:01 am
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| Darrell's mom. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 12 May 2010 9:36 am msa classic xl
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hey jim,
would like to here some more tracks of that m.s.a classic xl. i bet, everybody here on the forum would like to here more of your playing hope to make it
down to texas in a few months...
p.w |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 12 May 2010 10:01 am
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Thanks, Theresa. Yep, it is a little different. The truth be known I didn't really "know" the song whenever I'd play it. I'd heard it a couple of times when Paul first did it all those years ago and it's one of those melodies that kind of stuck in my head, so I enjoyed playing it during my noodling times and I'd just basically fill in the blanks with some ad-lib on the parts I didn't know or wasn't sure of.
Thanks, Paul. You know, I always liked the sound of that MSA Classic XL and when I converted it to metal necks it really came alive. It broke my heart to sell it, but I was needing extra money at the time for a really good down payment on my first Mullen, so I said goodbye to my Classic XL. I initially sold it to Jerry Newberry in Fort Smith, Arkansas and then he, in turn, sold it to a fellow named Earl (who owns a pawn shop there). When I saw Jerry at the Dallas show he mentioned that Earl has it at his home and it never leaves there and still looks just like it did the day I sold it. I mentioned maybe getting in touch with Earl to see if he'd consider selling it back to me, but Jerry said something like, "Good luck with that" and told me that Earl really loves that guitar. I don't blame him ... it was a really fine axe (though I have to admit that in terms of weight it was the heaviest guitar I've ever owned). After I built that black guitar for myself when I was working with Jim Boen, I completely quit playing my Classic XL at gigs because it was such a heavy beast to haul around.
When you come to Texas, please be sure to look me up if you happen to make it to the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I'd love to meet you and visit a little if you have time.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 15 May 2010 8:02 pm
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Paul Wade ... this photo is for you; I remember in some of our past conversations that you once hoped to see a better picture of my old MSA Classic XL. I found this one today and it's about the clearest one I have of that guitar (this was probably the first photo taken after I'd converted it to metal necks).
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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