"Red Meat on the Road" by Peter Lang

Friends:

I'm pleased to offer another lesson focused on the work of Peter Lang. This solo was originally included on his premier LP, The Thing at the Nursery Room Window, recorded in 1973. You can listen to both the original recording and a slightly later recording from the Charlotte's Web release. I have not been able to locate my hard copy of the latter so I'm unsure of the exact year the recording is from, but I believe the album contains both a live show from 2004 in addition to tracks that sound to be from the late 70s or early 80s. Maybe someone here can help me with the exact date.

I'm doing something a little different with this lesson - I'm providing both a score that is a mostly exact transcription of the LP version (a few minor errors are corrected), and a second version that I'm referring to as the "normalized" copy. I would suggest first learning the piece from the normalized copy, as the regularity in the bass and lack of extra pages due to the addition of a repeat sign will streamline memorization. The normalized version also reflects much of how the piece is represented in the slightly more refined version heard on Charlotte's Web. Once you have a grasp on the tune, you may wish to look at the other, which contains all the little variations and irregularity in the alternating bass. Some may prefer the spontaneity that is offered there.

I'm also including an experiment with this month's post. While teaching at UW-Milwaukee and creating materials for the Leo Kottke workshops I often tried to think of new ways for learners to engage with the music. I've created a file that is a scrolling playback of the score that has been carefully synchronized with the original recorded audio. I have slowed it to 80% of the original tempo. Please keep in mind, he is tuned flat in this recording, almost a half step low. I'm not sure what use this format will have for students, but if it is something you like or you'd like to see it adjusted in a different manner, please let me know. For now just think of it as a fun way to hear how the original recording corresponds to the printed page. Remember you can use the YouTube settings to further adjust tempo, and additional browser plugins are available for free to adjust the pitch to your liking. View it here:
https://youtu.be/zNvKZhG4uw4

My instructional lesson video covers the entirety of the normalized score, and I also discuss some of the differences between it and the original recording. View it here:
https://youtu.be/m0um6IsTZG8

Thank you so much for the continued support, as you are keeping alive my dream of teaching others about this important repertoire. I'm thinking about going back to 20s-30s blues for the next month, and am also thinking it would be a lot of fun showcasing a piece that uses the slide. See you all again on October 1.

Score Update 9-21-23:

All:
I managed to overlook some video of Peter playing this piece in the early 2000s. Although it's much later in his performing career, I trust that he's using the same fingerings as he would have in the early 70s. The changes are the fingering for the opening riff, which I was very hesitant about to begin with, the use of the first finger instead of the third in measure 19 and all similar instances, and the addition of another finger in the strumming bit to make a unison on the top two strings.