Where's Todd Rundgren?
I tripped across this thread again recently and thought - Three years, 265 amazingly diverse and interesting responses naming hundreds of players and -No Todd? Anyone else old enough to remember when he was the domestic alternative to imported guitar heroes? (See The Nazz).
Many people think of TR (if they think of him at all) as a songwriter first and may associate him with the piano. He hasn't played the part in many years, but once upon a time.... |
G Clef
Do you know if Wagner is the second guitar on Hunter's long intro to Sweet Jame on Rock n Roll Animal? I only recently realized that it wasn't a solo.
Marty |
I just flipped through the thread and saw that no-one has mentioned Bill Kirchen (once of Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen). I'll stick with Gatton, Thompson, Rundgren and Buckingham as my favorites, but Kirchen is worth mentioning. His live shows are amazing and the solo in "Hot Rod Lincoln" (in which he plays several dozen short licks associated with various great players, most of whom are already on this list) is both hilarious and a wonderful musical tribute.
Another name not mentioned is Jesse Gress, the music editor of Guitar Player magazine. He tours with Rundgren on occasion and is awfully impressive.
Marty |
Of late, Chuck Berry has been hogging the spotlight at my place. His playing just defined so much of what makes rock n roll music...well... rock n roll music.
Marty |
I just bought the very fine new Matthew Sweet cd which features Matthew Sweet, Greg Leisz, Richard Lloyd, and Ivan Julian on guitar. Julian is a quintessential NYC gig guy and shows up at a ton of shows as a "guest axe". Can't say he's my overall favorite, but he deserves mention as a terrific player.
Marty |
Zen,
I'm a big Clapton fan and his influence can be clearly heard in many who followed him. Some very prominent players like Carlos Santana and Mark Knopfler (when he's not fingerpicking) might even qualify as "followers". But Hendrix?
IMHO, Clapton gets inappropriately bashed in these threads from time to time, and I believe that he is an absolute master of tone and elegant phrasing, but I think it would be very difficult to credit him with the type of technical mastery and innovation displayed by Hendrix (or, for that matter, many other technically proficient players ranging from Steve Vai to Eddie Van Halen, etc).
Personally, I'd almost always prefer to listen to Clapton than to most others, but I do try to keep his contributions in context.
Marty |
Lately, I've been revisiting the stuff from Pentangle and John Renbourne and Bert Jansch (particularly Jansch) put on quite a display of fancy pickin'. The recent Ron Wood release also serves to remind just how good he can be. I'll stick with my earlier choices for overall favorite, but these guys are all terrific in their own right.
Marty
PS Anyone heard the new Jeff Beck "Rock 'n' Roll Party", yet? |
Bdp,
Gatton holds a special place in my heart. What a player! His name brings a funny story to mind:
It may have been in the 1970s or 1980s at Fat Tuesday's (a club in NYC) that our group saw him play. On one song, Gatton tuned his guitar by ear while staring at the ceiling. We were close enough that my friend asked what he was looking at. He replied that, for the dropped tuning in that song, he tuned his low e string to the 60hz hum from the fluorescent lights. (Don't ask what he did at clubs without fluorescent lighting, I have no clue).
I understand that he injured himself in IIRC a welding accident and was never the same afterward. Some stories attribute his suicide (at least in part) to that as well. |
Ah, the abusive lifestyle of rock musicians. I guess it comes with the territory sometimes, but you just gotta keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't catch up with the guys you care about. |
Bdp,
I think it's easy to get lost when your bandmates are John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I also think that George is one of those understated players that tends to get overlooked/underrated, anyway. It's kinda the same same deal with his songwriting. In the case of "Something", I'd say that it's under appreciated on both fronts. Great song, fantastic little solo, but both might be sufficiently understated that neither gets its full due. |
100% surely, the most under appreciated little guitar break ever:
Carl Hogan's intro on "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" by Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five. I can't link from this device, but check out the studio (not live where it's played by a horn) version on YouTube. I think you'll all recognize it pretty quickly. |
Here's the link to Louis Jorndan's "Ain't That Just Like A Woman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqiWTb-UWA
Note the intro. |
Yes. That borrowed bit makes Jimmy Page look pristine in his songwriting credits. Pretty amazing that arguably the most famous guitar lick in rock n roll has been miscredited for 50! years, don't you think. |
To be clear - I wasn't attempting to dis Chuck in my post. My Page comment was more in the way of noting that some very famous music often gets misattributed. Page borrowed whole songs (albeit often with brilliant new arrangements) and never credited the original songwriter. I wasn't suggesting that that's true of Chuck.
However, it is true that Chuck Berry remains (deservedly) an iconic guitarist. I agree that Chuck wrote the rules of rock n roll guitar. But, let's be fair - although Chuck Berry certainly put his own fingerprints on that lick, his single most recognizable passage was borrowed from the work of Carl Hogan.....who remains entirely anonymous.
I was focused more on the result than the artists' intent. If that was poorly worded - mea culpa. |
When I wrote
"I wasn't suggesting that that's true of Chuck."
in my last post, I probably should have written: "I wasn't attempting to suggest that..." I can see how it's been read to mean that, but it wasn't my intention when I wrote it. Just a bad choice of words. |
I kinda take both sides on this point.
Check this thread. How many mentions of Chuck do you see? (I think I mentioned him, so I'll pat myself on the back.) That near absence from a pretty savvy 'goner thread on this very subject makes him under-appreciated, no?
Conversely, Chuck is widely admired (and often revered) by those who play rock music on electric guitar. A large number of the '60s first-gen guitar heros cite him as a major influence. My favorite quote on this subject came from George Thorogood (who only did covers, not originals, for many, many years). When an interviewer asked him why he didn't write his own songs, GT replied:
"Because Chuck Berry has already written all of the great rock n roll songs."
Still, the non-playing fans of guitar music tend to overlook him somewhat. So, depending on the crowd you're polling, he may or may not qualify as under-appreciated.
Just my take. |
Bdp,
I think we agree on a lot:
I'm with you on the beauty of overdriven, low output amps. I don't play a ton of electric guitar these days, but when I do it's either thru a 12 watt (dual 6v6) Nolatone Rotten Johnny or a 20 watt Swart AST (same output tube config). Give me that creamy, overdriven 6v6 sound and I'm happy.
My issue with Fender amps is the one you ID'd: They're usually too loud to get the tone I want at the volume I want. The low powered Fenders that I've played have usually been equipped with EL-84s, which work great for rhythm parts IMO, less satisfying for lead. The classic 6L6 equipped Fender amps usually have too much power/headroom to get the break-up I want at reasonable SPLs.
These days I just usually stick to my acoustics. |
If you're looking for a J-200, you should try to find a Kopp Trail Boss to compare. Kevin Kopp is an ex-Gibson guy who makes great (and unfortunately very expensive) variations on the standard Gibson models. The Trail Boss is his take on the J-200, but he adds a 12 fret neck. It ends up sounding like a (very beautifully finished) J-200 on steroids. You do give up some upper fret access, tho. Either way, if you can find one to try (and that's tricky given the very limited distribution) the Trail Boss is a very cool instrument.
BTW, Rainsong does something similar in carbon fiber body. Not nearly as cool looking, but a great sounding guitar at not much more than half the price of a J-200. |
just about all my favorites have been mentioned - usually more than once. since fripp and belew have been mentioned as a pair and tom verlaine solo - how about verllaine and richard lloyd? on the one ocassion i saw the band, i thought lloyd stole the show.
in a similar context, the one name i'm surprised to find unmentioned is david hidalgo. whether playing a traditional electric solo, some bizarre acoustic mexican stringed device of indeterminate genus, or palying alongside other guitars when the fellow lobos join in, hidalgo is a riveting player. |
