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Posted: |
Jul 23, 2013 - 3:34 PM
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By: |
Octoberman
(Member)
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I like guitarists that have a distinctly unique voice, Dave Gilmour, Mike Oldfield, Pat Metheny all spring immediately to mind.
I'm the biggest Oldfield fan 'round these parts. Unfortunately I'm the only Oldfield fan 'round these parts. He's not just one of my fave guitarists, but nearly my fave all round composer/player. Astonishingly unique.
Amongst my family and friends, they all tolerate his style with near-distain. They find it too trebly. They have no appreciation for the players that came before him and influenced him as he developed--Hank Marvin, Bert Jansch and the like.
I remember when I first heard his sister Sally sing years ago. Suddenly it all made sense (actually, it always made sense to me... it just made MORE sense!). He plays the same way Sally sings. You usually get that musical sort of cross-pollination with siblings.
He can be a musical chameleon... whatever style suits the song. Some of his solos are just transcendent. I particularly love the ones where you can tell he had a real fire in his belly that day. "Family Man", "Shine", the ending of "Ommadawn (Part1)"... pieces like that. His bass-playing style was an enormous influence for me as I learned how to play. It's a very percussive style, probably born out of necessity as his early albums (with some brief exceptions) didn't have traditional drum kits to establish the rhythm.
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Steve Lukather
George Benson
Snowy White
Boz Scaggs
Pat Metheny
David Gilmour
and one of the most underrated, or less known, my fave
Steve Rothery of Marillion
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Posted: |
Jul 23, 2013 - 5:08 PM
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By: |
lexedo
(Member)
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Well, I definitely do guitar. I saw Segovia play on Cape Cod when I was young. I have seen Dimeola and Mclaughlin and Holdsworth many times. Anyway, I was trying to summarize some of the entries posted, but they are coming too fast. So, here are some notes on some mentioned, and some others not mentioned. Please don't get mad at me if you don't like my summaries, but they are honest and objective as best possible.
Hendrix wasn't very good technically, and couldn't sight-read. Most good guitarists / musicians avoided him. He played out of tune very often, including the Woodstock and Monterey shows mentioned. But he is a loveable fellow, and I have just about everything with his name on it. My personal Hendrix favorite is Astro Man or If 6 Was 9. Hendrix played right-handed Fender Stratocasters exclusively. B-/C
Jimmy Page is very good. Decent technically, but not great. He invented the 5-phase circuitry that is still available on Les Paul Customs. He took lessons from John Mclaughlin in England, and sometimes used a Theremin (e.g., Whole Lotta Love). For the begining of In The Evening, he uses a RotoWhirl near the bridge. For Kashmir, he tunes the guitar differently, which I won't explain here, and uses a Danelectro, which used lipstick tubes for pickup casings and was made in Brooklyn. His biggest fault was his drug use, which reduced his ability to play dramatically. B
David Gilmour is not very good in any respect. His rhythm playing is OK, such as on Another Brick in the Wall, and many people like his solo on Comfortably Numb. He played Fender Stratocasters exclusively, and owns the first Strat ever produced at Leo Fender's factory, # 0001. D
John Williams inherited the mantel from Andres Segovia. He is Australian. He is as good as they come. Cavatina from The Deer Hunter won an Oscar, and is the only straight-guitar piece that has ever received such recognition. I believe he also produced an instructional guitar lessons series of CDs and books that are well noted amongst axemen. He's recorded just about every guitar piece from the classical canon, and even has made records with jazzman/composers like Andre Previn. A
Pete Townshend is a decent rhythm guitarist. He was not capable of playing lead too well, but could write. I think he was best when he was writing the "big-band" stuff, like 5:15. C+
Pat Metheny is an American treasure. He plays big old Gibson hollow-bodies. Amazing technique. His first real band was with Jaco Pastorius. He's played with everyone that matters. Legend. His show with Joni Mitchel and Michael Brecker is must-see-TV. I also enjoy his sets with Gary Burton. A-
Jeff Beck wasn't very good technically, and couldn't sight-read. He invented the vo-coder, which Peter Frampton made famous. He is also the first guitarist to record "guitar-feedback" on the track Heart Full of Soul with the Yardbirds. He isn't technically great, but when he is on, you will hear things that you've never heard before. Listen Check: Led Boots or Definitely Maybe or Blue Wind or Hello Jeff (Stanley Clarke). They say his late-70s Japanese tour with Stanley Clarke and Narada Michael Walden were jaw-droppingly incredible, and I have a few of these shows as boots. B+
Carlos Santana is a very good guitarist. He helped bridge the music of South America with Rock-n-Roll and Jazz. His sets with Mahavishnu John Mclaughlin are legendary - like Love, Devotion, Surrender and the 4-hour Chicago shows that followed. Very emotional guitarist, who could sight-read, write, etc. He "discovered" Neal Schon. Check his take of Tito Puente's Para los Rumberos or Singing Winds, Crying Beasts. Santana played a Les Paul in his hey-day, but uses PRS now. B+
John Mclaughlin is probably one of the ten most important figures in music over the last 100 years, easily more important than Duke, Louis, Coltrane, and Miles. Very few on any instrument in any genre are capable of that which Mahavishnu John is capable of. He actually makes the guitar sound like saxes and trumpets as tribute to the old-schoolers. Check his rhythm lines on Jan Hammer's Sister Andrea. He also began sitting with Indian musicians in the 70s (e.g., Shakti, Shankar), and also played scalloped guitars, which have the frets carved-out above the 12th fret. Listen check: The Wish (Shakti - notice volume control) or Desert Song (Stanley Clarke). He established the "definition" for Acid-Jazz in the early 90s, and it's not that "fusion" definition you see on Wiki. No one better. His use of 12-string double-necked Gibsons inspired Jimmy Page, and subsequently Joe Walsh, to do the same. A
Al Dimeola is the best electric guitarist, generally speaking. During his prime, he won 5 Guitar Player of the Year awards - no one has ever repeated this feat, which was during the Eddie Van Halen era. His technique is absolutely flawless in every respect. He used to play Les Paul Customs, but now uses a Paul Reed Smith. Pure American. Listen Check: Egyptian Danza or Tango Suite. His Race with Devil on Spanish Highway is the piece all guitarists dream of being able to play. It is "guitar legend" that he used to practice 12-hours a day. Attended Berklee in Boston. A
Eric Clapton isn't a very good technical player. But he is wildly loved across just about all genres. His 461 Ocean Blvd and Slowhand are classics, and may be of the best rock recordings ever made. My favorite Clapton recordings are the aforementioned titles, and his late 70s kind of country/western stuff with Duck Dunn on bass (viz., bassist from The Blues Brothers). Mostly played "Blackie," which was a black Fender Stratocaster that was assembled from a few different Strats. B-
Steve Howe of Yes is very good, but cannot sight-read. He plays nice lines on a big old Gibson ES, which is his standard axe. He experiments often, and can physically control his instrument well. My favorite of his is the closing solo in Parallels or his pedal-steel playing during the finale of And You And I. B-
George Benson is a great player who is most noted for being able to scat his solos. He is very well known for his take of On Broadway, which is used in All That Jazz. He actually came-up with the Purdie brothers in the 60s. Sometimes his 70s stuff can crossover to R&B. He is a fine player, and generally plays Gibson ES guitars. B+
Mike Oldfield is a decent player, but comes more from a folk style than anything else. I used to like his Tubular Bells when I was young. He's a Brit, and he plays bass too. (As a note, in the history of music, very few, if any, guitarist can actually play a bass properly. The only one example is Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Vai, Oldfield, Hendrix -- these are not bassists in the least.) Generally not my thing, but I can see why people dig him. C+
Larry Carlton is a fantastic American studio player. He did the solo on the Magnum PI main titles, and also played in Tom Scott's LA Connection bands. He plays many different axes, and has played on hundreds of recordings. Super-clean player. B+
Lee Rittenour is a fantastic American studio player. He plays on the Gator ST, and also played on Stevie Wonder records in the 70s. He plays what is basically a customized Strat with his own electronics, and has played on hundreds of recordings. Super-clean player. B+
Steve Lukather is also a fantastic American studio player. He is most noted for playing in the band, Toto, with the famous Porcaro brothers, whose father was a studio drummer on hundreds of STs. Very excellent technically, and really of the new school that started to emerge in the 70s - guitarists educated in music at the university level. Good west-coast player that you would learn from just by listening. B+
Frank Gambale is also a great American studio musician. He plays on the newer Italian Job ST. He has played in Chick Corea's bands on GRP, which is Grusin's label. Very clean player. B+
Wes Montgomery is a classic Gibson ES player that started to make his own records in the 60s on Blue Note. His innovation is simple, but so important: Wes used to play everything in octaves. He did this bc his wife wouldn't let him plug his gear in late-night, so he would use octaves on top of the root so he could actually hear himself play. He is a wonderful spirit, very gracious, and a giving musician. He could not sight-read at all. I love Wes. B
Tal Farlow is known for his ability to solo on one string, which he used to do when he was a kid and broke a string, but couldn't afford a new one to replace it. He has played with everyone of merit in the jazz world, and you can hear his lines on the Ren and Stimpy cartoon from time-to-time. Great great influential player. Mostly played Telecasters. A-
Joe Pass, like Farlow, was very adept at soloing on one string. He also played noted sets with Elle Fitzgerald, and hundreds of others. Definitely the typical old-school clean player you would expect. Mostly played Telecasters, like Farlow. A-
Les Paul is the reason this thread exists. Way way back, he was very skilled technically, and my grandfather used to go see him and his wife play in NYC. He was playing up until he passed a few years ago. A
Bucky and John Pizzarelli are a father and son pair of guitar masters from NJ. Bucky came up in the Golden Age, and can actually be heard on the Hamlisch Bananas ST. Young John is all the rage these days with swing guitar, and he sings very well also. Each are noted for customizing their respective guitars to be 7-string instruments, which would give them more room to solo in the upper registers. A-/A-
Stanley Jordan took the technique invented by Eddie Van Halen, and perfected it. He plays the guitar like a piano, in that he uses both hand to affect pitch. He mostly releases on Blue Note, and I believe legend has it that he was discovered in the NYC subways, where he was playing for change. Very technically amazing and innovative player. A-
Alan Holdsworth is a very excellent 70s guitarist. He is noted for his initial adoption of synth-axes, and for his incredible reach (like 2nd fret to the 12th - yeah, like that). His lines are generally very long, fluid, and super-fast. He's a very academic player. I saw him play with the Breckers and Stanley Clarke in NYC. He, Mclaughlin, and Dimeola defined electric guitar excellence in the 70s. Eddie Van Halen cites AH as an influence. AH will use his left hand to complete chords in the upper register, which gives his music very large spaces. A
Messrs Vai-Satriani-Johnson are the modern day heirs to the legacy of eletric guitar. They are all incredibly talented musicians.
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