George Dennehy, Armless Guitarist, Performs 'Iris' With The Goo Goo Dolls

August 13, 2012 1:27 PM

George Dennehy, Armless Guitarist, Performs 'Iris' With The Goo Goo Dolls.

The golden opportunity arrived when Mike Malinin, the band's drummer, saw Dennehy's performance on YouTube. "We sound-checked with him to make sure he knows how to play the song," Malinin told Lehigh Valley Live. "I think he knows it better than we do."

According to Huffington Post commenter Derry Miller, who attended the show at Musikfest, Dennehy performed a few songs before the main act began, including a cover of Pink's "Perfect."

According to a Musikfest press release, Dennehy, who was adopted from Romania as an infant, is the only known person in the world who is able to play classical string music with his feet.

posted by ericb (20 comments total)

Damn, that's impressive. And, what an opportunity for him!
posted by ericb at 1:28 PM on August 13, 2012

George Dennehy on Piano.

George Dennehy Music Facebook page.
posted by ericb at 1:30 PM on August 13, 2012

So much talent, such a shitty song.
posted by nevercalm at 1:42 PM on August 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Damn, I was hoping to come in and make a pithy remark about the overall shittyness of The Goo Goo Dolls.. but item saw me and raised me a Soul Asylum, bravo.
posted by mediocre at 1:57 PM on August 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's a new song to add to the Buffalo airport playlist! Seriously, have you ever flown through there? They only play Goo Goo Dolls songs.
posted by troika at 2:13 PM on August 13, 2012

Wow, shitting in a thread about an armless guy's successes just to prove you don't like the wrong band. Stay classy, Mefi.
posted by aught at 2:14 PM on August 13, 2012 [3 favorites]

Seriously, have you ever flown through there? They only play Goo Goo Dolls songs.


Bullshit.

Folks from Buffalo refuse to acknowledge anything the Goo Goo Dolls have released since Superstar Car Wash.

Then again, I doubt it would behoove any airport to feature a soundtrack comprised of Green Jelly or Everytime I Die.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 2:20 PM on August 13, 2012

I'm impressed, regardless of the coolness of the music. Also, if I were onstage with him, I would be terrified of accidentally asking the audience to give him a hand.
posted by snofoam at 2:24 PM on August 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Little known Goo Goo Dolls facts - they were signed to Metal Blade waaay back in the day, when they were considered 'punk' and were working under their original band name...

Sex Maggots.

There are apocryphal tales that Gwar (also of Metal Blade) had the Dolls (post name-change) along on tour back around 88-92 or so, specifically with the intent of getting them booed back off stage as quickly as possible at every tour date.
posted by FatherDagon at 2:31 PM on August 13, 2012

And I thought Django Reinhardt was a badass for missing a few fingers...
posted by jeisme at 2:39 PM on August 13, 2012

And I thought Django Reinhardt was a badass for missing a few fingers...

Rest assured, he was.
posted by mykescipark at 2:43 PM on August 13, 2012

omg, i can't even imagine having that level of prehensile control over my toes. thats amazing.
posted by dejah420 at 3:36 PM on August 13, 2012

He's probably one of a handful of people for whom the lyric, "I'd give up forever to touch you", resonates powerfully.
posted by Renoroc at 4:35 PM on August 13, 2012

Hey now, lay off Soul Asylum. Having the most undeserved success of the Minneapolis scene is not the same as being complete shit.

(Goo Goo Dolls, on the other hand...)
posted by Sys Rq at 4:38 PM on August 13, 2012

Bullshit.

Folks from Buffalo refuse to acknowledge anything the Goo Goo Dolls have released since Superstar Car Wash.

It's absolutely true in my experience and I visit Buffalo frequently enough to have noticed. It is only Iris, Slide, etc, though. I dont think I've heard anything more recent there, even the one they used to pump up/induce tears in the crowd before Sabres games a few years ago. Better Days, I think.
posted by troika at 5:14 PM on August 13, 2012

And this is why I could never play guitar.

For those who are technically proficient, how 'good' is this guy?
I'd imagine there are several chords he can't get, but otherwise is there anything else he'd not be able to do?
posted by Mezentian at 5:19 PM on August 13, 2012

otherwise is there anything else he'd not be able to do?

Pinch harmonics, probably.
posted by kenko at 9:28 PM on August 13, 2012

Wow, I kinda totally loved it when he took over singing. That's a lotta grateful joy.
posted by desuetude at 9:30 PM on August 13, 2012

For those who are technically proficient, how 'good' is this guy?
I'd imagine there are several chords he can't get, but otherwise is there anything else he'd not be able to do?

Not to diminish what he's doing in any way, but this song seems especially well suited to his approach - it's a two-note barre chord (fretted with the big toe), moved up and down the neck without any change in formation, while the other strings drone in an open tuning, and no muting of strings is required, he can just strum full bore the whole time. He does do some additional fretting with another toe a few verses in, which is pretty impressive. It'd be great to see how many toes he can fret with but this song doesn't require any more. This video seems to show him "toe picking" indivdual strings rather than strumming, so there's that.

Certainly its amazing he can do what he's doing regardless, but its hard to judge general fluency just based on this song.
posted by anazgnos at 11:22 PM on August 13, 2012

Rock and Roll!

Sometimes, you've just gotta make music any way that you can.
posted by kinnakeet at 11:47 AM on August 14, 2012