Did you know that the guitar player from Weird Al Yankovic’s band is also famous for his slack key guitar playing?
I’m talking about this guy, Jim West:
Jim West has been playing with Weird Al since 1983. He played on the album In 3-D (which includes the hits “Eat It” and “I Lost on Jeopardy”) and has been a part of his band ever since. In fact, everyone in Weird Al’s band from 1983 onward has been the same (drummer Jim “Bermuda” Schwartz and bassist Steve Jay).
I always loved the title track and video from 1985’s Dare to Be Stupid where you can see a lot of Jim West playing stupid guitar in the style of Devo:
Anyways, on a break in touring with Weird Al in the late 90s he took a trip to Maui and fell in love with the island. He has been playing and recording traditional and original music on slack key guitar ever since. He has released over a dozen albums in this style for over 20 years!
Here he is playing the Santo and Johnny classic “Sleepwalk”:
Here is an excellent video (featuring plenty of amazing footage of Maui) of one of his original compositions called “Maui Skies”:
In 2018, he won a Grammy in the Best New Age album category for Moku Maluhia, which is today’s pick!
Phil’s Phriday Picks will be on holiday for the next two weeks. I will return on August 26th. Until then, enjoy Moku Maluhia!