funny_polymath
Fractal Fanatic
OMFG! I forgot JEFF BECK. Blow by Blow has some of the most expressive guitar work, electric or otherwise, ever recorded. Dude's up there with Hendrix (and, I realize I'm in the minority here, Zappa).
Wow, your best list is just exactly my worst list - except for B.B.! Guess that's what makes the world go 'round...
How about a least Favorite, most over-rated list?
Mine starts with: Vai, Satch, Malmsteen, Buckethead etc. - all 'stunt guitarists': technically utterly incredible and without peer, musically pathetic: their music is totally in service to their technique, rather than the other way around.
The more I listen to EVH, the more I get the impression that his playing—his phrasing—is mostly off-the-cuff. Check out some of his extended solos on YouTube. His playing is so conversational. He just keeps painting pictures with notes, with that goofy grin that tells you he's having fun. That's the most amazing part of it: all that complexity just rolls off his hands in one big improv, while at the same time he's handling the thythm part superbly.The way Eddie phrases just brings a smile to my face. Maybe it's the alcohol mixed with his brilliance, but the Jack-Sparrow-swagger he puts in those lines and the fall-down-and-land-on-my-feet-kind of attitude just crack me up...His playing (and his writing, BTW) is more complicated than it seems. Ever notice how the bridges and solo's in VH tunes really go off at a tangent in different keys and often complex time-signatures and somehow fall back into the song in the end? You can't convince me he doesn't do the due time thinking about that. And if he doesn't, he certainly is gifted to have that come to him without thinking.
my favs listed in chronological order (as to when they had an influence on me and how)
Jimmy Page-- Whole Lotta Love was the first song I loearned on guitar
Tony Iommi- introduced me to "real heavy metal"
Robin Trower- showed me how much my vibrato sucked and that playing fast isn't always the answer.
Jeff Beck- well...because he's Jeff Beck , nuff said
Eddie Van Halen-first guy that made me really want to shred
Yngwie- kicked up the shred factor to another level
Vinnie Moore- to me a more rounded version of Yngwie
Joe Satriani-finally a shredder that had songs not just passages to solo over
Shawn Lane- amazing melodic prowness combined with crazy skill
Joe Pass- my favortie jazz guitarist, could watch videos of him all day
Greg Howe -learning Greg Howe material showed me how important it is so know how to play "modally"
Paul Gilbert-love him as a teacher and he kicked ass at the last G3 I saw.
Jeff Loomis -Nevermore changed the game for me as far as using a 7 goes.
Frank Gambale-truly a great player and teacher, I've learned a ton from his instructional DVDs.
Greg How and Joe Satch are probably my 2 fav's that never drop off of the list.
Jeff Loomis for introducing me to 7's (although I find his solo material rather boring and predictable, I love Nevermore)
I left off Petrucci and Vai because although i do really like both of them, neither has had much of an influence on my own playing.
I do love DT though![]()
The Story of Light, new Vai album this August.Is he EVER. Going to release another studio album?!?! It's been 7 years and 4 months!!! I'm jonsing for some new Vai.
I was not familar with his work, so I just looked him up. Love his slower stuff, but I'll tell ya, after 10 seconds, those rapid-fire apreggiations that seem to blow everyone's mind just bore me. It's not him in particular, it's that whole style. His more (to me) 'soulful' playing is amazing, but I just wonder: would he be on so many people's lists if he hadn't been so supernaturally fast? And if not, then does 'best guitarist' translate to 'fastest (or most dextrous) one? Dexterity's great. Wish I had more. But whether it's a classical pianist or a rock guitarist, the appreciation of technique over feeling and composition just leaves me bemued. I saw some clips of Lane doing some supernatural figured arpeggios up and down the fretboard. Wow on those facile fingers, his amazing reach, the speed of his picking, but to me, all those notes hammering away have no meaning unless used in small, thoughtful doses.
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - his best, most relaxed work artfully fuses jazz, Blues and Western Swing.
When you mention all "all 'stunt guitarists': technically utterly incredible and without peer, musically pathetic:," this included in a least favourites list is a bit sweeping. Obviously Frank Zappa, didn't think that about Steve Vai, for example. ..
@funny_polymath
If you like Gatemouth and haven't heard Snooks Eaglin, you're in for a treat. He's kind of the New Orleans counterpart to Gatemouth. A lot of shared influences. They both get labeled "blues" by some, but their ranges are much wider than players typically categorized that way. Snooks' Blacktop record label recordings of the late 80s and 90s are generally great with awesome backing bands. There's not a ton of Youtube stuff out there, but this is fun. He's got George Porter Jr. (Meter's bassist) and Jon Cleary (Bonnie Raitt pianist and great vocalist/pianist/songwriter on his own) in the band. He was sometimes called "Little Ray" for similarity to Ray Charles, I think. Both vocally and on guitar, he can cover a really wide stylistic range well. Hearing him with just bass/drums was amazing because he's got a great arrangers ear and could carry the whole thing in a way that few singer/guitarists I've ever heard could. For R & B guitar/vocals I enjoyed hearing him live probably more than anyone and I spent a lot of time in clubs listening to everyone I could get my ears on in that realm.
Check his fingers. They're like talons and he plays with no pick in a way that's totally his own.
Every guitarist is different. Trying to determine the "best" or "favorite" is a pointless endeavor. That said, here's my current short list in no particular order:
Mikael Akerfeldt
Adam Jones
Fredrik Thordendal
Marten Hagstrom
Steve Von Till
Scott Kelly
Jerry Cantrell
Kirk Hammett
Personally I've always appreciated someone doing something that pushed the boundaries beyond what could have even previously been conceived. And whether it's a pianist, a saxophonist, trumpet player, mathematician, physicist, author, painter -- I always go for the guy that takes it beyond the pale.
For me, someone who plays something that could have been played 50 years ago, though very well, cannot be one of THE GREATEST. And technicality is certain one of those characteristics I look too. I also look to knowledge of his or her instrument. For me you have to build on knowledge.
I jammed with Lane on a couple of jazz tunes gone over-drive. It was a helluva lot of fun! He certainly knew his stuff more than most rock guitar players. Shawn Lane played with great feeling. Unfortunately I haven't heard any of his recordings that do him justice. I haven't listened to a lot, I must admit. What I got, I got live and in person from hanging, listening and playing. He was a TREMENDOUS musician.
Sometimes I think when people can't stand technique and speed it has to do with other things. It's like a lot of jazz pianists who can't handle or stand Oscar Peterson. Oscars technique was just beyond. I think when something is just so far behind ones reach, it becomes silly even to listen to. What use is it to you? You're not going to try sound sound like that. But I find it terrifically inspirational. A HUMAN BEING can pay that stuff on the guitar. It makes me strive to be that good. It makes me think beyond the cubicle of blues derived players. It makes me imagine what the guitar could sound like in 100 or 200 years, if it's still being played and not being replaced by some processing chip.
Technique is the ability to play and the knowledge of playing. Everyone has to have technique, great or small. You have the technique necessary to play in the manner in which you do.
Shawn Lane had too much technique? Played too fast? For who? He had the technique that was required for his substantial imagination. Maybe he had too much imagination? Shawn Lane was a great musician, period. I hate these who was better or worse than who stuff.