Prima Donna Lead Guitarists

[Eric Iverson]

A spinoff from the female singer thread.

 

Lead guitarists have a bad reputation in some circles as self-centered prima donnas. A quote from Meat Loaf's autobiography:

 

"I couldn't deal with them [lead guitarists] AT ALL. A good one is always inside his guitar, and nothing else exists for him."

 

And Danny Gatton mentioned liking one gig because "every song was an excuse for a guitar solo." (Not implying any criticism of the late great Mr. Gatton here; if anyone could pull that off, HE could!)

 

But not all musical situations are like that!

 

Anyway, do you think that the prima donna thing is typical, or are most lead guitarists more mature than that?

 

In my particular situations, while they seemed to like my lead playing, I would have lasted about say, ten seconds or so had I come in thinking like that! And I was always happy to split the lead work with the other guy 50-50, if he was any good.

 

Eric a/k/a Primo Don

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Adults are just like children, in that they will get away with whatever you let them get away with, until you slap them down and teach them where the boundaries are.

 

The most fun that I've had in playing is where the players left their egos at the door, and each player LISTENED, and PLAYED ALONG with the others.

 

Bill

[fantasticsound]

Nashville has a tendency of bringing out the more mature players in greater numbers than elsewhere. I suppose when everyone is a hot-sh*t guitar player you tend to let your fingers do the talking and artist bands are not static. There are players who work from band to band until they get with a really major artist they like. There are also artists whose management decide they need a change and fire the entire band for no reason. Just because.

 

In that kind of climate the best thing you can do to keep a job or get a better gig is to act professional. In general, the prima donnas just don't last here.

[Billster]

I think it's more of a rock band syndrome than in other genres of music. But you can have prima donnas on any instrument, or in any profession really

[Zephyr]

JV is an example of an anti-prima donna (keep it to a two post minimum if you must Ell)

 

I feel moreso today than any time previous that a majority of guitarists are only obsessed with soloing and have little to no rythmic sense at all. (I'm not talking about pros either, I mean the people you see on Y/T) Not only that, but the seem keen to play as fast as they can all the time.

 

While there is a time and place for a solo and speed, performing a lightning fast solo every song gets dreary and stale. They also forget songwriting qualities and are focused on playing as fast as possible, that's probably why there are fewer really good songs out now then there were 30 years ago.

 

That's why I can appreciate people like Gilmour. He plays every note meaningfully and puts them in the right place in the right time, and it makes for a great song and doesn't deter me like modern metal does.

 

so are guitarists prima donna's? I believe there's an aura like that around guitarists that think they are going to be the next best thing. So yes, I think so.

[Shoes]

Personally I'd have to admit it's as natural an inclination to want to voice yourself to your limits when playing lead as is the case with most lead singers.

Same position.. different instrument.

 

However... not every song deserves the same treatment and that's where age and/or experience mean everything.

 

Here's a sin I'll admit.. but perhaps you've experienced it or at least understand...

 

Cover AudioSlave's I Am The Highway and then feel the potential that lay in that space and decide... do I fill it the way my mind hears it or just bleed along that same temperate line.

It is live music they want to hear after all.

 

There's craving attention and fulfilling the moment and I don't characterize them as being anything alike other than critics confuse the two continually.

 

I'd say that most guitarist are reserved by the standards set from our heroes of yesteryear and are more comfortable being part of the team. Less likely to indulge themselves at everyone else's expense... but the feeling's likely still there.

 

there's something about spots...

 

I'm certain my stage freight keeps me from becoming a monster.

 

 

[Dr. Ellwood]

"JV is an example of an anti-prima donna"

 

LOL!! Like he has a choice!!

[Dr. Ellwood]

Some of that is dependent on who you are playing with. I'm a pretty good lead player BUT... everyone in my band flat kicks my butt as a player and musician, when that happens it tends to keep your attitude grounded as a guitarist!!

[Billster]

"JV is an example of an anti-prima donna"

 

LOL!! Like he has a choice!!

 

Being a prima donna has nothing to do with minimalism. As a point of comparison, SRV had an over the top style, but I'm not aware of him being regarded as a prima donna. OTOH, you could have a guy who plays a minimalist style like Jimmie be a complete jerk.

[MILLO]

I think it's more of a rock band syndrome than in other genres of music. But you can have prima donnas on any instrument, or in any profession really

+1... no, +1,000,000!

[Strategery]

By Bill@WHS....

 

The most fun that I've had in playing is where the players left their egos at the door, and each player LISTENED, and PLAYED ALONG with the others.

 

Bill

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

 

I have to go along with Bill on this and YES...most guitar players ARE prima Donnas.

 

I guess until they do, most guitar players are out to prove themselves.

Only a few of them seem to mature though.

The ones that are willing to be part of the WHOLE..or the BAND, are the really good ones.

That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it.

 

Randy

 

 

[soggybomb]

before taking up guitar, i briefly played piano/keyboards. i took lessons at this local small music school. all the piano players who were more experienced than me were all ready to show me their chops to prove they were hot shit and i was not.

 

this goes to show that egotism is not constrained to guitars, it is constrained to immaturity. it just so happens that there are a lot more immature guitar players.

[guitarzan6000]

Ther are certainly "Prima Donnas" out there, the secret is to find a band that doesn't have any...LOL!!! Good Luck, I know... HA HA!!! The best thing I have found as a guitarist, is when you join a band and the "lead" player thinks he's Hot Sh*t, you go in and rip off a couple leads that will blow the doors off the band, that tends to bring them back to reality FAST!!! Always remember that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better than you. And as I learned in Martial Arts: Anyone can get beaten on ANY given day. In "my" band I only play a little less than half of the leads. I know the other guitarist is better than me in a lot of songs. I also know that there are a lot of songs that I am better than he is. But we don't argue or get pissed if the other one takes over a lead. THATS where the "maturity" part kicks in...

 

Also I see it even in High School bands. Both my kids play in thier schools bands, And it's funny how the kid who makes "first chair" thinks they are the "Hot one"...LOL!!! Oh well we all grow up sometime....

[GuitarPlayerFL]

I've only ever encountered lead singers with the PD disease.

A great lead singer, front man is hard to find and they know it.

[Gifthorse]

I think I have seen more of that behavior from lead singers than guitarists. I think lots of times singers who didn't learn an instrument first are more like this. Seems like there is a certain respect one achieves for music if they play an instrument first.

 

As for lead guitar prima donnas I don't know any. I mean all the good players know how to fit in to the scope of the song and be dynamic.

 

I consider a solo to be a challenge. A challenge to keep myself interested in the song. I personally don't like guitar solos in songs if they are distracting. Thats why I like Don Felder's lead style. He can totally make his solo a part of the song. Like in 'I can't tell you why'

 

You know some guys are great wankers like old Eddie, but he is only great because his band is great and they have great style and songwriting chemistry.

 

Bands that have crappy songs and a shredding guitarist mean nothing to me.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

My post was edited, and I don't want to make a really big deal about it... I mean, your forum, your rules. But it would be nice to know what the rules are. There was not a single swear word in my post, I did not attack any individual or ethnic or religious group, and I see a lot of very harsh things said in very harsh ways on this board to and about individuals which don;t seem to rate an edit (though seldom do i see that on this particular forum...) and I feel that the edit was arbitrary. I also feel that I made my point VERY well. (g)

 

Bill

 

 

[Bejeeber]

I also feel that I made my point VERY well.

 

Prima Donna.

 

HA!!! Just kiddin!! Really!

[mdrs]

I also feel that I made my point VERY well.

 

Prima Donna.

 

HA!!! Just kiddin!! Really!

 

LOL, er, yea!!!

 

The world is chock full of horses' behinds. Some of them may happen to be lead guitarists. Luck of the draw.

[Bluesape]

My post was edited, and I don't want to make a really big deal about it... I mean, your forum, your rules. But it would be nice to know what the rules are. There was not a single swear word in my post, I did not attack any individual or ethnic or religious group, and I see a lot of very harsh things said in very harsh ways on this board to and about individuals which don;t seem to rate an edit (though seldom do i see that on this particular forum...) and I feel that the edit was arbitrary. I also feel that I made my point VERY well. (g)

 

Bill

 

 

 

I can't see an edit, Bill. Usually when we edit a post it will at least say who edited it. I've gone into numerous posts and modified an expletive, with many members here, and taken no further issue with it. I've only PM'd a few people about their conduct here, but never yourself, for the record.

[picker]

Ego & attitude are part of any soloist's make-up to a degree. Some seem to have more of it than others, and that makes them a giant pain in the pants on many levels. IF you can't get any musician to harness their abilities to serve the song, and curb their ego to relieve the other members of the band, they need to be given the right foot of fellowship, i.e. kick them either to the curb or out of the band. Especially guitarist; there are too many guitarists out there to put up with unreasonable duress.

 

On the other hand, I recall that the legendary bluegrass player and staunch Baptist-teetotaling-anti-booze guy Bill Monroe ended up having to deal with a banjo player who got drunk on a fairly regular basis, guy by the name of Earl Scruggs, because he had the most unique and amazing style of banjo playing that had ever come down the pike, and he was making Monroe a ton of m-o-n-e-y. Sometimes you put up with a certain amount of crap, if it's worth it. I guess the only one who can decide if it's worth it to you is you.

 

That being said, guys who take every opportunity to blaze their fabulous licks into everybody's face whether it fits the song or not are not in the same league as Earl Scruggs...

[02R96]

In my experience I always ran into an affliction called lead-singer-itis (a good example would be David Lee Roth). How ever you can find massive egos in every line of work (when I worked in radio there were PLENTY of them). My wife works in health care and always talks about RN-itis. I think is a combination of ego, delusions of grandeur and control.

[Strategery]

Hey Bill@WHS.....

 

Uh oh, you may be like me...senility is starting to set in.

You prima donna you....or at our age is it...Pre-Madonna? :D

 

Randy

[Hardtail]

Especially guitarist; there are too many guitarists out there to put up with unreasonable duress.

 

The converse of this is that since there are more guitarists than other instrumentalists, sometimes they feel they can kick the guitarist around because they know they can get another one if he doesn't like their crap.

 

[Eric Iverson]

Yes, it's true, there are many good guitarists out there, and only a few geniuses.

 

As far as being treated like crap, I haven't had that experience. Well, there was one church where they disrespected ALL of us... cancelling practices without having the courtesy to call and let us know, etc. etc. But that wasn't because of me playing the guitar.

 

One girl did mention to me how vastly superior the keyboard was, in spite of the fact that me and the bassist/sax player had done an excellent job of playing for the English service. But that was her opinion, and I didn't really care what she thought - after all, she didn't actually KNOW anything about music! (Not sure if that's relevant.....)

 

But back to the point: yes, most of us are well advised to be confident but not arrogant, since we are not the only good guitarist on the face of the earth!