Tag Archives: eric clapton

Guitar Players

Written by Jamorama on May 12, 2009 — 1 Comment

joesatriani Guitar Players

What kind of guitar player would you like to be?

A shredder?

A melodic guitarist?

A rhythmic, percussive jazz fusion master?

A groovy funkmeister?

A country hot shot?

neil young Guitar Players

I`ve been to plenty of great gigs since back in the day and I`ve seen some hot guitar players – Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Carlos Santana, Jeff Healy, Johnny Winter, Jennifer Batten, The Edge, Joe Satriani, Ron Wood and Bob Dylan,  Keith Richards and The Rolling Stones, Pete Townshend and The Who, Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Joe Satriani, Zappa, John MacLaughlin, Jack White, and those are just the guys I can remember.

ragged glory Guitar Players

What actually makes them great guitarists, in my humble opinion, is the levels of individuality and personality in their playing – yes there is a certain degree of technique in their playing styles, with Satriani definitely being very highly accomplished. But of all these acts although Satriani was undeniably good his show was the least engaging. If you want to communicate it`s all about feel and in this sense substance above and beyond style. That`s why Neil Young really cooks on the guitar.

Have a read of my post on unique guitar players here

Cheers,
Jake Edwards

Posted in guitar zen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rock and Roll

Written by Jamorama on April 29, 2009 — 2 Comments

Are you with The Jets, The Sharks, or the Hawks?
1960 the year in which the Studebaker Hawk I saw this morning was manufactured, was a big year – the U.S. sent troops to Vietnam and Elvis returned from Germany. The Beatles earlier incarnation hooked up with Stuart Sutcliffe and left to play residency spots in Germany. Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry and Duane Eddy all released records. Also featured in 1960 was the great Chester Burnett, or Howlin`Wolf who had been making records since 1951. 1960 saw Wolf release four records including Spoonfull. Wolf had a great ear and since `55 had been working with the awesome guitarist Hubert Sumlin.

It`s likely that Hubert Sumlin`s electric playing brought Chicago across the Atlantic and into the hands of the Great British Blues Players & bands like The Rolling Stones, who made their first recording in 1962, The Animals, or the incandescent guitar trio of Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton – all members of The Yardbirds. In between, Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios. If you haven`t already heard what he did there in 54-55 with guitarist Scotty Moore then get a copy of the The Sun Sessions immediately – the guitar on that`s alright Mama is off the hook.

Wolf – Hubert Sumlin `51 Presley – Scotty Moore 54

Cheers,

Jake Edwards.

Posted in blues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blues Boy King

Written by Jamorama on April 28, 2009 — 3 Comments

Ever wondered where it`s at ?
It`s right here…check out the crossover between B.B.King here and Clapton`s live performance from the 1980 album Just One Night in Budokan. If you were going to buy ONLY ONE Clapton you need to buy about six…and don`t forget in a similar way to Hendrix, Clapton`s guitar prowess has overshadowed his songwriting genius…

1. Eric Clapton `Eric Clapton`
2. Eric Clapton `Just One Night`
3. John Mayalls Bluesbreakers `Beano` Album
4. Eric Clapton `Behind the Sun`
5. Eric Clapton `461 Ocean Boulevard`
6. The London Howlin` Wolf Sessions
7. Cream `Wheels of Fire` although all 3 albums are good
8. Eric Clapton `Sessions for Robert J`

This is what happens when you take Memphis – (Chicago) – to Surrey in the U.K.; man are King`s phrasing and tones bell like and sonorific?…but I`ve got a soft spot for Clapton cause I`m from the same village and used to bump into him when picking up the papers on a Sunday morning. He`s a great bloke.

B.B. King Freddie King Albert King Buddy Guy on guitar
Posted in blues | Tagged , ,

The Art of Guitar

Written by Jamorama on April 14, 2009 — 4 Comments

Hair metal poodles and spandex clad rockers beware..!

There are ways to burn on the guitar that far surpass the egocentric simplicity and slavery to technique of that whole guitar school, speed focused, sweep picking, notes for notes sake playing that occurs in a vacuum devoid of taste, subtlety and emotion. A while back I posted here about tasty solos and in a way all of these are shredders in the following sense:

The guitar as an instrument is emotive, not mechanical, slick or polished unless it needs to be as part of the expression – e.g. a Freddie King Lick, an Albert King bend, a Clapton phrase, the Leslie West tone, Hendrix` sustain etcetera…..What makes these kinds of players special is the integrity and honesty in the ability of their playing to communicate something very human and powerful – emotion, character, experience and individuality.

it`s a combination of melody or lack thereof, timing, timbre, attack, tone, technique and more; imperfection, humanity, frailty, strength, ambition, fear and glory. It`s ALL FEEL playing the guitar, nothing else, especially if you`ve a great song to do it with! J.J. Cale is a great example of a musician whose delivery, content, songwriting and even message seems to consist almost entirely of feel, and feel alone – incredible.  Then again someone like Paul Gilbert really, really cooks up  storm! Find what you like and mix it all together.

SO, it IS up to you entirely – there is an entire genre of speed/technique worthy of admiration ranging from neo-classicists such as Yngwie Malmsteen or Gary Moore (try the album After the War) – who has incidentally “reinvented” himself as a blues player – to the insane dexterity and sweep picking of Batio below….one day it`ll be so fast you can’t even hear it!! Mark Knpfler always seemed fast enough for me….

But if you feel good shredding, get down to it and have look at the video below especially between 1.40 minutes and 2.20 minutes. Michael Angelo Batio fast, very, very fast; or J.J.Cale…very, very slow…..mmmm

Cheers,

Jake Edwards
Posted in learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Robert Johnson

Written by Jamorama on March 24, 2009 — 3 Comments

I said yesterday that I`d write about Robert Johnson; there`s a lot of hoodoo wrapped up around the man, in particular that he sold his soul to the devil down in Clarksdale. Originally, Son House suggested, Johnson was not regarded as a good musician but after the trade with Satan he returned with the blazing skills and blues mastery of a demi-god.

I`d like to post a video here in which Eric Clapton talks about Robert Johnson and plays “Stones in the Passway”. It`s a great place to start exploring what Robert Johnson has to offer and why he is who he is. It also illuminates the sheer technique, the impact of the unusual, that is often confused with something arcane, mythical, metaphysical, divine and otherworldly and more specifically in the blues with superstition, an encounter with the Devil. It`s also interesting to note that the cross tempo section Eric Clapton discusses is a technique that Johnny Winter has used in varying degrees throughout his career. Johnny Winter`s Progressive Blues Experiment album from 1968 is chock full of blues.

A longer version of this post is available on my blog www.jakeedwards.net. it`s worth reading if you want to begin your search to play blues from within a context of initiating an understanding of the history, the language and with some interesting links.

Posted in blues, music | Tagged , , , ,
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