Groucho Marx and His Lifelong Quest to Master Guitar

[7/4]

The Surprisingly Serious Tale of Comedian Groucho Marx and His Lifelong Quest to Master Guitar

[Big Al]

Thanks for posting that!

[Kalo]

Excellent. Can't have too much Groucho on the board!

[AllenLowe]

in one film, probably Horse Feathers, he sits in a canoe and sings to a women ("was that you or the duck?"), accompanying himself on guitar - you can tell he's quite fluent, he chords realistically and well -

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I loved this bit from his wife

“Why don’t you go back to playing by ear? You used to be so much better before you knew what you were doing.”

I wonder if Nellie ever said that to Thelonious...

MG

[mikelz777]

Interesting article, thanks for posting. Groucho is an interesting man and had an interesting life as did all the Marx Brothers. (Read Harpo Speaks! some time. ) I've read several bios on Groucho and wasn't aware of his passion for the guitar.

[Big Al]

in one film, probably Horse Feathers, he sits in a canoe and sings to a women ("was that you or the duck?"), accompanying himself on guitar - you can tell he's quite fluent, he chords realistically and well -

They have that clip on the article, with Italian subtitles!

Something I never noticed in that clip: I wonder if they miked Groucho live during that song? Or, did he overdub himself later? The reason I ask is because there's one part where he starts to play one chord but abrubtly changes his mind and moves to a different chord. That would've been pretty difficult to duplicate on an overdub. Additionally, you can hear the breeze hitting the mike.

So, was it a live mike or was it an extremely detailed overdub?

[Joe G]

in one film, probably Horse Feathers, he sits in a canoe and sings to a women ("was that you or the duck?"), accompanying himself on guitar - you can tell he's quite fluent, he chords realistically and well -

They have that clip on the article, with Italian subtitles!

Something I never noticed in that clip: I wonder if they miked Groucho live during that song? Or, did he overdub himself later? The reason I ask is because there's one part where he starts to play one chord but abrubtly changes his mind and moves to a different chord. That would've been pretty difficult to duplicate on an overdub. Additionally, you can hear the breeze hitting the mike.

So, was it a live mike or was it an extremely detailed overdub?

It sure looked live to me.

Thanks for posting this, David!