I think here you named the three greats.
Another guy who does some wicked and deceptively easy looking rhythm playing is Jack White. He plays some mean slide too and all the while chicken-strutting and goofing around for the crowd. I haven’t listened quite so closely to his recorded stuff but he’s a monster on stage.
Well, the three tracks I listed were supposed to be examples of the more accessible side of Zager & Evans. Although, you’re wrong about the instrumentation because Reginald Ludwig also prominently features a Moog synthesizer, which is playing riffs with square-wave type effects like what you might hear in a Snoop Dogg song. Reginald Ludwig itself is an expertly crafted pop tune with just enough aggression in it to give it a hard edge - it’s got nearly the same backbeat as Musipal by Wagon Christ (Luke Vibert)! There are other tracks from Exordium and Terminus that are far more out-there and sound more like something by Animal Collective. The overture on Side 2, for instance, which features a re-arrangement of samples from all the other songs on the album, and then the same thing but at twice the speed and pitch, but with the order reversed - this is pretty eclectic studio work for 1969. There’s Candy Machine and REM which are dreamy psychedelic tracks that washe over you like a hash buzz - and My House, which is exceptionally funky and features more of the Moog synthesizer, plus some of the most hilarious lyrics since Tom Lehrer.
You gotta listen to the whole album to get what I’m talking about. No, it’s not on the level of A Wizard, A True Star (one of my favorites of ALL time.) But it’s a forerunner to that.
D. Boon - Minutemen
Kerry King - Slayer
Jeff Hanneman - Slayer
Scott Hull - Pig Destroyer
Steve Rathbone - Lair Of The Minotaur
Neil Young
All amazing rhythm players who can effortlessly slide into lead work.
But Malcolm Young is top of the heap, IMO.
As Don Henley once said, “I’ve got three words for ya. Joe F***ing Walsh”.
My vote is for Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo, keeping a song together in the midst of all that crazyness HAD to be tough and he ALWAYS kept his cool!
Unclviny
No love for Joe Strummer? Ray Davies?
Do people like Townsend (who I love, at least up through The Who Sell Out) and Iommi and EVH really count? I always thought rhythm guitarists referred to members of a group with two or more guitarists, with one who definitely played lead on individual songs. I get that single-guitar bands’ players are necessarily going to have to lay rhythm parts (as are many lead guitarists in 2-or-more guitar bands), but I always considered them lead guitarists by default.
2 thoughts:
-
Bartek is an excellent choice - Boingo played complex arrangements.
-
wbb, obviously this is subjective and YMMV, but to me the biggest issue is whether the guitar player is playing something melodic - typically single-note stuff, but doesn’t have to be - that sits on top of the other instrumentation and is meant to be out front and, well, lead - OR, are they playing foundational stuff that the other instrumentation blends with? Van Halen sits on top; Townshend is the substrate (ooo, fancy word
that Ox and Moon hooked onto…in other words, to me it is less about whether there is another guitarist to contrast with and more about the job you have in the band as a whole…
I don’t know if it was Glen Buxton or Michael Bruce, but I always thought the early Alice Cooper albums had great rhythm guitar work.
I always went out of my way to go see Anson Funderburgh play his style of Texas blues, especially when he was backing Sam Myers (who passed away a few years ago.
At around 2:20, you can see one of Sam’s signature moves. Sam was blind and a chain smoker. Clubs would provide him (at his request) with a huge ashtray, which he would miss every time. He could see just barely enough to be able to purposely miss the ashtray. If a kind hearted person moved it to where Sam was dropping ashes, he would continue to miss.
I’ll second that. I hesitated to nominate him myself, because a) I know less than zero about the Eagles. Also: although I slobber over his work with the James Gang, I couldn’t decide whether his wonderful chunka-chunka was rhythm or lead.
You settled it for me. Great Henley quote, too. Can’t argue with the bleedin’ obvious.
.
On that note, I have to mention Alex Lifeson of Rush. I don’t have the exact quote at hand, but he was talking about his influences and how for the longest time he considered Jimmy Page to be his strongest influence. But then, the more he thought about it over the years, the more he realized how big an influence Townshend had been on him, and how similar their roles in their respective bands are, in that they both play with very complex, busy rhythm sections. So Lifeson/Townshend both found themselves in the position of being the “steady, hold-it-together” guy, while Lee & Peart/Entwhistle & Moon went nuts around them.
Steve Cropper. The man locks into a solid groove, and then rides that bad boy home.
Well I’ll throw in three who -surprisingly- haven’t yet merited mention.
The Edge who has a style that in addition to being as distinct as any you’ll find but whose precision is amazing.
Since serving as the guitar player in a three-man power trio requires you to wear the lead and the rhythm hat, Alex Lifeson of **Rush **and **the Police’s **Andy Summers should enter the discussion though they might not crack the top ten.
Also **Lindsey Buckingham’s **name should appear somewhere in this thread.
I hadn’t thought of him but now that you mention it, I would have to include him.
Also, Lou Reed.
Re Alice Cooper’s guitarists, it was Michael Bruce who did all the great rhythm work along with writing some the best material from that era (Under My Wheels, for one).
Two more I just thought of that really bear mentioning in this thread are Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons of the Doobie Brothers. All the Doobie’s albums have some of the best rhythm guitar work to be found anywhere in rock.
John Lennon has been mentioned a couple of times. What’s the general opinion about his abilities as a rhythmn guitarist?
I always enjoyed the musical support David Crosby gave to Roger McGuinn.
I met Angus Young at a recording studio while talking to his older brother George and Harry Vanda. This was late 70s I think. Later rumor had it that he was laying down guitar tracks for a band that George and Harry were producing. They liked these young guys but they couldn’t play so they secretly redid the bass and lead parts. I can’t recall the band’s name but they had a couple of Aussie hits and I was amazed when I heard the rumors because I had been there. Angus hopped around the place just like he was on stage.
Anyway I said to Angus that I really liked his band and he said, “It’s Malcolm’s band, mate.”
Only a few weeks ago my guitar teacher asked me if I had tickets for AC/DC next year. He was disappointed when I said no. This is a guy who plays a $10,000 classical guitar and I would assume despises AC/DC.
He said that he had seen AC/DC back in the 70s and that Malcolm Young was one of the best rhythm players he had ever heard. He said that he played all open chords to leave room for Angus to fool around. He told me to go home and start listening to AC/DC because that is how 2 guitarists should play together. He says it is egoless and just designed to maximize the musical potential of what they are playing.
It made Angus Young’s comment make sense.
No suprise whatsoever.
**NinetotheSky **- Lennon delivered. Not exactly sure how - I don’t know that there is a signature Lennon approach to rhythm, but just like George seemed to play lead well enough to make the Beatles “The Beatles” Lennon rocked out hard and delivered the groove…
I’m glad it made sense to you because I still don’t play well enough to know what they are talking about.