DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Best guitar performance of all time?

He was only 24 or 25 years old when these were recorded. He was touched by God.

I always thought he was self-taught, but now I see that he had help.

Some say he is God. Or at least they use to.
Man. In that ‘Let it Rain’ the entire band was relentless for almost 20 minutes. The rhythm section worked their arses off.

No discussion about generational guitar talent would be complete without the inclusion of John McLaughlin. Founder of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he was always attracted to Eastern spirituality and tonality.

Late 70's, he dispensed with the supercharged double-neck electric guitar and the exotic/progressive sounds of Mahavishnu, and went full-on acoustic.

He also began diving deep into Indian and Hindustani forms with the dynamic quartet Shakti.

JM: guitar(s)
L. Shankar: violin
Zakir Hussain: tabla
T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram: Ghatam

For speed, accuracy and sheer prodigy, no one can top these guys. And their live performances were transcendent. Shame they were only together for 3 albums.

Check this out, Hounds. Take a journey with me.

I got turned onto Zakir Hussain 20 plus years ago by a percussionist buddy of mine. We’d sit and imbibe while he’d play Zakir tracks then try to replicate them on his own tabla. All the while showing me how to listen to Zakir’s playing and how different parts of the skin sounded different and such. My buddy had hand speed but man Zakir’s accuracy and speed combo is crazy off the charts.

He probably turned you on to Tabla Beat Science.

Fantastic group.

If it was by some other vehicle, please check them out. You can thank me later.

He nailed it!

McLauglin also plays on the highly underappreciated and my personal favorite Miles Davis LP, 'A Tribute To Jack Johnson'.

Stanley Jordan is a jazz guitarist that is crazy talented.
Here’s his take on Stairway to Heaven.

Does this count?

I’ll just say..anything by JJ Cale. IMO he has the best picking style of them all including Eric Clapton.

There are many great ones but I always go back to my favourite guitarist and his epic solo performance in 1983. Scroll in about four minutes https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_S02pSFLw6w

Forgot all about him. I saw him on a late night talk show years ago and went out and bought a cassette the next day. Phenomenal.

I actually found that exact performance. Ain't youtube grand!

Before opening that link, I guessed it would be a Rik Emmett or April Wine vid.

There is this concept we musos call "touch." As in "This dude plays with a great sense of touch." It means a level of fine motor control that allows for an entire catalog of sonic effects so that no two notes a created alike (unless sameness is the goal).

Speed and note choice are enough to satisfy most listeners, but when touch is added, the music takes on another dimension of depth.

I love amplified acoustic guitars like the hollow body Gibsons that Jazz guys like George Benson and Wes Montgomery play. And when you add the compositional approach of 'fingerstyle' to the mix, well- something truly special can be made.

Here is Tuck Andress playing Wes Montgomery's 'Up & At It.' Listen to how he's able to provide melody, harmony, a separate bass line and percussive effects simultaneously. This is guitar playing as only a few can manage. Each joint is a masterpiece of conception, construction, application and cold-blooded execution.

I've been a fan of this guy's for 25 years. I often call him "the best guitarist you've never heard of."

*He's ½ of the duo Tuck and Patti with his long-time wife, Patti Cathcart.

That was amazing, as was your description of what I was hearing! I believe what you wrote defines the difference between a player and a true musician.



I think most people are happy to play and listen to a specific run of notes and chords, with a little creativity at some of the connections. They want the familiarity of the repetition and the ability follow along. Unfortunately, I don't have your skill at describing what I'm thinking musically, and I hope I got my point across. Every note coming from the fingers of these guitarists is a work of art. It takes focus and concentration to really enjoy it. I can't wait to get home from work tonight and find some more Tuck Andress videos. I want to see him play.

Thank you for listing Wes. Seeing his name in here made my day.

Love me some Montgomery. So cool, so smooth, so delicate & jazzy, yet.....just PERFECT.

You might find this interesting.

I still distinctly recall listening to the Surfing with the Alien album over and over in the early 90's and feeling like I could actually hear lyrics in his guitar. It's who I came into this thread to post about.

We have the Songsbirds museum here in Chattanooga. You can pull up the website....the worlds largest private collects of famous guitars. Tens of $millions worth.

I have seen Jr Brown a few times. I will see him again in April when he comes. He is mostly a country boy from Arizona, moved and raised in Indiana., but he plays anything. The guy can burn it.

Here he is playing the axe with some rock....like I said, he plays anything, and what a guitar he has.

Haha, that was funny! I wouldn’t put AW’s guitarists up there with the best. But Rik?

Oh hell yeah....

Dude is not very popular. Dude is not very attractive. Dude doesn't have a very good voice. But, the dude can play. You gotta watch the videos all the way through. He starts slow, but kicks ass the longer he goes.


Consider:


Epic rendition:








I don't know if I have ever heard a performer make a guitar cry like Gary Moore did on this song. And again, you gotta give it time. He starts slow..............but man, I don't know if I have ever heard anyone get down like this........Ever!

Gary Moore was a player for sure. Well-respected in the guitar community. I have a guitar magazine from the mid-80s that has a feature on him. When he would record a guitar part, he never “punched in”.

In other words, if Moore recorded a good solo that had one note out of place, he didn’t just record that one note again, he re-did the entire solo because even if no one else knew, he would know.

He had integrity.

Awesome. He is so underrated by many. I swear no one can make a guitar cry like he can.

j/c:

I don't know if it is the best of all-time but this is damn good.




....wait for it.

And yes, that's Steve Winwood.

Sad to think that 2 of them are now dead.

j/c...

The audience had no idea what they were witnessing....



Keith Richards (can't wait for their show at First Energy Stadium in June)...

Gary Moore was so well respected in the guitar
Community.
He was always bigger in the UK than Stateside.
He was on the bill for Monsters of Rock Festivals
In 1984.
Incredible lineup. VAN HALEN...IRON MAIDEN...DIO.
MOTLEY CRUE...ACCEPT...Y&T..GARY MOORE
I think he was a candidate to replace Randy Rhodes in Ozzys band.
But sadly Gary Moore like Phil Lynott could not beat his demons.

Truth!

I was thinking about this the last couple of days and have contemplated it from time to time over the years. I maintain that no one could make a guitar "cry" like Gary Moore could. Some dudes make theirs talk and it's great. Some can make them cry at times, but no one did it like Moore did.

The crazy thing is that you could look at the dude's face when he was playing and see he was tortured. You learn about his story and realize he was a tortured soul. Combine all of that w/his mastery of an instrument and you get pure genius.

It's often been said that the line from pure genius to insanity is very thin. Some of the greatest artists of all-time danced that dance. Fokslike van Gogh, Beethoven, O'Keeffe, Edvard Munch, Anne Sexton, etc all faced demons that ultimately destroyed them. Hell, I think Richard Pryor was a comedic genius and his demons were part of that genius and also responsible for his death. I think the link is real for many of these people. Man, listen to some of Bowie's songs and you can interpret how fearful he was of madness.

I started as a psych major because the human mind fascinates me. I switched majors after learning that it seemed to be more about being able to prove yourself through clinical trials rather than focusing on helping those who needed the help.

Let me end by posting a video that is all too obvious about the connection of insanity/genius and some cool guitar playing.

Seems like alot of musicians especially in the blues and country genres they can only express their torment through their instrument or vocals
But back to Gary Moore.
Growing up in Ireland had to be a such a influence on his playing.
Much like Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath coming from Birmingham
So many talented players from the UK.