Old Guy Radio for June 2020 - Guitar Heroes
As a reminder, Old Guy Radio is named in honor of a segment of Tony Kornheiser’s old radio show, and I’ve been curating playlists for friends and coworkers under that name since 2012.
Also, in addition to the write up, whenever possible, I try to recreate these lists in Spotify. My profile name on Spotify is pearsons3and2.
Hard to imagine that I’ve been doing these for years and haven’t put together a list of guitar heroes. Heck, I even did one specifically about bass players, and another for drummers. Well, in honor of Eric Clapton’s 75th birthday (this past March 31st), here we go! Some that didn’t make the cut (let’s argue about it): George Harrison (was pretty good for the 60s, but never found his groove until Duane Allman taught him how to play slide guitar, then that was all he did), Pete Townsend (flamboyant, yes, but a better composer than a guitarist), and whoever your favorite is.
Some of these songs are long.
Eric Clapton - All Your Love - John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Pioneer. Innovator. Bluesman. Game changer. People didn’t play guitar like he did. The documentary about him “Life in 12 Bars” is really difficult to watch. During the most prolific parts of his career, he was addicted to something, either alcohol or drugs. Amazingly, he married his best friend’s ex-wife, and they stayed friends. This cut is from one of his happiest times, playing the blues (Otis Rush cover) with John Mayall.
Jeff Beck - Heart Full of Soul - The Yardbirds. Clapton contemporary and followed him as lead guitar with the Yardbirds. A really inventive guitarist, especially for the times.
FZ - Inca Roads - Frank Zappa and the Mothers. There’s a lot to not like about Zappa. He seemed to dislike and/or discount everybody. And some of his music is unquestionably offensive. But boy could he throw together a guitar solo. He even released FOUR FULL ALBUMS consisting solely of live guitar solos! Who does that? One of his recording techniques was to work on material on the road before committing it to record. That is why many songs on his studio albums have mixed-in live parts. As is the case here. The guitar solo was taken from a performance in Helsinki, the rest of the song was performed in L.A. In addition to the great guitar solo (which is possibly my favorite of all time), there is fantastic work by George Duke on the keyboards and Ruth Underwood on the marimba, with Chester Thompson carrying the beat.
John Petrucci - Metropolis, Pt 1 - Dream Theater. The first one in the list nobody has heard of. Petrucci formed Dream Theater with drummer Mike Portnoy and bassist John Myung in 1985. A lot has changed since then, but they remain a force in progressive metal. Petrucci is one of those guys that actually plays a seven string guitar. The solo you hear in this song owes a lot to Eddie Van Halen, at least stylistically.
Prince - While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame All Stars. I’ve seen Prince in many lists of great guitarists, and I have to give him his props. OG was never a huge fan of his style of pop funk, but he could sure play. In most of the studio work I have heard, he seemed to use the guitar as a supporting flavor, rather than the main ingredient. The guitar solo in “Purple Rain” for instance, is stately and beautiful, but in service of the song, rather than its point. And the intro to “When Doves Cry” is almost enough for admission into the list. But he gets in here for one specific thing: the guitar solo from the posthumous RRHOF induction of George Harrison.
Like most RRHOF performances, it’s kind of weird. Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne (both good friends of Harrison) share the vocals. Marc Mann from Jeff Lynne’s band takes the Clapton guitar solos basically note for note during the body of the song. But then at roughly 3:30, Prince sets the place on fire with the outro solo. Just amazing.
The New York Times published a pretty neat oral history of the event, although they hilariously suggest the song is Harrison’s best known Beatles song. Um, “Something” anybody? The video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y) of the performance is the best! Almost 85 MILLION views. The look on Dhani Harrison’s face when Prince strides in from the side of the stage is priceless. Where does the guitar go?
Jimmy Page - Achilles Last Stand - Led Zeppelin. Page was a very successful session guitarist before he joined what was initially going to be called the New Yardbirds. Well, they changed that to Led Zeppelin and off we go. Page was something of a studio whiz, layering and layering guitar sounds as he does here. (His remasters of the original albums are also pretty good.) I have seen this referred to as Page’s favorite LZ song, so it gets included.
David Gilmour - Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd. Gilmour took over as lead guitarist after original Floyd member Syd Barrett became incapable of performing, whether this was due to mental illness or heavy psychedelic drug use is unclear. The album that provides this song, “Wish You Were Here” is both Roger Waters’ first broadside against the recording industry (before “The Wall”) and his lament at losing his friend Syd Barrett, the “crazy diamond” in question. Anyway, Gilmour is a master of the slower tempo guitar solo, and this is a case in point. Also a very nice sax solo by Dick Parry.
Carlos Santana - Incident at Neshabur - Santana. Santana is such a fantastic guitarist. Zappa even said Santana was one of the guitarists he admired most. This fine instrumental is from “Abraxas”. Frankly, you should just listen to the whole album. You can thank me later. BTW, the cover art is a depiction of the Annunciation.
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was a pioneer of a different sort. He tinkered with the electronics in his guitars and made sounds no one else had ever considered. He played a restrung right-handed guitar left-handed (i.e. upside down). Just an amazing talent. Gone way too soon. If you are listening to this with headphones, the guitar keeps moving around.
Steve Howe - Awaken - Yes. Howe was not an original member of Yes, but he was a key component of the classic lineup. His technique is so precise and simply astonishing. Man, that section beginning at around the 2:50 mark. Wow! And full disclosure: I really like Yes, but I have to admit there might be some excessive Wakeman keyboard noodling in this one.
Eddie Van Halen - I’m The One - Van Halen. Yes, I am one of those people. I like the Sammy Hagar era better. I think David Lee Roth is just a whooper and a yelper, and Hagar is a much better singer. I also think he made the band tighter. Nevertheless, Eddie could sure play guitar. Popularized the tapping method.
Eddie Van Halen - Beat It - Michael Jackson. And just for fun, let’s throw in the Eddie Van Halen solo that probably sold more copies than all his other solos combined. You’ll know it when you hear it.
Allan Holdsworth - Beelzebub - Bill Bruford. Another player no one has ever heard of. Probably better known in jazz circles, I became aware of Holdsworth through progressive rock, both as a guest musician (here on Bruford’s first solo album) and as a member of the prog supergroup UK. Oh, and apparently Van Halen borrowed Holdsworth’s amplifier to record the “Beat It” solo.
Duane Allman - Layla - Derek and the Dominos. A little more Clapton, and a lot of Duane Allman. Allman is often cited as the greatest slide guitar player of all time. This performance demonstrates why, especially in the piano coda. Just listen to Allman and Clapton improvise against each other. A true classic. Skydog was just a fantastic all around guitar player. To get a comprehensive feel for his career, including a lot of session work, seek out the compilation “Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective”, a mammoth 7 disc set. So much good music.
And that’s where I leave you this June. Stay safe. Stay distant. Try not to get arrested. Be kind to each other.
OG