Tonefiend Forum

When I was still in my twenties (seems like sooo long ago), I lived across the alley from one of Vancouver's blues bars, and played in it's Sunday house band. The legend that is Amos Garrett used to play a front three there, the back three at the other blues joint, then return to our bar as a Very Special Guest on the Sunday.
I used to lend him my amps at our venue (the other had house gear) and in return, Amos would stop by my apartment, have a beer and show me a few things. Of course, the real education was watching all six nights when he was in town.
Amos is the master of the multi-string compound bend, as well as one of the most devastating electric finger-pickers I've ever seen. His very first gig was as part of a folk-duo at CARNEGIE HALL! (That's a great story, too, featuring the evils of union stage-hands and an ancient, very dusty velvet curtain interacting with a tuxedo.) He performed with Paul Butterfield's Better Days Band. With Great Speckled Bird (one of the pioneers of folk-rock, featuring Canadian folk legends Ian and Sylvia). And of course, who could forget that solo in Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" that caused a whole generation of guitartists to genuflect.
Amos lives in cattle country in Alberta, Canada, and enjoys cooking southern barbecue and fly-fishing. He still performs and records regularly and is at the top of his powers. He is a gifted raconteur with about a million amazing stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwJKCSOX_AY Midnight at the Oasis, solo kicks in at 1:33.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62wJCSkYzPc Amos covers "Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny. Dig the over-the-top eighties production!

Quote from joe on September 16, 2012, 18:59
A lot of us grew up on that great "Oasis" solo. Can you hip us to any other cool Garrett tracks?

I'm not sure that I can, because pretty much all my listening to Amos happened in live venues or one on one. I'll poke around on Youtube when I get a chance and find us some good examples. If you can find a copy of the Homespun Tapes "Rock'n'Roll Rhythm Guitar" vid check it out (here's a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU-9Hce-Eks ). Some of it may seem kinda' obvious for an advanced player, but I guarantee you'll take something cool away from it, particularly if you are not plectrum dependent.