Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NELS CLINE - 200 Guitarrist HE admire








200 guitarists whom i've admired since...1965? Guitarists who affected me, excited me, and/or made me think. Why this list? Why 200?? First, when asked to name guitarists who have influenced me or who i admire, i always toss out a few names and then later experience pangs of remorse for forgetting names -- now i can just say, "check out the list on my website." Second, i believe in giving credit where credit is due.


The number 200 just popped into my head randomly, but it has turned out to be a pretty good estimate. The first 170 or so came easily, jotted down in under two hours during a mixing session for the Destroy All Nels Cline alb. Of course, i inevitably came up with more than 200, but i've decided to limit myself (!) -- for now...


There will undoubtedly be much chatter about who is NOT on the list. Please, don't harass me -- i'm sure i've forgotten many, and i would prefer to be spared the embarrassment of having to justify my decision to leave certain people off the list consciously. But at least let me confront some controversy about those who are on it briefly. And without thoroughness -- it may shed some light on how my tiny brain works in this regard.


Many of the guitarists on this list were favorites of mine when i was a teenager. There are a lot not only because i am, after all, a guitar fan, but because one is perhapsless discerning as an excitable boy. THIS LIST IS NOT ABOUT WHO'S BEST. It's in NO PARTICULAR ORDER because i don't believe in "best." It gives me pleasure to lump all these artists together. It's humorous and surreal, and i intend it as both an homage to them and to show how randomly things collide in this life, how one just
never knows...


Some brief explanations, then we're all on our own: I'm anticipating shock at the inclusion of Peter Frampton on this list. I single him out here because he was a huge influence on me, but only at a small portion of his career. His playing with Humble Pie was, to me at age 15 or so, profoundly melodic and "jazzy," even during the most torrid and blustery rock tunes. I tried to copy his lines. By the time of his massive solo success, none of these traits seemed in evidence. In fact, i didn't even recognize him on his solo stuff! But how many guitarists on this list burned brightly for me, later to fully dim artistically? How many are dead? All that matters here is that moment when inspiration strikes and nourishes a life. Take also the inclusion of Jerry Garcia. I struggled mightily with this one. I enjoyed the Dead from about 1967-1971, but unfortunately this path went on for, what, 25 more years without my hearing any further illumination. And the phenomenon of Jerry Garcia frankly is hard to fathom, yet i enjoyed "Anthem of The Sun" and "Workingman's Dead" a lot! So in he goes. Same with Jimmy Page, who i came to admire as an arranger/colorist in the late Zeppelin work. Never liked his "lead" work much, sorry. But in he goes!


Get it? So have fun, and try to keep a positive (and fun) frame of mind/heart. My profound thanks to Devin for not only doing this silly thing, but also for (without me asking) doing research when i wrote things like "the guy in the Count Five" (John Michalski.) And one other thing: Jan Hammer is included both as a joke and in all seriousness because even though he's a keyboardist, he's done some of the best guitar work ever! So there!!!


I'm sure i'll soon add 100 more. Lord knows, there are so many guitarists that i haven't heard and/or haven't learned to appreciate yet.

*NOTE: We've attempted to include links for some of the guitarists listed. However, we suggest checking the All Music Guide for info. on the others. They are a great resource!






*The first part of this list highlights guitarists i've been lucky enough to play with whom i truly admire:




Woody Aplanalp


Kenneth Ando




G.E. Stinson


Ken Rosser




Nick Kirgo


Joe Baiza




Rick Potts


Rod Poole




Jim McAuley


Tom Watson




Bill Watts


Bill Frisell




Wayne Kramer


Thurston Moore




Duane Denison


Lee Ranaldo




Carla Bozulich


Elliott Sharp




Tim Foljahn


Steve Cardenas




Eric Von Essen


Joel Harrison




John Schott


Peter Maunu




Allan Jaffe


Henry Kaiser




Chris Muir


Jeff Parker


Jeremy Drake


Smokey Hormel


Jeff Tweedy


Pat Sansone


Noah Phillips


Eugene Chadbourne








TOP 200(+) FAVORITE GUITARISTS LIST




Jim (aka Roger) McGuinn


John Scofield


Michael Gregory Jackson


Jan Akkerman


Steve Howe


Albert King




Jim Hall


John Abercrombie


Ralph Towner




Robbie Basho


John Cippolina




Freddie King


Jorma Kaukonen




Jimi Hendrix


Paul Kossoff




Duane Allman


Peter Frampton




Pat Martino


Sam Brown




Mick Goodrick


John Renbourn




Terje Rypdal


Ted Greene




Lenny Breau


Neil Young




Pat Metheny


Stephen Stills




Howard Roberts


Herb Ellis




Joe Pass


Wes Montgomery




Robert Quine




Jeff Beck


Otomo Yoshihide




Dick Dale


Alain Johannes




Freddie Green


Polly Harvey




Mississippi Fred McDowell


Lonnie Johnson




Alex De Grassi


D. Boon




Muddy Waters


Hubert Sumlin




Ike Turner


John McLaughlin




Django Reinhardt


Andy Gill




John Fahey


Peter Lang




Julian Bream


Vincenzo Macaluso




Balthazar Benitez


Sergio & Odair Assad




Egberto Gismonti


Derek Bailey




Davey Williams


Fred Frith




Hans Reichel


Attila Zoller




Larry Coryell


King Sunny Ade et al




Gary Miller (aka "Dr. Know")


Glen Campbell




Roy Clark


Otis Rush




John Lee Hooker


John Williams




Frank Zappa


Bill Harkelroad (aka "Zoot Horn Rollo")




Jorgen Ingmann


John McGeough




Robbie McIntosh


Rafe Mandel




Johnny Marr


Robert Smith




Tony Rice


Don Helms




Bob Andrews


John Michalski




Peter Laughner


John Dietrich




Kevin Shields




Leigh Stevens


Rory Gallagher




Willie Nelson


Eric Clapton




George Benson


Christy Doran




Stephan Wittwer


Robert Fripp




Lee Ranaldo


Adrian Belew




Jan Savage


Mick Abrams




Staffan Harde


Johnny "Guitar" Watson




Richard Thompson


Sonny Greenwich




Ted Dunbar


Michael Whitmore




Baden Powell


Johnny Winter




Bola Sete


Syd Barrett




Lightnin' Hopkins


Joni Mitchell




Nick Drake


Dean Roberts




Tal Farlow


Jimmy Vaughn




Bobb Bruno


Ron Asheton




Buddy Guy


Charles Ganza




Peter Banks


Mike Esposito




William Reid


Slim Harpo




George Harrison


Satoru




Pete Townsend


B.B. King




Billy Gibbons


Jan Hammer




Ollie Halsall


Ash Bowie




Dave Brylawski


Sonny Sharrock




Randy California


Gary Burger




Agata


David Scott Stone




Radio


Duane Eddy




Duck Baker


Oscar Aleman




Marc Ducret


Roger Troutman




Matt Piucci


Prince




Manito De Plata


Nile Rogers




The guy in Lakeside


Peter Greene




Jerry Douglas


Eddie Hazel




Leo Nocentelli


Joe Diorio




Arto Lindsay


Elmore James




Paul Burlison


Tom Verlaine




Chan Marshall


Robert Johnson




Ali Farka Toure


Victor Jara




T-Bone Walker


Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown




Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey et al


Charlie Christian




Santo & Johnny


Vishwa Mohan Bhatt




Brij Bhushan Kabra


Silla




Norman Blake


Blackbird McKnight




Robin Trower


Kevin Dunn




Jarrett Silberman


Jerry Garcia




Dave Edmunds


Ry Cooder




Stevie Ray Vaughan


Doug Martsch




Brett Netson


Carlos Santana




Adam Levy


Jeremy Keller




Gel


Rowland S. Howard




Keola Beamer


Jose Maria Saluzzi




Jimmy Page


James "Blood" Ulmer




Gene Bertoncini


Sterling Morrison




Dickey Betts


Bonnie Raitt




Trey Conner


Bill Conners




Steve Tibbetts


Mark Landon




David Hidalgo


Ed Bickert




Billy Bauer


Bill Horvitz




Marc Ribot


Sara Jaffe


Paul Lai (Upsilon Acrux)


Vinicius Cantuaria


Grant Green


Janet Feder


Kevin Drumm


Taku Sugimoto


Annette Krebs


Rich Gilbert


Chris Cohen




END!