All I Have To Do Is To Be Happy

Well, he wasn’t Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan, but it should be no surprise that George Harrison continued to show his superior guitar skills after The Beatles went bust, as illustrated in Guitar World’s George Harrison’s 10 Greatest Guitar Moments After The Beatles.

It’s little wonder that the cat who gave us the 12 String guitar solo and the sitar should have invented his own style of slide guitar, or that he could hold his own on a blues song.

But session guitarist for Belinda Carlisle?  Now that was a surprise.

The Circle of Love

In Guitar World’s 30 on 30, 30 great guitarists pick their favourite axemen.

All the cats you’d expect to see are there:  Green, Clapton, Blackmore, Beck, Hendrix, May, van Halen, B.B., Rhoads, Malmsteen …

As are, thankfully, a few guys you worry might be all but forgotten, like Leslie West, Alvin Lee and Mick Taylor.  And there are a few names you might not expect to be the idols of guitar wizards, for example Neil Young or Pete Townshend or George Harrison.  Not that they weren’t/aren’t amazing guitarists, but you don’t realize the hotshots feel the same way as you do.  So that’s cool.

But what’s really interesting is to see who the guys on the list like.  So:

• Tom Morello likes Steve Vai, and Steve Vai likes Brian May.
• Joe Perry likes Angus Young, but Angus likes Chuck Berry.
• Ron Thal likes Zakk Wylde, whereas Zakk Wylde likes the Judas Priest duo of Tipton and Downing.
• Richie Kotzen digs Eddie van Halen, who in turn thought Clapton was the man.

Sometimes you can clearly hear a guitarist’s influences in his work; other times, not so much.  So it’s instructive to see what they actually think.  And sometimes surprising.

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.

Crash and Burn

OK, I get Guitar World’s point about the ending can be – should be - the most dramatic part of the song, and, like, fade outs are maybe over done.  So, I wasn’t surprised to see Hotel California left off their list of Top 10 Greatest Rock and Roll Song Endings of All Time.

And the idea of a climax, as it were, to end the song, is laudable.  But the songs selected seem to have endings bordering on the apocalyptic.

Don’t get me wrong.  Won’t Get Fooled Again probably does have the best ending in the history of rock and roll, and the ending of 21^st Century Schizoid Man sure fits the song.  But how about The Beatles’ A Hard Days Night?  Oops, GW doesn’t like endings with strange chords.  Sure fits the song though.  OK then, how about Help!  Not enough guitar for you?  So what.  Listen to John’s voice.

Or, speaking of voices, how about Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit?

Well, if you want even more drama, how about Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – or Under Pressure?  Not loud enough?

OK, I give up.  Drama bordering on self –immolation it is.  So then how about including Deep Purple’s Child In Time, then?  Or Hendrix’s Manic Depression?

But I’ll still take Nowehere Man or even Eight Days A Week.

Pick Up My Guitar And Play

You could disagree with the albums, but it’s hard to debate the artists who made Guitar World’s 10 Essential Classic Rock Guitar Albums: Van Halen, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, The Who, The Stones, The Beatles.

Personally, I would swap Are You Experienced? for Electric Ladyland and Wish You Were Here for Dark Side of the Moon, and I do not count myself among those who believe Exile On Main Street is The Stones’ masterpiece, but let’s not quibble.

Except: The Doors?  Really?  The Doors debut album is absolutely an essential part of the Classic Rock catalogue, but who considers them a guitar band?  And - with all due respect - who puts a ton of effort into learning how to play like Robby Krieger?  I didn’t even remember his name.

Not to take anything away from The Doors well-deserved legendary status, but on a list of essential guitar albums, I think we’d be better served by the likes of AC/DC, Dire Straits, Clapton or Petty.  Little bit more distinguished guitar playing came from those cats.

I Don’t Need No Marshall

I agree with Slash that “there’s no lying with an acoustic guitar,” but I’m not quite convinced that all the songs on Guitar World’s 25 Greatest Acoustic Songs in Hard Rock share an ‘elemental simplicity.”

Stairway To Heaven doesn’t strike me as simple.  Sparse, maybe – at the beginning – but not cowboy chord, sing-around-the-campfire simple.  Anyway, it doesn’t stay very acoustic for long.

The same could be said for More Than A Feeling, or Pinball Wizard, or Feel Like Making Love.  I mean, in the last case, do you even remember the acoustic guitar, or do you just think about the rhythmic, power chord hook in the chorus?

Dust In The Wind, Wanted Dead or Alive – ok, got it.  These are great songs built around an acoustic guitar.  But many of the songs listed – while being fantastic tunes – don’t really jump out at you as being acoustic guitar songs.  Rather, they are hard rock songs that happen to have acoustic guitar in them.

Speaking of hard rock, while Extreme might have been a hard rock band, More Than Words, as terrific as it is, sure isn’t a hard rock song.

By the way, are we sure Eddie Van Halen even owned and acoustic guitar?