Hendrix was the greatest distorted Electric Guitar Star. I personally didn't think much of him with an acoustic.. good but not great and from the limited jams I've heard he didn't cut it.
Clapton's transition between the genres with a range of guitars and his ability to jam put's him up there. His acoustic cover of Mason Williams' Classical Gas was better than Jim Croce's.
John Williams the classical guitar man.. didn't foot it with his pop band Sky.. interesting though.
I'm a recent fan of Eddy Van Halen same reasons.. love Ice Cream Man.
Solo guitarists like Duane Eddy, Al Ciaola, Bert Weadon, Hank Marvin and Peter Posa, never seemed to cut it with raunchy rock band leads. (to my knowledge anyway)
One guy in the background quietly plucking away that springs to mind is Eric Johnson. I've heard his White Cliffs and his acoustic Blues tributes and find him hard to fault.
Has anyone heard Bonnie Raitt or George Thorogood play other guitar styles?
Hey I'm no expert... who can do it all? let's have your thoughts and examples.
Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen can play pretty much any style pretty much flawlessly....but they're all technique and no personality.
Brian May would have to get a vote, as would Mark Knopfler. They're both best known for soft rock styles but solo efforts have shown a depth to their skills in pretty much any style.
And, of course, Slash. People tend to think of him purely as the Hard Rock lead guitarist from Guns'N'Roses but he can play classical, blues, pop, prog rock, Metal (both classic and modern), and all points in between......never heard him playing any Jazz though 🙂.
Originally posted by shortgoth1I have the grammy winning album of Knopfler and Chet Atkins picking away... Mark does have character and versatility..
Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen can play pretty much any style pretty much flawlessly....but they're all technique and no personality.
Brian May would have to get a vote, as would Mark Knopfler. They're both best known for soft rock ...[text shortened]... points in between......never heard him playing any Jazz though 🙂.
Choosing music or musicians work is like chosing booze. You may like a beer cold in the afternoon with Bill Bartlett from Ram Jam & the Lemon Pipers.. or Charlie Hargrett of Blackfoot or his replacement Bobby Barth (who incidently is an officianado of the 1930-1940 slide guitar.
Who liked the Black Crowes and Jimmy Page acoustic version of Black Dog?.... could be top shelf....
Originally posted by Tirau DanIf you are going for versatility you probably have to choose a session musician, someone who plays all manner of styles for a living. I'd probably opt for Dominic Miller, described as the guitarist's guitarist he's as comfortable with playing classical acoustic as he is playing rock electric.
Hendrix was the greatest distorted Electric Guitar Star. I personally didn't think much of him with an acoustic.. good but not great and from the limited jams I've heard he didn't cut it.
Clapton's transition between the genres with a range of guitars and his ability to jam put's him up there. His acoustic cover of Mason Williams' Classical Gas ...[text shortened]... tar styles?
Hey I'm no expert... who can do it all? let's have your thoughts and examples.
Oh and whomever said Malmsteen and Vai are versatile needs their head examined. Technically fast and impressive yes, versatile, I don't think so.
Originally posted by wucky3He can depress you in 101 different ways 😉 "Bengali in Platforms" was a dig at him really wasn't it?
Johnny Marr 😀
I think he is very good though, he has played with many different people...he guested on a really good album by folk singer..gah...can't remember...had Bernard Butler on it as well...
Isn't PRINCE a versatile guitarist?
Originally posted by CandyDarlingTook me twenty years to get used to Prince.. he can jam but I haven't heard evidence of versatility
He can depress you in 101 different ways 😉 "Bengali in Platforms" was a dig at him really wasn't it?
I think he is very good though, he has played with many different people...he guested on a really good album by folk singer..gah...can't remember...had Bernard Butler on it as well...
Isn't PRINCE a versatile guitarist?
Originally posted by StarrmanI saw that in the other thread.. I'm not keen.
If you are going for versatility you probably have to choose a session musician, someone who plays all manner of styles for a living. I'd probably opt for Dominic Miller, described as the guitarist's guitarist he's as comfortable with playing classical acoustic as he is playing rock electric.
Oh and whomever said Malmsteen and Vai are versatile needs their head examined. Technically fast and impressive yes, versatile, I don't think so.
Session musos are extremely underrated..
Glen Campbell was one of the most sought after session guitarists in the sixties.
Glen picked the lead for The Irish Rovers Unicorn song and for the Beach Boys on Good Vibrations and played guitar for greats... like Doris Day, Phil Spectre (he also sang backing for BB King, Johnny Cash, Elvis and and Little Rishard.)
i'd have to agree with brian may and slah-but would like to ass satriani. he doesn't show it, but he's gotta be pretty versatile to be a tutor (which he was rather good at-he taught the metallica guy and vai) although most of his stuff is plain old shred with a smattering of blues...
EDIT: john5 as well-have you heard vertigo? 'tis...weird, but a combination of sooooooooo many styles. versatlie, that man is indeed! plus, les paul himself said he was quite good (a rather large complement from the man himself) and vai called him a true original...
