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John Mayer: he got skills

casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
edited July 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVXuj86VpQ&mode=related&search=john%20mayer%20trio

This is some funky fat blues. Not only very hard to play - for me anyway, I can't even pull of that riff - but imagine singing on top of it as well.

Respect.

Andcheck out his trio: bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan :eek:

btw: here's an mp3 from his live album Try!:
http://www.ezarchive.com/patandtravis/AlbumSpace/26QU6127RP/Who+Did+You+Think+I+Was.mp3

It's from a music blog:
http://patandtravis.blogspot.com/2006/06/tale-of-two-blues-guys.html
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    I've been a fan of his skills for years. I saw the JM3 play the day before Thanksgiving at the Bowery Ballroom and was blown away (the concert was being filmed for streaming on AOL, and I have a copy if anyone is interested), especially seeing him play that up close. The speed of his fretting hand was just insane, ripping through Hendrix's "Wait Until Tomorrow". I can't wait to hear his new album as its supposed to be a continuation of his new blues direction. I'm also going to check him out on tour with Sheryl Crow.

    I've been messing around with learning "Who Did You Think I Was" for awhile now. That riff isn't that hard to play, as long as you start slowly and work your way up to speed, something I'm almost at. The solo isn't hard, and I'm working on the other parts of the song. Great tune though.
  • waves roll inwaves roll in Posts: 159
    Yeah the man can definitely play. He is actually pretty funny too. Too bad he releases horrible songs that you know he really isn't into but for the money I guess. He should stop focusing on trying to be radio friendly and play more of what is in his soul because he is a damn good guitar player and has a good voice.
  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
    I don't care for his music but I watched the John Mayer Trio DVD that came out last year I think....it was pretty nice...I love his tone...he's a great player
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i dig that JM3 live album even if he does cop just a few too many SRVisms.

    great tone.
  • MichaelMcKevinMichaelMcKevin Posts: 1,161
    The best example of Mayer's skills is the solo to "Covered In Rain" from the Any Given Thursday DVD/CD. Try to download it but make sure it's the Any Given Thursday Version cuz the other isnt as good
    Camden I '06, Camden II '06, Bonnaroo '08, Camden I '08, Camden II '08, Philly Spectrum II/III/IV '09, MSG I '10, MSG II '10, Made In America '12, Wrigley '13, Brooklyn II '13, Philly I '13, Philly II '13, ...
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Definitely a very talented guitarist. I also loved that bit he did on the Chappelle Show :D

    Unfortunately, I've read a few interviews that make the guy sound like a big bag of douche. hopefully, it was just a disarming sense of humor. :)
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    moster78 wrote:
    I've been messing around with learning "Who Did You Think I Was" for awhile now. That riff isn't that hard to play, as long as you start slowly and work your way up to speed, something I'm almost at. The solo isn't hard, and I'm working on the other parts of the song. Great tune though.


    do you happen to have tab for that. i could never find any.
  • casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
    exhausted wrote:
    do you happen to have tab for that. i could never find any.

    Here ya go

    http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/john_mayer/who_did_you_think_i_was_tab.htm

    looks pretty accurate
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    pearlwax wrote:
    Here ya go

    http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/john_mayer/who_did_you_think_i_was_tab.htm

    looks pretty accurate

    Thats one of them. I was going off one I got out of Guitar Player Magazine when he was the cover story. Its a little different, but its just the main riff. I have it scanned in, if you want it, PM me an e-mail address and its yours.

    And he does seem to have a very different sense of humor, but I find him funny.
  • elstongunnelstongunn Posts: 285
    moster78 wrote:
    Thats one of them. I was going off one I got out of Guitar Player Magazine when he was the cover story. Its a little different, but its just the main riff. I have it scanned in, if you want it, PM me an e-mail address and its yours.

    And he does seem to have a very different sense of humor, but I find him funny.

    he did a one time "late night" show on comedy central. it was hilarious. he had on some rapper, and they went to nashville and messed around on stage. he also went around a concert parking lot before one of his shows in a costume saying "john mayer" sucks. the best bit was he invited 4 or 5 teenage girl fans to talk about his songs. everytime they said they 'liked a lyric or liked a song' he'd say that he didn't write them. that they were written by a team of people, the same people who wrote for the backstreet boys. the girls were nearly in tears of disbelief. i could give two shits about his music but that one hour of television was funny shit.
    "There are teams that are fair-haired,and those that aren't so fair-haired.Some teams are named Smith,some Grabowski. We're Grabowskis."-Mike Ditka, January 1986

    everytime i have to take a crap i sing EVACUATION!!!
    EVACUATION!!
    "i'll let you be in my dream if i can be in your dream." -b.dylan
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    elstongunn wrote:
    he did a one time "late night" show on comedy central. it was hilarious. he had on some rapper, and they went to nashville and messed around on stage. he also went around a concert parking lot before one of his shows in a costume saying "john mayer" sucks. the best bit was he invited 4 or 5 teenage girl fans to talk about his songs. everytime they said they 'liked a lyric or liked a song' he'd say that he didn't write them. that they were written by a team of people, the same people who wrote for the backstreet boys. the girls were nearly in tears of disbelief. i could give two shits about his music but that one hour of television was funny shit.

    I have that too if anyone wants it! Its even funnier because I went to that show where he was walking around the parking lot in a bear costume, except I don't remember seeing a bear while hanging out in the lot.
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    Ya man he's an awesome guitar player.......underrated IMO.

    Thanks for sharin'
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    pearlwax wrote:
    Here ya go

    http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/john_mayer/who_did_you_think_i_was_tab.htm

    looks pretty accurate


    awesome. thank you. now i have something to do tomorrow. :)
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    He went to berklee college of music in boston I think. I remember seeing a Trussart that at one time belonged to him when he was there.

    Yeah, the guy is a very very talented guitarist and songwriter, but he's way more interesting by himself or with the Trio, other than selling a bunch of records and getting rich pedalling crap to 13 year old girls I don't get why he does the pop stuff at all.

    now that he's commercially successful, I expect him to perform more valliant efforts, like the trio, and playing with Buddy Guy, that kind of stuff.

    A guy with that much talent should not be writing songs to people who don't really like music all that much anyway it's just something in the background while they twirl thier fingers through thier hair.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    He went to berklee college of music in boston I think. I remember seeing a Trussart that at one time belonged to him when he was there.

    Yeah, the guy is a very very talented guitarist and songwriter, but he's way more interesting by himself or with the Trio, other than selling a bunch of records and getting rich pedalling crap to 13 year old girls I don't get why he does the pop stuff at all.

    now that he's commercially successful, I expect him to perform more valliant efforts, like the trio, and playing with Buddy Guy, that kind of stuff.

    A guy with that much talent should not be writing songs to people who don't really like music all that much anyway it's just something in the background while they twirl thier fingers through thier hair.

    I have a feeling his new album, due out in early September will be more like his work with the Trio and less "Your Body Is A Wonderland." The first single is up at iTunes and is actually a little political in its lyrics.
  • JofZJofZ Posts: 1,276
    John Mayer began taking lessons with Tomo Fujita at age 19. John was rough as Tomo puts it and was unsure where he was going to go. His parents are both teachers and John was thinking about teaching as a career. Well, Berklee and Tomo changed all of that :)

    Today, John even cops Tomo's signature guitar and if you listen you'll hear all of Tomo's funk groove riffs as well. John is a fantastic writer, one of the best my generation has to offer. He is a huge gear slut, loves to sit on ebay and buy Way Huge pedals LOL and he uses a Duble for a foot stool at his home ( not a joke)
    If you want to learn some more about him, or better yet what made him so good, just pop on over to The Guitar Hub and ask Tomo ;)
    WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
    Hanging at www.TheGuitarHub.com
    The only Forum for players by players.......

    Playing Les Pauls, Teles, Hubers, Gustavssons, Kolls through a Mad Professor amp with a Bob Burt Cab.
    BJF powers my Pedal Board
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i had fun playing this lots yesteday. the main riff i got down pretty fast though that tab is missing a couple little details that fill it in but the gist is there.

    i still have trouble hearing what's going on in the F#m & G figures but i'm getting there.


    can't even touch any but the first couple bars of the solo. :o
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    exhausted wrote:
    i had fun playing this lots yesteday. the main riff i got down pretty fast though that tab is missing a couple little details that fill it in but the gist is there.

    i still have trouble hearing what's going on in the F#m & G figures but i'm getting there.


    can't even touch any but the first couple bars of the solo. :o

    In the videos I've seen it looks like in the F#m & G thing he's just sliding back between the two really fast. I still haven't gotten that down. I'm still working on that pre-chorus thing thats a run down a scale.

    The solo in that tab is for the non-live version, I think.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    yeah, i mean the pre-chorus too. i can't get it smooth and fast enough yet.

    so i just kind of play my own thing.

    watching the video, his fret hand is liquid. i just can't do that. or at least it feels like i can't.
  • nick1977nick1977 Posts: 327
    I saw him play with Herbie Hancock.....damn....Mayer is a freakin great guitarist.
  • chimpatchimpat Posts: 590
    Here's a cool story for y'all. I've known John since the 6th grade, became good friends due to our love of music and we both were clowns so we'd always joke around. Over the years, even though we went different directions, we always stayed in touch. He's been great to me, always getting me into his shows (probably 30+) and letting me meet a bunch of people. He also pulled some strings and got me into PJ at Irving Plaza earlier this year which was unbelievably cool.

    Well, he topped everything last week when he flew me, our buddy Dan and his brother Ben out to LA for his video shoot for his new single "Waiting on the World to Change". I thought I was going to watch the making of the video, but he ended up putting us all in the video.

    We shot three scenes together: One was all of us playing video games, another was hanging out at a newsstand and the third was this awesome scene of us in an old convertible bonneville cruising down the street in LA with the sunset in the background. Who knows, all threes scenes might get cut for all I know, but I can honestly say it was one of the coolest damn experiences of my life.

    He's always been a loyal and great friend to me and I couldn't be happier for him and his success. I can honestly say that he's one of the good guys in the business.

    PT
    "This is about as perfect a crowd as you can get. I hate to placate, I ain't placating...." - EV, 9/29/96


  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    chimpat wrote:
    Here's a cool story for y'all. I've known John since the 6th grade, became good friends due to our love of music and we both were clowns so we'd always joke around. Over the years, even though we went different directions, we always stayed in touch. He's been great to me, always getting me into his shows (probably 30+) and letting me meet a bunch of people. He also pulled some strings and got me into PJ at Irving Plaza earlier this year which was unbelievably cool.

    Well, he topped everything last week when he flew me, our buddy Dan and his brother Ben out to LA for his video shoot for his new single "Waiting on the World to Change". I thought I was going to watch the making of the video, but he ended up putting us all in the video.

    We shot three scenes together: One was all of us playing video games, another was hanging out at a newsstand and the third was this awesome scene of us in an old convertible bonneville cruising down the street in LA with the sunset in the background. Who knows, all threes scenes might get cut for all I know, but I can honestly say it was one of the coolest damn experiences of my life.

    He's always been a loyal and great friend to me and I couldn't be happier for him and his success. I can honestly say that he's one of the good guys in the business.

    PT

    Awesome story man, nice read. :)
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    JofZ wrote:
    John Mayer began taking lessons with Tomo Fujita at age 19. John was rough as Tomo puts it and was unsure where he was going to go. His parents are both teachers and John was thinking about teaching as a career. Well, Berklee and Tomo changed all of that :)

    Today, John even cops Tomo's signature guitar and if you listen you'll hear all of Tomo's funk groove riffs as well. John is a fantastic writer, one of the best my generation has to offer. He is a huge gear slut, loves to sit on ebay and buy Way Huge pedals LOL and he uses a Duble for a foot stool at his home ( not a joke)
    If you want to learn some more about him, or better yet what made him so good, just pop on over to The Guitar Hub and ask Tomo ;)


    i just ordered tomo's DVD along with the book harrison recommended in another thread.
  • blackredyellowblackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    moster78 wrote:
    I have that too if anyone wants it! Its even funnier because I went to that show where he was walking around the parking lot in a bear costume, except I don't remember seeing a bear while hanging out in the lot.

    this cracks me up :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqGLw4iVAB8&search=john%20mayer
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • JofZJofZ Posts: 1,276
    Well guys, go pick up your wife or GF's copy of Style Magazine. Nice little 2 page (GAY) spread on John. His style and a little interview.
    Here is what he said that matters:
    "Who would you most like to meet?"
    JM: " Eddie Vedder, it is amazing I haven't met him yet and he is doing something right if I haven't. The way he writes and his ability to harmonize, blah, blah, blah...... I want to drink red wine with Eddie."

    Oh, I forgot to mention the spread also tells you what watch, what wine, and what storage containers John uses in case you wanted to copy him :)
    WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
    Hanging at www.TheGuitarHub.com
    The only Forum for players by players.......

    Playing Les Pauls, Teles, Hubers, Gustavssons, Kolls through a Mad Professor amp with a Bob Burt Cab.
    BJF powers my Pedal Board
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    chimpat wrote:
    Here's a cool story for y'all. I've known John since the 6th grade, became good friends due to our love of music and we both were clowns so we'd always joke around. Over the years, even though we went different directions, we always stayed in touch. He's been great to me, always getting me into his shows (probably 30+) and letting me meet a bunch of people. He also pulled some strings and got me into PJ at Irving Plaza earlier this year which was unbelievably cool.

    Well, he topped everything last week when he flew me, our buddy Dan and his brother Ben out to LA for his video shoot for his new single "Waiting on the World to Change". I thought I was going to watch the making of the video, but he ended up putting us all in the video.

    We shot three scenes together: One was all of us playing video games, another was hanging out at a newsstand and the third was this awesome scene of us in an old convertible bonneville cruising down the street in LA with the sunset in the background. Who knows, all threes scenes might get cut for all I know, but I can honestly say it was one of the coolest damn experiences of my life.

    He's always been a loyal and great friend to me and I couldn't be happier for him and his success. I can honestly say that he's one of the good guys in the business.

    PT

    That is a wicked story!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    blackredyellow wrote:
    this cracks me up :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqGLw4iVAB8&search=john%20mayer


    Hahaha!!

    That's funny stuff :D:D
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    blackredyellow wrote:
    this cracks me up :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqGLw4iVAB8&search=john%20mayer

    OMG I nearly crapped myself thats awesome!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
    exhausted wrote:
    yeah, i mean the pre-chorus too. i can't get it smooth and fast enough yet.

    so i just kind of play my own thing.

    watching the video, his fret hand is liquid. i just can't do that. or at least it feels like i can't.

    It feels like I have arthritis. :( Man, if you guys already can pull off all you just mentioned...

    And I also need that book in the other thread. And some talent would be nice.

    On a sidenote: I watched Prince live in Las Vegas today. He got da funk.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    keeponrockin wrote:
    OMG I nearly crapped myself thats awesome!

    You should see the bit he does with some teenage girls as part of a fan focus group. Convincing them that Richard Marx writes all his songs, and adapting "No Such Thing" into a cough medicine commercial.
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