[23] A Short Interlude
(on a theme of "Oh Well")
About [23] Interlude (on a theme of “Oh Well”)
A variation, written by Monty Dicksion, early 1970’s, recorded July 29 – August 4, 2022.
Based on a theme of part 2 of the song “Oh Well” by Peter Green, 1969.
About [23] Interlude (on a theme of “Oh Well”)
I must explain the title of this piece –
On the first Fleetwood Mac album, “Then Play On” (1969), is a song called “Oh Well.” That song is made up of 2 parts which are very different from one another.
The first part is a very hard-rocking piece, which, interestingly, includes an acoustic guitar, along with the killer plural electric guitars.
The first part, about 2 min. 20 sec. long, just ‘ends,’ and the beginning of the second part comes in almost as though it had already been in progress. In this part, there is a very restrained, yet powerful, electric guitar, which plays the low B-to-2nd-octave E slide on the A string, finishing on the open low E string. It’s a heavy, but clean sound, the kind you used to hear in surf music. I was reminded of it when I heard the theme music for the 1990 TV show, “Twin Peaks.”
The electric guitar is answered by acoustic guitar chords. A plodding sort of dialogue goes on between the electric and the acoustic guitar, with the acoustic strumming just a scant few chords and the electric coming, sometimes with as little as a single note – always in the low octave.
The 2nd part itself is divided into two parts, with part 2b coming in at about the 6 min. 30 sec. point.
Part 2b begins with the acoustic guitar, playing in a Spanish guitar style. It sounds to me like it’s a nylon-stringed guitar.
What it plays as part 2b begins, is the same B-to-2nd-octave E-slide, low-open-E riff that the electric guitar played in part 2a. Then it plays the descending 2nd-octave G, F#, E, D, C, B, slide-to-2nd-octave-E, low open E melody, so that, as it occurs in part 2a and then in part 2b, it serves as kind of a “hook,” or theme for the whole second part of the song.
Well, I always liked the B-to-2nd-octave E-slide, low-open-E riff of the electric guitar in part 2a. It’s a nothing sort of thing to learn to play, but I liked it anyway. And likewise for the descending 2nd-octave G, F#, E, D, C, B, slide-to-2nd-octave-E, low open E melody acoustic part of part 2b.
So, in 2 seconds, I learned how to play those two bits. But then, big wow. I mean, what do you do with it?
I wasn’t interested in learning any of the rest of the song. Besides, it would be pointless anyway.
So I decided to make my own song out of it. And this is it here.