I didn’t know about this - I have Johnny Marr and the Healers (Zak Starkey on drums!) with Down on the Corner on it originally - what a great, standout riff and tune. Thanks.
…but Duke Ellington’s rhythm guitarist, Freddy Guy, got a uniquely, subtly, percussive sound. On the RCA sides in the early 30s - like the original Solitude - he has an attack almost like a woodblock at times. (I don’t think the effect was just a chance one - Ellington was known to experiment with mic placement to take advantage of room tones and such.)
Great stuff, to be sure, but I’m a fan of Knopfler’s cleaner Strat tone on (for example) Sultans of Swing (and others).
And while we’re talking about clean Stratocaster tones, how about Robert Cray?
Pretty much all my picks have been mentioned - Marr, Mould, Buck, The Jesus & Mary Chain - but I’d add Kevin Shields. I love the sounds he got on Loveless especially.
Really? You prefer Rew To Robyn? Every time I’ve seen him live, Robyn’s guitar work blows me away. The one time I saw The Soft Boys, Rew was definitely good, but didn’t seem anywhere near as original or creative to me.
And I’m glad I learned this info about “September Gurls” - I had no clue!
“Honey Bee” by T. Petty & Heartbreakers. Entire jam smokes, final solo crushes !
Sting’sThe Wild Wild Sea with Dominic Miller.
Michael Jackson’s Human Nature with Steve Lukather
Nils Lofgren’s solo on Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love
And at the other extreme:
Throwing Muses’s (?)Kristen Hersch just plug the guitar into the amp sound.
Mazzy Star. (3:30)
Correct. According to George Harrison, those two guitarists on AYBCS were John and Paul.
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“Every Little Thing” (Beatles)
“Brown Sugar” (Stones)
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I have a couple of cites* saying that the two guitar parts were played by George and Paul. Where did you see it being John and Paul?
- Wikipediaand “The Beatles as Musicians” by Walter Everett.
I could list approximately 435,876 songs in this thread, but the first one I thought of was Buddy Guy’s version of Baby Please Don’t Leave Me, not just for the awesome guitar tone, but also for the rumbliest fucking bass guitar tone I think I’ve ever heard.
Goddamn I love this album; it’s one of the most perfect rock and roll albums ever recorded.
George himself told mastering engineer Steve Hoffman that it was John and Paul.
I’ve read persuasive arguments in favor of it having been Paul and George, and several knowledgeable sources (including Paul himself, IIRC) maintain that it was Paul and George. To me, it sounds like Paul and George.
Of course, George’s memory may have failed him on that particular question. But I’m inclined to take his word for it, if only because I always liked what he had to say.
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Uhuh. This is a good opportunity to whip out my favourite Youtube clip:
Buddy Guy’s guitar on this is pretty much the perfect clean guitar tone for me – smooth as butter, with just a hint of drive from the amp to give it a bit of kick.
As far as overdriven tones go, I’ve always liked what Kim Salmon does:
He’s been playing that same Telecaster for thirty years.
AWESOME! I haven’t listened to this band in more than 25 years! Many thanks for reminding me of them!
So glad this thread has come back to life, cos I failed to mention one of my all-time faves…
James Honeyman-Scott
Even as a grade school kid I knew there was something magical about his sound. The solo in “Kid” is achingly beautiful. “Tattooed Love Boys” has that solo where he does all those different riffs. You can tell he’s having so much fun. “Space Invader” is another simple but killer riff. “Private Life…” I guess I could say all I can say about him by relating that I could probably write an essay on every riff he ever played.
Johnny Marr namechecks Honeyman-Scott as his last great influence before starting The Smiths. A crying shame we only have 2.5 albums worth of the guy. I have a number of Pretenders live tracks… He was even better onstage. What a waste, man. Drugs suck.
Jeff Beck, Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Page, Wes Montgomery, Albert King, Mark Knopfler, Leslie West, Eric Johnson… so many…
Oooop, wrong link for McLaughlin; this acoustic version is awesome too.
Clapton “In the Presence of the Lord,” 'White Room."
Grant Green, any tune off “Feeling the Spirit,” or … the album (one of my favorites of all time and can’t remember the title) with Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson “Idle Moments!” Yes, got it. Or, really anything he did.
Jim Hall – his duet album with Ron Carter on bass.
Jimi Hendrix. Nuff said.
ETA saw someone got in Wes – I think his best recorded album is “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of WM” with Hank Jones on piano. All those solos are epic, and I sing them in my sleep, but his tone is pure Wes. How do guitarists do it? With their thumb!