Sorry for the hiatus this week. It’s Friday! Best electric and acoustic guitar performances? Feel free to post videos.
Question of the Day, Sep 22
Sorry for the hiatus this week. It’s Friday! Best electric and acoustic guitar performances? Feel free to post videos.
My guitar-obsessed son turned me on to Buckethead, probably one of the best electric guitarists in history. Weird, but unbelievably talented. A sample:
Mediocre guitarist, at best. Lots of noise and distortion.
Prince kills it here
I was never a Prince fan until I saw this video a while back. He was a truly great guitar player.
That second pic up there….what does that have to do with guitars?
It’s Friday, she’s not bad either.
“…a long, violent guitar jam, rambling over the nine-minute mark with no trace of virtuosity at all, just staccato guitar blasts sounding as though Young is parachuting down into the middle of the Hatfield-McCoy feud.”
Rolling Stone Magazine
Those delicate little snowflakes over at RS better avoid this, then. NB: recording quality isn’t great, but it still gets the point across.
Last Train Home
One of the best solo acoustic pieces of all time…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdl5M_b1pOQ
Old friend of mine, pretty good version of Eleanor Rigby.
I had the pleasure of seeing him perform from a table just a few feet away from me at the Blue Note Cafe in NYC back in the 90s. Didn’t know who he was or what he would become, but it was obvious he was something special.
The Ventures were our guitar heroes long ago, you can see the influence on Dire Straits’ Sultans. Dire Straits also has an awesome guitar piece which is a tad better than the Eagle’s Hotel Cali guitar duo.
https://youtu.be/AAV90Zy5wUM
I meant an awesome guitar riff in Money for Nothing. Sorry, not sorry.
In Orange County, CA in the early 80’s, the Ventures were HUGE in the Punk Rock club scene. Go figure. They played our college and the punker turnout was amazing. Just good music to slam dance to I guess.
My number one favorite guitar player.
For both acoustic and electric on the same album, pretty hard to beat this and the track that follows it.
Yep great album. The guitar leads in the song “dogs” on the “Animals” album is to die for.
Team Goy #432
Or live Comfortably Numb:
https://youtu.be/FRhFeBEETsA
I think guitar is the most versatile instrument there is. Endless possibilities, sounds and styles. Amazingly, there is no shortage whatsoever of truly great guitar players. So, I think the best ones are the ones who wrote/write their own songs and truly brought something new to the music scene. I think it’s pretty damn hard to beat the tried and true Eddie Van Halen.
What Stanley Jordan does (see video above) with the guitar (and Jimmy Hendrix much before him) clearly shows the versatility of the instrument.
When I write late at night, while most people are sleeping, I listen only to the inimitable oeuvre of Mark Knopfler and/or Dire Straits. Of course I could listen anything else but, for me, it’s like drinking decaf coffee. Why?
Solo begins at the 4:50 mark and continues for the next five magnificent minutes and fifty-two sublime seconds:
I do the same. Mark is just superb, as a song writer, guitar player, singer, and band leader. The guy has it all, is very modest and is generous to younger players. Wow!
I’ve liked this vid for a long time. As good as the guitar is, the drummer makes this video.
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Excellent! It is just amazing what a good player can do with a guitar. Thanks for sharing.
Tits don’t count. They certainly are nice to look at but they don’t count in guitar playing.
Wait, she was playing the guitar?????
“Amateur” street performer:
Reminds me of several quotes:
1.) “All excellence is equally achieved.” – Henry David Thoreau (I think)
2.) “Practice. Practice. Practice.” – Anonymous
3.) “Practice makes perfect.” – Our Parents
4.) “I’m better than when I started.” – The little girl who most recently won America’s Got Talent.
Buskers. You see them throughout England, talented musicians who set up their gear, put out a hat or box and play wonderful live music to anyone who wants to listen. This chap is one of the best and I wish I was there to put a quid or two in his hat.
Remember the band “Orleans”? (“Your’e Still The One”, “Dance With Me”, and “Love Takes Time”.) For an acoustic version of their song “If”, this is great. Watch the entire song to appreciate his strumming and picking towards the end. The dueling guitars are superb.
Sadly, co-founder and lead guitarist Larry Hoppen (on the left in this video) died in 2012.
riseup,
if i’m not mistaken,one of those guys got elected to congress–
How do I post a video?
copy and paste the YouTube (or Vimeo, etc.) URL link as the last line of your comment, on a line by itself. Reload the page after you submit the comment to see if it posted as the video or just the link.
Rise Up, do we really want to encourage Wombat in Paradise? I suspect he will try to post a Blue Oyster Cult video.
Yup.
My favorite blue oster cult song.
Sure, and I’ll post this just for Iska:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wNhJbkSxHg
Another Great Rush Tune
Xanadu
This is for El Coromba
Another sadly lost too early guitarist is Randy Rhodes of Quit Riot and Ozzy Osborne fame.
Here is what I think is his finest song (though there are many). If you are not an Ozzy fan, just bear with him to appreciate the great guitar work of Mr Rhodes on the song “Mr. Crowley”.
Studio version:
And here is a live version from 1981 (but there are plenty of great live versions):
And Crazy Train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcoweoZ6jpM
Always loved this band. Ozzy had a great voice.
“War Pigs” is one of my favorites.
Here’s one with lyrics if you don’t know the song.
These posts are great. They give us all an opportunity to remember great songs and appreciate new ones we never knew. Thanks.
Lots of great guitarists out there. Here is one of the greats on acoustic. Very impressive stuff – the speed is phenomenal (Clark):
A duet by two greats, on electric (Campbell and Clark):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A-sExIVBVaw
Two all time greats on acoustic (Knopfler and Atkins):
This thread can’t be complete without Frank Zappa. [link URL should start vid at 12:34 but there may be some ad fuckery first]
And for something a bit more accessible . . .
My favorite is Al Di Meola. 24 studio albums since 1976, so much to listen to.
Some samples of his music:
1981
1992
2012
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Di_Meola_discography
If you can only listen and watch one thing, the middle video from 25:03-40:41 should give you a great introduction.
I can’t supply links today working from my kindle. Look up The Hellcasters, also try Danny Gattton and Matt Ratch.
Bob
I am quite fond of The Hellcasters version of Orange Blossom Special.
Bob.
Especially Jorgesons solo in the badly videotaped 1998 version when he had long hair. Some of the finest picking you will ever hear.
Bob
There are several good nominees, here is my vote:
(The Chinese chick on the cello rips a good solo too!)
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Led Zeppelin live in New York: “Whole Lotta Love” Live (interspersed with “Boogie Mama”)
Jimmy Page jams and John Paul Jone’s bass sounds more like a standup bass on “Boogie Mama” than a guitar.
(Warning: Robert Plant’s junk in your face. A sexy guy.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrUHvPgxlcw
That didn’t work out well. It won’t play unless you’re on YouTube.
If you don’t know how to get to it, push the play button and just click on the “YouTube” at the bottom right of the video.
This is an extremely masculine band. Love it!!
Another of my favorites, the Stay Cats with Brian Setzer as lead.
This is “Stray Cat Strut”
Another of the Stray Cats singing “Rock this Town” live.
What a show.
2 more for Uncola:
“Repetition is the Mother of Perfection”, and
“PERFECT Practice Makes Perfect”
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjSscbx9rrWAhVG4iYKHS8_CnEQyCkIKzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqQcp1E5pWYA&usg=AFQjCNFhZTy5h9fWHWeJEMzOWIEy6g44yQ
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Oldie but goodie. Anybody remember this? Edgar Winter Group: “Free Ride”
(This features Dan Hartman on double neck guitar with base, Rick Derringer on lead, and Edgar Winter is the blonde albino (really) on organ/synthasizer.
This is Edgar Winter singing lead, and with Ronnie Montrose, the first lead guitarm on “Keep Playing that Rock & Roll”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQv9cRk8R4M
I wish they wouldn’t restrict these videos only to YouTube. I guess it’s a money thing.
Edgar Winter is best known for “Frankenstein”. This is live.
Can you get more versatile than Edgar Winter? Organ/synthesizer, sax and drums?
This is one live show you have to see.
Early Zeppelin: Communication Breakdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eC8ASAnzhM
Led Zeppelin: “Since I’ve Been Loving you” Live
(This is an extremely bluesy number. It not only impresses the security guard and the Indian woman in the audience, but also the acid-tripping girl in the audience.)
As you can tell, I’m really into music, but not really after the ’90s. I’m into anything from heavy metal to banjo twanging.
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs: The Ballad of Jed Clampett
Johnny Cash, “A Boy Named Sue”
I actually love this song.
VV, you have a really eclectic taste in music.
EC is my “go to” for some really good strumming.
Maggie, I love music. Doesn’t matter if it’s Led Zep, the Beatles, Osmonds, Flatt & Scruggs, Ozzy or even Frank Sinatra. If it’s good, I love it. Everybody has their preference, but is any one really number one? I’m a Beatles fan, as well. I also love Scottish music. By the way, I love Dean Martin as well. It’s all according to the person listening.