Guitar Wankers Suck! Vocals Rule!

[dansouth]

Well, if you want to hear some really GOOD guitar playing, I suggest you get your butts out of the record store and go to mp3.com. Specifically, you should check out some of the awesome recordings posted on Craig and Dave's sites. Mr. KAHN, Mr. Chip MacDonald, and Mr. W. F. Turner are masters of the clean sound. Mr. truth@jamfree.com has some excellent guitar jamming on his site. Also, check out http://www.mp3.com/spigots and http://www.mp3.com/DeadBlackJedis for some tasty "riddims" and scorching hot licks.

 

Let the heros wank their way into semi-retirement. Be bold. Be daring. Check out the NEW stuff.

[Steve LeBlanc]

Specifically, you should check out some of the awesome recordings posted on Craig and Dave's sites. Mr. KAHN, Mr. Chip MacDonald, and Mr. W. F. Turner are masters of the clean sound. Mr. truth@jamfree.com has some excellent guitar jamming on his site. Also, check out http://www.mp3.com/spigots and http://www.mp3.com/DeadBlackJedis for some tasty "riddims" and scorching hot licks.

 

I agree Dan, there is a lot of good music being made and the radio/MTV/VH1 ain't necessarily the place to find it.

 

Thanks for mentioning JamFree, when playing the guitar I try really hard to play from the heart. I try http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif

 

P.S.

I decided to change my profile name, truth@jamfree.com has been my email address for a long time but I don't really like being referred to as TRUTH or Mr. truth, etc. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Especially because I'm so opinionated and often full of shit. (well not really)

[Tedster]

Well, Lee, lemme qualify a bit more. You said "To the BAND the drummer...etc...to the AUDIENCE...etc..."

 

Still boils down to the drummer. The audience might not know it, so it's a subliminal thing...but they're grooving to the drummer. That's the glue that holds it together. If the drummer sucks...nothing else will happen, vocals, guitar, etc...it will all sound lame.

 

That's not knocking anyone else, IMHO, 'cause if you get a bunch of skilled folks together...it'll be way better. Everyone is important, but, the fundamental of the music most of us play is the BEAT, and who supplies said beat? Mr. Sticks.

 

Yep, Khan, it's all important...

[Lee Flier]

Ted,

 

I'll second that!

 

--Lee

[Skip_dup1]

Well here goes my bit-hope I`m not stirring up too much of a quagmire.

I saw Steve Vai last year-loved it until he started to sing...oh boy. Thankfully it was one song.

It sounds like a lot of people are not looking at the overall picture. Most hit music now is being made by people who don`t know a thing about music-producers and DJs. Guitar music has been compartmentalized into the `rock chart` category. The main English radio station in Japan recently changed its entire prime time format to hip-hop/R&B. The problem is not more guitar or less. It`s how to keep the guitar/bass/drum format fresh, and relavent to what`s happening. Anything else is an also-issue.

To be honest, if I didn`t write my own material, I might just be playing as a hobby. I`ve always hated that term `guitar hero`. What am I gonna do- `I have to stop my solo, somewhere there`s a citizen in peril`-give me a break. Any great musician will connect with non-musicians most directly through a compelling song with lyrics (or melody) that reach people. Great playing is the wrapper, not the filling. That doesn`t mean it`s not important. Actually I liked some of the technical 80s stuff-Vinnie Moore did an instrumental called `free` that still fires my jets. I never thought the problem with pop music was too much guitar wanking. IMO it was too much of, `we have a space here, let`s put in a solo`, and it`s a meandering, pointless, go-nowhere solo. As for vocals, I can sing well, but I don`t have that lead vocalist edge-maybe I need to drink more.

I`ve done lead guitar and vocals, and sometimes people come up and say `hey I liked your voice`. I always think, well, that`s nice too...

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by d gauss:

know that most music publishers don't want to hear song demos that have solos in them excepting possibly the beatle "middle 8" bar variety? as the cliche goes...."it's the song, stupid!"

 

Of course, that's expected.

 

I don't base what I want to hear on what someone else wants to hear. Do you?

 

thing is, i bet a lot of these wankers (johnson, beck, satch, vai, et al) would love to be in big giant bands with singers, but their gotta have

 

Eric did a stint with Carole King. Played with Christopher Cross. Rodney Crowell. Cat Stevens, Jennifer Warnes... a number of other singers. Beck played with this guy named Rod Stewart back in the day, heard of him? Satriani toured with a guy named Mick Jagger... Vai a guy named David Lee Roth....

 

the spotlight egos won't allow it. i.e. obviously beck didn't get along with rod, david lee roth's ego leaves no room for anyone else's, and

 

You really wish you could play guitar better, don't you?

 

 

if i remember correctly, eric johnson didn't even get along with vai and satch on the wankfest G3 tour....

 

Yeah, they all through temper tantrums and then Yngwie showed up and the lead started flying...

 

Come on, get real. Believe it or not some people like playing music for the sake of music, even if it doesn't meet your idea of it. As far as egos go - it takes a bit of one to second guess the motivations of all of these people you're stereotyping as "wankers", doesn't it?

 

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[Tedster]

>>>Ted,

I'll second that!

 

--Lee

 

(Wayans type voice): I KNEW I could count on you, girlfriend! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

 

Okay...

 

Which is the best food? Chinese, Thai, Indian, Italian, French, or Mexican?

[Tedster]

For me, sure, I wish I were a better guitar player, but I can do just about most of the stuff I need to do that goes along with the tunes I'm writing...which aren't of the prog-jazz DiMeola variety, but just ol' pop/rock. And, if I do something that requires a techno-wiz...I know where I can find several.

 

Builders don't do the whole thing...there are rough carpenters and finish carpenters, drywall people, electricians, plumbers, roofers, landscapers, etc. There are times to lean on the talents of others. The end product is what's important.

[D. Gauss]

Assuming "wanking" means lots o' lead guitar playing, quote:

 

<

 

for myself, never. but i do when i'm writing songs for other people.

 

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don't we all? like tedster said above. i know how to do what i need to do and do it okay. if i need something done that i can't play, i get someone who can.

 

<

 

i don't think i'm stereotyping them as wankers. the thread is about wankers..quote: "Assuming "wanking" means lots o' lead guitar playing"

 

for whatever reasons, i just think its a shame lots of great players can never be integrated into a sucessful "band" situation. on the one hand you have to look at poor roy buchannan and danny gatton. two of the best. they wanted to be successful (huge) but look what happened. they were still struggling. if roy had joined the stones as was rumored to have been possible, or if danny's playing with robert gordon had taken off things might have been different. of course beck, vai and others have played with singers in the past. problem is now they almost can't because their reputations (if not their egos or money hungry manages and lawyers) will overshadow any singer they get. (remember that roth and jagger were much bigger stars at the time that vai and satch played with them) it may be why some of these guys are singing some songs themselves..look at jimmy page's solo outrider thing. the singer was just a prop! i think the fact that clapton (who i am not a fan of btw), SRV, and hendrix sang contributed greatly to their success. too bad eddie van halen didn't sing!

 

-d. gauss