# For all of you John Mayer haters (and guitar afficianados).... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479 "2003-11-10T21:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/1 "2003-11-10T21:48:04Z")
He’s going to be on Austin City Limits this Saturday night (11/15, 11pm - check your local listings) performing with Stevie Ray Vaughn’s rhythm section Double Trouble and blues legend Buddy Guy. My bet is that most of you are unaware of what an incredible guitar talent John is due to his two highly overproduced pop albums, and hopefully he’ll win some of you over with this performance. The fact that these other great musicians have agreed to share the stage with him should be enough of an endorsement to pique your curiosity. I urge the guitar lovers on the board to reply to this thread after the show with their opinions of John’s playing, and how he held up with the other musicians on stage. I have not seen the show yet, but I’m willing to bet that John will impress some of you. More info here: [http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program445.html](http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program445.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/2 "2003-11-10T21:54:00Z")
Ah, I’ve learned to play a few of his songs. They’re fun and a little bit different. People tell me how great he is, I’m not buying into it yet. I think, though, it’d be a great show, and my sister will confirm that thought. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/3 "2003-11-10T22:20:02Z")
Let’s be clear about this: From what I’ve seen of his acoustic picking work and his Strat-ified blues playing he is a _fantastic_ guitarist. However, his music is mediocre at best and his aspirations to be Mr. Square Guy are underwhelming. I would be interested in checking out the ACL show, though, thanks for the heads up. The boy does have chops; just wish he aimed higher… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/4 "2003-11-11T00:21:44Z")
I will be looking forward to this show also. I kinda like what I’ve heard of his music. I’m a big fan of Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon, too, but have to admit that since the death of Stevie Ray, they will play with _anyone_ and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were thankful to be playing with Mayer rather than the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/5 "2003-11-11T19:11:29Z")
If I ever get to be reincarnated, I want it to be as a John Mayer/Dave Matthews-esque guitar player. That way I can still be a dork, but then I’ll be a musician and can get all the girls. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/6 "2003-11-11T19:21:18Z")
I still hate John Mayer just on general principal, his music just sucks, whether he is a good guitar player or not. ---
**Author:** ![Apoptosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Apoptosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apoptosis)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/7 "2003-11-12T00:25:28Z")
All I know about John Mayer is the acoustic solo performance he did on some music awards last year. 1. His voice was cracking. 2. He actually managed to pluck more wrong notes than right ones. 3. The crowd (of course) loved him. -Apoptosis ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/8 "2003-11-14T16:49:16Z")
John Mayer? Zzzzzzzzz… I don’t hate John Mayer; I just can’t understand why anyone cares about him to begin with. His music is to good songwriting what the Federal Register is to literature. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/9 "2003-11-14T17:03:49Z")
John Mayer with DOUBLE TROUBLE AND BUDDY GUY!?!?!?!?! That is a crime against humanity. John Mayer, the great white hope of the blues.:rolleyes: ☹ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/10 "2003-11-14T17:59:00Z")
**Ilsa\_Lund** , you’re exactly the target audience of my post. Check the program out and see if you’re flabbergasted-ness is warranted. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/11 "2003-11-14T18:24:40Z")
Buddy Guy is John Mayer’s mentor, and has been playing with him for several years. I saw an interview with Mayer on CBS’s Sunday Morning and he more than held his own. ---
**Author:** ![DeepDownTraumaHound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DeepDownTraumaHound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepDownTraumaHound)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/12 "2003-11-14T18:27:29Z")
…you are most likely too prejudicial to have an informed, objective opinion. I assure you he hit more right notes than wrong ones during the above referenced acoustic performance. If you don’t like his music…most likely all the notes are wrong. This thread doesn’t attempt to address the dislike for his over-produced music. This thread is specifically aimed at those who say Mayer can’t play (obviously no one here has seen a live performance of _Neon_ or heard the acoustic rendition from _Inside Wants Out_). For the hypercritical of you that postpone your adjudication until you watch this show, you will be pleasantly surprised. SRV and Buddy Guy are where it’s at for Johnny. His chops are undeniable however criticism is warranted (ala WordMan) that he hasn’t carried the best of his stuff into the studio to cut onto his CDs. He did do a version of SRV’s “Lenny” on a CD-Single shortly after _Room For Squares_ was released. That provided a small morsel for those of us who have been an active witness of Mayer’s ascension from playing in front of 30 patrons at Eddie’s Attic to 80,000+ in Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. There are also some worthwhile moments from _Any Given Thursday_. If you don’t like his music, you are certainly entitled to your tastes (I’m not all that crazy about his stuff anymore)…but to say the guy can’t play is a material mistake in fact. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/13 "2003-11-14T21:58:33Z")
I concur with ya, **DeepDownTraumaHound** , I’ve got a live version of _Neon_ and the tab songbook for _Room For Squares_ and that’s a pretty advanced song to play. _No Such Thing_ has some interesting and seemingly fresh chord voicings and I got stuck on playing that one for a while. The thing is, I haven’t heard him play blues but he does seem a bit, well, there’s no good way to say “soulless” without offending so I’ll just leave it at that. I could see him doing modern jazz but blues? I guess I’ll be tuning in to find out for myself. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/14 "2003-11-15T13:09:13Z")
I’m thrilled to hear that John Mayer can play. It confirms what I’ve always said: how well you can play don’t mean shit, it’s what you do with your ability (or lack thereof). ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-of-you-john-mayer-haters-and-guitar-afficianados/212479/15 "2003-11-17T04:22:40Z")
I tried to watch ACL but the guy bores me to tears, he comes across as a whiny, soulless hack who really wishes that he was Dave Mathews, I saw (rare) moments of very good guitar playing but even the good stuff had no “soul”. unclviny