9 0 s G u i t a r i s t s
Most of these artists have been on the scene for years, but I discovered them anew. Though their influence on me is nominal - let's face it, the colossal technique of most goes light years beyond what I'll ever have time to achieve - they've sustained my passion for the instrument into the next millenium.
BETTENCOURT
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BULLOCK
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CARLTON
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FORD
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FREED
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GEISSMAN
HACKETT
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HERRING
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ISLEY
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MOORE
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PESCO
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PETRUCCI
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PITRELLI
SHAVER
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TABOR
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THAL
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THAYER
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VAI
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VAUGHAN
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WYLDE
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ZAZA
~ D U O S ~
NUNO BETTENCOURT
I first heard Extreme's self-titled debut through a roommate back in 1990, just before they hit big with Pornograffitti. I was flat blown away by how hard they rocked. Nuno's virtuosity is nearly unbelievable, with impeccable technique, devilish speed and precision, and an astonishing vocabulary.
HIRAM BULLOCK
I dated a gal in the early 80s who gave me a copy of Bob James' album H. On it is a pop-jazz tune called The Walkman with a killer lead guitar break, and I'd find out years later that it was by one Hiram Bullock. Around 1989 I learned that the same fingers played the phenomenal solo on Little Wing, from Sting's Nothing Like the Sun. Soon afterward, browsing a Boston record store, I spied his effort entitled From All Sides on cassette, and fell in love with it. In addition to being a ripping guitarist, Bullock was a considerable singer, songwriter and arranger.
LARRY CARLTON
A session player's session player, Carlton has been around forever. He's played on so many recordings and commercial jingles I'm not sure that a complete discography even exists. Most folks have heard his wonderfully tasty solo from the Hill Street Blues Theme back in the 80s, but there's so much more. A woefully brief and incomplete list of some of my favorite CDs: Renegade Gentleman ('93)
ROBBEN FORD
A friend of mine once told me I sort of looked like Robben, and until then I'd never heard of him. On a gorgeous Spring day in 1990, shuffling through racks of CDs on a Manhattan sidewalk, I found Talk to Your Daughter, promptly parted with a few bucks and listened to it as soon as I got home. The first thing to hit me was his slam-dunk tone! Revelation
AUDLEY FREED
This man's lead breaks jack my blood pressure every time. Incredibly quick, precise and fluid, he has that extra measure of feel that so many great technicians lack. I came to know him through hearing the band Cry of Love on North Carolina radio around 1993. The song was Bad Thing, and it was Kelly Holland's high, soulful vocals that initially drew me in - then I was knocked out by Freed's solo. Sadly, they recorded only two CDs, Brother and Diamonds and Debris, before splitting. These are blues-rock essentials.
GRANT GEISSMAN
While Geissman's work tends to be firmly seated in smooth jazz (some would say elevator music), there's a passion and virtuosity in his hands that thrills, if you happen to be fortunate enough to be able to hear it. I first became familiar with is playing through a late 80s record by Max Bennett & Freeway. 1990's Take Another Look, under his own name, really focused my attention on this wondrous guitarist and composer. Most of his releases possess a similar feel, but my favorite CD - I think it shows Grant as an exceptionally versatile composer and player - is In With the Out Crowd ('98), which I stumbled upon in a Charlotte used CD store.
STEVE HACKETT
It was a compilation of guitar instrumentals, the cassette edition of I.R.S./No Speak's Guitar Speak 3, that introduced me to Steve's genius. His cut was called A Life in the Movies, and the first thing to arrest my attention was this Egyptian feeling groove, with fat, compressed and multilayered guitars. The tune goes on to sound like a demo, with a collage of guitar textures including soaring electric melodies and a sweet acoustic Flamenco thing to close it out. Years later I ordered Genesis Revisited online, and it's a stunning piece of work.
JIMMY HERRING
This dude is some kind of monster! I saw Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit opening for the Dixie Dregs at New York's Ritz in 1991, and every time this tall guy with the blond ponytail took a solo I about fell down! Surely, I thought, if anyone could keep up with Steve Morse it would be him. Several years later, I took a trip to Ziggy's in Winston-Salem NC to see and hear Jazz Is Dead. What I saw and heard was one of the most gifted group of monsters on earth (Billy Cobham, Alphonso Johnson and The Dregs' own longtime keyboard wizard T Lavitz), doing prog-jazz instrumental arrangements of Grateful Dead tunes. This time I fell down repeatedly.
ERNIE ISLEY
Like so much of my favorite music, I picked up a used cassette tape one day, out of curiosity. Entitled High Wire, it was a very pleasant surprise. Until then, all I had ever heard of Ernie's playing was his wailing, Hendrix-y lead work on That Lady (Parts 1 & 2). High Wire is a class act, revealing Isley's prodigious songwriting, composing and arranging skills, and of course his tasteful playing shines throughout.
IAN MOORE
"Here, my sister sent this to me, and I thought you might like it." So says my friend Kevin as he hands me a CD called Ian Moore. The cover photo has Ian sitting astride an amp with his trusty Fender on his knee. Yeah, I might like it all right... Well, I was flabbergasted at how hot that CD was! Moore is a blues guitar giant, surely on a par with SRV but quite different, with a soulful, funky, gospel-tinged vocal style that matches his smoking hand. If you can find it, this CD is highly recommended.
PAUL PESCO
Who? If that's what you're asking, no surprise, but he's worth checking out. Make It reality, released in 1989, typified smart 90s pop, but with a twist. Pesco added to the mix liberal doses of shred-quality fretwork. A superb guitarist, he has been called on for his dazzling technique and taste by such luminaries as Madonna, Steve Winwood, Michael Bolton and Lynch Mob.
JOHN PETRUCCI
It's really scary how much precision, speed and control this man has. I'm actually a latecomer to the Dream Theater thing, who in fact tend to be a tad over the top prog for my taste. However, John has left his mark on a few CDs that have grabbed my attention and held on tightly: Liquid Tension Experiment and Liquid Tension Experiment 2, Age of Impact (Explorers Club) and DT's own Train of Thought (the song In The Name of God, particularly the solo, are flat-out mind-numbing).
AL PITRELLI
I'll never forget hearing Trans-Siberian Orchestra for the first time. My wife slept in the passenger seat as I drove through the chilly wee hours from Raleigh to New York over Christmas vacation. Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 came over the air, conveniently as I was pulling into a gas station. I sat motionless, listening to the grand majesty of this recording with chills all over and tears welling up. I was a TSO freak for years after that.
EDDY SHAVER
One of the music clubs ran a series of samplers in the early 90s, showcasing tracks from a wide array of genres such as pop, rock, country, jazz and classical. I ordered one of each, and then the series mysteriously vanished. Among these was a disc with a couple of tunes by outlaw country rocker Billy Joe Shaver, with his late son Eddy on guitar. One of these rocked my soul: Love You 'til the Cows Come Home, a live track from a Texas honky tonk (I've since found this song on Unshaven: Shaver Live at Smith's Olde Bar). Eddy's playing was on fire - owing more to blues-rock than to traditional country - and straight from the inside.
TY TABOR
King's X
RON THAL
Much of the music that spins my head around is a combination of reading a blurb about an artist in some rag and discovering a rare CD in some bin. So it was with Ron Thal and his release Hermit, which I found for something like $2.99 in Charlotte. That he's an astonishing guitar player was hinted at in the article I'd read, and the CD bore that out. I don't know how people get so fast and articulate! What puts this particular CD in my favorites rack, however, is Thal's lack of hesitation to tackle any music genre or lyrical topic. Some would say he's weird and they'd be right on the money. But I guess I'm weird too.
TOMMY THAYER
I know he's currently touring with Kiss, but that doesn't interest me much. Thayer's work on short-lived L.A. band Harlow's 1989 self-titled CD really stands out to me though. A fellow guitarist gave me a copy sometime in the early 90s and I love it. Featuring the above par songwriting and over the top vocals of one Teresa Straley, this recording rocks. Tommy's solos are articulate, emotional and possess killer tone and phrasing.
STEVE VAI
Passion & Warfare
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
Texas Flood
ZAKK WYLDE
I actually didn't like him all that much at first, having been weaned on Tony Iommi (assuming we're talking in an Ozzy context). Then I positively flipped over Randy Rhoads, only to be saddened by his early demise. But I warmed up to Wylde with 1990's No More Tears, and it's still one of my favorite hard rock/metal CDs. Not only is the title track one of the best songs in the genre, its solo is remarkable and breathtaking.
NEIL ZAZA
ALEX BELOV & JAN IANENKOV