It gets you eventually: Freebird

[jeeves19]

4 years ago I contributed a smug post that asked the neurologist whether I could still play Freebird. He declared not and so I took great pleasure in playing it and shared this film with the community here. I was probably about 6 years in at this point. Unfortunately, the disease has caught up with me and I realised last night that my Freebird playing days were a thing of the past. 🫤 . Bummer eh?

[Grumpy77]

Its a shame PD gradually erodes away our muscle memories, creativity, spatial awareness and mobility

The other day I was struggling to take off my shirt and then panic was beginning to set in. Next thing I started memorising all my subconscious actions into my conscious actions. So far its holding up

In the meantime I have a request, could you please refresh our memories by reposting the video of you playing freebird 4 years ago

[jeeves19 in reply to Grumpy77]

Ha! Sure Grumpy. It’s not as if I get asked to play any more so it does my soul good to be invited. 🙏

[jeeves19 in reply to Grumpy77]

I seem to have wiped the tape sadly. All I have is this ‘showcase’ which I put together for when I used to play in bands and then I’d send this to be considered for vacancies. Freebird is in here somewhere, towards the back I think? But there are a variety of songs and styles in here. Thanks again :

youtu.be/QMvjv5UJi_I?si=Cji...(Not working as expected?)

[Grumpy77 in reply to jeeves19]

Very talented, well done!

[jeeves19 in reply to Grumpy77]

Thanks Grumpy. 😊

[bassofspades in reply to jeeves19]

nice guitars!

[Bolt_Upright in reply to jeeves19]

Very impressive indeed! And a Fender man (there is no better combination that a Fender Strat and a Twin Reverb). You play really well.

And... you introduced my to David Soul - Silver Lady! I was not expecting David Soul to show up in your mix. I don't want to be the only person with this song stuck in their head, so here:

youtu.be/bG6rmGGx64k?si=69W...(Not working as expected?)

[jeeves19 in reply to Bolt_Upright]

It’s a really good song Bolt. I was always struck by the strength of the melody even as a child, but original guitar work is really good. D’you know there’s - as far as I can tell - no acknowledgment of the guitarist on that track. Whoever he was certainly understood how to get the best out of a Tele. Lovely playing. I think the song spent several weeks at No. 1 here in the U.K.. unsure how well it performed Stateside.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to jeeves19]

"Silver Lady" was the second and final number one hit on the UK Singles Chart for David Soul, spending three weeks at the top in October 1977.[2] It had spent five weeks in the top ten before eventually toppling Elvis Presley. The single also spent four weeks at number one in Ireland, and peaked at number five in Australia, but fared less well in his homeland peaking at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number No.23 on the Easy Listening chart.[3] It can be found on his second album Playing to an Audience of One.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to jeeves19]

I'm guessing the guitar was played by one of these two guys:

Slide Guitar [12 String], 6-String Bass, Electric Bass – Chris Mickie

Steel Guitar – Peter Kleinow*

discogs.com/release/575492-...

[jeeves19 in reply to Bolt_Upright]

Thanks for the info. How strange that it never became a hit in the US! I’d have thought the Americans would have loved that style of song.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to Bolt_Upright]

My money is on Chris Mickie, all day long: discogs.com/release/5904661...

[Gallowglass]

Bummer! do you have video you could share?

[jeeves19 in reply to Gallowglass]

Somewhere in the response to Grumpy above! 🤔😊

[jeeves19 in reply to Gallowglass]

There’s one section of Freebird at 6.03?

[gogofloat]

Never heard of Freebird, let alone played it. One less thing to worry about!!

[jeeves19 in reply to gogofloat]

Excellent 😂

[Gallowglass]

😎

[tandolino]

Very good, Freebird is one of my favorites. is your DBS setup as good as it is going to get, or is it still being fine Tuned?

[Bunny622023 in reply to tandolino]

I wish I knew Freebird, sounds like it must be a great song. Actually I just looked it up and its by Lynyrd Skynyrd... oh wow. I actually like a lot of their songs. Actually I hope his DBS has more fine tuning, but fact of the matter is for most people with DBS, it's always needing tweaking, for life. PD progresses so it needs refining again.

[jeeves19 in reply to Bunny622023]

The guitarist who played Freebird Bunny was memories from the neck? down following a car crash. They used to wheel him onstage in a wheelchair and he used to watch the band play the song he wrote. I think that he went by some title of ‘artistic director’ for a couple of years until he died prematurely of pneumonia. I liken Allen’s situation to our own in a way: we have to eventually watch life unfolding and we’d like to be in the picture but can’t be.

Allen Collins

[Bunny622023 in reply to jeeves19]

Gosh - that's really sad....

[bassofspades]

I sort of joined a "band" recently. I tried to teach them Freebird. It sounded like Freeturd.

[jeeves19]

😂😂

[JH23]

Really sorry to hear this, Freebird a great track that takes me back to my 'head banging' youth. The progressively worsening of the fine motor controls is so bl**dy frustrating! Great video some impressive riffs, hopefully fine tuning of your DBS will help.

[jeeves19 in reply to JH23]

Thanks a lot friend 😊

[Zella23]

Loved the guitar playing Jeeves. Brightened up my morning listening to it trying to do the Wordle. I even heard a Beatles song I hadn’t heard of and I thought I knew most of them. It’s heartbreaking ❤️‍🩹 when they are part of you and your life.

Reminds me of yesterday we took our 2 grandchildren to the pub for lunch as the older one had some new darts and wanted to try out his skills on their dart board. John, my husband was having a good day and all the old darts skills came back from when we ran our pub! The boys were suitably impressed.

We came back home and my husband and 6 year old played Donkey Kong on the Wii. I could hear considerable shouting over it but didn’t interfere. Suddenly my husband appeared laughing saying he’d had his remote removed as he couldn’t play fast enough!!!!! 😂

[jeeves19 in reply to Zella23]

Yes. This disease is such a shame and really spoils life eh? Either there’s a purpose behind us having it or we’re living in a Godless universe 🤔. Or maybe there’s a God and there’s no reason for it or at all. 😊. Anyway, I’m off to day my cornflakes now 😂. Good luck.

[Wifey4U]

Just listened and was blown away! You are great - when I first read this, didn’t “connect” to music; thought Freebird was some kind of game! I knew all the riffs and tunes on your demo- thank you for making it available. Don’t ever give up, there are ways to deal with this miserable condition: exercise is one way to fight this demon.

My spouse died in 2020 and I’m still researching every publication to find an explanation: the latest being possible exposure to chemicals used to dry clean or degrease machinery. The best road (imo) to treatment was something called PONs ….

You will be in my thoughts and prayers and there is going to be a breakthrough - just Keep Believing.

[jeeves19]

Thank you for the compliment as well as the encouragement 😊👍

[gomelgo]

Hot stuff! I dated musicians for many years. 6 years attached at the hip (and in every rehearsal) with a guitarist ... and I am impressed! Do you think the DBS might bring you back your chops some? I wish that for you. Wishing I had some videos of me dancing some cool fosse moves ... don't think that will be repeated now sadly ... frozen shoulder has set in. I'm glad to commiserate here, though on zoom would be more meaningful.

[gomelgo in reply to gomelgo]

Maybe you can show this demo to the DBS docs and ask if they could help you replicate at least some of that ability?

[jeeves19 in reply to gomelgo]

Oh I think at 62 the glory days are gone. Besides, no one appreciates rock any more or guitar’s for that matter. It’s been replaced by hip hop and rap , whereby they Nick hooks off rock tracks and sell millions in being thief’s. Oh for the 70s eh?

[gomelgo in reply to jeeves19]

Seems to me, there are many here, me included, who appreciate rock, and perhaps always will. Who needs glory, when you can just enjoy playing.

[jeeves19 in reply to gomelgo]

True but I’d have given anything to have been one of the ‘greats’. Funny. We were discussing the afterlife concept of reliving one’s life many times the other day. We asked ‘would you be happy re-living the same life over and over again? I said that I would but wish that I could be born with some genuine talent for something (not be just ‘expert but derivative as I currently am?).

[Gisel in reply to jeeves19]

Hallo Jeeves19, I did not know what freebird is and looked into my translater which could not find the expression. But after having read the conversation I understand and I feel so sorry for you. I am living with the symptoms of PD now since 6 years and I realize that the symptoms vary. My tremor is less but I have more pain. I read in a scientific article that PD has the strongest placebo influence. This means that if you are convinced about stopping the disease you have a big change to succeed and if you believe vice verse you experience the opposite. You are so young and you should be the one who succeeds in overcoming the disease. What I understand is that symptoms are the "language" of our body. Whenever I get nervous or angry my tremor starts immediately. We should learn to translate what the symptoms tell us and finding a way to help our body to heal. There are case reports from PD patients where the disease stopped - or even got better. You deserve to be one of that case reports!

[jeeves19 in reply to Gisel]

Gisel (lovely name btw), I’ve been down the ‘let’s cure this’ route, and have taken several directions in attempting to do so. I failed unfortunately and thus am resigned to living with this disease. It’s not an easy one to rid yourself of, despite theories that may challenge this.

[Hidden in reply to jeeves19]

Thank you so much Adam for putting this up - I downloaded it for my pwp as he used to play and was a Shadows fan. He hasn't been able to pick up a guitar for about 10 years ( right side predominate tremor) still has his guitars - still dreams. I tried to get him to try playing as if it was a steel on his lap but he didn't enjoy that - we laugh and say he should be a strummer now but he is a picker. At least we have the memories - as you do as well - lovely I enjoyed it and I know he will also.

[jeeves19 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your kindness and empathy 😊

[Mac-10]

WOW Adam! That going some mate! And I can see that there’s a promise of a lot more ‘depth’ to come in an actual gig situation… would have enjoyed a bit of Hendrix… for example, drifting still kills me… unfortunately I don’t play so this will probably sound incredibly naive… but could there be a way to bring in and even capitalise on some of the limitations even mistakes wrought by P and the work-arounds it might lead you to try???

[jeeves19]

what were you thinking of mate? I feel that I did my best but realised when I was 25/26 that I wasn’t very talented. As I said to Gomelgo above I’m ‘expert but derivative’. I think that if a healthy ‘me’ couldn’t make it then one with 10 years of Parkinson’s definitely ain’t going to make it. Thanks for the encouragement though.

[gomelgo in reply to jeeves19]

Actually what if the one with PD had more likelihood than the one without it? Have you seen anyone with PD try yet? You could be that first. I have been wishing lately that neurologist who deliver this dastardly diagnosis. Would be taught to deliver it very very differently, life would be very different for us all. I imagine a neurologist saying "I am not 100% certain because nobody can be but you may have Parkinson's. Which is OK because it's completely curable, though it takes a lot of hard work. But I can see that you are determined person, and I have a feeling with some help you will succeed." Imagine getting that message?

[WinnieThePoo in reply to gomelgo]

Imagine the law suits that would follow, when the individual progressed normally, and there was a sum total of zero credible evidence to back that doctor's message

[WinnieThePoo]

Great song btw Adam. We always played it as we were taking down the equipment at the end of a disco as a teenager. Hearing it now always reminds me of a good friend who was killed in a bike accident aged 19 who was responsible for starting the habit of playing it at the end of discos.

I've never tried it, and I'm not going to bugger about with slide, so I might see if I can do a dumbed down version on conventional electric for a bit of fun

[jeeves19]

Go for it Rich. The French have never mastered pop music. With a dearth of good acts you might become a ‘name’ in the region? 😊😎👍

[WinnieThePoo in reply to jeeves19]

I was thinking maybe a Johnny Halliday tribute band? 🤢

[jeeves19]

spot on Rich 😂

[jeffmayer]

That is a tune one of my favourite 2 stair way to heaven just edges i