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Sekarang tampak gambaran yang akurat tentang situasi: karena komitmen Slash's tur band kehabisan waktu untuk memutuskan apakah akan membawa Taylor sebagai pengganti Scott Weiland, yang saked pada tahun 2008.
Slash menceritakan Charlotte Observer: "Ada kebenaran pada desas-desus bahwa kita sedang melihat Corey - tapi kemudian aku pergi untuk tur Jadi tak ada yang dilakukan pada saat putusan No !..."
Perilaku tidak patuh Weiland dan masalah narkoba diminta pemindahannya tiga tahun lalu, setelah band ini melanjutkan hiatus. Slash sebelumnya berkomentar bahwa itu "hanya nasib buruk" dia punya masalah dengan frontmen nya - mengacu pada runtuhnya GNR ketika Axl Rose mengambil alih di pertengahan 1990-an.
Sekarang gitaris mengatakan: "Pengemis tidak dapat memilih. Yang paling penting adalah untuk menemukan orang yang mampu bermain musik, maka Anda harus mengambil kepribadian mereka dengan alasan jika mereka memainkan cara Anda..
"Banyak musisi yang gila -. Itu yang membuat mereka menjadi musisi besar"
Putusan tampaknya tidak berlaku untuk Taylor, bagaimanapun, secara luas dianggap sebagai karakter yang seimbang. McKagan minggu lalu menggambarkan dia sebagai "seorang pria dingin dan musisi keren."
Townshend telah menyumbangkan gitar Gibson SG ditandatangani, sementara selain menyumbangkan gitar, Clapton juga beramal sebesar 5.000 poundsterling Inggris ke yayasan sebagai insentif untuk penggemar blues untuk berkontribusi pada lelang .
Fans bisa membuat tawaran pada gitar walaupun mereka tidak di berada diatas kapal pesiar. Untuk membuat sebuah tawaran, kirim e-mail ke Denise Duffy di denise@musicmaker.org atau hubungi (919) 643-2456. Penawaran dimulai pada minimal $ 4.000, kata Tim Duffy, presiden Music Maker.
Semua hasil dari lelang akan menguntungkan Musik program pembuat, yang meliputi hibah, dan bantuan lainnya untuk musisi blues, dan juga musisi yang memainkan berbagai bentuk musik tradisional Amerika.
Musisi menerima bantuan dari organisasi harus memainkan musik berakar pada tradisi daerah Selatan, menjadi 55 tahun atau lebih dan memiliki pendapatan tahunan kurang dari $ 18.000.
Details will appear on delaneyguitars.com and mattguitarmurphy.net when the LRBC docks January 29th.
Bonhams auctioneers will conduct the March 9, 2011 sale, which also includes instruments donated by Jeff Beck, J.J. Cale and Joe Bonamassa.
Featured in the auction are instruments and amps by Fender, Gibson, Marshall, Martin and Music Man, among others. Estimates for the amps and guitars range from $300-30,000, Bonhams said.
Highlights include one of Clapton's main stage guitars from 2005, one of a pair he used during the Cream Reunion Shows in London and New York -- a custom built black Fender "Eric Clapton Signature" Stratocaster estimated at $20-30,000.
Also on offer is a pair of Marshall vintage basket weave speaker cabinets, from around 1970, used during the 1970s when Clapton appeared with Derek And The Dominos. The pair is expected to fetch $8-10,000.
The auction is being held in association with Wallace & Hodgson, who worked on the two previous Clapton/ Crossroads guitar auctions in 1999 and 2004.
Despite harrowing, arctic winds that tore through the city streets, fans came out in droves to see the legendary ‘Satch.’ The guitarist is touring behind his newest album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, and last night’s show demonstrated beyond question that the virtuoso, responsible for instructing players as reknown as Steve Vai and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, is as on top of his game as ever.
From the second Joe hit the stage, the underground Best Buy Theater was turned into a world of screaming guitars and otherworldly effects. Satriani is a master of not only rapid-fire playing, but riding a seemingly endless tone up and down the fretboard, diving with the whammy bar only to soar back up in ear-bursting squeals. Fans closest to the stage stared open-mouthed, simply in awe as they watched his fingers fly almost faster than the eye could follow. Virtually every song was instrumental, but unlike most of his rock contemporaries, Satriani fills every second of music with such original, exciting moments and emotion that there simply isn’t room for vocals even if he wanted.
The musician had great stage presence, never removing his green-tinted sunglasses as he strode about and bobbed his head back and forth, leaning back into the crunch of his backing band’s rhythm. The band, consisting of a drummer, keyboardist, bassist and rhythm guitarist, was tightly locked in with their frontman, blasting through tight beats and stopping on a dime, giving Satriani more than enough audio elbowroom to run wild all over their foundation, sounding as well as looking otherworldy as his guitar effects and arpeggio-filled tapping created a rich sonic tapestry.
The show went on for an impressive two straight hours, including a half dozen tracks from the new record which were received just as well as the classic material. Watch my video of new, ultra-catchy song Premonition on the left side of the page. While guitar noodling can get old after a while, Satriani never faltered, keeping things interesting by demonstrating his absolute mastery of the instrument. He broke out acoustic guitars, a harmonica, and engaged in a duel with his keyboardist, battling back and forth on riffs until the keyboardist was finally unable to match a particularly epic high note bent into an impossibly long, overdriven squeal. Later, Joe played the same game with the crowd, fans doing their best to imitate the guitar licks with their voices, but if one thing was proven last night, it’s that no one or instrument can truly match what Satriani does best.
Charmingly polite in his short stage banter between songs, Joe finally took the microphone to sing on the bluesy Big Bad Moon, letting loose with a smooth singing voice that really deserves to be heard more often. Fans, who were sitting for most of the show, finally rose to their feet, and crowded right up to the stage, hands outstretched as Satriani effortlessly blazed his way across every inch of fretboard. He then encored with fan favorites Crowd Chant and Summer Song, his lightening guitar magic as impressive as it was in the beginning of the concert.
Joe Satriani might not have radio hits or rabid fanclubs like other hard rock artists, but make no mistake: This is one of rock’s greatest players, and one of rock’s greatest writers as well. Words can’t truly relate the magic of witnessing Mr. Satriani in person, and fortunately he seems set to continue writing and touring for a long time to come, both solo as well as his roles in supergroup Chickenfoot and the vaunted G3 tours. But in the meantime, fans can check out plenty of video on Youtube, buy his latest record, and be sure that next time Joe comes to town, they are in the crowd and ready to surf with the alien.
"It's great to see that the U.K. still has a strong rock star tradition," Allianz's Claims Manager Robin Stagg told the press.
Two more U.K. natives, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, also made it into the top 5. The top 5 guitarists in the poll were Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Chuck Berry.
Clapton will have the opportunity to prove that he still deserves the title when he goes on tour in the U.K. next year. Slowhand will play shows in Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff before participating in a six-night residency at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
"I can't believe it's November," Johnson says in a soft Texas drawl as he runs a hand through his touseled mound of hair. "Must've been 65 degrees or something outside. I actually went to the beach, and with this sweater on, it almost got downright hot. Not that I'm complaining - it was nice."
Johnson and the rest of the stellar cast of performers on the fall run of the Experience Hendrix tour (the lineup includes Steve Vai, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, Billy Cox, Susan Tedeschi and Living Colour, among others) have been having a blast during the past few weeks. "This might be the best Hendrix tour yet," says Johnson, a veteran of several such excursions. "Everybody's been playing their hearts out. It's been really cool."
Even so, with only a few dates left, Johnson admits he's looking forward to heading home to Austin to kick back for the holidays before he takes part in the second leg of the Guitar Masters tour in early 2011. After that, he says, he'll turn his attention to promoting his brand-new album Up Close. "I'm so happy that the record's done and how well it came out," he says. "I've got to get a band together and get touring. That should be a lot of fun," he says with a chuckle.
As he often does, Johnson has arrived at the venue early, a good hour before the other musicians are due for soundcheck. "I like a little private time on stage," he says. "It gives me a chance to get my rig together the way I want. Plus, it's a great opportunity to play some riffs, do a little jamming. Sometimes you get a song idea that way. I can play in my room, but there's no substitute for hearing yourself on stage and getting that nice big wall of sound coming at you."
December
7 - El Teatro - Buenos Aires, Argentina
8 - Peteco's - Buenos Aires, Argentina
9 - Teatro Willie Dixon - Rosario, Argentina
10 - Manifesto Rock Bar - Sau Paulo, Brazil
11 - Rock Y Guitarras - Saniago, Chile
12 - Club El Huevo - Valparaiso, Chile
13 - Whisky Bar - Concepcion, Chile
“I’m just happy to be standing upright. It was a hard, hard experience,” says former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist GILBY CLARKE when asked about his motorcycle accident that occurred earlier this year in January. As Clarke was riding through an intersection in Los Angeles, CA, a pick up truck made an illegal left turn and collided with the six-stringer, leaving him with three broken bones in his left foot/ankle and a broken bone in his right foot. “In the back of my mind, I’ve always known that’s a possibility. I go into every intersection thinking oh, watch it. But what actually happens, you don’t really know if you’re going to live or die? Not to get too deep but man, when I hit that friggin’ truck, I seriously thought I was going to die! It was that hard. When I was on the ground, I was happy that I only had a broken leg. But I’m getting around, I’m getting my life back together as far as being able to do what I was doing before.”
In a cowardly act, the driver of the pick up truck failed to remain and fled the scene. According to Gilby, “They haven’t caught him. We actually know who did it though, strangely enough. A friend of mine was at a party and he overheard a guy tell a friend of his about the accident – ‘Yeah, I hit some guy. My driver’s licence is suspended. I don’t have insurance. I was with an underage girl - blah, blah, blah.’ So my friend goes, ‘Dude! I know who you fucking hit! That’s not cool; apologize.’ He says, ‘Fuck him!’ With all the shit that went down, he’s actually in jail right now on a robbery charge – he’s a bad guy.”
After a pair of operations and months of recovery, Gilby is back on the road, having recently played three shows in Ontario, Canada. Up next is a trek through Argentina, Brazil and Chile. “I’m going to do a South American run in December. I did some shows in Texas and the Mid-West in June. This is more or less trying to get my sea legs back basically, there’s no real purpose to it right now.”
The aforementioned Canadian shows marked the premiere of Gilby’s new band, consisting of Sean Kelly – who plays guitar for CRASH KELLY and NELLY FURTADO – on bass, and Dave Langguth, also of Nelly Furtado, on drums. Gilby’s association with Sean goes back several years as he’s produced, recorded and mixed the last two Crash Kelly albums, One More Heart Attack and Electric Satisfaction. “Yes, that’s very exciting. When these dates came up, I actually thought I’d have my regular band, but they’re not available because I’m not working that much; they’ve got other gigs and stuff. So I called Sean and even before I could ask him if he would consider playing bass, he says, ‘You know I play bass.’ So it worked out. He told me about Dave and I went on YouTube – he’s a great drummer. You know what’s nice about it – and this is a perfect word for it – it’s inspiring. It’s a total different feel to what my normal band does, but it’s a different feel in a good way. It re-energizes me. They both get such a great groove on. Sean’s such a great musician. The way he plays bass is like a guitar player, there’s no doubt about it. But he’s not going crazy, he’s doing what he should be doing.”
With four solo albums under his belt, the most recent being 2002’s Swag, will Gilby release a new album next year? “You know you ask me that question every year and I say yeah, next year. I really hope so. It’s not a matter of being lazy; it’s just a matter of doing something good. Every time I’ve gone to work on some songs, it’s just not there. I don’t want to do something that’s shitty. I really do need to do one, I honestly do. As a musician, we need to mark our periods of time.”
Singer Benny Dayal keeping musician Greg Howe company on stage. Photo: Special Arrangement
It's Wednesday evening and the city has a date scheduled with Greg Howe. Considering his credentials, at least half the city should've poured into the Museum Theatre. But there are barely any people. Franks Got The Funk and Borrowed Halos open for Greg Howe; they are competing for the finals of the Underground Band Hunt. Perhaps people will start arriving soon. Rows and rows of empty chairs and a bunch of bored old-men — the sight is unbearable.
No buzz
Franks Got the Funk and Borrowed Halos try their best to rock the place, but no one is moved. There are a couple of teenagers and a bunch of foreigners. The same bored expression is on everyone's face. The place is dead. One of the world's greatest shredders, Howe's played with NSYNC, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson. But he's not played with any rock bands. Whatever could this hype be all about?
Most people who seem to have bothered with a concert in the middle of the week look like they're here only because they had nothing else to do and wanted to experiment experimental jazz-fusion. Shredder doing jazz-fusion, interesting...
Nevertheless, the evening seemed never ending. Time had suddenly decided to stop. The sound setting took hours. The theatre seemed to have been gassed with a strange poisonous concoction of boredom and absolute darkness. The only place where there was any bit of light was a soft yellow spot on the stage. All one could see was shadows move. Sound setting.
Finally Saroop Oommen, of Unwind Centre, decided to come on stage. After a long lecture on HMI guitars, one of the sponsors, Saroop finally blessed the audience with Greg. On stage is a tall thin Afro-American guy with two skin-heads and an Italian drummer. Neither Greg nor his band-mates look like they can do much. Saroop Oommen, of Unwind Centre, introduces the band. There is a slight whimper, it was someone cheering and Greg hits the notes. Everyone's hit unawares. For a minute, dead faces were replaced by wide-open eyes and mouths gaping for air.
There are people other than musicians walking on the stage. Everyone's so agape that no one seems to notice them. The sound of the guitar is deafening. A million notes are flying out of Greg's guitar at the speed of light tearing Museum Theatre apart.
Greg is performing for the first time in India, and he's living up to his reputation of being one of the best shredders in the world. His self-titled album ranked the 10th greatest shred albums of all time by Guitar World magazine. Greg is Trey Anastasio, Hendrix, McLaughin, and Malamsteen all rolled into one.
West Coast Seattle Boy is a new four-CD box set that is a must for any serious Hendrix aficionado. Hendrix’s days on the “Chitlin’ Circuit” are represented here, featuring tracks from stints with the Isley Brothers, hit songwriter Don Covay (on his original recording of “Mercy Mercy”), and Little Richard, whom Hendrix hooked up with after a brief tenure playing the R&B clubs of Nashville. Hendrix’s signature licks and intros, while still in their formative stages, can be heard throughout these early tracks, minus the volume and effects that would come a couple of short years later. Hearing this evolution of his style in his early 20s is a must for any serious Hendrix student or fan.
In addition to an entire disc of Hendrix performing with other artists, the other three CDs of the set include more than 40 tracks of previously unreleased songs (including a version of Bob Dylan’s “Tears of Rage”), and alternate takes of Hendrix classics from the Axis: Bold as Love and Are You Experienced? sessions. The package also includes the DVD of an excellent 90-minute Biography channel documentary, Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child, with Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic narrating the stages of Hendrix’s life as if he were Hendrix himself. It features childhood photos, postcards home to his father during his military years, interviews, extensive footage from Woodstock and other festivals, and much more.
When it came to playing pure blues, Hendrix was a bluesman supreme, as evidenced on the Legacy reissue of 1994’s Blues. In addition to a slightly out-of-tune acoustic 12-string version of “Hear My Train a Comin’,” this CD features tracks with the Band of Gypsys and appearances by Steve Winwood and Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady. On this album Hendrix paid homage to the bluesmen who inspired him as a boy, including Muddy Waters and Albert King, taking us beneath the volume and pyrotechnics to show what a superb, natural blues player he was, although there’s plenty of effects-driven fire here as well. The package also includes a DVD that features a well-groomed, articulate Hendrix being interviewed on Dick Cavett’s television show in 1969, as well as interviews with such guitarists as Howlin’ Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin and Living Colour’s Vernon Reid about Hendrix’s importance to the guitar.
The Legacy release of The Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions features recordings from Hendrix’s appearances on BBC radio and television broadcasts. While the recordings and the performances aren’t the best, they’re important and enjoyable for their historical value, especially when noting the American Hendrix’s impact on Great Britain, where so many important acts of the 60s had come from. Songs include versions of Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” and the Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” as well as a couple thrown-together numbers with Stevie Wonder on drums.
The package also includes a half-hour, high-quality DVD documentary that features the Experience’s television appearance on the live “Happening For Lulu,” where Hendrix shocked the Brits with an unplanned, feedback-and-whammy intro to the scheduled ”Hey Joe” before launching into an instrumental version of “Sunshine of Your Love” in tribute to the recently-disbanded Cream. The DVD also features interviews with Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding as well as veteran BBC staff producers.
These are just three of the Legacy releases for the Hendrix freak this holiday season; do some Googling and you’ll find even more. One has to wonder where it will ever end, but at the same time we should be thankful that this material keeps showing up just when we thought there couldn’t possibly be any more.
Jimi Hendrix’s recording career of only six years changed the way guitar is played today and what live showmanship is all about, and helped impact the social consciousness of the ‘60s in general. Now, Legacy Recordings and Hendrix’s estate are on a posthumous re-issue binge that will delight anyone who was a fan of Hendrix as both a musician and a person.
• Joe's signature lead tone with your choice of delay on or off
• Distortion tone with superb dynamic response, inspired by the Satchurator
• Analog-style delay with Joe’s filter & EQ, inherited from the Time Machine
• Plugs straight into your electric guitar, so you can instantly enjoy great sound through your headphones
• Convenient and portable with up to 11 hours of battery operation
• AUX input jack lets you jam along to tunes on your CD/MP3 player
The amPlug series of palm-sized headphone guitar amps make it easy to enjoy great guitar/bass sounds at home, in your room, or anywhere. This lineup is now joined by the amPlug Joe Satriani signature model, which borrows freely from the VOX/Joe Satriani line of signature pedal effects.
With its bright red body, the "amPlug Joe Satriani” delivers the awesome sound of Joe Satriani’s custom rig – distortion pedal through a high-gain vacuum tube amplifier, followed by a delay – and reproduces the settings created by Joe himself. Inspired by the distortion circuitry of the VOX/Joe Satriani Satchurator pedal, the amPlug Joe Satriani preserves much of the “pick attack” to create an articulate, playable distortion.
Flick the switch to activate the analog-style delay effect. Inherited from the "Lo-Fi mode" of the VOX/Joe Satriani Time Machine delay pedal, the delay features Joe’s distinctive EQ tone, combining both high-pass and low-pass filters.
Use the AUX input jack to plug your CD/MP3 player right into the amPlug Joe Satriani and jam along! Play along with Joe Satriani's classic tunes, or with any of your favorite music. Enjoy the amPlug’s extreme play-anywhere portability, with up to eleven hours of battery life.
Simply plug the amPlug Joe Satriani directly into your electric guitar, connect your headphones, and you’re ready to enjoy playing using Joe Satriani's powerful and expansive sound. Of course, you can also connect the optional amPlug Cabinet (sold separately) and create your own miniature amp stack!
VOX amPlug Specificaitons
- Power supply: AAA batteries (x 2)
- Battery life (FX on):
Zinc-carbon batteries: approximately 3 hours
Alkaline batteries: approximately 11 hours - Dimensions (W x D x H): 86 x 80 x 31mm/3.39" x 3.15" x 1.22"
- Weight: 40 g/1.41 oz. (not including batteries)
- Included items: Two AAA batteries (for verifying operation)
Provided by the artist or their representative
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions Deluxe...
Every now and then he'll take a fleeting trip off the main road - to the land of country ("Old Ways"), rockabilly ("Everybody's Rockin'"), electronica ("Trans"), or rock opera ("Greendale"). But largely he sticks to either intimate solo pieces or feedback-laden group outbursts.
On "Le Noise," Young finally gives that essential duality a twist. It's his first attempt to reconcile his two main approaches into one. It's a lone-wolf effort, but instead of an acoustic foray it's comprised mostly of raging electric guitar pieces. The result recasts Young's solo folk work as a full-on axe freak-out.
Intrigued?
It gets better. To aid him in this innovative mono/electric amalgam, Young collaborated with Daniel Lanois, a producer well known for recalibrating guitar-rock techniques in his work with U2, Peter Gabriel and others. The result is at once intimate and cacophonous; small and loud.
The opening song, "Walk With Me," has the anchor of a firm tune and a bold riff but it's also abstracted through its cackling, hazy guitar sonics. The sound wavers and shakes but remains clear in its mission.
To increase the effect, Lanois set Young's voice in the vortex of this six-string swirl, blurring it into something ghostly. It intensifies the effect if you hear the music at some distance. Listen from a room away and it seems to call to you.
The strategy proves ideal for a track like "Angry World," which mirrors its title phrase in a sound that's downright ornery.
Not every song holds to the mold. A few revert to solo acoustic form, like the Spanish-inflected ballad "Love and War." If that corrupts the vision some, at least the acoustic tracks don't disappoint.
Several are more directly autobiographical than usual, reaching a peak in "Hitchiker." Here, Young somewhat guiltily summarizes the last 45 years of his life, from his fractured family life to his drug use.
The disk's bigger issue is its relative conservatism. Given the cleverness of the concept, one wishes Young and Lanois went further with it, perhaps integrating some of the wilder feedback dreams Young explored on 1991's experimental live albums "Arc" and "Weld."
At the same time, Young could have opened up these too-terse songs with some of the dissonant guitar forays favored by acts like Sonic Youth, Swans, or "new music" god Rhys Chatham.
At one second shy of 38 minutes, the album can feel a bit stingy. Yet in that time, it nonetheless manages to achieve something significant: It gives one of rock's oldest dogs a new trick.
Carlos Santana must wake up every day thanking his lucky stars for Clive Davis. For most of the past four decades, the producer/record company executive has helped keep Santana on commercial track whenever he’s wanted to veer. And it was Davis who, more than a decade ago, started putting Santana together with young, hot singers to help keep his name alive.
Albums such as Supernatural, Shaman and All That I Am featured vocalists Rob Thomas, Seal, Dido and others in a calculated move to sell CDs, which is fine, given that the music business is, after all, a business. But the latest Santana/Davis project, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, may well be the final nail in the coffin of AOR.
On the all-covers Guitar Heaven, Santana hopefully meant to pay tribute to some of his friends and heroes, and not just simply try to get back on the charts. This is an album of (supposedly) great guitar songs which features, as usual, an array of hot younger singers. Chris Daughtry does a great job on Def Leppard’s “Photograph,” Scott Weiland tackles the Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’,” and Chris Cornell turns in a nice vocal on Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” But how are “Photograph,” Van Halen’s poppy “Dance the Night Away” and the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” considered “great guitar classics?”
As for Santana the guitarist, a lot of this album is the same thing he’s done for the past 40 years, bending one screaming note for three measures while people call it art.
He does turn in a great performance on the old Willie Dixon/Jeff Beck nugget “I Ain’t Superstitious,” showing guest vocalist Jonny Lang how the old guys do it. And his work on “Riders on the Storm,” featuring Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, may be his best playing on the album, with the song’s atypical structure forcing him to go outside a little. But much of this album misses the mark horribly, barely making it a cut above those “music in the style of (fill in the blank – Eagles, Garth Brooks etc.)” records.
The first single from the CD is “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” with a vocal by India.Arie and Yo-Yo Ma on cello. This song is an absolute classic, almost sacred, and Santana’s playing makes this thing almost unlistenable. Where Eric Clapton brought it to life by making a statement and leaving some space, Santana starts overplaying almost immediately. And the ghastly treatment of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” with Nas rapping the vocal against Santana’s incessant wah-wah pedal…please, somebody get me outta here. And Cornell notwithstanding, “Whole Lotta Love” with congas? I don’t think so.
Here’s the big question: Since Santana himself is a guitar god, why are there no Santana songs here? Like maybe a new version of “Black Magic Woman,” where Carlos can really shine on some nice minor key blues licks, with perhaps Ian Astbury or Eddie Vedder doing the vocal? It’s hard not to be too judgmental here, but his contemporaries – i.e., Clapton, Beck, even Neal Schon – are still trying to make a go of it, and Santana does an album of covers? This will be a good record for backyard barbecues and beers, but not for much serious listening.
Every guitarist has opinions on what some of the greatest recorded guitar solos are. While there are many that are commonly regarded as "great", there are lots of others that don't get as much attention. Not too long ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine put together a reader's poll, to find out what their readers considered to be the best guitar solos of all time. The results surely reflect the magazine's demographic (no jazz guitar solos, for example), but no one can argue the following 100 selections boast some great guitar work.
According to The Pulse of Radio, Jimmy Page's 1971 solo to LED ZEPPELIN's "Stairway To Heaven" topped the Gibson.com list of the "Top 50 Guitar Solos Of All Time." Coming in at No. 2 is Eddie Van Halen's 1978 groundbreaking instrumental "Eruption" from VAN HALEN's self-titled debut, with Jimi Hendrix's solo on his 1968 cover of BOB DYLAN's "All Along The Watchtower" rounding out the Top 3.
Hendrix made the list four times — the most of any guitarist. Eric Clapton scored three times with solos for tracks with CREAM, THE BEATLES, and DEREK & THE DOMINOES. In addition to his runner-up spot with "Eruption", Van Halen's 1982 solo on MICHAEL JACKSON's "Beat It" came in at No. 50.
Jimmy Page — whose solos to LED ZEPPELIN's "Since I've Been Loving You", "Heartbreaker" and "Whole Lotta Love" also made the list — says that after all the success LED ZEPPELIN had, the real reward has been that the music has lasted so well: "The most satisfying, the most rewarding part of it, is having been part of music like that, which has stood up to the test of time. Every musician hopes that their music will hold up. And it's wonderful."
Peter Frampton has been close friends with Page since the mid-1960s. He frequently watched ZEPPELIN record in the early '70s at London's Olympic Studios, while taking breaks from his own recordings and was consistently impressed with Jimmy Page's guitar technique: "He's a very well-rounded player. His technique on acoustic is phenomenal. And he uses various different open tunings. He tunes his guitar down and there's a special 'Jimmy Page' tuning (laughs) that he uses on a lot of the stuff."
Gibson.com's "Top 50 Guitar Solos Of All Time":
01. Stairway To Heaven" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
02. Eruption" - Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN)
03. All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
04. Hotel California" - Don Felder and Joe Walsh (THE EAGLES)
05. Comfortably Numb" - David Gilmour (PINK FLOYD)
06. Free Bird" - Gary Rossington and Allen Collins (LYNYRD SKYNYRD)
07. Layla" - Eric Clapton and Duane Allman (DEREK & THE DOMINOS)
08. While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - Eric Clapton (THE BEATLES)
09. Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
10. Bohemian Rhapsody" - Brian May (QUEEN)
11. Crazy Train" - Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE)
12. 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers" - Jeff Beck
13. Sweet Child O' Mine" - Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)
14. Hot For Teacher" - Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN)
15. Since I've Been Loving You" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
16. November Rain" - Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)
17. Mr. Crowley" - Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE)
18. Whole Lotta Rosie" - Angus Young (AC/DC)
19. Like A Hurricane" - Neil Young
20. Sultans Of Swing" - Mark Knopfler (DIRE STRAITS)
21. Texas Flood" - Stevie Ray Vaughan (STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE)
22. One" - Kirk Hammett (METALLICA)
23. Cortez The Killer" - Neil Young
24. Rock Around the Clock" - Danny Cedrone (BILL HALEY & THE COMETS)
25. Sweet Jane - Live" - Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (LOU REED)
26. Purple Rain" - Prince (PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION)
27. Heartbreaker" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
28. Jessica" - Dickey Betts (THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND)
29. Machine Gun" - Jimi Hendrix
30. Crossroads" - Eric Clapton (CREAM)
31. Time" - David Gilmour (PINK FLOYD)
32. Are You Experienced?" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
33. Race With the Devil" - Cliff Gallup (GENE VINCENT)
34. Don't Believe A Word" - Brian Robertson (THIN LIZZY)
35. Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
36. Besame Mucho" - Wes Montgomery
37. Sympathy For The Devil" - Keith Richards (THE ROLLING STONES)
38. Blue Sky" - Duane Allman and Dickey Betts (THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND)
39. My Sharona" - Berton Averre (THE KNACK)
40. Marquee Moon" - Tom Verlaine (TELEVISION)
41. Hitch A Ride" - Tom Scholz (BOSTON)
42. The End" - Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison (THE BEATLES)
43. Whole Lotta Love" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
44. Train Kept A-Rollin' - Live" - Joe Perry (AEROSMITH)
45. Highway Star" - Ritchie Blackmore (DEEP PURPLE)
46. Dirt" - Ron Asheton (THE STOOGES)
47. Off The Handle" - Rory Gallagher
48. The Great Curve" - Adrian Belew (THE TALKING HEADS)
49. The Messiah Will Come Again" - Roy Buchanan
50. Beat It" - Eddie Van Halen (MICHAEL JACKSON)
Hendrix made the list four times — the most of any guitarist. Eric Clapton scored three times with solos for tracks with CREAM, THE BEATLES, and DEREK & THE DOMINOES. In addition to his runner-up spot with "Eruption", Van Halen's 1982 solo on MICHAEL JACKSON's "Beat It" came in at No. 50.
Jimmy Page — whose solos to LED ZEPPELIN's "Since I've Been Loving You", "Heartbreaker" and "Whole Lotta Love" also made the list — says that after all the success LED ZEPPELIN had, the real reward has been that the music has lasted so well: "The most satisfying, the most rewarding part of it, is having been part of music like that, which has stood up to the test of time. Every musician hopes that their music will hold up. And it's wonderful."
Peter Frampton has been close friends with Page since the mid-1960s. He frequently watched ZEPPELIN record in the early '70s at London's Olympic Studios, while taking breaks from his own recordings and was consistently impressed with Jimmy Page's guitar technique: "He's a very well-rounded player. His technique on acoustic is phenomenal. And he uses various different open tunings. He tunes his guitar down and there's a special 'Jimmy Page' tuning (laughs) that he uses on a lot of the stuff."
Gibson.com's "Top 50 Guitar Solos Of All Time":
01. Stairway To Heaven" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
02. Eruption" - Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN)
03. All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
04. Hotel California" - Don Felder and Joe Walsh (THE EAGLES)
05. Comfortably Numb" - David Gilmour (PINK FLOYD)
06. Free Bird" - Gary Rossington and Allen Collins (LYNYRD SKYNYRD)
07. Layla" - Eric Clapton and Duane Allman (DEREK & THE DOMINOS)
08. While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - Eric Clapton (THE BEATLES)
09. Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
10. Bohemian Rhapsody" - Brian May (QUEEN)
11. Crazy Train" - Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE)
12. 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers" - Jeff Beck
13. Sweet Child O' Mine" - Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)
14. Hot For Teacher" - Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN)
15. Since I've Been Loving You" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
16. November Rain" - Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)
17. Mr. Crowley" - Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE)
18. Whole Lotta Rosie" - Angus Young (AC/DC)
19. Like A Hurricane" - Neil Young
20. Sultans Of Swing" - Mark Knopfler (DIRE STRAITS)
21. Texas Flood" - Stevie Ray Vaughan (STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE)
22. One" - Kirk Hammett (METALLICA)
23. Cortez The Killer" - Neil Young
24. Rock Around the Clock" - Danny Cedrone (BILL HALEY & THE COMETS)
25. Sweet Jane - Live" - Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (LOU REED)
26. Purple Rain" - Prince (PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION)
27. Heartbreaker" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
28. Jessica" - Dickey Betts (THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND)
29. Machine Gun" - Jimi Hendrix
30. Crossroads" - Eric Clapton (CREAM)
31. Time" - David Gilmour (PINK FLOYD)
32. Are You Experienced?" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
33. Race With the Devil" - Cliff Gallup (GENE VINCENT)
34. Don't Believe A Word" - Brian Robertson (THIN LIZZY)
35. Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix (THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE)
36. Besame Mucho" - Wes Montgomery
37. Sympathy For The Devil" - Keith Richards (THE ROLLING STONES)
38. Blue Sky" - Duane Allman and Dickey Betts (THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND)
39. My Sharona" - Berton Averre (THE KNACK)
40. Marquee Moon" - Tom Verlaine (TELEVISION)
41. Hitch A Ride" - Tom Scholz (BOSTON)
42. The End" - Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison (THE BEATLES)
43. Whole Lotta Love" - Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
44. Train Kept A-Rollin' - Live" - Joe Perry (AEROSMITH)
45. Highway Star" - Ritchie Blackmore (DEEP PURPLE)
46. Dirt" - Ron Asheton (THE STOOGES)
47. Off The Handle" - Rory Gallagher
48. The Great Curve" - Adrian Belew (THE TALKING HEADS)
49. The Messiah Will Come Again" - Roy Buchanan
50. Beat It" - Eddie Van Halen (MICHAEL JACKSON)
The Monterey Pop Festival was an experience Steve Miller won't soon forget. It was there, on June 18, 1967, that he first saw Jimi Hendrix."When I first saw him I thought, 'Gad, he looks like Eartha Kitt with a guitar. This is really far out. Who is this guy?' " recalls Miller, who also played the California festival. "Then I went out and watched his set, and was knocked out.
"It was so cool I couldn't believe it. He brought all those old blues and R&B traditions to the stage -- playing the guitar behind his head like T-Bone Walker and biting the strings like Johnny (Guitar) Watson. You had never seen anybody look that cool, move that cool, act that cool, and kick everybody's ass that hard with a trio. It was amazing. He was so far ahead of everybody, so free and so fluid and so much fun."
Miller's wasn't the only mind was blown that day. Hendrix's set -- which famously climaxed with him dousing his Stratocaster in lighter fluid and setting it ablaze -- was the charismatic performer's first major American show. It heralded the beginning of a meteoric career that would turn him into the ultimate guitar hero in just three years -- and ended with his death at age 27 in a London flat 40 years ago Saturday.
THE START
James Marshall Hendrix's story began Nov. 27, 1942, when he was born in Seattle. Childhood was not idyllic. Money was tight. His mother drank. Jimi shuffled between relatives, including a grandma in Vancouver. His parents divorced before he turned 10. When he was 15, his mother died. That was when he got his first guitar, a $5 acoustic. He played constantly, working his way through local bands.
One fired him for his wild antics. He left school and found trouble with stolen cars. He avoided prison by enlisting in the Army in 1961, but his lack of discipline earned him a fast discharge. With Army bud and bassist Billy Cox, he hit the road, honing his chops on the Chitlin' Circuit with Slim Harpo, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson.
By the mid-'60s, he was in New York, backing the The Isley Brothers and the flamboyant Little Richard (who would fine him $5 when he outshone his boss onstage, says Miller). Eventually, Hendrix -- calling himself Jimmy James -- formed The Blue Flames. They found a fan in Keith Richards' girlfriend, who hyped them to Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and then Seymour Stein. Neither got Hendrix. But former Animals bassist Chas Chandler did.
THE U.K.
In 1966, Chandler and Animals manager Michael Jeffery signed Hendrix.
They flew him to England, recruited drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience was born. The trio's first single Hey Joe arrived in late 1966, followed by the LP Are You Experienced in spring 1967. They were cut at Olympic Studios, where Hendrix met the man who would become keeper of his sonic legacy: Eddie Kramer.
"Being in the studio with Hendrix was always a challenge," says the 68-year-old Kramer, who engineered or produced virtually all Hendrix's studio recordings. "You had to really be on your toes, because the direction could change at the drop of a hat. If a song wasn't working out, Jimi would instantly go into something else. And the band and I had to know what he was talking about. He had a tremendous amount of concentration and a laser-like focus."
They served him well. In 16 staggeringly prolific months, the Experience created the albums that anchor Jimi's catalog: Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. They yielded a list of immortal anthems: Purple Haze, Foxy Lady, Fire, Crosstown Traffic, Red House, All Along the Watchtower, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). "They are all great," raves Kramer. "From Are You Experienced -- the coarseness and the roughness of that -- to the most experimental moments of Axis and Electric Ladyland, which really kicked down the doors."
Meanwhile, Hendrix's dynamic gigs -- which fused his pyrotechnic skill and groundbreaking use of feedback and distortion with his old-school showmanship -- left both his peers and teenage fans gobsmacked. Among them: West Bromwich lad Ken Downing.
"I saw him when I was 16 for the first time," says the 58 year old, now better known as Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing. "It was a lifechanging experience, literally. I had a $15 guitar that was virtually unplayable. I was dabbling. But after seeing Hendrix and thinking, 'This person is totally God,' all I wanted to do was play his riffs. I saw him seven or eight times. I was totally in awe."
The rest of the world would soon follow suit. For better and worse.
THE FAME
After Monterey, Hendrix's star rose rapidly. Are You Experienced reached No. 5. He toured extensively. He even opened for The Monkees.
But fame and fortune brought problems. Groupies, dealers and leeches descended. The drinking and drugs increased. In May 1969, he was busted for drugs at Toronto's Pearson Airport.
The music suffered. Frustrated, Chandler left. The Experience weren't far behind. Loyal friends were replaced by crooks, alleges Miller.
"He didn't have one person with education or brains around him. He was surrounded by punks and people who were just using him. Everybody just wanted to make money off him. He didn't have any help. I felt very badly for him."
After the Experience's last show on June 29, 1969, Hendrix recruited Army buddy Cox on bass, added a guitarist and two percussionists, dubbed them Gypsy Sun and Rainbows -- later shortened to Band of Gypsys -- and played Woodstock, closing the festival with a now-legendary reimagining of The Star-Spangled Banner.
It was mostly downhill from there. He cut a live album with a new Band of Gypsys to settle a contractual dispute. He reformed the Experience without Redding. He talked about firing his manager and joining ELP. He noodled in the studio. He played memorably at the Isle of Wight. He played poorly at Madison Square Garden. Miller recalls their last gig, at Philadelphia's Temple University:
"He was completely addicted to heroin and speed. He was controlled by the Mafia. We played just before Jimi. We finished our set and were moving our gear off the stage. I was picking out a spot near his monitors to sit down and watch him -- anytime we worked together I literally sat on the stage watching him because he was such a magnificent musician. And this guy came up and said, 'Get off the stage' and pulled a gun on me. Those were the people handling Jimi.
"When he arrived, he stayed in the limousine for two hours, until $112,000 in cash was rounded up and given to his handlers. This was 1970, so that was like $900,000. It was a huge outdoor show and they held it up. When they finally came out to play, they smelled so bad I almost threw up. He had just shot up. He looked like he weighed 110 pounds. They looked bad, they smelled bad, they couldn't play. They just made noise. All I wanted to do was just grab him and take him home with me and save his life. But you couldn't get near him. He was dead four months later."
THE END
Hendrix spent the evening of Sept. 17 at a party in London, ending up in a girlfriend's flat. The next morning, his fully clothed body was found. He had reportedly taken too many sleeping pills, drunk too much red wine and asphyxiated on his own vomit. Rumours circulated that his manager Jeffery had killed him for insurance money. Nothing was proven. Hendrix was buried in Renton, Wash. Chandler died in 1996; Redding in 2003; Mitchell in 2008.
The music lives on.
Jimi's influence lives on
Jimi Hendrix died 40 years ago, but his influence among guitarists has only grown. Here's what some contemporary players had to say about the man and his music.
Slash
Jimi was f---ing awesome. Wow. There's so much stuff about him. I just appreciate Jimi Hendrix for being one of the most bitchin', f---ing rock 'n' roll-blues-soul guitar players of all time. Being ranked No. 2 behind him (by Time Magazine)? That's bulls---t. That's sort of an embarrassment. I mean, it's flattering, but come on.
Josh Homme (Them Crooked Vultures, QOTSA)
Hendrix has only been horrendously imitated. You listen to someone do Hendrix and then you listen to Hendrix, and they're cavernously apart. Some of it plays like an alien who has no distance between his mind and his fingers. I miss not hearing what he would have done. In a sea of AutoTune and manufactured music, I would love to see him f--- s--- up. We could use somebody like that.
Danko Jones
His impact on rock is so embedded now, it's hard to decipher almost. The use of distortion and feedback, the way he solos -- it's all been used by so many bands that it's hard to remember he basically started all that crazy stuff. But for me, Hendrix represents something more than just the music. It was a black guy fronting a rock band. Up until that time, music had been dominated by white guys. I looked to him for inspiration on another level than just music. To be Jimi Hendrix at the time, doing what he was doing, I can only imagine how hard it must have been to get to the level he got to.
Derek Trucks
Everybody goes through a Hendrix phase. If you play electric guitar in our genre, you go through a period where you just dig into those records so hard. For me, he is that perfect collision of everything I love about Chess Records and Delta blues, along with that psychedelic period when there was great music being played, along with some late '60s jazz, and The Beatles and Dylan. He took from all the right places, you know. It seemed he was dropped from space, but if you really trace it, you can hear all those influences.
Matthew Bellamy (Muse)
When I was growing up, I didn't know that much about rock. I was more into jazz, blues and classical. But when I was 13, I saw a video of Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his guitar at Monterey. It just totally blew my mind. Both in terms of the theatrical side of live performance, but also the chaos and craziness of his guitar playing. The unpredictable elements of that really changed my perception of music. Up until then, my perception was that everything was very formalized and had to be done a certain way and written down. I didn't really understand improvisation. But Hendrix took improvisation to a different level. He took it outside of actual music; he took it to his lifestyle in the way he dressed and the way he moved the guitar.
darryl.sterdan@sunmedia.ca
RAW Live" provides an unprecedented and unique look at the rise of a guitar god. Spanning from 1981 through 1999 and encompassing extremely rare footage of Yngwie's early years in Sweden, this video displays the infancy of Yngwie's prodigious skills well prior to his first worldwide album and travels through Yngwie masterful career, including his masterful performances from his first solo albums, Rising Force, Marching Out, and Trilogy. Also included in this unique video are never released behind the scenes footage of Yngwie and newly shot personal touches of Yngwie which open up the viewer to a side of the guitar maestro which is rarely seen by the public.
ORDER YOURS:
Some of the most admired aspects of Robert Johnson's guitar work were his intros and "turnarounds" (the lick at the end of a song that leads back to the beginning). The tab presented above is one of Robert Johnson's intros to a 12-bar blues in the key of A, in both standard notation and tab.
This is a blues intro that, with slight adjustments, will work in many different situations. Playing the intro in different keys will require playing a barre chord in the fourth bar of the lick, instead of relying on open strings.
If you're going to try and play the above with a pick... you're going to have a more difficult time. Robert Johnson, in keeping with many blues players of the time, played without a pick. Playing without a pick enabled Johnson to include moving bass-lines, while also playing upper register notes that moved independently of the bass figure.
Your Instructor: Paul Gilbert
| Paul Gilbert is celebrated as on of the fastest, and greatest, guitar shredders of all time. During a career that spans more than 25 years, he has astonished and inspired guitarists with his blazing mix of heavy metal, hard rock, neoclassical and progressive metal guitar virtuosity. A graduate of the Guitar Institute of Technology, Gilbert gained fame in the mid Eighties as the founding guitarist for Racer X, where he developed his own brand of neoclassical shred. He went on to form Mr. Big in 1998, where he earned his greatest success and established his reputation as one of metal and hard rock’s most accomplished guitarists. Gilbert has authored numerous best-selling guitar instruction DVDs, including Intense Rock, Volumes 1 and 2, and in recent years he enlightened Guitar World magazine readers with his monthly Shred Alert column. For more information, visit paulgilbert.com | |
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