Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Schematics, layouts & other technical mumbo jumbo.

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playon
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by playon »

RnFR wrote:yeah the bside to train is called Honey Hush, and IMO that one is the real gem.

he basically is tellin his girl to shut the hell up or he's gonna whack her one with a baseball bat.

priceless.
That tune was originally done by Big Joe Turner... the Train side was originally done by Titus Turner. But the guitar playing is badder on the rockabilly versions...
"That's a nice little global economy you've got there -- it'd be a real shame if something happened to it..."
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psycho*daisies
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by psycho*daisies »

The Train Kept A-Rollin' - Tiny Bradshaw (1951)

"Tiny Bradshaw really had a two-part career, in the 1930s in swing and from the mid-'40s on as a best-selling R&B artist. He majored in psychology at Wilberforce University but chose music as his career. Bradshaw sang early on with Horace Henderson's Orchestra (in addition to playing drums), Marion Hardy's Alabamians, the Savoy Bearcats, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and Luis Russell. In 1934, he put together his own orchestra and they recorded eight spirited numbers for Decca later that year. A decade of struggle lie ahead and, when Bradshaw's big band recorded again, in 1944, the music was more R&B and jump-oriented. The majority of Bradshaw's recordings were cut during 1950-1954, although there would be one session apiece made in 1955 and 1958. All of his post-1947 output was made for King including the seminal "Train Kept A-Rollin'" in 1951. For several decades, that song became a staple of numerous garage bands along with notable recorded versions by the Yardbirds in the '60s and Aerosmith in the '70s."

Ha. This source completely missed the Burnette's version, which is where Yardbirds members first heard it, not doubt!

(and henceforth the reason it became a garage classic...well before Aerosmith) :hmm:
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RnFR
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by RnFR »

also- the Aerosmith version actually mixes elements of both sides of the Burnette record into their version of Train Kept a Rollin. the outro is definitely form honey hush.

apparently the guy that played on the Train single wasn't Burnette's normal guitarist-he was a session guy that put out a lot of jazz records. so unfortunately you aren't going to hear that kickass overdrive on most of Burnette's stuff. his main git player had a much cleaner tone.
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playon
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by playon »

Whoops, that's right, "Tiny" not "Titus"... Tiny sang it nastier than the Burnettes, I have the orignal around here somewhere!
psycho*daisies wrote:The Train Kept A-Rollin' - Tiny Bradshaw (1951)

"That's a nice little global economy you've got there -- it'd be a real shame if something happened to it..."
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psycho*daisies
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by psycho*daisies »

RnFR wrote: apparently the guy that played on the Train single wasn't Burnette's normal guitarist-he was a session guy that put out a lot of jazz records. so unfortunately you aren't going to hear that kickass overdrive on most of Burnette's stuff. his main git player had a much cleaner tone.
Nashville session guitarist Grady Martin played the majority of the Burnette Trio
guitar solo's on the '56 recordings, with a Bigsby custom guitar. 20 tracks versus only 5 with Paul Burlison.
The difference between their abilities & tone is considerable.

You're so right, RnFR...the difference in their tone is huge. Also their ability...for instance:

•Tear It Up (Burlison)...Adequate ability, but not a virtuoso. Very thin tone (Fender Esquire through a Fender Deluxe)
•Baby Blue Eyes (Martin)...Big fat tone & brilliant improviser. Bigsby guitar into either a Standel or Magnatone.

Here's a whole page detailing the entire subject:

http://www.the-jime.dk/Rockabilly_Guita ... l_Trio.htm

we're currently discussing this on another thread, "Early Recordings of Fuzz" ... sorry for going off-topic!
Back to the Spirit In The Sky discussion...

:)
If you struggle baby,
It only tightens up...
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mandarine
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by mandarine »

I know this is an old thread but thought I'd post my findings (sound-wise) as this is a great tone I've been chasing for some time. The closet I have gotten to this tone is using a Fuzzrite clone built by Ron Neeley at RonSound. It was apparently modeled after the EH version built for Guild. Closer for me than I can get with a BossTone. The thing about the tone I've found is that the feel is as important (if not more so) than the tone itself. It cannot have too much sustain or you lose the seperation of the notes. The fuzzrite covers this gating and lack of sustain nicely when set to the bassier side of the depth knob. Hybrid picking helps as well to strike the open A string with the pick and the octave with the ring finger.

Tons o' reverb panned to one side of the stereo field helps as well. The only thing I am not able to get out of the Fuzzrite is the MASSIVE low end. I am thinking at this point that that may have been the speakers played through when recording or perhaps a bass amp.

May never know exactly, but the above gets me really, really close.
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Laservampire
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by Laservampire »

Just following up on this ancient thread, I’ve finally managed to get something approximating the fuzz from spirit in the sky, with a Fredric Effects Utility Perkolator, on the setting without clipping diodes (center position)

Neck pickup with a Strymon Flint for reverb, have a listen: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p2jxh2pma61dt ... r.m4a?dl=0

What a massive farty tone!!
Ben
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HorseyBoy
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by HorseyBoy »

Laservampire wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:35 am Just following up on this ancient thread, I’ve finally managed to get something approximating the fuzz from spirit in the sky, with a Fredric Effects Utility Perkolator, on the setting without clipping diodes (center position)

Neck pickup with a Strymon Flint for reverb, have a listen: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p2jxh2pma61dt ... r.m4a?dl=0

What a massive farty tone!!
Man, that does sound close!
I'm actually a huge fan of the whole "Spirit in the Sky" album. Every song is great, and there are some absolutely killer guitar tones all over it. In fact everything on that record sounds great - Erik Jacobsen did a really nice job with the production. Not many people have heard anything of Greenbaum's apart from "Spirit in the Sky" but the album really holds up.
I know Greenbaum was in a bad car accident in 2015 but I think he got through that okay. Wonder if that built-in fuzz of his has been lost to time…
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Philip
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by Philip »

Sounds great!
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innerflight
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Re: Spirit In The Sky Fuzz

Post by innerflight »

:freakout:
’brutish in character but not thug like’
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