My wife is a mutant. She has a super-power called perfect pitch. If a train whistle goes by she can say, "That's a A chord with a sustained F#." This is both a blessing and a curse for her. If I've got the Cramps on she says it sounds like fingernails on a slate blackboard. Yet if I'm playing and out of tune, she can come right up, fiddle with the tuning pegs and by ear alone get me back in tune.
But the problem was she kept putting down the garage rock that I was playing saying it was too simple--you've all heard this before I'm sure, "It's only 3 chords." Yes but as Emerson Schiff of oldpunks.com says, "I draw power from those 3 perfectly executed Ramones chords like Superman drawn power from the yellow sun."
I started practicing a lot, working on leads and licks, rhythm, intonation, subtleties in note bending. Then finally the devastating blow came from none other than Izthak Perlman himself who said that when you play something simple, you don't have all those notes to hide behind and in a way, it's a lot more difficult to do it and get it right.
So I'm continuing to make my attempt to carry the torch for the late great Mark Smith. I've been playing "The Clown with the Broken Frown", and ultra-obscure "Here Comes Your Woman", the chilling "My Name is Nothing" and a song Creatures might have covered "The LIfe I Live" by the Q65. Also "Polka-Dotted Eyes" by the Snaps.
