Focus............Sylvia

Dominic

Was one of the first tracks that made me want to play Guitar
 Well,that and Ronnie Woods haircut on the Nods as good as a Wink - Faces Album cover !
.......both seem a very long time ago

Whistler

I had already started playing by the time Sylvia was a single but it was inspirational for me too.

Roland

One of my Desert Island Discs. 

Dominic

good man 
I think Focus were a great band (even with the funny little midgets yodelling )
 

LuttiS

My dad had an old mix tape called "Guitar Greats" as a little'un i was obsessed with this tape and insisted it was put on whereever we went. 
Don't remember most of it now, but stand outs were..

Hocus Pocus - Focus (My introduction to Jan Akkerman..)
Parisian Walkways - Gary Moore (first "band" i went to see concert i went to see)
Sabre Dance - Dave Edmunds (the reason i wanted to play guitar) 
ten men working - neil young ("This notes for you" was the first album i owned)
Strawberry Fields - Beatles 
and others...

That tape was my main influence growing up.. I'm now going to spend the rest of the morning trying to remember what else was on it..

gordiji

Excellent stuff. The video of them doing Hocus Poocus live in '73 still astounds me because of its originality and the level of musicianship. If you were a guitarist watching that then you'd be having a wtf moment.

Dominic

Yes, that's the one with the little Munchkin yodelling and singing in Gibberish
Great Band but didn't that Les Paul sound horrid in that live show recording?

ESBlonde

Released in 72/3, I'd been playing my cheeese grater acoustic for a couple of years at best and with a school friend we tried to play this, it was a great incentive and almost impossible on a short neck acoustic. Once my mate got an Avon LP Custom and I got a woolworths Audition with notional higher fret access we got well into this and other tunes of the day.

AustrianJohn

Akkerman was one of my early guitar heroes and Sylvia (and much later Sylvia's Grandmother) are amongst my favourite tracks from him. I was fortunate to see him play many times from 1999 into the 2000s when he made regular UK tours, the 2000 gig at the Brook in Southampton was a stand-out - his guitar playing was magical.

boogieman

Focus are still gigging, their latest guitarist is superb. They just did a Prog Cruise with @Clarky from the David Cross Band. 

Fretwired

AustrianJohn said:

Akkerman was one of my early guitar heroes and Sylvia (and much later Sylvia's Grandmother) are amongst my favourite tracks from him. I was fortunate to see him play many times from 1999 into the 2000s when he made regular UK tours, the 2000 gig at the Brook in Southampton was a stand-out - his guitar playing was magical.

We may have met ... I was a roady at many of his gigs ... ever meet Dave Randall?

Fretwired

Dominic said:

Great Band but didn't that Les Paul sound horrid in that live show recording?

It's a refinished Les Paul Personal with all the electrical gubbins removed and a new top added through a Fender Showman amp. More sustain than a usual Les Paul due to the different shape. There's a chorus pedal on as well, hence the tone.

stratman3142

I played it with a band in a talent competition in my first year at Liverpool Uni.

We came second, which sounds OK on the face of it, but IIRC the winner was a guy who just sat on stage and washed his socks in a bowl of water.

impmann

Mr Akkerman is a very nice chap too.

i met him a few years ago when he visited Line6 UK (he was using Pod Pro rack units).

Hootsmon

Akkerman is tae Hoots as Gilmour is tae Gas

Clarky

boogieman said:

Focus are still gigging, their latest guitarist is superb. They just did a Prog Cruise with @Clarky from the David Cross Band. 

yes they did and they're superb..
Thijs and Pierre are still there from the old line-up and are still amazing players..
Udo and Menno [bass and guitar] are jaw dropping players

I was lucky enough to be in the same hotel as them before and after CttE so the DC Band and Focus became good friends..
they're still recording too.. Focus 11 has just come out and I know they're working on Focus 12 this year..
so they're not standing still either..

awesome band.. great guys to be around.. lots of fun..

Fretwired

impmann said:

i met him a few years ago when he visited Line6 UK (he was using Pod Pro rack units).

It was POD XT Pro wan't it? It was used for effects mostly through a bespoke Marble amp .. he recorded with a bean for years.

Fretwired

Clarky said:

boogieman said:

Focus are still gigging, their latest guitarist is superb. They just did a Prog Cruise with @Clarky from the David Cross Band. 

yes they did and they're superb..
Thijs and Pierre are still there from the old line-up and are still amazing players..
Udo and Menno [bass and guitar] are jaw dropping players

@Clarky Check out Swung Vol 2 - it's Menno, Pierre and Bobby (bassist before Udo) in hard jazz rock mode ... here's an early jam session ... the album is worth checking out.

SteveRobinson

Dominic said:

good man 
I think Focus were a great band (even with the funny little midgets yodelling )
 

Thijs van Leer is a big guy.

impmann

Fretwired said:

impmann said:

i met him a few years ago when he visited Line6 UK (he was using Pod Pro rack units).

It was POD XT Pro wan't it? It was used for effects mostly through a bespoke Marble amp .. he recorded with a bean for years.

Yes, I think you are right - tbh, that was a few years back. It’s getting a bit hazy!

Dominic

SteveRobinson said:

Dominic said:

good man 
I think Focus were a great band (even with the funny little midgets yodelling )
 

Thijs van Leer is a big guy.

Doesn't look very big behind the keyboard.........I didn't mean he WAS a midget ...I meant the funny vocals sound like the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz ( check the punctuation )