(on a theme of "Oh Well")


About [23] Interlude (on a theme of “Oh Well”)

A variation, written by Monty Dicksion, early 1970’s, recorded July 29 – August 4, 2022.

Based on a theme of part 2 of the song “Oh Well” by Peter Green, 1969.



About [23] Interlude (on a theme of “Oh Well”)

  I must explain the title of this piece –

  On the first Fleetwood Mac album, “Then Play On” (1969), is a song called “Oh Well.”  That song is made up of 2 parts which are very different from one another.

  The first part is a very hard-rocking piece, which, interestingly, includes an acoustic guitar, along with the killer plural electric guitars.

  The first part, about 2 min. 20 sec. long, just ‘ends,’ and the beginning of the second part comes in almost as though it had already been in progress.  In this part, there is a very restrained, yet powerful, electric guitar, which plays the low B-to-2nd-octave E slide on the A string, finishing on the open low E string.  It’s a heavy, but clean sound, the kind you used to hear in surf music.  I was reminded of it when I heard the theme music for the 1990 TV show, “Twin Peaks.”

  The electric guitar is answered by acoustic guitar chords.  A plodding sort of dialogue goes on between the electric and the acoustic guitar, with the acoustic strumming just a scant few chords and the electric coming, sometimes with as little as a single note – always in the low octave.

  The 2nd part itself is divided into two parts, with part 2b coming in at about the 6 min. 30 sec. point.

  Part 2b begins with the acoustic guitar, playing in a Spanish guitar style.  It sounds to me like it’s a nylon-stringed guitar.

  What it plays as part 2b begins, is the same B-to-2nd-octave E-slide, low-open-E riff that the electric guitar played in part 2a.  Then it plays the descending 2nd-octave G, F#, E, D, C, B, slide-to-2nd-octave-E, low open E melody, so that, as it occurs in part 2a and then in part 2b, it serves as kind of a “hook,” or theme for the whole second part of the song.

  Well, I always liked the B-to-2nd-octave E-slide, low-open-E riff of the electric guitar in part 2a.  It’s a nothing sort of thing to learn to play, but I liked it anyway.  And likewise for the descending 2nd-octave G, F#, E, D, C, B, slide-to-2nd-octave-E, low open E melody acoustic part of part 2b.

  So, in 2 seconds, I learned how to play those two bits.  But then, big wow.  I mean, what do you do with it?

  I wasn’t interested in learning any of the rest of the song.  Besides, it would be pointless anyway.

  So I decided to make my own song out of it.  And this is it here.