While I had heard of them, I cannot say I ever heard Mahogany Rush before last weekend. Now, I know what I was missing. This is "Poppy", from a 1979 concert, filmed in Canada. What an awesome, righteous tone Frank Marino has. And small hands! How he does what he does considering how much work his fingers have to do; and I love the Wes Montgomery-like octaves in the opening.
Watching and listening, that tone comes from cutting out a whole lot of low end, so the sound cuts across the rest of the band. Not only does it cut clean, but it is clean, like Jerry Garcia's or Steve Howe's, eschewing high distortion, with just enough reverb to carry it over the crowd. It is reminiscent of Peter Frampton's sound on his live album, but Frampton used a custom-built Les Paul, with six pick-ups. Is that an Epiphone? I have always thought they had the best sound. . .
