Sunday Playlist: JM and his guitars

Lifted this photo from @bobmaron over at Twitter… and even if I don’t play the guitar (or any instrument for that matter) I’m still envious of John Mayer’s collection (last count was 200 guitars).

This gave me an idea on how I will present today’s playlist.

Today, my playlist consisted of songs performed during the 2nd Mayercraft Carrier cruise held last week. Thanks to the wonderful Debbie Ocoboc over at MSM, I had the chance to live the experience via her recordings of John’s MCC2 performances.

Below are the songs worth noting, along with, hopefully, the correct description of the guitars he used.

 

Guitar: The famous Martin OM-28 John Mayer Acoustic

Song: “One Step at a Time” with Jordin Sparks at the VH1 Save the Music benefit (One Splendid Evening)

 

Song: “Sucker” Lido Deck

 

Guitar: Fender Tribute Stevie Ray Vaughan “Number One” Stratocaster 

Song: “Wheel” 1st Night (this was an awesome performance, too bad I could not find the full video)

 

Guitar: Fender John Mayer Relic Stratocaster, soon to be the Fender JM “Black One” Custom Shop Stratocaster

Song: “Good Love is on the Way” 1st Night

 

Song: “Sweetest Berry” David Ryan Harris’ 2nd show

 

Guitar: Fender Artist Series II John Mayer Stratocaster

Song: “Mercy” 2nd Night

 

Guitar: 25th Anniversary Ernie Ball MusicMan

Song: “Inner City Blues” Soundcheck Party

 

I don’t know if he used his other show gear (like the Fender Jimi Hendrix Monterey Pop Festival Custom Shop Strat Replica, the Martin D-41, and the Gibson Les Paul), but with a total of 4 sets (plus 2 DRH gigs he appeared in), he most probably did.

What I do know is that he got himself a new one during the cruise.

A few months ago, fan and fellow collector, Erik Thureson, designed the one-of-a-kind Heritage Le Mans Fender JM Strat which he patterned after John’s Ford GT (a bit of trivia: the name “Le Mans” came from that car racing circuit where the original Ford GT40 won 4 times in a row back in the 60s).

 

Erik  attended the MCC2 and brought with him the Le Mans to see if John could play it at one of his shows. I think John thought that it was a gift, and Erik, who saw the excited look in his idol’s eyes, happily gave it to him. To his pleasant surprise, John offered to trade it with one of his guitars.

 

 

I sure hope he gets the Black Masterbuilt.

************************

 

Here are a couple of bonus videos:

A nice shot of John performing “Half of My Heart” during the One Splendid Evening concert

 

And his shout out to Debbie O. (“The number 1 Mayer fan”) during his last show on the boat:

“Heartbreak Warfare”

John Mayer performed another new song (to be included in his new album entitled, “Battle Studies”) during the 4-day cruise. It’s heart-wrenching, I love it.

Lighting strike
inside my chest to keep me up at night
Dream of ways
to make you understand my pain
Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It’s heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin
No one really ever wins
In heartbreak warfare
If you want more love why don’t you say so
If you want more love why don’t you say so
Drop his name
Push it in and twist the knife again
Watch my face
As I pretend to feel no pain
Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It’s heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin
No one really ever wins
In heartbeak warfare
If you want more love Why don’t you say so
If you want more love Why don’t you say so
Just say so
How come the only way to know how high you get me
Is to see how far I fall
God only knows how much I’d love you if you’d let me
But I can’t break free at all
It’s heart, heartbreak
I don’t care if we don’t sleep at all tonight
Let’s just just fix this whole thing now
I swear to God we’re going to get it right
If you put your weapon down
Red wine and Ambien
you’re talking shit again.
It’s heartbreak warfare
Good to know it’s all a game
Disappointment has a name:
it’s heartbreak warfare

 

Thanks to everyone at MSM and TryJM for the video and lyrics.

Heaven Beside You

I’m not a huge Alice in Chains fan (heck, I’m not really a grunge baby, except for Nirvana and Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam), but I like “Heaven Beside You” (MTV Unplugged version). The beauty of the song truly came out, and while I love the studio version’s guitar intro, the acoustic rendition made me realize that it is a great piece of work.

Plus Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley singing in harmony? Pure bliss.

Matt Nathanson Live at Daryl Hall’s House

It’s worth watching. This first song they (Daryll Hall, his band and Matt Nathanson) played was “Come On Get Higher” and it was awesome.

 

Here’s a preview of the episode (the full video is being streamed via Daryl’s website):

 

Speaking of “Tiny Dancer”

Image via Wikipedia

I found a few videos featuring various covers of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” (from the album “Madman Across the Water“) and I tried to choose only one to post here. However, I couldn’t bear leaving any of these two out, so I decided to place both.

The first one is Ben Folds, who has always been expected to do numerous covers of Elton’s songs. He did it wonderfully, obviously paying homage to the artist who made the grand piano look cool.

The second one is Dave Grohl, and with the exception of his chewing gum’s special appearance, he did a very decent acoustic rendition of this “classic”. Check out how he coaxed the audience to reenact the “Almost Famous” bus scene with him.

The Best Gig Ever

Summer Tours, Winter Tours, Annual Holiday Revues… I’ve never attended any of those. But I’m sure, they’re nothing compared to this 2005 show. Up to this day, I’m so envious of those who got to witness JM’s secret performance in Atlanta, Georgia.

Without a doubt, it would’ve been the best JM experience for me.

more about “THE gig“, posted with vodpod

awesome cover!

i am usually a stern critique when it comes to mayer covers, but this one is great! same guy who did the cover of timberlake’s lovestoned.

better cover

my friend sent this url to me and guess what? it’s better than what mayer did. why? because the clip showed the song in full… acoustic version.

the performer was also good. nice voice and fluid hands.

definitely deserves to have 500,000 views in youtube

it just keeps better and better

i learned that the annual charity revue show was one of the most spectacular concerts jm has done, and i am actually kicking myself for not even being there (duh… i’m like light years away from LA so i had to contend with youtube).

but after watching the Austin City Limits JM episode (taped last october) yesterday on the net (hurray for real-time streaming of videos) i can say that this, by far, is the best, bar none.

he played the live faves such as gravity, vultures and i don’t trust myself, however, i had a shock of my life when i realized that this song was my favorite for the night.

if his smaller shows will be as good as this, then i’d rather see him during one of his club gigs than his big concerts.

– even if he comes out looking like Hamburglar’s twin.

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