Buzz Feiten
Encyclopedia
Howard "Buzz" Feiten is a North American singer-songwriter
, guitarist
, and session musician
.
He is best known as a lead and rhythm electric guitarist, and for having patented a unique, scientifically designed tuning system which re-configures its stringboard / neck for more accurate tonality. Thus Feiten qualifies as a luthier
, as well as a guitarist.
, where he was known by schoolmates and friends as 'Buzzy'. Son of a musical mother, Pauline (a classical pianist), and an airline pilot, Howard Sr., Feiten received training in classical music as a child. Feiten's older sister Paula was a top fashion-world 'cover girl' model in the mid-1960s. A younger brother, Jon, was also involved in music and the arts.
He studied several musical instruments, finally settling on the French Horn. He played in all-county (Suffolk) and all-state (New York) youth orchestras on the instrument.
Feiten first played Carnegie Hall
in 1966, on French Horn, in a select All-American orchestra, American Youth Performs. He would later return with other major acts, such as Rickie Lee Jones
. In 1966, he auditioned at the Juilliard School
on the French Horn but was not admitted. Feiten was credited on the French Horn on one of Paul Butterfield's 1960s albums.
He debuted in commercial pop / rock music with a high school band called The Reasons Why (other players were Steve Beckmeier (rhythm guitar), Al Stegmeyer (drums), Danny 'Fingers' Horton (lead guitar), and Daniel Kretzer (keyboards)). The Reasons Why were locally successful on Long Island, and two of their songs, "Tell Her One More Time" and "Same Old Worries" briefly appeared on the Billboard
Top 100 singles chart in 1966.
the next year, during Slowhand's 1967 first visit to the USA with supergroup Cream
. This experience helped qualify Feiten, now increasingly seen as a 'wunderkind', to join the Paul Butterfield
Blues Band, filling the post of the departed Elvin Bishop
, who had gone solo. He recorded on the group's fifth album, Keep on Moving
.
With Butterfield, Feiten played such famous gigs as the Atlantic City Pop Festival
and the legendary Woodstock Festival
, polishing his 'chops' on rhythm 'n' blues. As he matured into the adult music scene, his nickname became modified to 'Buzz'.
, Felix Cavaliere
's group (formerly known as the Young Rascals) on their Peaceful World and Island of Real albums, including a few original Feiten songs.
But as a young-adult player, Feiten achieved musicians' musician status in 1971 with his project album Full Moon, featuring Neil Larsen (keyboards), Freddie Beckmeier (bass), Phillip Wilson
(drums), and Brother Gene Dinwiddie on tenor saxophone. Sidemen contributing to Full Moon included Randy Brecker
, Airto Moreira
, Ray Barretto
, Dave Holland
, and vocalists Robin Clark
and Tasha Thomas
. Considered one of the greatest early jazz-rock fusion albums, Full Moon gained airplay and vinyl album sales in many metropolitan and urban-suburban markets. It was re-released in 2000 on CD with a bonus track not included on the original. A sequel album, Buzz Feiten & The New Full Moon, was released in 1999, with a modified different complement of musicians: the original member Freddie Beckmeier, bass (brother of Steve from The Reasons Why), plus new members Jai Winding on keyboards, Brandon Fields
on saxophones, and Gary Mallaber
on drums. Two other Feiten projects had the 'Full Moon' name attached; one a Larsen-Feiten band studio-recorded release, and the other a 'live' album, Full Moon Live -- early 1980s recordings of some of the original Full Moon and Larsen-Feiten Band songs, with Neil Larsen on keyboards, Lenny Castro
on percussion, Art Rodriguez on drums, and Vernon Porter on bass.
Feiten has played with many well-known acts, and his discography includes well over 100 collections with various artists, playing music ranging from straight blues, cabaret standards, pop, rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, jazz, and fusion. His own musical projects have included The Reasons Why (with whom he first played electric bass), Full Moon, the Larsen-Feiten Band, and the Whirlies. In 1998-99 he was a member of the Dave Weckl Band, and recorded songs (including some of his originals) on two of Weckl's CDs, Synergy and Rhythm of the Soul. Synergy is considered some of his best jazz / fusion
work.
Feiten's recordings and/or performances include the Paul Butterfield
Blues Band, The Rascals
, Bob Dylan
, Aretha Franklin
, Etta James
, The Brecker Brothers, Bruce Willis
, Gregg Allman
, James Taylor
, Wilson Pickett
, Chaka Khan
, Olivia Newton-John
, Neil Larsen, Rickie Lee Jones
, Stevie Wonder
, Bette Midler
, David Sanborn
, Dave Weckl
, Kenny Loggins
, Art Porter Jr., Michael Franks
, Dave Koz
, Felix Cavaliere
, Jeff Lorber
, Commander Cody
, Stuart Hamm
, Jason Miles, Claus Ogerman
, Boz Scaggs
, Mr. Mister
, Richard Pelkoff, Bill Quateman
, and many other great jazz, pop, rock and blues musicians. His much-imitated style and techniques on the electric guitar can be heard throughout late 20th century and early 21st century pop, rock, jazz, and fusion music.
Feiten's songwriting (and sometimes singing) credits include tracks with the Reasons Why, the Rascals, Chicago (#18), Full Moon, Larsen-Feiten Band, Casino Lights, Whirlies, the Dave Weckl Band, and Guitar Workshop in L.A. (1988). On the latter rare CD, Feiten 'faced-off' in a 'battle of the guitarists' with three other great rock and pop fretmen, Teddy Castellucci
, James Harrah, and Jeff Baxter
, who may be best known for his work with Steely Dan
and The Doobie Brothers
.
Some of Feiten's CDs, compilations, and re-releases have only been marketed in Germany and Japan, with minimal commercial publicity in the USA.
Steve Postell, formerly with Little Blue and Pure Prairie League
, reports that Feiten is featured on three tracks on his new CD, whose release is anticipated on Immergent Records later in 2008. Postell reports that Feiten "... plays beautifully, and wrote two of the songs."
There was a late 2008 release of the Japanese-published 'Buzz Feiten with special guest Brandon Fields' on CD, recorded at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles on January 11, 2007. The band includes Jerry Watts, bass, Dave Beyer, drums, and John Thomas, keyboards—disc credits are in English and Japanese. Notable among the six included tracks is a tribute to the late Brotha Gene Dinwiddie
, saxophonist in the original 'Full Moon' project album. A video of the tune's live performance, 'Hey Dinwiddie', can be found on YouTube as of this writing.
BGO Records has recently re-released the 1971 and 1972 Rascals albums Peaceful World and Island of Real as a re-mastered double CD. Feiten joined the Rascals (formerly known as the 'Young Rascals') direct from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, with whom he played at Woodstock. The double CD includes 4 original Feiten songs, 'Jungle Walk', 'In and Out of Love', 'Icy Water', and 'Island of Real'. Feiten is featured on rhythm and lead guitar in all 23 tracks.
s.
The system requires some minor alterations to the instrument that can be retrofitted to most guitars that do not already have it. The retrofit normally retails for around $139; it is factory-installed on only nine brands of guitars and two brands of basses, including those bearing the Washburn™ brand. there are, however, over 3 or 4 dozen 'guitar builders' who are able to accommodate Feiten's temper-tuning mathematical formula.
Despite the originality and technical validity of his several patents on it, some individuals dispute Feiten's claim to have invented this (mathematical) system, saying that Luthiers had used compensated guitar nuts prior to his patents. Although the jury is still out, no court challenge is known or can be documented.
The Feiten tuning system can make use of a special guitar tuner featuring "Buzz Feiten presets" — the strings have to be tuned slightly flat or sharp because of the nut's compensations. Feiten's web site contains instructions on how his system can be tuned without such a tuner. The original intonations of the altered guitars must be done by a Feiten-licensed technician.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, and session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
.
He is best known as a lead and rhythm electric guitarist, and for having patented a unique, scientifically designed tuning system which re-configures its stringboard / neck for more accurate tonality. Thus Feiten qualifies as a luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
, as well as a guitarist.
Early years
Feiten grew up in Centerport, New YorkCenterport, New York
Centerport is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the notably affluent North Shore of Long Island. Formerly known as Little Cow Harbor about 1700, Centreport in 1836, and then the present Centerport after 1895...
, where he was known by schoolmates and friends as 'Buzzy'. Son of a musical mother, Pauline (a classical pianist), and an airline pilot, Howard Sr., Feiten received training in classical music as a child. Feiten's older sister Paula was a top fashion-world 'cover girl' model in the mid-1960s. A younger brother, Jon, was also involved in music and the arts.
He studied several musical instruments, finally settling on the French Horn. He played in all-county (Suffolk) and all-state (New York) youth orchestras on the instrument.
Feiten first played Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1966, on French Horn, in a select All-American orchestra, American Youth Performs. He would later return with other major acts, such as Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
. In 1966, he auditioned at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
on the French Horn but was not admitted. Feiten was credited on the French Horn on one of Paul Butterfield's 1960s albums.
He debuted in commercial pop / rock music with a high school band called The Reasons Why (other players were Steve Beckmeier (rhythm guitar), Al Stegmeyer (drums), Danny 'Fingers' Horton (lead guitar), and Daniel Kretzer (keyboards)). The Reasons Why were locally successful on Long Island, and two of their songs, "Tell Her One More Time" and "Same Old Worries" briefly appeared on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top 100 singles chart in 1966.
The Butterfield Blues Band
Still known as 'Buzzy', he jammed in New York City with Eric ClaptonEric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
the next year, during Slowhand's 1967 first visit to the USA with supergroup Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
. This experience helped qualify Feiten, now increasingly seen as a 'wunderkind', to join the Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
Blues Band, filling the post of the departed Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist.-Career:Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten years old...
, who had gone solo. He recorded on the group's fifth album, Keep on Moving
Keep on Moving (The Butterfield Blues Band album)
Keep on Moving is a 1969 album by The Butterfield Blues Band. It was the fifth Elektra release by the Butterfield Blues Band. During a four-year span the group's namesake and leader was the only original member left from their first album in 1965...
.
With Butterfield, Feiten played such famous gigs as the Atlantic City Pop Festival
Atlantic City Pop Festival
The Atlantic City Pop Festival took place in 1969 on August 1, 2 and 3rd at the Atlantic City race track, two weeks before the better known Woodstock Festival...
and the legendary Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, polishing his 'chops' on rhythm 'n' blues. As he matured into the adult music scene, his nickname became modified to 'Buzz'.
Other projects, and Full Moon
Feiten's next major combo engagement was as lead guitarist with The RascalsThe Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
, Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere is an American songwriter, singer, music producer, and musician.Although he was a member of Joey Dee and His Starlighters best known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with The Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of The Rascals...
's group (formerly known as the Young Rascals) on their Peaceful World and Island of Real albums, including a few original Feiten songs.
But as a young-adult player, Feiten achieved musicians' musician status in 1971 with his project album Full Moon, featuring Neil Larsen (keyboards), Freddie Beckmeier (bass), Phillip Wilson
Phillip Wilson (drummer)
Phillip Wilson was an American jazz percussionist, known as a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.-Biography:...
(drums), and Brother Gene Dinwiddie on tenor saxophone. Sidemen contributing to Full Moon included Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
, Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
, Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
, Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
, and vocalists Robin Clark
Robin Clark
Robin Clark is an American vocalist best known for her 1985 work with UK band Simple Minds in Once Upon A Time album and tour. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others...
and Tasha Thomas
Tasha Thomas
Tasha Thomas was an American singer-songwriter and actress, known for her role as Aunt Em in the original Broadway production of The Wiz. Thomas also had a hit single, "Shoot Me ," from her 1979 album, Midnight Rendezvous.-Music career:Thomas was born in Jeutyn, Alaska...
. Considered one of the greatest early jazz-rock fusion albums, Full Moon gained airplay and vinyl album sales in many metropolitan and urban-suburban markets. It was re-released in 2000 on CD with a bonus track not included on the original. A sequel album, Buzz Feiten & The New Full Moon, was released in 1999, with a modified different complement of musicians: the original member Freddie Beckmeier, bass (brother of Steve from The Reasons Why), plus new members Jai Winding on keyboards, Brandon Fields
Brandon Fields
Brandon David Fields is an American football punter for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh round in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan State.-Early years:Fields attended St. John's Jesuit High School in Toledo,...
on saxophones, and Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
on drums. Two other Feiten projects had the 'Full Moon' name attached; one a Larsen-Feiten band studio-recorded release, and the other a 'live' album, Full Moon Live -- early 1980s recordings of some of the original Full Moon and Larsen-Feiten Band songs, with Neil Larsen on keyboards, Lenny Castro
Lenny Castro
Lenny Castro is an American freelancing percussionist in the studio recording industry in the Los Angeles area.-Early life:Castro is a percussionist of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in New York City. His father, Hector Castro, played the keyboard in a Latin style and gave his son...
on percussion, Art Rodriguez on drums, and Vernon Porter on bass.
Feiten has played with many well-known acts, and his discography includes well over 100 collections with various artists, playing music ranging from straight blues, cabaret standards, pop, rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, jazz, and fusion. His own musical projects have included The Reasons Why (with whom he first played electric bass), Full Moon, the Larsen-Feiten Band, and the Whirlies. In 1998-99 he was a member of the Dave Weckl Band, and recorded songs (including some of his originals) on two of Weckl's CDs, Synergy and Rhythm of the Soul. Synergy is considered some of his best jazz / fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
work.
Feiten's recordings and/or performances include the Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
Blues Band, The Rascals
The Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, The Brecker Brothers, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
, Neil Larsen, Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl is a highly acclaimed jazz fusion drummer. Weckl attended Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, MO and graduated in 1978. He majored in jazz studies at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut...
, Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
, Art Porter Jr., Michael Franks
Michael Franks
Michael Franks is a smooth jazz singer and songwriter from the United States. He has recorded with a variety of well-known artists, such as Patti Austin, Brenda Russell, Art Garfunkel, and David Sanborn...
, Dave Koz
Dave Koz
Dave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
, Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere is an American songwriter, singer, music producer, and musician.Although he was a member of Joey Dee and His Starlighters best known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with The Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of The Rascals...
, Jeff Lorber
Jeff Lorber
Jeff Lorber is an American Grammy Award-nominated keyboardist, composer, and record producer.After leading his own group, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, he went on to pioneer the smooth jazz genre....
, Commander Cody
Commander Cody
Commander Cody may refer to:*The stage name of George Frayne, leader of the rock and roll band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and, informally, the band itself...
, Stuart Hamm
Stuart Hamm
Stuart "Stu" Hamm is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings.-Beginning career:...
, Jason Miles, Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman is a German musical arranger/ orchestrator, conductor, and composer, best known for his works with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Diana Krall.-Life and work:...
, Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister
Mr. Mister is an American pop rock band most popular in the 1980s. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report album called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That", and eventually selected "Mr. Mister." Mr. Mister may be considered as...
, Richard Pelkoff, Bill Quateman
Bill Quateman
Bill Quateman is an American singer-songwriter. Quateman released four albums in the 1970s and charted with the single "Only Love", which reached #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.-Discography:...
, and many other great jazz, pop, rock and blues musicians. His much-imitated style and techniques on the electric guitar can be heard throughout late 20th century and early 21st century pop, rock, jazz, and fusion music.
Feiten's songwriting (and sometimes singing) credits include tracks with the Reasons Why, the Rascals, Chicago (#18), Full Moon, Larsen-Feiten Band, Casino Lights, Whirlies, the Dave Weckl Band, and Guitar Workshop in L.A. (1988). On the latter rare CD, Feiten 'faced-off' in a 'battle of the guitarists' with three other great rock and pop fretmen, Teddy Castellucci
Teddy Castellucci
Theodore Ross ‘Teddy’ Castellucci is a composer of film music. A graduate of Lindenhurst High School in 1983, Castellucci has won five BMI Film Music Awards. He's mostly known for working in comedy projects, and for being the recurring composer in films starring Adam Sandler, before being replaced...
, James Harrah, and Jeff Baxter
Jeff Baxter
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s...
, who may be best known for his work with Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
and The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
.
Some of Feiten's CDs, compilations, and re-releases have only been marketed in Germany and Japan, with minimal commercial publicity in the USA.
Steve Postell, formerly with Little Blue and Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League, sometimes abbreviated PPL, is an American country-rock band whose roots began between 1964 and 1969 in Waverly, Ohio with Craig Fuller, George Powell, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan and John David Call. In 1970 McGrail named the band after a 19th century temperance union mentioned...
, reports that Feiten is featured on three tracks on his new CD, whose release is anticipated on Immergent Records later in 2008. Postell reports that Feiten "... plays beautifully, and wrote two of the songs."
There was a late 2008 release of the Japanese-published 'Buzz Feiten with special guest Brandon Fields' on CD, recorded at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles on January 11, 2007. The band includes Jerry Watts, bass, Dave Beyer, drums, and John Thomas, keyboards—disc credits are in English and Japanese. Notable among the six included tracks is a tribute to the late Brotha Gene Dinwiddie
Gene Dinwiddie
Gene Dinwiddie is an American blues saxophonist, who is best known as a member of the Butterfield Blues Band....
, saxophonist in the original 'Full Moon' project album. A video of the tune's live performance, 'Hey Dinwiddie', can be found on YouTube as of this writing.
BGO Records has recently re-released the 1971 and 1972 Rascals albums Peaceful World and Island of Real as a re-mastered double CD. Feiten joined the Rascals (formerly known as the 'Young Rascals') direct from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, with whom he played at Woodstock. The double CD includes 4 original Feiten songs, 'Jungle Walk', 'In and Out of Love', 'Icy Water', and 'Island of Real'. Feiten is featured on rhythm and lead guitar in all 23 tracks.
'Buzz Feiten Tuning System'
In 1992, after much experimentation, Feiten was able to patent a new tuning system for guitars, called the 'Buzz Feiten tuning system'. His structural tuning system made it possible to tune guitars and basses more accurately, specifically on the lowest 3 or 4 frets, which can tend to be somewhat out-of-tune compared to notes played on the rest of the neck. The difference, though subtle, is especially evident in the playing of open chordGuitar chord
In music, a guitar chord is a chord, or collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar. It can be composed of notes played on adjacent or separate strings or all the strings together...
s.
The system requires some minor alterations to the instrument that can be retrofitted to most guitars that do not already have it. The retrofit normally retails for around $139; it is factory-installed on only nine brands of guitars and two brands of basses, including those bearing the Washburn™ brand. there are, however, over 3 or 4 dozen 'guitar builders' who are able to accommodate Feiten's temper-tuning mathematical formula.
Despite the originality and technical validity of his several patents on it, some individuals dispute Feiten's claim to have invented this (mathematical) system, saying that Luthiers had used compensated guitar nuts prior to his patents. Although the jury is still out, no court challenge is known or can be documented.
The Feiten tuning system can make use of a special guitar tuner featuring "Buzz Feiten presets" — the strings have to be tuned slightly flat or sharp because of the nut's compensations. Feiten's web site contains instructions on how his system can be tuned without such a tuner. The original intonations of the altered guitars must be done by a Feiten-licensed technician.