If I may be so bold.
I'm not saying anything about best, but we seem to be discussing favorite guitar licks and guitarists so with that in mind I would like to bring up a name that has not been mentioned.
Junior Brown.
I know, I know, he looks country. Trust me, or find out for yourself. I've seen him three times at a little place near Chapel Hill NC. I've taken three different people to see him and they have all come away as impressed as I am. I will see him anytime and anywhere. If he comes to town I'm there.
His albums do not do him justice although I think they are very good. Yes they are rooted in country but he plays the blues like you wouldn't believe (Stupid Blues), some fun Hawaiian guitar, incredible surf guitar and when he goes off in concert you would swear you are in the presence of Hendrix himself.
Not only that, he has a brand new album out that I have not heard except in concert and he is now recording with Telarc.
Please, please, please, if you love the guitar as much as I do you owe it to yourself to listen to Junior Brown play the guitar. Try the Stupid Blues from Long Walk Back, the Surf Medley from Semi Crazy, Foxy Lady from the new one Down Home Chrome, or the Guit-Steel Blues from Guit With It.
And go see him in concert.
I'm not saying anything about best, but we seem to be discussing favorite guitar licks and guitarists so with that in mind I would like to bring up a name that has not been mentioned.
Junior Brown.
I know, I know, he looks country. Trust me, or find out for yourself. I've seen him three times at a little place near Chapel Hill NC. I've taken three different people to see him and they have all come away as impressed as I am. I will see him anytime and anywhere. If he comes to town I'm there.
His albums do not do him justice although I think they are very good. Yes they are rooted in country but he plays the blues like you wouldn't believe (Stupid Blues), some fun Hawaiian guitar, incredible surf guitar and when he goes off in concert you would swear you are in the presence of Hendrix himself.
Not only that, he has a brand new album out that I have not heard except in concert and he is now recording with Telarc.
Please, please, please, if you love the guitar as much as I do you owe it to yourself to listen to Junior Brown play the guitar. Try the Stupid Blues from Long Walk Back, the Surf Medley from Semi Crazy, Foxy Lady from the new one Down Home Chrome, or the Guit-Steel Blues from Guit With It.
And go see him in concert.
Best Guitar solo
I gotta go with Floyd - Comfortably Numb. I heard Procol Harum (Robin Trower) and do not agree the solo in Comfortably Numb was ripped off. In fact I don't think there is any similarity at all. The tone, style and Tempo are all different.
My second vote for best guitar solo would be Alvin Lee & Tens Years After - I'd Love to Change The World. Not only is the guitar solo great but the lyrics are just as relevent today as 30 years ago. It's a fine blend of acoustic and electric guitar.
Third on my list would be Sultans of Swing.
I gotta go with Floyd - Comfortably Numb. I heard Procol Harum (Robin Trower) and do not agree the solo in Comfortably Numb was ripped off. In fact I don't think there is any similarity at all. The tone, style and Tempo are all different.
My second vote for best guitar solo would be Alvin Lee & Tens Years After - I'd Love to Change The World. Not only is the guitar solo great but the lyrics are just as relevent today as 30 years ago. It's a fine blend of acoustic and electric guitar.
Third on my list would be Sultans of Swing.
muhy3 said:
Actually Hendrix rarely made any mistakes, believe it or not. Here's one illustrative story.
I had a guitar-playing friend who was a Clapton devotee. He didn't like Hendrix because he thought he was "too sloppy". (Which I interpret to mean the same as muhy3's comment of "too many mistakes".) One time I made my friend go to a midnight showing of a film with Hendrix playing live.
My friend completely changed his tune after that. Now he *still* didn't listen to Hendrix. But not because he was "too sloppy". He realized that Hendrix was probably the only guy that played *exactly* what he wanted to play. (By this I mean that all Hendrix had to do was think of a sound and he could play it perfectly.) But he still wouldn't listen to Hendrix because he was "too good". He figured that Hendrix was so advanced that he would never, ever be able to play like that. So he didn't even want to know about it.
That reminds me of the reaction of Western European musicians when they first encountered African music a couple of hundred years ago. They condemned it as a bunch of "noise", as they simply could not understand it.
Now, Western European music is incredibly complex and beautiful from a harmonic and melodic perspective. But it is truly primitive from a rhythmic and timing perspective. On the other hand, traditional African music is pretty much the opposite. The rhythmic and timing complexity was so far beyond what was happening in Western European music that they literally could not comprehend it when they first heard it.
Hendrix's playing has a similar complexity from a rhythmic and timing perspective that makes it difficult for many to grasp. If you don't appreciate Hendrix, the best way to get a taste of what he was about is to see a live concert video. Try "Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock". The track "Jam Back at the House" is one of my favorites on that DVD.
Totally agree with Charles. Hendrix was not sloppy in the negative sense of the word, but he did play behind the beat. This is sometimes called sloppy playing though. He got so good at stumming 'loosely" that he gave the illusion of great speed. Of course I'm sure the LSD had something to do with it too.
Many other guitarists later tried to get the same effect by directly attacking the guitar with as many notes as possible (i.e van halen) with not nearly as much of a musical effect.
Page also played way behind the beat but had a different style.
Many other guitarists later tried to get the same effect by directly attacking the guitar with as many notes as possible (i.e van halen) with not nearly as much of a musical effect.
Page also played way behind the beat but had a different style.
sardonx said:
Don't overlook Eddie Van Halen as a solely pyrotechnical player. Of course, he's better known for his speed and tapping technique, but the guy plays a great rythm guitar IMHO, with a lot of musical taste. Check Van Halen's first or last albums for a taste of that.
Still, no one can touch Hendrix. He had the skills and he had the tasty playing, more than anyone else before or ever since.
Long running thread but great for us neebee's
IMHO
1. Jimmi Hendrix - He was the single greatest rock guitarist to ever walk this earth
2. Robin Trower - Bending strings to make it cry, whisper,and roar like mad
3. Joe Walsh - His work with James Gang.
4. Leslie West - He coaxes sounds from a simple body, neck and pickup that seem impossible to duplicate
5. Ronnie Montrose - Played at more rock and roll parties than any other album, save perhaps Led Zeppelin IV and Dark Side of the Moon.
There are so many but these are my top five.
IMHO
1. Jimmi Hendrix - He was the single greatest rock guitarist to ever walk this earth
2. Robin Trower - Bending strings to make it cry, whisper,and roar like mad
3. Joe Walsh - His work with James Gang.
4. Leslie West - He coaxes sounds from a simple body, neck and pickup that seem impossible to duplicate
5. Ronnie Montrose - Played at more rock and roll parties than any other album, save perhaps Led Zeppelin IV and Dark Side of the Moon.
There are so many but these are my top five.
I totally have to renounce Jimmy Hendrix as a skilled guitarist. He was sloppy, and far "behind the beat" as people have said. He just had a good ear. He knew what distortion to use, that's all.
Take somebody like Mark Knoppfler. He plays a very classical guitar. Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" is probably one of the most recognizable songs ever. It's not too fast, but it's nice clean gated, the distortion wasn't over-driven to cover up missed frets and whatever.
Van Halen is the place to go for fast guitar. He's literaly a storm on a six string. "Eruption" wasn't meant to show musical taste, it was meant to show guitar skill. When you first hear the guitar in "Eruption" your jaw drops.
For a total juxtapose of tastes, you could always give a listen to Gordon Lightfoot. It's classical folk guitar, and most of it is done on 12 string, so the sound is richer and more full of tone than any rock guitar. The recordings are really clean too.
Take somebody like Mark Knoppfler. He plays a very classical guitar. Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" is probably one of the most recognizable songs ever. It's not too fast, but it's nice clean gated, the distortion wasn't over-driven to cover up missed frets and whatever.
Van Halen is the place to go for fast guitar. He's literaly a storm on a six string. "Eruption" wasn't meant to show musical taste, it was meant to show guitar skill. When you first hear the guitar in "Eruption" your jaw drops.
For a total juxtapose of tastes, you could always give a listen to Gordon Lightfoot. It's classical folk guitar, and most of it is done on 12 string, so the sound is richer and more full of tone than any rock guitar. The recordings are really clean too.
Lisandro_P said:
Indeed! - though he was not technically perfect. He was very good at what he did. Listen especially to "The Wind Cries Mary" from the Monterey concert. So much beauty and delicacy it makes me want to cry myself...
Some people have taken up the Hendrix gauntlet and have done it tastefully. Listen, for example, to Warren Haynes' intro to "Mr Big" on Gov't Mule's "Live - With a Little Help from Our Friends" album. You would swear that Hendrix was playing, before it launches off into typical Haynes territory.
A contemporary of Hendrix was the band Human Instinct from New Zealand (who have "gone down in rock history as one of the great unsung cult bands from the '60s and '70s" - from CD liner notes). Their album "Stoned Guitar" from 1970 must have been just about the heaviest thing around at the time, enough to frighten mothers and small dogs
. I can only compare it to Hendrix, because he was just about the only one doing that stuff at the time, yet Billy TK (guitarist) has a style of his own. The 7 - 10 minute songs are mostly lengthy jammed intros and solos. The guitar is awash with fuzz and waa -- Hendrix on steroids, or the spawn of funk and heavy metal, is the only way I can describe it. TK must have bought every effect and pedal he could get his feet on in those far-off days, or compared notes very carefully with Hendrix while the band hung out with him in England. If you enjoy that heavy psychedelic stuff then do yourself a favour etc etc...Austin said:
With you 100% my friend. i love my ledzepplin remasters CD. "Heart Breaker," "The Imigrant Song," "Rock and Roll," "Stairway to Heavan (of course)," "Black Dog," and "The Ocean" are by far the most listened to Led Zepplin songs in my house.
Other Great Solo's include anything Jimi Hendrix, Intro to "Smoke on the water"(everyone knows this one. if you dont you've never experenced rock), and Intro to "CrazyTrain."
If you like great guitar listen to some of Ozzy's new stuff. Ozzy sucks in his new stuff because he no longer is an active santianist (though i beleive in god and follow Christ i do enjoy some of Ozzy's happyer songs such as Iron Man and also some old Metalica) but the guy who plays for him is simply amazing. Hendrix+Lower Strings. I forget his name but he is truely amazing (it is my beleife that Hendrix, though verygood, only got popular because he was black, and happened to rock the high strings like god himself would if he where a guitarist)
Also, any solo by Iron Maiden is pretty good. Though most like Iron Maiden for their 'art' not their music.
Edit:
Also, BOHEMIAN RAP CITY RULES ALL!!!
Re: Re: best guitar solo?
That would be Zakk Wylde. He practically wrote Ozzy's last two albums, and it's a hell of a player. Check Ozzy's "Ozzmosis" ("Perry Mason"... my god, what a tune) or any album of his band, Black Label Society.
CBFryman said:
That would be Zakk Wylde. He practically wrote Ozzy's last two albums, and it's a hell of a player. Check Ozzy's "Ozzmosis" ("Perry Mason"... my god, what a tune) or any album of his band, Black Label Society.
It's hard to believe some think Hendrix was not the single greatest guitar player to ever play.
You may not like his style of music or just tired of everyone still talking about him however no one in my opinon has even caught up to were he was...although my all time favorites were Robin Trower and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmi is still the greatest.
You may not like his style of music or just tired of everyone still talking about him however no one in my opinon has even caught up to were he was...although my all time favorites were Robin Trower and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmi is still the greatest.
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