Operation 365... Blog 55

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 61 Howard - 4-21-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFjwz9rTf_I

Howard is one of the more interesting characters who has ever come out to my shows. Howard lives in Mexico but is in San Diego, where my shows are, often. He has many kids, like 8. Once he brought them all and his wife to my show. The restaurant I was working at was having a free food promotion at that time. They were in disbelief. Before I met them all, I filmed this clip. Howard was stoked. he wanted to get a copy to chow his family. He also plays various native American flutes and is a merry fellow often found riding his bike around town. Also appearing in this clip on whoops and hollers and a late video cameo is another of the most interesting characters who has come out to my shows, a man named Mia. Good times.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 61 "Hotel California" by The Eagles

An interesting battle with myself today on this one. Kinda fun,. So I was teaching at the school... High school. I bring my guitar. Some of the students were requesting tunes and I tried to figure out a couple. Oasis, Offspring, 3 Doors Down, some other stuff I didn't know but tried to play anyway like Avenged Sevenfold and something like Pierce and a Hat and a Doll.. . I forget. Anyway. This girl came over and literally schooled me on playing La Bamba. She then requested Hotel California, so I figured I would try to oblige. I did and it sounded fine. In fact the kids seemed to like it quite a bit and were singing along quietly at their seats while the did their work. Well, something like that.

I thought I'd come home and do it for 365 but I had slightly mixed feelings about it. "Hotel California" is one of the most famous tunes of all-time and it has been done to death. Seems slightly pointless to record tunes on this thing that have been done amazing a million times. Plus the kind of guy I am. I love Steely Dan. I was reading their wikipedia entry today even though I already know a lot about them because I find them and their tunes interesting and challenging. At lunch, I was listening to some unknown heartfelt Americana stuff I recorded by Dan Truesdail, father of my dear friend Don Truesdail. Part of me thinks with some amount of effort, I could be doing good versions of songs by either of them of both. Instead, I'm playing "Hotel California." The fact that a kid suggested it made me feel OK about it but once I started to record, something happened.

I subconsciously transformed into a really mediocre-at-best version of Don Henley with a suspiciously dry mouth. I restored my version to the one found in local classrooms, but still something didn't feel quite right. I do realize that doing really famous songs gonna probably get me more views than doing more obscure ones that I like, but this is an experiment, not an attempt to flood the net with 9,000,000th best version of "Hotel California."

Then got some water and centered myself some and on Take 3, I did it a little differently and I think capturing that moment is the sprit of what Operation 365 is all about. It is perfectly imperfect. It is today and in that sense it's interesting and new. Another wonderful thing about the girth of this Operation 365 is there is always tomorrow for the tunes of Fagen and Beacker and Truesdail. And that's another reason I'm excited to have the chance to taste another sunrise. Once can dream.

I want to thank the student who suggested this Eagles classic for teaching me a thing or two today. I just noticed my one little hiccup in the jamborees was on the line "They stab you with their steely knives." All hail the illusion of randomness.

Songfacts.com confirms: The line "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" is a reference to Steely Dan. The bands shared the same manager and had a friendly rivalry. The year before, Steely Dan included the line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" on their song "Everything You Did."

Whoa.

TAGS: "Hotel California" Eagles, Jefferson Jay, high school, Henley, Oasis, Offspring, 3 Doors Down, Avenged Sevenfold, La Bamba, Steely Dan, Truesdail, Americana

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 61 "Love Won't Hold Back"

Transported once again I was. Many years back into my catalog of life. I had seen James Brown for the first timer earlier on the night which I wrote "Love Won't Hold Back." I offer this one to Steely Dan as an olive branch for doing "Hotel California" today instead of "King of the World" or "Pearl of the Quarter."

It seems I'm always continuing to learn what things mean years after first discovering them. Steely Dan tunes, Eagles tunes, my tunes... everything...

"Love Won't Hold Back" is on my first CD, "Great Story," available on itunes here
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/great-story/id65387746?i=65387468&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

TAGS: "Love Won't Hold Back" Jefferson Jay, Great Story, James Brown, Steely Dan, Eagles, ballad, acoustic, guitar, truth