365 Days #29 - Dave Kennedy - All By Myself (mp3)

MP3:
Dave Kennedy - All By Myself (2:49)

The first time I heard a recording by Dave Kennedy, was on a mix tape made for me by my friend Bill Verkuilen.  As a music lover and musician, over the years I've always been impressed with musicians who can play more than one instrument, and play them well.

The most notable ones that immediately come to mind are Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Yet, as impressed as I've been of those two, in particular, until I heard Kennedy, I had NEVER heard of any one musician who can play so MANY instruments, as well as sing with himself (in jazz harmony, no less!)

Dave Kennedy (now deceased) was a recording studio owner and engineer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who apparently would make time to record himself, in between sessions with other artists, like Hildegarde.

On "All By Myself", Kennedy plays trumpet, trombone, vibes, piano, flute, piccolo, drums, bass, saxophone, guitar, and perhaps most impressive to me, an entire violin string section! And I'm betting that YOU have never heard any one person do all this, either!

Well, check it out, and if don't be surprised if your jaw doesn't drop the same way mine did, the first time I heard this...

- Contributed by: Dana Countryman

Image: Photo Strip

Media: 12" LP
Album: All By Myself
Label: Page Records
Catalog: 843K-3039

Comments

[Harry Hyams]

Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell us all which instument
Macartney can play at all?

He has never mastered the guitar and his compositions
were done using a computer.

Just watch his left hand as he "plays" the guitar,
he can only manage the odd chord.

[strictly kev]

incredible!

[Art]

Cool stuff! How does he keep it up over an album though? As soon as you get over the novelty of him doing it by himself the songs have to stand up. Aw, this is awesome though.

[lee]

thanks harry hyams. well said.
howard johnson the jazz musician plays everything. so do i. you just have to want to, and first learn your music theory [12 notes ain't much to learn ] . once you know where the notes are, all instruments are the same. desire is the key signature. look at how a 5 yr old can operate those video games, then look at Sinti's first cd, recorded at 11 yrs old. it is all about choices.
i will immodestly pat myself on the back for personally convincing Charles Gayle he should play more than just the saxophone. the look on his face at the moment of that decision was beautiful. like he just won a trip to paradise. you're welcome folks.
a note to guitarists: your best practice tool is a pennywhistle. get a good one. use the book by Robin Williamson from the incredible string band. be serious, it's fun!
your guitar playing will expand beyond belief. graduate to recorder, and you are almost a sax player. it's that easy.

multi instrumentalists?
see the Carling Family on youtube, espec. Grunhild Carling. a whole family of them.wow

[lee]

BUT..
if you make that your goal, and aren't wealthy, you'll probably end up with no money to record anything. and no money to buy all the instruments. and no knowledge of multi track recordings. maybe that's just me. plan well.

[Jones]

Believe it or not, Prince plays a vast array of instruments and does vocal harmonies with himself as well. And with his ego, it should come as no surprise, of course, that he has done entire albums with him playing and singing every note heard.

[fatty jubbo]

anyone know where to get that Hildegarde record?

[Krys]

R. Stevie Moore is a multi-instrumentalist from WAAAAAAAY back when.

And um, the LP "McCartney" was recorded by Paul alone with only vocal assist by Lovely Linda. Computers, yeah.

[Thierry]

Another incredible multi-instrumentalist: Roy Wood. He even recorded himself on backing vocals. As an Andrews Sisters soundalike!

[MrDork]

The entire dave kennedy album is available here for download.

[Clayton]

Jones, if I'm not mistaken, Prince even played all the instruments on his debut record, when he was only nineteen. That's impressive, but I've always liked those guys who could play multiple instruments at once, the most famous of whom (at least the most well-known nowadays) is Roy Smeck, who played ukulele and guitar on lots of Hawaiian records, including some by "The Golden Voice of Hawaii" himself, Alfred Apaka.

[Thierry]

You're right Clayton. Plus, Prince turned down all recording contracts offers he received (when he was 17-18) until Warner came along because he wanted to produce his albums himself and be given complete creative control.

[Roberto Guiterrez]

Others:
Nine Inch Nails in studio = Trent Reznor.
Aldo Nova's 1982 album = all him.

[lee]

many todd rundgren LPs . if you only know the pop hits, you made a mistake . try ''todd'' for starters. he produces, plays everything, and engineers everything on that one. it's pretty out there.
don elliott, Bob Dylan, Al Cooper has some all diy lps, elliot sharp plays a very mean giutar AND sax. mean! the guys in gentle giant , Roscoe Mitchell , Anthony Braxton , Marque Gilmore the jazz drummer is an amazing chapman stick/ bass player. David Bowie , harry partch .jeff tweedy, and last but not..... uhhh... geddy lee - feet on keyboards while bass playing while ''singing'' .yeesh. xaaaanaaaaduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Dana Countryman]

Ummmm.... you guys are missing the point.
Yes, Prince can play more than one instrument -- so can lots of people.
But point me to the Prince album where he plays violins, sax, trumpet, trombone, etc. In other words, ORCHESTRAL instruments, not rock instruments.

En garde!

- Dana

[jack]

ROY WOOD, founder of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra. His solo LP is BOULDERS. He's a rocker but plays some orchestral instruments, like oboe and cello. What's with the idiot on top of the comments knocking Paul McCartney? That's Paul playing the solos on Drive My Car, Taxman and others; he's playing drums on Back In The USSR. They didn't have computers in the studio in the Sixties, you moron. Try pickin' Blackbird or Mother Nature's Son.

[Chris younger]

I knew Mr. Kennedy. I was a childhood friend of his son. I used to help him set up equipment for his performances and help around the studio. He was a great man and one of the pioneers of multitrack recording.