I Want To Tell You

This friend of mine told me he had read some posting on the Internet about the top ten guitarists of all time and remarked on how there were so many comments arguing about the list.

My response was that, based on intimate personal experience, guitarists were a rather opinionated group.

After which, not waiting to hear his list, I proceeded to give him mine.

Take A Breath

I’ve been trying to think of something nice to say about the saxophone for most of my life, and I finally got it: on some of David Gilmour’s best guitar solos, you can tell that he also plays the sax.

Seems I Can’t Shed No More

Take a song by Joe Bonamassa, say Black Lung Heartache.  If he had been born in the 40’s, Joe would be ranked among the guitar legends of the 60’s and 70’s.

Listing, Listing …

I’ve recently been wondering why I don’t write as much about acoustic guitarists as their plugged-in friends, because the music I listen to probably contains as many acoustic guitars as electric.

Maybe it’s the wow factor of the electric guitar.  I dunno.

I don’t even have a Top Ten list.  Maybe it’s just too hard.

I mean, where do you start?  You could fill the list with the influential blues cats like Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Son House or John Lee Hooker.  You could fill it with acoustic specialists like James Taylor, Bruce Cockburn, Cat Stevens, Harry Manx, Paul Simon or Donovan.  You could easily fill it with players who also play a mean electric guitar, like Clapton, Page, Knopfler, Bonamassa, Neil Young or Colin James.

Hmmm.  Plenty of wow factor in all those names.

I guess there’s the “defined the instrument/broke new ground” thing that gets applied to musicians on other instruments.  In that case, I suppose my list would be: Leadbelly, Johnson, Broonzy, Taylor, Simon, Donovan, Stevens, Cockburn, Young and Page.

But then I’d be omitting artist I listen to – and wonder, “how did he/she do that?” – a lot.  People like Clapton, Harry Manx, Arlo Guthrie and Bonnie Raitt.

To hell with lists.  I revere all the guitarists mentioned – them, and a lot more.

Hail! Hail! Rock n Roll!

He might not have invented Rock n Roll, but he defined it.  Everything that’s come after has been built on his foundation.

But don’t read me.  Read Gibson’s lovely tribute to Chuck Berry.  As the article says, “most influential musician ever?  Just ask a Beatle.”

I Can Turn The Gray Sky Blue

With all due repsect to The Temptations, I just love Savoy Brown’s version of I Can’t Get Next To You.  Kim Simmonds’ guitar work is fantastic.

But My Mother Didn’t Know

Guitar duos are still the thing, man.  Ain’t nothing better than to listen to two cats play off one another:  John and George, Hammett and Hetfield, Allman and Betts, Trucks and Haynes, Ronnie and Keef, Jimmy Page and himself …

But go way back to 1959, and have a listen to John Lee Hooker and (I think*) Eddie Taylor jam their way through I’m In The Mood.

Fantastic.

* I know there are multiple versions of this track.  They’re all terrific, but hopefully I’m referencing the right one.

Wait A Minute, Something’s Wrong Here

I’m grateful for all his other music and all, but when I hear songs like Red House, I can’t help thinking:  Man, I wish Hendrix played more blues.

Different Shades of Blue

One of the things I really dig about Joe Bonamassa is he’s an all-in-one deal.  

Play one of his CD’s and by the time you’re done you’ve had your Cream fix, your Zeppelin fix, your Allman fix …  Buddy Guy, B.B., Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Taj Mahal … Humble Pie, Savoy Brown – the list goes on and on.

With Joe, you get all the major food groups in one very tasty blues-rock stew.

Like all great musicians, Joe Bonamassa has his own voice.  But like all great musicians, he’s a superb student of what’s come before.

Jimi vs. Stevie

Many (possibly most) people consider Jimi Hendrix to be the greatest guitar player of all time, and, while I don't agree, I get it.  But listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of Little Wing and tell me that isn't how Hendrix should have sounded all the time.

Riding With The King

The introduction to Guitar Player’s 12 Most Influential Guitarists of All Time starts with an apology, as if they were expecting an avalanche of criticism – and I know I’ve done my share of whinging about lists over the years.

But they’re talkin’ about influence – not who’s best or who’s the most favoured – and I, for one can’t find a darn thing wrong with this one.

Who hasn’t copped a Chuck Berry lick?  Who hasn’t tried to emulate Clapton or Page or Van Halen?  Who hasn’t dropped his or her jaw at Hendrix or SRV and said, “How’d he do that?”  Who doesn’t appreciate how large Robert Johnson or Chet Atkins loom over all those cats?  And then there’s B.B..

Influential?  You bet.

6 Strings in the Shadows

What is it about human nature that renders everything down to a shorter, smaller, more obvious list?  Bad memory?  Laziness?  Brainwashing?

Guitar Player’s 53 Not-Forgotten Guitar Greats and Heroes is a case in point.

“Seminal movers and shakers who were not blessed with massive or on-going pop-culture fame.”  “Players who float just under the popular radar.”  It’s quite an impressive list.

A whole bunch of blues and jazz that have all but faded from memory.

Some “so that’s who that was” players, like Robert Blunt or Jake E. Lee.

Too many “how did I forget those guys?” guitarists, like Tommy Bolin, Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton, Randy California, Terry Kath, and Roy Wood (well not exactly forget, but …).

And quite a few more I need to check out.

Thanks for the public service, Guitar Player.

Someday He May Get Smart

Every time I listen to Johnny Winter’s Be Careful With A Fool, I smile and think, oh yeah, that’s why I like Stevie Ray Vaughan so much.

Anything You Want We Got It Right Here …

That driving backbeat.  A relentless series of piano filigrees.  The unmistakable Chuck Berry guitar licks.  Some well placed harmony.  A gifted singer delivering simple lyrics that practically everyone can identify with – even if you’re not American.  Oh, and delivered with attitude.

Linda Ronstadt’s cover of Back in the U.S.A. just might be the perfect rock ‘n’ roll record.

Dust My Lick

Gibson’s 10 Iconic Blues Riffs & Melodies is focused on playing – maybe fooling around and coming up with your own riffs.  But it could just as easily be called The Best Blues Songs of All Time.

Yeah, I know, there are a few thousand tunes competing for that honour, but it’s a pretty impressive list.  Songs written by giants like Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf and Robert Johnson, and played by the masters:  Sumlin, B.B., Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Albert King, Clapton, Hendrix and Johnny Winter.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

But the article’s main point is a good one:  mess around with something you already know and it might take you somewhere new.  I’m sure that’s how most songs are written.

Twice The Fun

The guitar is a wonderful instrument.  In the right hands, it can be strongly emotive, awe inspiring, gobsmacking.  Unfortunately, sometimes there can also be a bit too much look-at-me-look-at-me-look-at-me, as Guitar Player points out in Top 10 Guitar Tandems.

Two guitarists can keep that impulse in check.  And the bi-play between them can take a song to a whole new level.  Allman and Betts, Tipton and Downing, Angus and Malcolm, Keith Richards and whoever … some pretty good bands have decided that two guitars are better than one.

Nothing wrong with Guitar Player’s list, but there are lots of other acts you could add:  Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Humble Pie, Wishbone Ash – and, oh, this little band out of Liverpool called The Beatles.

Reelin’ In the Ears

Great songs hook you quickly, and reel you in.  This is nicely illustrated by Guitar World’s The 20 Best Guitar Intro’s of All Time.

Day Tripper, Sunshine Of Your Love, Smoke On The Water, Heartbreaker, You Really Got Me …  Hendrix, Van Halen, Chuck Berry, Hetfield, Keef …   Some of the best riffs of all time courtesy the greatest riff-meisters of all time.

Most great songs have a ‘hook,’ something that grabs you, catches your attention, somehow makes you feel like you already know the song even when you’re hearing it for the first time.  Sometimes that hook is a riff, but not always.  Sometimes the hook doesn’t show up until part way through the song.  But looking at GW’s list, I’d have to say the winning formula has got to be to snag ‘em right away.

Let Me Roll It

Imagine one of those cheesy TV commercials that sell a product of dubious worth applied to Paul McCartney (whose worth is anything but dubious, just to be clear).

Paul McCartney!  Legendary partner of John Lennon!  Cornerstone of the greatest rock band of all time!  One of the best bass players in the history of music!  Inspired songwriter!  Iconic singer!  Idol to generations!  Excellent pianist!

But Wait!  There’s more!  Paul McCartney was also a gifted guitarist!

Check out these gems from Guitar World’s McCartney’s Top 6 Guitar Solos with The Beatles.

Yep!  Paul had some pretty good chops on the guitar too.  One talented dude.

Well I Know What’s Right

I have no moral objection to shredders, and some of my favourite guitarists have put down some lightning fast licks.  But have a listen to the guitar solo in Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down.

What additional notes would improve that solo?

Paying The Cost To Be The Boss

Imagine a world without Hendrix, Cream, Santana, Paul Butterfield, The Allman Brothers, Johnny Winter, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Robert Cray.

Hard to imagine, isn’t it?  Not something you’d want to imagine, is it?

Well, according to Rolling Stone’s 10 Legendary Acts That Wouldn’t Exist Without B.B. King, all that magic would not have happened were it not for B.B. King.

That’s 10 more thankyous we owe to B.B..