Friday Night with Guitar George: Atlanta Rhythm Section – Spooky

Welcome to the 2014 Halloween edition of Friday Night With Guitar George.  As I considered my choices for tonight’s video, I immediately dismissed the 1962 novelty hit “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, although I admit that I was amused to discover that The Smashing Pumpkins (get it?) have covered “Monster Mash”.

I thought about “Werewolves of London” by the late great Warren Zevon, but I have another jewel by Zevon tucked away for a future edition of FNWGG.  Of course, there is always Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, but……never mind.

Going for the scary angle, the most haunting video I have ever found on YouTube is of Linda Ronstadt and Leo Sayer performing “Tumbling Dice” as a duet.  It is absolutely horrifying.  I decided against choosing it because I was afraid that charges of cruel and unusual punishment would be brought against Braves General Store for subjecting its viewership to such a heinous atrocity.

Thus, I returned to the basics and went strictly for the guitar angle.  Much to my chagrin I did not find a good quality video of Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”, but much to my delight I did find a very nice version of “Spooky” by my childhood heroes Atlanta Rhythm Section.  Technically, the ARS version of this song is a cover of a hit by the popular 1960’s band Classics IV, but that is a little misleading, because two members of Classics IV would later become founding members of Atlanta Rhythm Section, so basically they were covering their own song.

I have much more to say about “the band that played that Georgia Rhythm”, but I will save it for a future FNWGG that will feature a great live performance of another song by ARS.  For tonight, just “treat” yourself to the tricky guitar work by Barry Bailey and J.R. Cobb in this video.