1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 160



Only Noblemtl

160. Share Your Heart (10)

As I squeezed through the crowd, I saw a man in a suit playing an upright piano and singing in the middle of the square. A boy sang along next to him.

That rough voice is a singing style that only Tom Waits could achieve, and the beautiful voice that hasn’t gone through puberty is definitely Michael Jackson.

“Oh, that’s Tom and Michael?”

I put my index finger to my lips and motioned for them to watch quietly. Annie and Angela nodded in agreement.

Tom rambled on about the life of the common people in a voice like a truck exhaust, tempered by whiskey and cigarettes, while Michael chattered like a bird listening nearby.

― You’ll go a Waltzing Matilda with me.

(You will go dancing with me at Matilda.)

Tom Waits’ songs are filled with the lives of the lower class. The lyrics are full of the daily lives and speech of the people at the bottom. The lyrics were like that, but when Michael danced to the cheerful melody, the square became an ironic yet wonderful busking stage.

“Uncle Tom’s voice really sounds like the Bethel Farm feed truck. But strangely, if you listen closely, it makes you sad.”

Annie quickly became absorbed in Tom’s singing.

“But the lyrics are a bit weird. If it’s Waltzing Matilda, isn’t it Matilda dancing the waltz? The grammar is weird and the meaning is also a bit weird… … .”

“That song is based on an Australian folk song. In Australia, waltzing also means ‘walking around without a destination.’ Also, Matilda is not a person’s name, but in the Australian dialect, it means ‘a sleeping bag on the back.’ So, if we were to paraphrase it, it could be interpreted as ‘a wanderer.’”

Angela briefly explained the background of the song. She said that Australia used to be a convict camp and that the song was about the strong resistance and yearning for freedom that they experienced during their process of independence.

“So the melody is bright, but the content contains their resentment.”

“Wow, Angela, how do you know that?”

“I heard it from a priest who lived in Australia for a long time. The funny thing is, the lyrics ‘You’ll go a Waltzing Matilda with me.’ in the folk song means ‘You’ll go a waltzing Matilda with me,’ but in the context of Uncle Tom’s song, Matilda is used as the name of a pub. You really have a great sense of parody.”

“Oh, so that means you’re going to dance to Matilda with me?”

“that’s right.”

This is a story I didn’t know. After hearing Angela’s explanation, I completely understood Tom’s lyrics. As expected, Tom is a person with great knowledge of literature and humanities. In addition, Michael Jackson seemed to know the meaning of this song, and he perfectly expressed the irony through his dance.

The unexpected combination of two people brought most of the people on the street to the square.

“I, Mr. James Choi… … .”

Someone called me from behind.

“… … Ritchie Blackmore?”

* * *

Ritchie Blackmore found out I had been there and came to see me right after the show, so I brought him to my studio to have a quiet chat with him.

“Oh, is this Mr. James Choi’s personal studio? That’s amazing.”

“Please feel free to call me James.”

“Okay, then James should be called Richie too.”

“Yes, Richie.”

He had a strong impression with his sharp eyes, but he was gentler than I thought.

“I’ll tell you this without beating around the bush. When I first heard the Sparkling Ripple album, I was shocked and honestly skeptical. Then James showed up at Woodstock and proved that it wasn’t a trick. After that, I wondered how he could create such a powerful guitar tone at such a young age and use such ridiculous techniques.”

As expected, his personality was as straightforward as his appearance. I liked it.

“Actually, I don’t know what kind of accident I had, but I have no memories of my childhood. I’m an orphan.”

There is nothing more ambiguous than the excuse of amnesia.

“I think the people who gave birth to me might have been great musicians who weren’t well known. Or maybe I had a teacher like that.”

After talking about it in such a vague way, he moved on to the story of his time in the 8th US Army.

“It’s a really mysterious story. It’s like a science fiction novel where someone suddenly falls from the future to the past… … .”

It has a keen sense, just like a lynx.

I quickly skipped to another story.

“Actually, this pedal is nothing special. If you look at it, the circuit is really simple.”

I showed him the circuit board of the booster pedal.

“But I also bought that pedal and used it, but as the sound was amplified, the noise also increased. But James and Jake didn’t even use a volume control, so how did they get such a clean sound… … .”

“There’s a secret to that in the custom amp I made. But even if you don’t use this amp, if you use this, the noise will be significantly reduced.”

I took two Booster Pedal V2s out of my pocket and handed them to him.

“Actually, I saw three people who came to our show yesterday. That’s why I went to see both teams’ shows today. I’m going to give these to them as gifts. Please give one to Tony Iommi.”

“Thank you so much. You have given us such a precious thing. I don’t know how I can repay you… … .”

“We’re rock musicians, and we want to help each other out and do well.”

“James really has a great personality, just like I heard. All the ridiculous rumors were false. I’m jealous. I would like to join the Clean Zone campaign, but if I try to recruit members like that, I won’t be able to make music.”

He sighed deeply as he talked about the current situation of British musicians. It wasn’t much different in the US.

It was possible because our team was formed in Korea, and because I had the knowledge of the future, I was able to attract sound musicians to our company.

Even John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord of Deep Purple, and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath had no choice but to work with troublesome members.

“But how can you have the time to recognize us while running so fast? To be honest, I have to be super focused even when playing simple phrases, even more so than James… .”

It’s still before the paradigm of speed has changed. Anyway, the history of music is advancing little by little because of me. I guess I can tell you this secret.

“How do you practice chromatic music?”

I gave him a Fender Stratocaster that I had in my studio.

Follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me.

“You play four notes in one beat of the metronome.”

“Yes, this is the correct answer.”

“This is what I do.”

Follow me! Tick tock, follow me! Tick tock, follow me!, Tick tock tock… … .

“If you only practice four-note sequences, your hands will become accustomed to only four-note sequences. So I play the four-note sequence and then focus on the connecting point. And then… … .”

I set the metronome to 230 bpm and showed him drill picking.

“Wow… … This is crazy.”

He frowned and looked closely at my hand.

Raised to 250.

“… … !”

My fingers are now tangled and unable to keep up.

He made a dumbfounded expression.

“I have to push myself to the limit where my hands can’t keep up with the speed. Otherwise, the speed won’t increase. In traditional classical music, they say to play slowly and perfectly, and then gradually increase the speed. That’s true, but it takes too long. Most people can’t endure that period and give up.”

I taught him one of the future evolved speed training techniques as an attribute.

“Actually, there’s a guitar solo melody in a song I’m writing these days. I think I’ll try applying that picking to the latter half of it.”

He started playing. I knew it right away, just from the first three notes.

Deep Purple’s famous song Highway Star.

After he had played the melody, I played chords to his solo. He glanced at me and chuckled. We played the Highway Star solo together.

“Wow, it’s a lot easier to use a thumb snap like James, haha. Thanks so much.”

Ritchie Blackmore was a man more serious about music than anyone else. Deep Purple would enjoy a brief heyday, and would experience countless changes in members and conflicts. He reunited Deep Purple with Jon Lord’s persuasion, but on November 17, 1993, after a performance in Helsinki, he left the band forever, saying only ‘Goodbye’ to the members.

After that, I formed a baroque folk band called Blackmore’s Night with a female vocalist named Candice Knight, and we only played folk music until before I came to the past.

Many fans were shocked by his musical transformation. The heavy metal hero suddenly played fairytale-like folk songs. But fellow musicians who knew him well said this.

‘Rich, that guy originally didn’t fit in with rock music. He often fought with his bandmates because he pursued perfection like a classic. Now he’s finally wearing clothes that fit him.’

After two divorces, he married Candice Knight, the vocalist of Blackmores Knight, who was 26 years younger than him, and lived happily ever after.

Ritchie Blackmore, one day when heavy metal is on the decline, you will put down the electric guitar and only pick up the classical guitar for the rest of your life.

I sincerely hope that with my little help, your brief heyday will shine even brighter.

* * *

The next day.

As Tom Waits and Michael Jackson’s piano busking became popular, I brought in another upright piano and placed them facing each other. It was an idea that I got from a scene in a movie I had seen in the future, “The Piano Battle.”

I wanted to put two grand pianos side by side like in the movies, but the square was too narrow. And an upright piano was better suited for busking.

Of course, I had no intention of pitting Tom against Angela. Angela could probably play the three songs I saw in the movie if I told her the titles, but Tom was just a free-spirited minstrel.

I thought it would be fun if the two of us jammed on the piano.

In terms of purely musical skills, Angela was far superior, but Tom had more diverse experiences and a greater knowledge of the humanities than anyone else. He was a storyteller, like Jack’s teacher, Makani.

Just as I learned to talk with Makani on the guitar, Angela learned to talk with Tom on the piano while playing with him.

Tom cried out the joys and sorrows of the lives of the American lower class, and Angela warmly embraced their lives with God’s grace. Tom Waits’ life, which had been rough, and Angela’s life, which had been careful in the cathedral, were exquisitely blended into the melodies of two pianos.

The people gathered in the square gave the two a generous round of applause. It was a wonderful performance that even Annie and I, who were watching together, found ourselves applauding.

“Angela, that was a really good performance.”

“Thank you, Tom. Thanks to you, I learned how to play more relaxed and leisurely.”

“Angela, you’ve worked hard to accommodate me. I need to get out of here for a bit because I need a cigarette, haha.”

Tom, who always smoked while playing, never smoked in the clean zone. He stood up from the piano and spoke to the audience.

“Everyone, this is an open piano. Anyone can sit down and play freely, haha.”

Tom left the square leisurely, leaving behind some nice words.

“Angela, I want to hear that. Chopin!”

Annie’s favorite classical piece was Chopin, which Angela often played for her.

The official title of the piece is Chopin’s Etude, Op. 10, No. 5. It was the first duel piece in the piano battle scene in the movie I saw.

The reason Annie likes this song is not only because of the lively, bouncy cat-like performance, but also because she is amazed that such a great performance can be produced by only pressing the black keys.

In fact, this song has the nickname “Black Key.”

To be exact, it is not a piece that is played entirely on black keys. However, the right hand only uses black keys, and throughout the piece, all notes except the note C are played on black keys.

Annie exclaimed in admiration every time she heard it.

As Angela finished playing the black key, an Asian girl raised her hand in the cheering audience and said.

“Excuse me, I said this was an open piano, right?”