Boris
919
What a fantastic theme!
May 01, 2021,00:11 AM
Gee, where to start with this one? I've been into rock music for as long as I can remember, and there are so many guitar players I admire.
Let's start with the obvious, Jimi Hendrix, who's probably the first name that comes to mind, due to his sheer virtuosity and creativity. And he would surely have become even better, had he lived longer.
His straight line descendant, in my view, is Prince. He was such a talented, all round musician that people sometimes forget how good he was with a guitar. Those in doubt should just have a look at his solo on this tribute to George Harrison. The look on the face of Petty, Winwood and Lynne while he plays says it all.
Then, in no particular order and for different reasons, I've always loved the style of Mark Knopfler, Joe Perry, Slash, Neil Rodgers, Johnny Marr, Billy Gibbons, Brian May, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Satriani.
But when it's all said and done, the picture below illustrates perfectly who I think are the most influential guitarists in popular music:
- Chuck Berry basically invented Rock n'Roll, at least in my book, and that's tough to beat
- Keith Richards has come to define the role of the rhythm guitar and its vital, often overlooked, importance in a rock song
- Eric Clapton did the same on the lead guitar as Richards did on the rythm guitar: define how the instrument's supposed to be played. It's impossible to overstate the importance and influence his early work in Yardbirds and Cream have had on virtually every single player who came after him. Heck, the guy even influenced Hendrix himself
But when I think "guitar hero", then this guy would be right up there in my mind:
He's the absolute embodiment of a rock God: the virtuosity, the style, the theatrics, the musicianship, it's all there with Jimmy Page. He's more flamboyant than Clapton, and while there's a lot to admire in the latter's restrain, rock music has to be excessive at times, and Page did this beautifully. The other common denominator he has with Clapton is that he played in the most accomplished band of its time. If you take the members of Cream or Led Zeppelin, each musician easily makes it in my top 5 players on their respective instrument. At least for rock music, which is the genre I am predominantly interested in.
I'll be sporting the watch pictured above during this weekend, the new Speedmaster Hesalite 2021:
Humidity has shot through the roof in Hong Kong over the past few weeks, being in excess of 80%. In these conditions, it can become incomfortable to wear a metal bracelet, so I just ordered a few Tropic style rubber straps from Wolbrook, which are very comfortable and look great.
I wish you all a great, rocking weekend. I'm off to practice the bass (my teacher gave me "Highway to Hell" to study, yay!)