Most respected guitarist?

[milod]

First Measure got me reminiscing on some of my own 1960s experiences and reading...

 

I think some of the black bluesmen had a degree of difficulty in adjusting, too, into a different world that that in which they'd made their names. A few literally came out of retirement; some were functionally locked into a specific community that frankly was in the process of dying out until younger white audiences "discovered" them in the folkie era. Yeah, they were appreciated, but not as though it were among their own contemporaries who often had left them.

 

When I moved to Memphis in '79, I expected somehow to find blues everywhere. Not so. It was far from "big" in the black community there at the time. I have a BB vid on another computer where he talks about a poor audience reception because he did blues.

 

We have to remember that a lotta stuff we talk about here from before our own time on earth is what we read about rather than what happened. We even hear about the "folk revival" and various heroes of that era - but I'll tell you now that a lot of it wasn't so much "folk" music unless you include acoustic "art songs" and such. Is a '30s music style "folk" or simply a remake if it's a blues guy? How 'bout Carter Family stuff done in the '60s? Folk? Hmmmm.

 

Bob Dylan, for example, did some folk stuff with his own style to it, but is known today best for stuff he wrote that was played with a rock band. What's seldom mentioned was that Bobby Zimmerman wasn't much in demand as a rocker in his youth regionally - so he moved and found the right time and place in New York and that scene.

 

Karen Dalton was playing in NYC in that same time period and was kinda an early Janis J - except that the backup on her one album really was a jazz-blues bunch and she was a lot smoother in a lot of her delivery. She died young and almost nobody knows the name.

 

Nobody here has mentioned cult guitar hero Leo Kottke or 12-string picker and city blues singer Fred Neil. Roy Buchanan just never got the "play" for much more than cult status, either. I've gotten into major arguments with friends over Hendrix because frankly although he influenced a batch of young pickers who wanted something different, wasn't long-term influential as Atkins or Segovia or even some like Scotty Moore.

 

In fact, without the right timing Hendrix could be less known than Roy B. Would Hendrix even have a job more than in "retro" gigs if he hadn't died young? I dunno. Doubt it. Might have if he had lived and moved stylistically a bit as did Clapton. Knopfler is, imho, very underrated as a picker and I'm told, as a nice guy. But how many try to copy his style of playing? Naaah, it's too hard and you can't get a stomp box to help out.

 

I think a lot of really talented pickers have ended up playing in public in their youth, never made it to a bigger career than the road grind and a schoolteacher's paycheck and quit to become mechanics and accountants. Many others just never quite "clicked" and kept going until they retired or just plain got tired.

 

Just some thoughts from a grumpy old man.

 

m

[Silenced Fred]

 

Respected by those around him (what Vonnegut called a Karass)' date=' well, some of the best and most influential Guitarists of our time didn't receive the respect they deserved. Charlie Christian didn't get to stay in any of the Hotels he played in. Steven Foster died with 36cents in his pocket, or so the story goes. Mozart was buried in a common Grave for crying out loud.

 

Which guitarist do I respect the most..........Have to think on that one for a while.[/quote']

 

I love Kurt Vonnegut, his writing is splendid!

[Rico Deluxe]

well said, Milod

[pippy]

It's interesting to read a couple of people remarking on Hendrix in a 'lesser-than-God' type way.

 

I would disagree strongly that Hendrix was the most influential guitarist ever. Much as I love the guy's stuff (and he is certainly one of my favourite players) I think his main contribution was in showing people that much more could be done with the instrument than was currently the case.

 

As far as "What would he be doing if..." goes, it seems to be certain that his playing was about to change radically from what he had been doing before; Hendrix was collaborating on a project with the great jazz-man Gil Evans at the time of his death. He had expressed his dissatisfaction with the music he was expected to play day-in-day-out and was desperate to explore other genres. Obviously, we'll never know what he might have attained.

 

Although a great many players have taken cues from his playing few actually adopted his playing style with any success - Robin Trower being an exception. The same cannot be said about, for instance, Eric Clapton or BB King; both of whom I believe to have had a greater, and lasting, influence on the direction electric guitar music has gone.

 

And Milo; I don't know about 'over there' but rest assured Mark Knopfler is certainly not underrated over here!

[zigzag]

Pippy, I was going to respond to milod's post with reference to Hendrix, but you took care of that for me.

 

I think it is relevant that Clapton and Townsend were ready to pack it in when Hendrix came to England. They not only respected Hendrix, they were blown away by Hendrix, and look at the talent that Clapton had played with to that point!

[milod]

Yeah, I've heard similar things of Hendrix. But with an early death one never knows what might happen.

 

I do think that one difficulty for a pop musician of any style is as you mentioned: At a certain career point one is expected to do the same stuff over and over and sound more or less like what was on a recording. In a sense, it forces a mental shift from being a "musician" perhaps more into being an entertainer. Some of the "shock rock" folks - Gene Simmons comes to mind - seem in ways to have known that earlier in their careers but then comes the question how much a "shock" this year will remain so in a decade. <grin>

 

Knopfler is to me an exceptional guitarist but - as with Hendrix, I don't think he's being copied much in terms of technique. I don't know how he was playing when he started putting finger style together with a jazzy-rock style, but by the time he had things to be recorded for such as Youtube, I think it's over a lotta heads, if not talent.

 

Also on Knopfler.... I think over here, at least, there's so much stuff available that the average music listener ages 15-40 probably doesn't even recognize the name.

 

That's a factor I've put into other threads: Since music is time dependent, and since there is so much else to capture each person's time today compared to 50 years ago, I think it's a lot harder for an individual artist of almost any sort to be well known beyond a much smaller audience segment.

 

Those of us on this forum are, regardless of age, somewhat specialists in our interests and so, in ways, we don't count. <grin> Bottom line really is whether an artist gets broader recognition than within a specialized audience.

 

An example from outside music is a friend, Tony Chytka, who is an incredible artist in bronze, is quite well known in the "cowboy art" community. I've sent photos of some of his work to "art nut" friends who have been blown away and compared his to Remington's stuff. He even does his own casting. Outside the "cowboy art" community? Tony who?

 

m

[jimmiJAMM]

I wouldn't say Hendrix was the greatest guitar player ever or "had the biggest influence on the direction electric guitar" but as far as respect goes he's undeniably one of the most respected guitarists in rock-n-roll.

[SGSpecialguy]

how bout Eddie Van Halen ?? no mention of him here ? His contribution to Rock guitar in the 80's was about as big of an influence as you can get,,,

my most respected guitar players are pf course Hendrix and SRV which have both been mentioned and talked about quite a bit in this post,,

but no mention of Van Halen seems strange to me, sure he's had some tough times and been made fun of with his drinking years, but you put him in a room with a guitar and an amp and he immediately demands respect, a true virtuoso if youve ever heard him noodle !!

[jimmiJAMM]

I agree, EVH is a truly awesome guitarist! While he didn't invent tapping, he sure as hell took it to another level. As for most respected, perhaps he and Zakk Wylde are thought of more as showboating outlaw guitarists.

[Laaz]

There are many not mentioned :

 

Randy Rhoads

Malmsteen

Blackmore

Schenker...

 

The list goes on.

[SGSpecialguy]

Tony Iommi is another one that hasnt been mentioned much here either, a legendary guitarist whom is HIGHLY regarded and respected throughout the guitar world.

another HUGE influence on me in my younger years and maybe THE biggest influence on my style of playing

[milod]

Actually if you wanna talk "influenced me..."

 

For rock, Chuck Berry from listening to current stuff on the radio when I was a kid, but I'm not sure you'd hear much of that when I'm playing much of anything. Blues? John Lee Hooker, then a buncha acoustic guys for my first 18 years of pickin'.

 

Jazz/pop... trumpet and piano players more than guitar players in my earlier playing decades. The past cupla years Joe Pass more to think of variations on improv than copying actual notes or even fingerings.

 

Segovia and Christopher Parkening on classical guitar (I was privileged to have a cupla classes with Parkening nearly 40 years ago), Carlos Montoya on flamenco guitar and I got to see him from very close up in concert.

 

The term "respect" and the term "influence" are not interchangeable to me at all. I have respect for the technical ability of a lot of players including an awful lot of them that I don't think have had any influence on my playing or choice of repertoire. I have personal respect for far fewer players. Then I'll admit to having a degree of "influence" from a whole bunch of pickers from Leadbelly and Mother Maybelle up to Chet and such...

 

Oh, here's one you'd never consider: Actor Peter Coyote. He was a heck of a picker as a college senior when I was a freshman at the same small school the first year I put down the trumpet and picked up a guitar. For bluegrassy and basic fingerpicking... and having fun at it... I think he still plays.

 

m