Call me old fashioned but the only thing I`ve ever thought was a great romantic, gothic and truly bluesy use for used guitar strings involved a tall tree, and a precariously balanced stool to dance with the devil upon…for a short while. Emo huh?
Or maybe I`ve just been listening to too much Beck Hansen…for awhile there he was definitely throwing down some Dylanesque skills both lyrically and instrumentally. I draw your attention here to Beck`s rough house cover of Dylan`s Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat in all it`s steampunk lo-fi, harp-dog magnificence. It`s great but covering Dylan is a bit like trying recreate Picasso with your local painter and decorator…scruffy!
With the rerun shows
And the cocaine nose-job
The daytime crap of the folksinger slop
He hung himself with a guitar string…
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.
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.
