I have a gift to be able to copy almost anything. I once had Ted Nugents "Stranglehold" entirely memorized, note for note. Those guitar players who are too fast for me to copy, I hate them with a passion. Ha ha. But actually I think Joe Perry of Aerosmith hates Eddie Van Halen and I don't blame him! I hate Al Dimeola, and Django Rhein-whatever. I tip my hat, however, to Malmsteen. Basically, anybody who can play faster than me is too fast, except for the country telecaster pickers. Ha ha. I like the David Gilmores of the world. I like Stevie Ray Vaghn cause he is fast but not too fast. I can keep up with him on Scuttle Buttin and lots of other stuff. I would only invest in getting faster if I thought there was a lot of quick money in it. I was thinking of doing a street gig thing with a long list of famous guitar solos that nobody thought I could play...or wanted to see copied live. Do you think anybody would pay for this? JohnnyK
One time, I went to go see Journey, Frampton, and another band in 2001 or so. A roadie came out, a little overweight, balding, t-shirt untucked...and picked up a black Les Paul. I thought he might be tuning up for Peter Frampton. Then this roadie starts to play and I'm like, "Not bad for a roadie". Then the roadie starts to sing. That's when I realized, by the distinctive voice, it was Peter Frampton. Peter Frampton is one of the most talented, yet underated guitar players. He is never on those list of "Top 100" guitar players in the world, but he is in my top five. He still has every bit of talent and ability, and really got the crowd up and dancing on their feet. He is also one of the most grateful to be where he is. While most people take pictures of the band, Peter Frampton was taking pictures of the crowd...during the concert. He's funny too. One time, during the "talk-box" part of his solo, he voiced the number to his hotel room and invited everyone to come up. Neal Schon (of Journey fame) is also one of the most underated, whom I don't see on lists of greats. He is a friend of Joe Satriani, and you can see how Joe has borrowed from Neal lots of stuff. This is apparent on Neal's solo album, "Voices"...which is 100% instrumental, spotlighting his excellent guitar playing. Voices is basically all guitar solos adapted to several classic (non-Journey)songs. Schon says that while he learns lots from guitar players, it is singers who have taught him how to play. JohnnyK
Rick Derringer: Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo Scorpions: Theres No One Like You (dual guitars) Richie Blackmore: Smoke On The Water
Aberdeen. I know it well. I live only 125 miles from there myself. When I and the wifey go to Ocean Shores every other year I always think of Kurt and the fact he came from there. On the news a week or so ago, they mentioned that on the Aberdeen "city" welcome sign that under the Aberdeen name they put "Come as you are", one of Nirvana's songs. Cool... The only reason we don't go to Ocean Shores every year is because we like to go to Long Beach and down to Seaside in Oregon too... But guess what? I win again because I come from Seattle, where Jimi Hendrix was born... and I am still alive...
Duane Allman in "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" Clapton in the live version of "Why Has Love Got To Be So Sad" Ritchie Blackmore in "Blind" and everything by Robin Trower.
I saw Journey for the first time a couple of years ago, and was blown away by Schon. I had never ranked him as one of the guitar greats, but his performance was just amazing. His solos were note-for-note compared to the albums, just perfect. That new singer does a decent rendition of Steve Perry, too. With all this American Idol hype, I'm waiting for a really good rock vocalist to cover a Journey song. Too bad there isn't an American Guitarist Idol contest, with Frampton, EVH, and Schon as judges!
I bow my head in shame for not remembering Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, who only got a mention on p.8. Thanks, JohnnyK and reg! "Child in Time", "Stormbringer"
Yes! From the muddy banks of the Wishkah river! Enough to make anyone mad as hell and not want to take it anymore! There's actually two jobs in Aberdeen. One is a union job, and the other is a union job. Ha! They even have a musicians union if you want to play at some places. I actually like the place. There are so few guitar players, it doesn't take much to be locally famous. I had my fifteen minutes of fame there, which is how I got the JohnnyK nickname. Another band, Metal Church, never really admitted they were from Aberdeen/Hoquiam, saying they were from Seattle. They have a worldwide cult following. Metallica helped get them a record deal, through a freindship with Lars Ulrich. They were about five years ahead of Cobain. So why is one famous, and the other not? I can only speculate. I'm curious what fans of Nirvana liked about it. I win the guitar battle on ET because in 1978, I went to Guitar Center in Seattle and bought a Marshall 200 Watt stack. This is the same type of amp and wattage that Hendrix used, which by that time, were no longer made. Anyway, the head weighted 72 pounds and I don't know how my parents survived. You could hear it accross town. Before I die, I'ld like to stand in front of another Marshall stack that I owned. In fact, that would be a good way to die, apparently. Also a good way to go bald. What!? JohnnyK