The Backyard Dusk

That's right, an edited version of Richard Buckner's song "Ariel Ramirez" is featured in one of the latest television ads for Volkswagen's Touareg (a.k.a. the VW SUV). (Thanks to Lauren from the Doubters list for making the original post.) About the first half of the song is used. If you're curious as to how the VW commercial version is different from the original song, I'll explain that in a bit...

For people unfamiliar with the song, "Ariel Ramirez" is from Richard Buckner's album Since (1998). Music and lyrics by Richard Buckner (BMI). The album should be available at any fine music store. Better yet, catch Buckner on tour (choose one of the links to the left for concert dates) and buy directly from him! (Well, he was still selling Since the last time I saw him, but I can't guarantee that he'll have copies for each show.)

Back to the commercial: it's been airing on U.S. network television, specifically on NBC during the Olympics, but don't be surprised if you see it elsewhere. You can watch a Quicktime version of the ad at the VW site: select the commercials section under "VW etc." The ad with Buckner's music is called "Picture."

I think I saw a shorter version of the ad a couple of days ago while tuned in to the Olympics -- I still haven't seen the one featured on the site, but then again I don't really watch much television these days.

AFAIK, this is the first time Buckner's music has been featured in an advertisement or on the screen. I don't think he's ever had music in TV or film soundtracks, either. "Ariel Ramirez" is one of my favorite Buckner songs, but it's still strange to hear it cut up/edited and in effect, changing the lyrics around. It's also strange to hear such a lonely song being played during what seems to be a happy couple appreciating the great outdoors (and taking a photo for someone); especially since the edited version of the song emphasizes the line "and close on down."

Here are the first of the lyrics from the original album version; I'll take it verse by verse and note what edits were made for the VW version:

O, where you lay
your head tonight,
I'll roll away alone
& close on down.

No changes in the VW version. So far, so good! (When I first heard this part in the commercial, I couldn't believe it: "Is it possible that they're using a Buckner song, in all its glory, in an ad seen by millions??" It turns out, well, not quite...) Next verse:

Take up your ring
& fly back out
& we'll pretend;
forget we're dead.

(my emphasis).... in the commercial, "forget we're dead" is replaced with a repeat of "& close on down" (!) Okay, last section:

Yeah! We'll lay it down
when we're all through:
when we're killed or cured
& barely heard.

(my emphasis) .... in the commercial, "when we're killed or cured and barely heard" is replaced with a repeat of "I'll roll away alone & close on down" -- which is strange for those familiar with the song, because this section is actually a sort of bridge or "B" theme, and the "I'll roll away alone & close on down" line is the end of the dominant verse or "A" theme. In other words, not only do the lyrics get changed in this section, but the music is altered too!

That's where the song in the commercial ends, so no more verses. It was a little jarring to hear the voice-over guy then give the tag line for VW, but that's advertising.

In any case, I hope this new exposure to Buckner's music will kick off many more sales of his CDs. If you happened to have found this site by hearing his music in the commercial, and want to pick up one of Buckner's albums, I recommend starting with either Since (after all, it does have "Ariel Ramirez") or Devotion + Doubt (or buying both is even better!).

Okay, so in lieu of a comprehensive page of Richard Buckner's gear, here's a post to help get the ball rolling.

Things to keep in mind as you read the list:

1. In terms of how stuff got included in the list: Basically, I made notes (either mental or on paper) when I attended his shows, and I gleaned much information from photographs, various Buckner interviews/press/media I've seen, and of course from the contributions of other concert-goers (like Jason -- see previous blog entry). Some of this info may not be current -- that is, although Buckner used the gear listed at some point, he may not use it anymore. Some day I'll try to indicate the years he used the equipment, if I get enough info to establish the dates.
   
   
2. This list is not complete, by any means. There's probably a lot of missing details. So, any help filling in the blanks is appreciated! Even if you don't know anything about guitars or other gear, if you have photos you can share, I'll try to identify them. In fact, if you have Buckner photos, send me e-mail and I'll link to them (or if you don't have a web site, I can post them with your name).

Acoustic guitars:

• Gibson (small-bodied) steel-string (vintage or tobacco sunburst) *
• Gibson 1950s classical (solid spruce top, perhaps an early C-1 model) * (seen in the last photo on this page of pictures taken by Wes Williams in 2002)
• Gibson dreadnought, probably an older J-50 (engraved tortoise pickguard with a bordering edge, dot inlays on fingerboard, natural finish, no decorative inlay on headstock)
• Kalamazoo steel-string (tobacco sunburst...maybe KG-11 or KG-14?)
• Guild D-50 (dreadnought, solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides)
• A 12-string
  

AFAIK, all of his stage guitars are modded with pickups.

* According to Greg on the Doubters list (from a post in July), these guitars got stolen! Yikes.


Electric guitars:

• Danelectro 56-U2 ("Commie red" late 1990s reissue). Danelectro made a bunch of these reissues and other guitars until a year or two ago...now the guitars aren't even listed on the company's site anymore, so take a look at archive.org's cached page from 2003.
• Danelectro Hodad Tremolo (white/violet pearl). See above entry for the U2. Look at archive.org's cached page for the Hodad (from 2003).
  
• A hollowbody archtop (Gibson L-5 body shape, trapeze-style tailpiece, natural finish, maybe a maple top?...maybe a Barrington...help me identify it!)
  
• A semi-hollowbody archtop. I couldn't see the manufacturer and I was far away, but if I had to guess, maybe Gibson, Gretsch, or...?.
• Fender Telecaster (don't know which specific model)
  

Amps:

• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (valve/tube amp, 40 watts)
  
• Fender Blues Deluxe (valve/tube amp, 15 watts)
• More Fender amps
  
• Gretsch amp
  

Acoustic guitar pickups and preamps:

• L. R. Baggs pickups (not sure which ones)
  
• L. R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. (two units)

Effects: Pedals:

• Boss SD-2 Dual Overdrive (two units)
  
  
• A compression pedal (Boss?)
  
  
• A stereo tremolo pedal (obviously not Boss)
  


• Boss Digital Delay (two units) (maybe DD-5, but could have been DD-3. The DD-5 isn't being manufactured anymore and has been replaced in the Boss product line by the DD-6.)
• Boss RC-20 Loop Station
  


• Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
  
• Danelectro Dan-O-Matic Chromatic Tuner (DT1 or DT2)


• Boss LS-2 Line Selector

Effects: Other:

• EBow (I'm not sure if he uses the PlusEBow or an older model)

Cables:
Seems to be mix-and-match/whatever's available. At one show, I saw a Mars Music-branded patch cable linking a couple of pedals. (Mars Music went out of business in September 2002.)

Strings:

• Bulk, light gauge steel strings
• Normal tension nylon strings (for the Gibson classical)
• D'Addario ECG24 Chromes Flatwound jazz light gauge strings (for the Danelectro)
• Medium gauge strings
• Martin strings

Capos:

• Kyser Quick-Change
• A few other kinds, too -- I've forgotten the other ones I've seen him use.

Picks:
Dunlop .73 gauge (probably the yellow Tortex picks, but possibly the gray nylon picks)

Acoustic Guitar Magazine did a profile on Buckner in April 1999, and featured info on his gear in the "What They Play" section. Many of the details mentioned there have been added here. Info for this list also contributed by Jason Leonard. Thanks!

At least, it seems as though Buckner has a tour going all the time, especially these days before the new album arrives in a few months. So remember to check tour dates! Pollstar can be behind sometimes, and sometimes not. So don't just rely on Pollstar...to be thorough, check Davis McLarty and the Merge site too. Links are in the 'Recommended' sidebar.

Thanks to Jason, who provided some info on Buckner's guitar gear for the August 6th performance at the Mermaid Lounge in New Orleans (he included the info in a message to the Doubters list, but also sent me a copy). People (like Brad, who e-mailed me a few months back) who wanted to know what RB was using lately for his loops -- now you finally can find out!

Jason wrote:

«
1 elec, 1 acoustic.

Each runs into a Boss chromatic tuner. The elec. runs into a Boss Digital Delay pedal, and a compression pedal. They both run into a Boss Loop Station (which I was excited to see because I use it with my band). He also uses an Ebow.
»

I suppose I'll start a separate page with Buckner gear whenever I have time to put it together.

In other news, you can now subscribe/syndicate this site. It makes it handy, so that you don't have to keep checking back manually to see if there's a new post. I've added site feeds to the sidebar at the left. You can add it in Bloglines, or to your My Yahoo! page, or to any other program or XML feed aggregator that is Atom-enabled.

And yes, I know that the CSS still doesn't make the page look right when there's only a short post (like in the archives). I'll try to look at it/fix it when I have some time to do it, but that won't happen until later.