Your 5 favorite Lisa guitar riffs…

[Jung Roe]

Tim, you just keep cranking out those great topics!

My top 5 Lisa guitar riffs.  It’s going to be as hard as limiting it to my top 5 MLT songs.

1..Club 27.  From the start there is that Hendricks like guitar sound ringing, and super cool to the ear guitar work throughout.  I hear the best of Guess Who, Deep Purple, Zeppelin like licks throughout.

2..Samba Pa Ti.  Lisa’s guitar sounds are just so soothing.  Never really got into Santana, but after hearing Lisa play this, I can see what all the fuss is about.  She was only 13 when she played this.

3..While My Guitar Gently Weeps.   So much feeling in each strum of the guitar.  Subliminal guitar playing.

4..You Really Got Me.  Mona’s rocker voice, Lisa’s crisp rocking guitar sounds.  Just perfection to the ears.

5..Time of the Season.  Lisa’s guitar playing reminds me of some great classical Spanish guitar sounds to my ears here that sound so perfect in this song.  Adds another dimension to this great song.

I will add a 6th bonus if I may.  It is “Hey Bulldog”.  There is some controversy as to who did the lead guitar in the Beatles track between George, John, and Paul.  I think it should have been Lisa, if she was around then. 

[Daniel Smith]

I won’t list their covers, as for the most part Lisa is simply mimicking the original recording, WITH ONE EXCEPTION.

5.  That exception is Morning Has Broken.  Whether one has heard this tune in church or is familiar with the Cat Stevens version, the lead instrument is piano.  Lisa does a great job of transposing the piano part to the guitar.

4.  One More Time.  Sort of reminiscent of Some Other Guy by the Beatles, but with cooler riffs than what George played.

3.  I’m in it for Love.  Very bluesy sounding, or possibly jazz.  I wonder which guitar she used of the record.  I would think it was something like a Gibson ES 335, at least that’s what it sounds like to me.  (Yes, I realise she used a classical guitar in the video, but it doesn’t sound like a classical on the record.  Maybe my ears are just bad.)

2.  This Boy is Mine.  Love the solo.

1.  June.  Good guitar work throughout, both in the fills and the solo.  And she looks good, too, as does Mona, in the video.

[Jung Roe]

I’m not sure how you get mimicking.  What Lisa does with the covers is no different from say a Glenn Gould doing a Bach Goldberg Variation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv94m_S3QDo

It’s not mimicking Bach.  His interpretation is incredibly special and different from the next pianist.   Lisa is taking a piece of 60’s music and doing her interpretation on the guitar and producing something unique and special too.  I prefer her interpretation to some of the original guitar riffs from those covers.

But I like some of your choices on the MLT originals.

[Daniel Smith]

I think we’re largely talking semantics here, but what I meant is that if she is just playing the solo the exact same as the way the original artist played it, I’d rather listen to the original.  There are plenty of Beatles cover bands out there that do the exact same thing.  Doesn’t mean they’re not entertaining, but they aren’t the Beatles either.  That being said, the girls do have a few covers that I actually prefer to the originals.  Friday on my Mind and Bus Stop both seem to have more energy than the original artists put into the songs, even though the instrumental parts are pretty much the same.

[Howard]

I partially agree with you on this one Jung. Mimicking is trying to copy (sometimes lampooning) or miming. What Lisa does however, is play homage to the originals by playing them as originally intended, rather than putting her own interpretation on the tune. So many artists try to create something new by making changes that totally destroy the experience for fans of the originals.

I think this is why MLT fans enjoy Lisa’s work so much. We are hearing old songs we love, played the way we like, but with the enthusiasm and passion that Lisa and Mona bring to the work.

[Jung Roe]

I agree with you there Howard.  With the covers MLT do, they always stay true to the integrity of the original, but what I mean is, it is not merely mimicking a recording as Daniel is eluding to.

Lisa through her own unique way of playing adds her own heart and soul to the song adding some nuance to the cover.   Its the same, but it is a little different too.  God Only Knows the Beach Boys does is great, but the MonaLisa Twins version with their unique twist is wonderful too, and makes me go to their version because I get a slightly different experience from when I listen to the Beach Boys version.  The same with White Room, Time of the Season, and San Francisco.  They are not mimicked, but offer another fresh interpretation that maintains the integrity of the original song, but is unique and oh so special in it’s own right.

That’s what attracts me to MLT covers, their unique twist while maintaining the integrity of the original song.   If they sounded just the same as the original, I’m not sure it would be very special to me.

[Timothy Connelly]

Daniel,

I hear what you’re saying but I don’t agree with you at all. I don’t think Lisa tries to hit the exact same notes or play all that many of the songs the exact same way as the original artists unless there’s a specific reason. In Revolution she adds a solo at the end that’s not in the original and her guitar solo in the middle is very dissimilar to the Beatles version. In this case dissimilar and better. In While My Guitar Gently Weeps, rather than trying ti imitate Clapton- which everybody else tries to do- she plays the guitar more like George would have likely played it. They use acoustic guitars in When I’m 64 and play at a whole different tempo. They also play Maxwell without anything like the Beatles arrangement. The intricate guitar solo from Time of the Season is completely different from the original with Lisa’s work completely fresh and new– I could keep going.
The Twins cover the Beatles and were inspired by them. They do not try and mimic them or play their songs the same way. In I saw Her Standing There, George’s lead is so iconic that Lisa does play it note for note as a show of respect.
In White Room, she similarly recognizes that Clapton’s guitar solo- though wonderful- sounds like it was recorded 50 years ago. So she modernizes the feel of the guitar. It doesn’t have that unique psychedelic sound to it but Lisa has already proven she can play that on Nothing is in Vain- she wanted to give the song a better chance to be given love in 2018.

I appreciate and respect your thoughts my friend and love to hear your thoughts on these matters. We may sometimes disagree but that’s half the fun!

[Jacki Hopper]

Arrrgghhh… Choosing Impossible… I just can’t… Lol… But I love All songs equally and for now on this posting .. I’m going with… airguitar mostly on While My Guitar Gently Weeps… You Really Got Me… Johnny B Good… Time of the Season… Count on Me… Like pulling a needle from haystack…. But good question at any rate… ????????????????????☮️