I have a Bootleg of that session. 2 takes of "Things I Used To Do", the first is 5:22 in length and the second is 7:35, recorded on May 15th 1969.
Oh, for all of you me-haters, it's not really me who's posting here. It's a friend who decided to get on my computer and express his thoughts. Personally, I know virtually nothing about great guitarists, but he seems to know what he likes. (He was a King Diamond fan for a while ). And everything I hear that he says is good -- all I can imagine is the 80s and a lot of gyrating hair. He is in the process of recording his CD of pretty much no lyrics. I'd say he's pretty damn good for sitting around doing nothing except play his guitar for 8 hours a day. One thing I have to say is Yngwie Malsteen is the best ever. My friend enlightened me today. I have to agree with him. Have you heard this guy?!?!?! How the hell wasn't he on the list?!?! Oh, and one more thing: JONI ****ING MITCHELL?!?!?!?!
don't know if anyone has given these cats their props yet.. Doyle Bramhall II Eric Johnson Billy Cassis
Rolling Stone is definitely out of touch but some of the condemnations here are way out of line. 1) Joni Mitchell has been one of the most adventurous (and criminally underappreciated) musicians who uses the guitar as her primary instrument. She is highly regarded for her use of alternate tunings and for use of complex chords. While you may not like her, the following artists thought highly enough of her to either publically praise her or work with her: Jimmy Page Jaco Pastorious Larry Carlton Wayne Shorter Charles Mingus 2) While the Edge may not be a technical giant, his sound innovations (using delay) changed guitar forever. Period. Without the Edge, you do not have My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins or any of the bands that use the guitar as a means to create a soundscape . The only person who can claim to be equally innovative for effect-laden guitar is Robert Fripp (and I agree he should be higher than the Edge). 3) Ike Turner is considered one of the finest R&B guitarists ever. Some music historians argue that he is actually the first rock and roll guitarist (apparently, he recorded what may be the first rock and rock record). He's an utter evil b*stard in his personal life, but you can't deny his talent. Overall, alot of the "technical players" I see being canonized (Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen, Clapton) are basically guys who specialize in fast, monophonic solos played on an electric guitar. Guess what? - Charlie Christian beat them to this innovation by nearly 40 years. Everything they're doing is an extension of what he did. Furthermore, Christian innovated in a much more difficult musical situation (jazz) while the other guitarists basically soloed over either simple blues changes or one pwer chord. And because they rarely play anything more complex than power chords behind their shred fests, they really aren't offering anything else that's of great musical value. However, there's more to guitar than playing monophonically. The guitar was originally designed to be played polyphonically, and many of the players I've seen derided have taken that approach. For example, one great guitar player that didn't make this list - Tal Farlow - comes up with some of the most gorgeous chord voicings and even modified his guitar's scale in order to play chords with wider intervals. Why is this kind of skill and innovation somehow less legitimate than playing really fast single-note runs? Similarly, Jimmy Page is not known for his shredding skills, but for creating a wide pallete of guitar tones and meshing them into great songs. Does that make him inferior to Yngwie? I don't think so. There have been a host of great blues guitarists over the year who play passionately and with great technique. But is there really that much of a difference between Johnny Winter and Mike Bloomfield? Did either of them really expand blues music. Nope. The list definitely has too many blues players who are similar. Similarly, I can appreciate alot of the Garage rock players (Kurt Cobain, Lou Reed, Ron Asheton, even Jack White) on here for their passion and great rocks songs. But the list definitely includes too many of these guys as well. Finally, while the technique of Yngwie is certainly stunning, it pales in comparison to studio guys like Larry Carlton, Skunk Baxter and Tommy Tedesco. While Yngwie had plenty of time to rehearse his epic explorations of the harmonic minor, these studio guys usually had one or two chances to play someone else' music perfectly the first time (while sight reading). They didn't just play simple pop music either - these guys worked with bands like Steely Dan and conductors like Henry Manicini. To me (a guitarist who usually can't even correctly play the things that I've written), that is simply awesome. Overall, this list has the same late Sixties, early Seventies Classic Rock fixation which has made Rolling Stone a really boring magazine.
Rolling Stone hasn't been much forever, it seems, and their list is irrelevant when you get down to it. It's just a talking point for differing takes and tastes in guitarists and in music. I love Joni, subtomic, but I wouldn't canonize her as a guitarist. I'm more taken with her vocals and songwriting skills. I don't share your opinion of The Edge... but I enjoy his work within the confines of U2's music. I think some of the disagreements here are more of taste than anything else. Clapton is far from my favorite guitarist, although he did much better work early in his career, imo. There are many other players I enjoyed more, but much of their best work happened on the stage and never made it on an album. I'm a big fan of John Girton's work with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, but most people are unfamiliar with him or Hicks and his great music. I know there are many players who were "almost famous", but did most of their work out of the spotlight. As far as having a fixation on late '60's, early '70's music... I plead guilty. I went to dozens and dozens of concerts back then and had the time of my life. So yes, I'm fixated. I'm sorry someone hijacked your PC, Mr. Clutch.
Nice to see Robert Johnson in the top ten. I'd highly recommend getting his complete recordings. I love that stuff. And great guitar work too.
i cant really argue w/ that list, but... slash should have been in the top 25, but wasnt even on the list. eddie van halen at 70!!! criminal, says i. curt cobain has no buisness on this list, let alone being #12. he was a great songwriter and i love nirvana, but he didnt really do anything revolutionary or mind-blowing on the guitar. joey santiago/black francis from the pixies should be on that list if cobain is. the edge should be higher, but he is my favorite guitar player ever so im biased. jack white at 17? he can play, but 17!!! he hasnt been around long enough to warrant being on that list. its like when shaq was named to the top 50 all time after like 3 seasons in the league. pete townsend at 50! closer to 5 than 50. neil young should be way higher than 83. kevin shields should be higher than 95. much like hendrix, he took guitar sonics into new uncharted territories. the album loveless is an absolute masterpiece. if you want to hear 30 guitars, tremeloed at various speeds and full volume than check it out. no peter buck (rem), bernard sumner (joy division, new order), mick taylor (stones when they ruled).
Bob*, I meant to ask you how good this was... I've never heard it. codell, in his witless fashion (j/k, codell!! ) brought this thread some attention again (thanks, codell!) and I remembered to ask. Winter got so loaded that I'm not surprised he can't remember. He hung around Allen's Landing sometimes before he got well known and was generally buzzin', from all accounts. I guess he kept right on being on.
I haven't been through these 4 pages of posts, but the "official top 100" and no mention of Billy Duffy or J Mascis is just not right.
It's pretty cool just to hear Jimi and JW playing together. Jimi was always looking for new sounds on the guitar and you can tell by listening to these jams he was trying to get a slide effect with his fingers. JW would play a solo first and then Jimi would play (sounding much like JW, only using his fingers instead of a slide) I saw JW at a small club here in Pa. about 6 years ago. He was still buzzin', in fact they had to carry him onstage and strap the guitar on him. Once he started playing, however, he was fantastic. The problem was he only played for about 45 minutes. He did not look well.
codell, Im not sure if you will read this but i couldnt reply before the RS top 100 thread got closed. I really like Mark Knopfler / Dire Straits. I checked out a few tracks of the live album you suggested and really like it. What other albums should i check out? Particularly ones that feature Knopfler's guitar. I only have the greatest hits so far. Thanks
Winter is still playing, from what I understand. Hope he's OK. Thought you might enjoy seeing a "program" of the people who played at the Texas International Pop Festival on Labor Day weekend, 1969. I had more fun there than a human being should be allowed to have. Talk about some music! I couldn't find a program I could cut and paste, so here it is the hard way. Saturday, 8/30/69: Canned Heat Chicago James Cotton Janis Joplin B.B. King Herbie Mann Rotary Connection Sam and Dave Sunday, 8/31/69: Chicago James Cotton Delaney & Bonnie & Friends Incredible String Band B.B. King Led Zeppelin Herbie Mann Sam and Dave Santana Monday, 9/1/69 Johnny Winter Delaney & Bonnie & Friends B.B. King Nazz Sly and the Family Stone Spirit Sweetwater Ten Years After Tony Joe White What a collection of guitarists! Think about it. This was 2 weeks after Woodstock and a large number of the same people playing in front of 120,000. Many of the groups were at their peak and totally pumped. Led Zeppelin was playing their last gig before going back to England and blew the doors off the place. There is supposed to be an excellent soundboard bootleg of their performance available. I read that it's so clear you can hear the people very well back stage during the rare moments that it's quiet. The Nazz were Todd Rundgren's first group. I had already seen them in a small club in Houston and they were great. I could go on about that festival... camping out amongst the multitude, going to it in a VW crammed with 7 friends and hitting a cow that wandered onto the freeway at night, but I'll restrain myself.
Holy Smokes!!! That must have been incredible!!! Eric Clapton (Bonnie & Delaney) Terry Kath (Chicago) Johnny Winter B.B. King Todd Rundgren (Nazz) Albert Lee (Ten Years After) I am gonna have to do some serious searching for THAT Bootleg.
Deckard, I found the program online. You can look at each page (very cool) http://www.texaspopfestival.com/program/texas_international_pop_festival_program_cover.htm If you scroll to the bottom of that program page and click "Home" it will take you to the "Texas Pop Festival" website. Tons of info on there.
Thanks! A friend of mine who went with me still has an original poster. (the one with all the groups, etc.) Mine, along with a LOT of memorablia, was swamped by the Great Houston Flood of... well, it was in the '70's sometime. I remember catching rides after my VW was flooded out in canoes and stuff (when I wasn't wading) for miles. I'll never forget that, and all the posters, ticket stubs and things that were lost. I lived in an upstairs 4-plex made out of an old 2 story house over between W. Alabama and Richmond... on the Montrose side of S. Shepherd (not far from what used to be the Alabama Theatre). It had a little garage underneath were I had a lot of my things stored and the water got into it. Major bummer! I rode a canoe to the front of my place.
