Instantly Recognizable Players

[stratcat2k]

i was just looking over at some other forum threads while i was listening to pat metheny and some other stuff, and i got to thinking that pat's tone really is recognizable from the get-go. you hear one note and you instantly know who's playing. i've found that the same holds true for guys like allan holdsworth, johnny smith, and so on.

 

the same happens with rock guys (i'm more of a rocker myself as opposed to a jazzbo, just in case anyone is wondering); for instance, my wife, who SO not into rock, can instantly identify steve vai! steve stevens (back in his billy idol eighties days) or george lynch also spring to mind.

 

so how about it guys? who do you think are other players out there who are instantly recognizable, in any genre? kinda like the pepsi taste test - given any two songs, would a person be able to identify whether the same guitarrist played in the song?

 

just one rule, though - try to avoid the obvious (don't be lazy and bring up b.b. king's "one note" or stuff like that!).

[rwgtr]

Instantly recognizable?

Jimi Hendrix may be too obvious...

Bill Frisell has an unmistakable touch and tone. I would say John Scofield, except he has been widely copied to my ear. Definitely Carlos Santana and Eddie Van Halen! Still may be too obvious, though. Vai and Satriani, sure. Satriani's tone tends to grate on me pretty quickly though. It's not something I would aspire to, tonewise. But he is a killer player. One of my favorites is Jimmy Page. He is a king of tone imho. Clapton with Cream was very distinctive and Jeff Beck, too even today. I like Buckethead's tone quite a bit and I have a lot of his recordings. His touch and feel is identifiable to my ear...

[Gruupi]

There are lots of players with instantly recognizable tones. One of the problems though is that anyone with a unique sound will be instantly copied. Still most of the great musicians have a sound and musical vocabulary that most copiers will not quite grasp.

[G. A. Donis]

I would say that the "obvious" ones are the ones who are instantly recognizeable. That's why they are the "obvious" ones. Especially by "regular" people. Instantly recognizeable by guitarists is another thing.

 

My wife who does not have an ear for music I believe could recognize SRV and BB King. Tom Morello is easily recognizeable because of his style. I'd say The Edge with the caveat that most regular people would say "that sounds like U2" as opposed to saying "that sounds like The Edge". Brian May probably fits also. Once again his name not may spring to the minds of "regular" people but they'd most likely recognize it as "Queen-like."

[Eric Iverson]

Amos Garrett is one of a kind, for sure.

[Lokair]

I can always pick out Steve Vai and of course SRV. I would like to think I could pull Michael Schenker out of a crowd. I think Dime Bag Darrell was a tone freak that is easily recognized in metal.

 

But alot of players like to think they are unique in tone , but most do not cut it that way. Now phrasing of notes and tone combined, you can even recognize subtle differences. Dave Murray, Janick Gers and Adrian Smith all three very similar in tonal quality but very recognizable in the combination of tone,phrasing, and even choice of notes while using a particular tone.

 

Just my lowly opinion

 

Lok

[Fingerstyle_Jim]

Mark Knopfler and Slash(!) are two that jump out of the speakers for me. Quite a few of the already mentioned above players are also on my radar, Santana, SRV etc.... and even though I don't hear him often, I almost always get it right when I say to myself "that sounds like Les Paul".

[skipclone 1]

Not all of the greats stick to their signature sound or approach-that`s one of the things that makes them great, to my ears. Tom Morello appears on Cypress Hill`s new CD and I would not know it`s him. But for distinctive and recognizable, Adrian Belew, Tuck Andress and Michael Hedges come to mind.

[Electric Biscuit]

Steve Hillage

Robert Fripp

Fred Frith

Daevid Allen

Ian Anderson (something about that capo)

James MacGaw

John MacLaughland

Michael Rother

Ed Wynne

Larry LaLonde

 

 

All impossible to mistake for anyone else

 

It's too bad nobody on this website knows more than maybe 4 of them, if even that

[Jasco]

Jeff Beck

 

Wes Montgomery

 

Django Reinhardt

 

Charlie Christian

[Mark Zeger]

Lenny Breau

Larry Carlton (you could always tell which of the Steely Dan solos were his)

John Scofield

Mike Stern

Duane Eddy

Dick Dale

Charlie Hunter

Stanley Jordan

Marc Ribot

 

Singer/songwriters with recognizable accompaniment styles:

Joni Mitchell

Paul Simon

James Taylor

[JipThePeople]

The great Ritchie Blackmore

[Eric Iverson]

Pat Martino

Chris Proctor

Bill Frisell

Mike Bloomfield

[Strategery]

Besides those listed.....

 

Andy Summers - Police

Billy Gibbons - ZZ-Top

Pete Townsend - The Who

[Gabriel E.]

All the good ones.

[picker]

Give me two bars of a solo and I tell you if it's one of these guys;

 

Joe Walsh

 

Carlos Santana

 

John McLaughlin

 

Stevie Ray Vaughn

 

Albert King

 

BB King

 

Gary Moore

 

Eddie Van Halen

 

Eric Johnson

 

Jimi Hendrix

 

Jeff Beck

 

John Fogarty

 

Alvin Lee

 

Les Paul

 

Ted Nugent

[Eric Iverson]

Could you tell if it was YOU, Mike, if you heard a few bars of something you had played?

 

Could I, come to think of it?? LOL

 

Seriously, while I appreciate the "How To Play Like......" columns in GP, I mostly want to be play like myself, only better. How many of you feel the same way?

[Gifthorse]

All the good ones.

 

ditto

[desertbluesman]

Tons of 'em

 

Most of them mentioned above.

[Scott Fraser]

Basically anybody who has distinguished him or herself as a distinctive player worthy of note is distinctive precisely because they are immediately identifiable. There's not a single noteworthy player I can think of who is essentially anonymous.

 

Scott Fraser

[picker]

Could you tell if it was YOU, Mike, if you heard a few bars of something you had played?

 

Yeah, I'd remember what I played and when I played it,

 

I, come to think of it?? LOL

 

Yep, I'm sure of it.

 

, while I appreciate the "How To Play Like......" columns in GP, I mostly want to be play like myself, only better. How many of you feel the same way?

 

Yeah, me too for the most part. I have only ever bothered to learn two solos note for note, Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe and SRV's Couldn't Stand The Weather. It has been a long time since I had to do note-for-note cover tunes on guitar, and even playing bass in my current band, I'm given a lot of latitude on covers.

[skipclone 1]

But the qualification has to be made-recognizable by whom? many of the players mentioned may be identifiable right off the bat by those who know their music but, halfway down the thread I started to see players who maybe I had heard of but no idea if I had even heard their playing.

[Electric Biscuit]

But the qualification has to be made-recognizable by whom? many of the players mentioned may be identifiable right off the bat by those who know their music but, halfway down the thread I started to see players who maybe I had heard of but no idea if I had even heard their playing.

 

That'd be my post, eh?

[skipclone 1]

But the qualification has to be made-recognizable by whom? many of the players mentioned may be identifiable right off the bat by those who know their music but, halfway down the thread I started to see players who maybe I had heard of but no idea if I had even heard their playing.

 

That'd be my post, eh?

 

No, I`m not singling anyone out. That`s my point, everyone is posting players that THEY would know right off, not necessarily anyone else.

Maybe the first few, well you`d have to live in a cave if you didn`t know. After that it gets debatable.

[fesquell]

in the 70's and 80's it was more easy. You could recognize a player miles away from here like Blackmore, Allman or Gilmour but nowadays in my opinion you can recognize a player style, but is hard to be sure or guarantee if he really is. Many people is playing like his idols and the market is fully!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Players I generally pick up virtually instantly:

 

John McLaughlin

George Benson

Charlie Hunter

Buckethead

Andy Summers

Tom Morello

Joe Satriani

Steve Vai

Robert Fripp

Adrian Belew

Reeves Gabrels

Eric Johnson

SRV

YJM

EVH

Carlos Santana

Michael Hedges

Kaki King

Steve Stevens

George Lynch

Ronnie Montrose

Helios Creed

Steve Howe

Jimi Hendrix

David Gilmour

Paco Romero

Al Di Meola

Ritchie Blackmore

Kim Thayil

Tony Iommi

Angus Young

Joe Perry

Tom Scholz

Jennifer Batten

Dick Dale

Mikko Lankinen

 

...but I've listened to a LOT of their music

[picker]

The thread was about "players you recognize". I figured "you" was me. I can't answer for what anyone else recognizes.

[Eric Iverson]

It's a good thing to have a recognizable style, but not all situations call for it. Sometimes you just need to play the written part on the page, or the part on the record. Ain't nothin' wrong with that, either!

Creativity is not "overrated" exactly, but it's not the only factor involved, especially if the focus is on someone else, or in religious services on the God you are worshipping.

[skipclone 1]

The thread was about "players you recognize". I figured "you" was me. I can't answer for what anyone else recognizes.

 

Brand new shoes, meet puddle of ambiguity...

[Larryz]

too many to list...Chet, Les, Mark, Eric, BB, Jerry, Roy, John, George, Richard, all on a 1st name basis of course...right...Steevie, David, Jimmi, another Roy, Django, etc...