El McMeen Acoustic Guitar Treasures
transcriptions by Jim Ivler
Mel Bay 96279-05794 (1999); 62 pages, $11.95

El McMeen has become established as one of the virtuosi of the fingerstyle guitar. His treatment of material is dynamic and gentle, breathing new harmonies and cascading counterpoints into old tunes. McMeen's arpeggiated approach gives his playing a harp-like quality. This book provides tablature for 13 of his arrangements of mostly traditional tunes. Many of them are Irish standards, such as "Lord Inchiquin," "Mo Giolla Mear," "South Wind" and his third arrangement of "Sheebeg and Sheemore." There are also three hymns and a version of Stephen Foster's "Hard Times, Come Again No More." There are notes for each of the tunes, including the lyrics where applicable.

The tunes are ably transcribed by Jim Ivler, who also noted the difficulty of packaging McMeen's music, due to the evolving nature of his arrangements. But this does help the intermediate guitarist to get a sense of how McMeen ornaments the tunes.

McMeen's preferred tuning is "Low-C" (CGDGAD), and all of the material is arranged in this tuning. A very useful addition in the book is a "Low-C" chord chart, which will help readers to explore the tuning for other songs.

In terms of level, this is for the intermediate to advanced guitarist, and those fed on Travis style picking may have to re-train their thumbs. The arrangements are interesting to work through, as you stumble across curious but effective combinations of timing and harmonies. McMeen adheres to what he calls the "Three-Second Rule," which is that "a guitarist must do something interesting every three seconds of a solo to sustain the interest of a listener."
— Ivan Emke (Corner Brook, NF, Canada)

Think of the Self Speaking: Harry Smith — Selected Interviews
ed. by Rani Singh
Elbow/Cityful Press ISBN 1-885089-06-6 (1999); $16.95, 186 pp.

The compiler of the most celebrated collection of American folk music was quite a character, as these interviews make abundantly clear. He is, according to his mood, irascible, avuncular, obscure, congenial, witty, and all but incoherent. He certainly didn't mind fabrication, particularly if he felt like tweaking his interviewer, but as the brief bio illustrates, the facts of his life were as strange as any fiction, so it's impossible to know what to believe (a butter and sugar diet???).

All part of the desired effect, of course. His interest in folk music, involvement with avant-garde film, and familiarity with all kinds of esoteric knowledge make even the interviews where his nose is plainly out of joint fascinating, if occasionally maddening, reading. Devotees of beat letters will definitely be interested in Smith's thinking, dissembling, rambling, and free-associating. Just don't make the mistake of wanting definite answers to specific questions.
— Duck Baker (Richmond, CA)

Also in this issue:
Wondrous Love
by Barry & Shelley Phillips

London Live
by Tony Bacon

The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas

Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar
by Keola Beamer and Mark Nelson

and more!