The Unkown Guitarist Thread

tweezed · July 2010

I think it's about time the good guitar players out there get their recognition. By making a thread listing the unknown gods, hopefully people will be educated about them and their record sales will increase.

I'll start it off.

Roy Buchanan
This motherfucker could outplay almost ANYONE (except, maybe, Danny Gatton). Armed with only a telecaster, he would take simple blues songs like "Green Onions", and blast it into the stratosphere. He would literally shred on every song, taking his solos from single note runs to chorded attacks and squeals of feedback. I recommend everyone pick up his first album. If you don't hear more passion in the first bars of "The Messiah will Return" than in any Jimmy Page solo, you need to have your ears checked.

Caramello Koala · July 2010

Good thread, I actually joined just so I could reply to this. I've never heard of Roy Buchanan before and so I youtubed the song you mentioned and have to say I simply loved it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On5372UztI0 thanks for the ace suggestion! I especially liked the lick he plays at 2.53 to 2.58, I must've listened to that about 10 times, such passion!! Any albums you'd recommend?

As for my contribution I'd have to say the most unknown and unappreciated guitarist would have to be Bill Connors, he was the first electric guitarist to join Chick Corea's Jazz Fusion tour de force Return to Forever, however he only made one album with the group, their brilliant Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy in 1973. In 1974 he also provided the lead guitar on Stanley Clarke's self titled debut album, before fading away into the mist. His style is described as a mixture of John Coltrane and Eric Clapton, which makes for a very iinteresting combination as his solos contain the theory and intricacy of a jazz guitar solo, but with the overdrive and wide vibrato of a Cream solo. Here's a video that I think showcases his Clapton infused jazz guitar style that you will thoroughly enjoy listening to!