Should We Play El Paso?

dbirchett

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The song needs a guitar player who can do a reasonably decent impression of Grady Martin. Second they need a singer with the range and smoothness of Marty Robbins and third , they need decent harmonies that can stay together as they slur upwards. If you can do all that and the other guys are OK with it, go for it. It is not a song about hatred or prejudice. It is not a song about indiscriminately killing people.
 

dreadnut

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The song needs a guitar player who can do a reasonably decent impression of Grady Martin. Second they need a singer with the range and smoothness of Marty Robbins and third , they need decent harmonies that can stay together as they slur upwards. If you can do all that and the other guys are OK with it, go for it. It is not a song about hatred or prejudice. It is not a song about indiscriminately killing people.

Yeah, what Don said. This is a fun song, and I don't wish to have current events hijacking my set list.

Actually, the guys at the Veterans Home love to jam and sing along with this song at Guitars 4 Vets meetings. We have it on an overhead projector. Seeing who can hit the high parts (and who can't) is lots of fun.
 

crank

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The song needs a guitar player who can do a reasonably decent impression of Grady Martin. Second they need a singer with the range and smoothness of Marty Robbins and third , they need decent harmonies that can stay together as they slur upwards. If you can do all that and the other guys are OK with it, go for it. It is not a song about hatred or prejudice. It is not a song about indiscriminately killing people.

We kind of cover the Grateful Dead's cover though I throw in some of the guitar licks from the original Marty Robbin's version. Love that double stop intro lick. Garcia overplays in the Dead's version and I play something in between the 2 versions quoting riffs from both guitarists with some of my own take thrown in. Not sure if anyone else in the band has even listened to the Marty Robbin's original.
 
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