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| When Elvin Bishop's 'Red Dog Speaks,' His Guitar Sings Gospel Elvin Bishop loves his cherry red '59 Gibson Stereo ES 345 guitar so much that he named his forthcoming album 'Red Dog Speaks' (out June 15 from Delta Groove Music) after it. His love for Red Dog shows its spiritual side on the instrumental track "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." The slide is the soaring lead voice, while horn players Ed Earley and Terry Hanck harmonize. "I really felt that one, " Bishop says. The song, written in 1905, has been performed by gospel legends such as Shirley Caesar, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, but Elvin took his inspiration from the version by The Harmonizing Four, a top gospel group from the 1950s. "My voice is ok, I get my story across, but it's pretty limited. I've always loved the great gospel singers with the high beautiful voices and the great vibrato - that is what I try to do with my slide." Fans of Bishop's Grammy-nominated 2008 CD "The Blues Rolls On" and his 1976 smash hit "Fooled Around and Fell In Love, " still in heavy rotation on classic rock radio, or those who hear his expressive vocals on 'Red Dog Speaks, ' including the title duet between man and guitar, might not agree with his assessment of his abilities, but they will be sure to enjoy the way-cool slide on the majority of the tunes on the CD. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |