Guitarist Discussion

[Mountain Man]

However, if you have not heard a solo with more than four notes, you have either not listened a lot or not listened very carefully. Start at 1:10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCj0FRoc2Uk

I was being somewhat tongue in cheek. I know that a lot of what he does is more complex than it sounds, but there are many, many guitarists who are more technically proficient.

[curt]

However, if you have not heard a solo with more than four notes, you have either not listened a lot or not listened very carefully. Start at 1:10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCj0FRoc2Uk

I was being somewhat tongue in cheek. I know that a lot of what he does is more complex than it sounds, but there are many, many guitarists who are more technically proficient.

Certainly. There are, however, not many who have had his talent when it comes to creating a rather new and unique way of playing.

[Mountain Man]

However, if you have not heard a solo with more than four notes, you have either not listened a lot or not listened very carefully. Start at 1:10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCj0FRoc2Uk

I was being somewhat tongue in cheek. I know that a lot of what he does is more complex than it sounds, but there are many, many guitarists who are more technically proficient.

Certainly. There are, however, not many who have had his talent when it comes to creating a rather new and unique way of playing.

Read an interview with him years ago, and he was asked what other instruments he wished he could play. He said he always respected Larry Mullen's skills as a drummer but that if he ever took up drumming, he would run the instrument through so many effects boxes that it wouldn't even sound like drums any more.

[executioner]

While I love the solos guitar wise I really am sold on a guitarist with his rhythm chops; This is the reason why I love Bob Hartman's guitar work so much. Bob's rhythm playing is on par with most professionals out there. I will also say Bob doesn't get enough credit for his solos; most of his solos flow through the song structure with very little effort which is a sign of a great guitarist. My 2 favorite solos of Bob's are from "Whole World" and the 2nd solo on "Creed" (the last minute of the song).

I remember when JAH was released and most fans were complaining because there were a very small amount of solos on the album and I remember Bob saying "A guitar solo for me has to fit & flow smoothly through the song and I would never put a solo in there just to have one" I think that whole album is some of Bob's best work.

[George Harrison]

While I love the solos guitar wise I really am sold on a guitarist with his rhythm chops; This is the reason why I love Bob Hartman's guitar work so much. Bob's rhythm playing is on par with most professionals out there. I will also say Bob doesn't get enough credit for his solos; most of his solos flow through the song structure with very little effort which is a sign of a great guitarist. My 2 favorite solos of Bob's are from "Whole World" and the 2nd solo on "Creed" (the last minute of the song).

I remember when JAH was released and most fans were complaining because there were a very small amount of solos on the album and I remember Bob saying "A guitar solo for me has to fit & flow smoothly through the song and I would never put a solo in there just to have one" I think that whole album is some of Bob's best work.

Yep. Bob's solos always are very melodic, and they always flow very well with the song and chords underneath. It's one of the things that makes his playing so enjoyable. His solos never sound out of place.

I too would have liked more solos on J&H but I still enjoy the album a great deal. The production is better and more timeless than some of their albums frons the 80's/ early 90's imo

[George Harrison]

Keaggy ... His style however does not really work for me but that is a personal thing.

What style? Keaggy's music is extremely diverse. It's one of the reasons he's never been a mainstay on any record label, because he would make a straight ahead rock n' roll album followed by an acoustic instrumental album, then a blues album, then Spanish guitar, then a psychedelic throwback, and so on -- and he excels at all of it. There's no single style of music you can point to as his signature sound. Labels don't like that. They want easily marketable consistency. Keaggy's philosophy has always been "There's life without a recording contract," because it has allowed him the freedom to do whatever he wants.

I am afraid you are confusing genre of music with style of playing in the above. With most of the really great players, you can rather easily identify their style of playing even when the genre of music is changed. The same goes for Keaggy who is, indeed, a great player. It just really does not do anything for me personally. I have a hard time finding the words to describe why.

I feel the same about Keaggy, great musician but nothing really catches my ear. In an earlier post I was talking about on how Lennon & McCartney were not great guitarists but what I really meant was overall not great musicians. I've always felt the Beatles were so overrated as a whole. Their music has always been very bland and vanilla to me. The chords and lyrical style is so elementary.

Keaggy is one of those where I instantly hear he is a great player, but it does not really move me in any way. I have never been moved by anything he played while that happens quite often when I listen a player like Knopfler. And I repeat, it is a personal thing.

Well, I agree with you about The Beatles. To some extent they were "the first" (they really were not but that is how they are precieved). When I look at bands like Beatles and Stones I very often get the feeling that they are overrated due to their place in history.

I haven't heard anywhere near all of the Beatles music (I'm considerably younger than the generation that comprised their audience), but I did enjoy a number of their songs. Some of them manage to have unique and interesting melodies and harmonies while still being appealing to the general public, and still being "catchy". Songs like Blackbird, A Day in the Life, and While my Guitar Gently weeps (which has a chromatically descending baseline, and switches between the key of Am and it's parallel major, A).
But I do not think they are the "best" band that has ever existed, and are not my favourite band either. I guess they are often considered the "greatest band ever" in part because of their immense popularity, the same as with Queen or Led Zeppelin etc. Maybe the "best band" (in terms of how good their music is) is an unpopular band that few have heard of, who knows

[Mountain Man]

While I love the solos guitar wise I really am sold on a guitarist with his rhythm chops; This is the reason why I love Bob Hartman's guitar work so much. Bob's rhythm playing is on par with most professionals out there. I will also say Bob doesn't get enough credit for his solos; most of his solos flow through the song structure with very little effort which is a sign of a great guitarist. My 2 favorite solos of Bob's are from "Whole World" and the 2nd solo on "Creed" (the last minute of the song).

I remember when JAH was released and most fans were complaining because there were a very small amount of solos on the album and I remember Bob saying "A guitar solo for me has to fit & flow smoothly through the song and I would never put a solo in there just to have one" I think that whole album is some of Bob's best work.

Bob's biggest strength as a guitarist is that he's solid and consistent. His style never screams "Look at me!" even during live performances. I think it's a sign of humility. As John Schlitt once described it, Bob doesn't bounce around the stage and put on a show, he just stands off to the side and does his thing, and does it really, really well.

Agree with you about Jekyll & Hyde. I don't mind the lack of solos because the guitar work throughout is brilliant.

[Mountain Man]

J&H ... The production is better and more timeless than some of their albums frons the 80's/ early 90's imo

That's because it's a recording of real musicians playing real instruments in a real studio. It doesn't have that artificial Elefante sound. It's very similar to Wake Up Call in that respect.

[curt]

Now that we have mainly focused on those who are overrated, perhaps we should focus on those who are underrated?

Not that he is completely unknown at all and has not been given any credits I would still point to Joe Bonamassa as a guitar player I would say is underrated to some extent. With very few exceptions I have seen all my guitar heroes live, and Bonamassa is certainly right up there with all of them.

I would agree with those (and among those we find himself) who say he does not have his own style, touch or whatever we should call it. He is not one of those you listen to and then instantly know it is him. Most of the time it could be any very talented guitar player (at least to my ears). However, he plays everything convincingly from acoustics, clean soft tones to heavily distorted tones.

Another reason that he is not as highly regarded could be that he is playing classic stuff to rather large extent and some of his own tracks are not as good as the good old classics.

Anyway, I really like most of his stuff, and if you are a guitar nerd, he is rather interesting when it comes to that as well since he plays all sorts of old mainly fender and gibson stuff, owns about 400 guitars, has numerous signature guitars you can buy and brings even the most valuable vintage guitars on tour.

If you don’t know him, check him out:
https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeBonamassaTV/videos

I had to spend some time getting used to some parts of it, but now I really like it.