The Noises In My Head

Ringo and the All Starr Band

Ryan Banfill — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:27:46 +0000

I just returned to my St. Augustine Beach motel room after spending the last 2 hours with Ringo Starr and his all Starr band. These musicians are consumate professionals. I got a thrill watching Ringo play drums. That was the top highlight for me. as for the songs, I love the set list. On top of the Ringo hits, Back Off Boogaloo was my favorite, you have solid hits frim the band. Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo. Frankenstein. That’s What I Like About You. In this category, two performances stood out: Dream Weaver by Gary Wright and the Mister Mister song Broken Wings. All I can say after seeing those performances is, wow! I want to write some songs like that!

Behind the Music

Ryan Banfill — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:52:06 +0000

My wife just walked in and noticed I was watching Behind the Music: Metallica. She asked me if I’d seen it before. I said, “Yes.” Actually, I’ve seen this episode multiple times. Why? Number One: I love music. Number Two: Kirk Hammett is a great guitar player. And, Number Three: after seeing the eternal ping-pong match that is American political discourse play out on MSNBC and Fox News there really is nothing better to watch on television than repeats of Behind the Music: Metallica. It’s the classic story of band works hard, overcomes obstacles and makes it big; band implodes under weight of excess; band pulls out of tailspin and makes a great record. By the way, I really like St. Anger. What’s wrong with that?

Karma and Untying the Knots

Ryan Banfill — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:16:59 +0000

Here’s a George Harrison quote from a 1982 interview I just read that spoke to me: “Life is like a piece of string with a lot of knots tied in it. The knots are the karma you’re born with from all your past lives, and the object of human life is to try and undo all those knots.”

I’m thinking there might be fodder for a new song in there somewhere.

I’m sitting on a growing hard drive full of unfinished music. Boy, I’d love to have a week to really summon my spiritual muse and tap into my simmering creativity.

Woman Tone

Ryan Banfill — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 04:23:12 +0000

The local Guitar Center had a midnight madness sale so, being a 45-year-old father of three, I had nothing better to do than to spend my Saturday night test driving guitars I can’t afford.

I spied a used sunburst road worn Fender Strat, lifted it gently off the wall hook and plugged into the nearest amp.

I played my standard test tunes on it — Lennon’s I Found Out, Well Well Well, and Cold Turkey — with the bridge pickup selected. It played well with the trademark Standard Strat single coil sound. Sunshine of Your Love came on the sound system and I started playing along with it.

I switched the tone to the neck pickup and the most amazing Clapton “woman tone” oozed from the amp. I was delighted and fully tempted to break out the plastic and bring a new baby home. That was until I remembered the “woman tone” I would hear from my wife when I walked through the door with another guitar.

Struggling with the Tune Widget

Ryan Banfill — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:25:09 +0000

Here I am clicking around on this WordPress blog trying to add a widget to the site. I seem to have completely disconnected my information page from the main site. Oh well, this is how learning happens, right?

Here’s the Tune Widget from ReverbNation I’m trying to add to my site. Let’s see if it works. …

Putting Myself Out There, Again

Ryan Banfill — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:01:33 +0000

I’ve been working on creating a new music page to feature some of my tunes over on the REVERBNATION website at http://www.reverbnation.com/#/ryanbanfill.

The Internet is a great forum for amateur musicians to share their work. I’ve got hundreds of tunes I’ve put down on tape and on the computer since I started writing and playing back in the late 70s. (Candidly, I didn’t really do anything truly listenable until the late 80s.) These songs have been key mile markers as I’ve grown older.

Much like someone who paints or cooks for relaxation, I really enjoy creating these noises. It allows me to use a different part of my brain than I use during the day. So, I’m putting this site together to put up some of the tunes I’ve put together over the past couple of years. I’m hoping it will inspire me to create some more.

I welcome you to check out the site and give my homemade tunes a listen.

Can you take me back where I came from?

Ryan Banfill — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:54:22 +0000

Band on the Run was the first 45 I ever bought. I was 10. It was 1975 and I bought it at a TG&Y store in Wichita, Kansas. After bringing that record home, putting it on my mother’s old stereo and laying that tonearm down on the grooves and hearing those guitars, that bass and the crescendo that is that song — that’s when I fell head-over-heels in love with music. My next purchase, the Let it Be album. I was so impressed by the red apple on the label for some reason. I would play that LP for hours — memorizing every line, phrase and note. I knew Lennon’s play on Get Back “Rosetta, sweet Loretta fart she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan.” better than I knew my 5th grade times tables. From that day on, I was hooked. My allowance and money I got from cutting yards ended up going toward albums by The Beatles and the ex-Beatles. Rock and Roll Music, Wings at the Speed of Sound, 33 and 1/3, Shaved Fish, Wings Over America, London Town, George Harrison, Rotogravure, Love Songs etc. There was a feeling I got whenever a new record was released. Often, on days when I was home sick, I’d get on my bike and peddle a few miles to the nearest Sound Warehouse to look at record covers and buy some back catalog titles if I had some cash in hand. With the new Beatles remasters coming out, I’m getting that itch again. This article from the Lefsetz Letter blog really inspired me. I can’t wait to get the White Album (again) and put on Dear Prudence to hear how the guitar, bass and drums play together. I want to again imagine being in the middle of the studio when the vocals for Happiness is a Warm Gun were being tracked. To hear the horns on Savoy Truffle, the acoustic guitar on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. And that’s just one album. I can’t wait to hear them all.

I have to admit it’s getting better …

Ryan Banfill — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:25:28 +0000

Could it be that we may finally get to hear The Beatles as God intends us to hear them? A review I just read on the Tone Audio web site about the new remasters has my hopes way up.

Make a Joke and I Will Sigh …

Ryan Banfill — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:02:08 +0000

I heard/watched Paranoid by Black Sabbath on VH1 Classic this morning and the song got stuck in my head all day. What a great track by a great band. I’d say the track was a prototype for the punk revolution that came just a few years later. This is especially because of the “gin gin” sound Tony Iommi got from his SG and Geezer Butler’s pulsing bouncing bass line. For a moment there the song took me back to 1982 playing the song on my cheap Silvertone through a solid state Ampeg G-110 amplifier (bought with my first IRS refund) with my friends Ludwig (black Strat copy) and Derrick on bass. Those were the days!

The Rain Exploded with a Mighty Crash

Ryan Banfill — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:15:59 +0000

Saturday night (Aug. 15) was all about Paul McCartney for me. I took my son to McCartney’s “Green Concert” in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. In spite of the soaking rain, it was a great time for both of us. The opening act was The Script, a band from Dublin that reminded me of a mashup of U-2 and Coldplay. They were really good and very thankful for the Southern hospitality they received — even offering to have a beer with every member of the 50,000+ audience as a immigration requirement. They played an energetic set, wrapping up with Bowie’s Heroes before leaving the stage to Sir Paul. The Macca segment began with a film with iconic images from the 60s and 70s backed by Say Say Say and modern Twin Freaks dance versions of some McCartney tunes — Silly Love Songs, Temporary Secretary, Coming Up — along with what sounded like Al Green doing I Want to Hold Your Hand. McCartney came to the stage looking 25 years younger than his actual age of 67. McCartney was in strong voice through the entire night and seemed to be in a pretty playful/cheerful mood. Recalling Jimi Hendrix (after playing a reprise of Foxey Lady), he noted it was the anniversary of Woodstock and the Beatles first appearance at Shea Stadium. The band is tight and the set list (from I Saw Her Standing There to Sing the Changes) covered McCartney’s entire career. Even in a driving rain storm during the acoustic set, McCartney and the audience kept rocking. Highlights of the show for me were I’m Down, Day Tripper, A Day in the Life, Paperback Writer (with Macca playing his Les Paul), Jet, Only Mama Knows, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Highway, and Blackbird (played in the rain). What an inspirational night. Out of the 5 times I’ve seen him — (1990 (2 times), 1993, 2005, and 2009) Saturday’s show was the best. I highly recommend you get out and see McCartney on this tour.

Here are a couple of reviews of the Atlanta concert by Bill King and Steve Marinucci that are on target.