Decades ago, saw him in Hickory NC with The Tony Rice Unit. During the show there was a power failure. The band went off stage while he stayed on and played what had to be about 15 minutes of this sort of noodling on various songs, and talked with the audience. It was magical by any definition. The power came back on, and the show continued.
If anyone's curious... That 2nd chord, after the Amin that he mentions Grisman talked about being a minor 2nd... that's an AminMaj7. It's like an A minor chord, but instead of adding a minor 7 (G) he's adding a major 7 (G#). It creates such a great chromatic descending sound from A down to G# and often times down to G, F#, and finally F. It's in a bunch of great jazz standards and really goes all the way back to early classical music. We could probably find it in Bach and Mozart. Tony really makes it sing so beautifully on his acoustic with his voicings! I met him ages ago when I was living in NC. What an incredible player and warm guy. Just read about his passing and came to enjoy some of his playing again. Such a beautiful arrangement. RIP Tony. The world is sounding a little less beautiful today 💙
yeah...listen to the intro to Michelle (Beatles)...you'll hear it there and multiple other times within the song...or a very old 60s classic "Music to Watch the Girls By"....a very common progression in a number of tunes.:)
Maestro Rice was one in a million and will be missed luckily there a many great flatpickers who still carry Tony's torch. one is his Brother Wyatt, he's amazing and absorbed tons of Tony's influence and feel yet is separate from Tony in his own style and craft.
I'm still in awe of this arrangement of this song. The voicings and melody are beautiful. Tony Rice, what a genius...rest in peace. Him and Clarence White are my biggest heroes in the bluegrass world.
He's just got a ton of musical knowledge in his trick bag and can see the notes he hasn't played yet. He just rips those passing notes, building phrases that go where he wants to go. It makes me play better to watch someone that good.
The Bbmaj7 works because its a tritone substitution from the V chord (E7) - again a very common thing in jazz but awesome to hear it used effectively for bluegrass. All hail Tony Rice!
How strange that everyone used the very word I want to describe Tony Rice. AMAZING! God bless him and I hope he recovers someday. One of his last gigs was at the Unitarian Church in Hamden CT. A hop skip and a jump from my house. I decided to wait till next time. Don't make the same mistake. I regret it every time I hear him play.
Damn cigarettes and drugs may have taken Tony's voice and his looks but they never touched his incredible guitar playing. When you hear an old Martin guitar this clear from note to note you know its master is only the great Tony Rice. Thanks for sharing this!
I would greatly appreciate it if someone could list the three chords Mr. Rice uses during his brief venture into the rythym portion of the song. I’m pretty sure the first one was Cm7 (Am7 shape but with the capo on 3 of course) just judging by the sound, but the other two I couldn’t quite make out because the camera zoomed out. Thank you and happy picking!
He and Chris Thile are similar in the combination of absolute musicality and incredible decision making with phrasing, dynamics, harmonic color, etc but with such a jaw dropping level of precision and economical technique that the technique elevates the musicality to a transfixing level at which you just stop everything and listen. You truly believe perhaps this person cannot make a mistake, cannot waste a movement, how is everything so perfect to the thousandth percent…
I’m very new to Tony Hill. I am in love with his music. I think he is the best composer on the guitar I’ve ever heard. The songs he creates are just so original and creative. With Every instrument the most common discussions and superlatives are always based around these “best ever” ratings that I find are based around skill. With every instrument, bar none, there has not been a player who hasn’t been topped from a technical aspect. All through human history, when someone seems to have taken technique/chops to what seems like the best ever possible, someone always comes around and bests it. So I place Tony Hill on the Mount Rushmore not just because he had mastered the instrument but because of his compositions. His songs are so catchy and beautiful that It don’t ever care about his chops. When he plays a crazy riff I sometimes don’t even think about the skill, I just hear the music.
I've been listening to Tony's playing since the 1970's and I have not heard anybody better than him. He is a true master of his craft. To me he is the best!! It's so sad what has happened to him. A nightmare to say the least. Thank God we have his recordings so that his playing can be admired and enjoyed for generations to come. Tony you will never be forgotten! Long may you live!
tony rice ,,, consummate artist , and as wonderful a human being as has walked the planet ,, but no tony ,, no one either living or dead , could spot the " incorrect " chord , in the amazing piece you just played ...
Wow this lad works the guitar and harmony like I've never seen - so good to come across this vid, now looking up J reed as well. Cheers for the upload.
Yes, that is Clarence White's, who I got to see one time, when he was with The Byrds, but that is another story. And a good one. The story behind the Martin reads like something out of The Bible. Hell, Flood, Resurrection, the whole shot. I agree it has a sound that is of another world. That it plays at all is a miracle. If you look inside, it is green from mildew. I read somewhere that it was bought new in 1960 or so for less than !100.00!
Joshua Caleb check out a beautiful tune Jerry recorded on an album ( Me and Chet, I think) called Rainbow Ride. Not necessarily similar to Wafaring Stranger, but has some beautiful chords none the less.
I wonder if Tony ever messes around with an electric guitar. Maybe a Gibson ES 335 for example. Anyone ever heard of him doing electric? I know I never have
Tony Rice is a fantastic musician, very skilled. But,he can take a simple folk melody and render it unrecognizable by making it so complex that you don't recognize the song. I wish I had his skill on guitar but he overdoes it.
You can listen to many other people play this song, or you can play your own arrangement. There's no reason to be so judgmental of the master. He's enjoying himself and millions have and will enjoy his arrangement of Wayfaring Stranger.
He definitely doesn’t overdo it. Everything is purposeful. If you know music in a general sense, you can always figure out what chord is underneath what he’s playing. I can’t stand overplaying musicians, but I think you’re misunderstanding what’s going on here and interpreting it as overplaying. It’s a very purposeful approach. Wayfaring Stranger has a thousand arrangements. You can listen to any of those arrangements if you’re looking for simplicity. This is meant to be a jazz voiced rendition of a folk song.
Tony Rice, Oh My God! REAL PLAYER OF THE INSTRUMENT! He was not lying about what he said about the Snowman! I might be a metal guy, but honestly this is what I draw inspiration from!
I'm so glad that Tony mentioned and gave due credit to Jerry Reed for his playing. Those two men in my opinion, are the best to ever play the instrument. RIP Jerry and long live Tony.............
When I was a kid in Nederland my parents and I went to see Chet Atkins in the Beaumont City Auditorium. During the show Chet brought out an "up and coming youngster that was really going to turn into something" for a couple of tunes...it was Jerry Reed, and no one knew who he was. Yeah, he really did turn into something, for sure. :)
thank God these videos live on. RIP Tony, your playing will always be admired and appreciated. He's right...there's a magical quality in Cm...definitely works for this tune. My God, I get chills when I hear this. His recordings he did with Grisman and Grappelli are truly in another world.
Beautiful to see how Tony Rice loves doing what he does. How he seemed to never grow tired of it. I guess it's maybe about not selling out along the way?
@flatpikinguitar Tony's tone has more depth, clarity and raw power than any other flatpicker I've heard, period. It's astonishing. I have a decent sounding Martin but it doesn't even compare to this.
One of the few Flat pick’ Guitarists that can play with such intricacies and fullness- that he sounds like a world class finger style player--Ala--Jerry Reed’. Tony does incorporate a hybrid technique with fingers to accomplish/pull it off!!!! Tony is also Deep into Jazz and incorporated it into his Bluegrass roots. David Greer’ is the other Flat-picker that comes to mind that can with such mind blowing technique--it leaves speechless
