Re: TheWho Digest Vol 1 Num 163

["Kevin Winn" <kwinn@chrome.com>]

Sorry, this may be late, but I just got back from vacation and couldn't let a
couple things pass by:


>> PT is one of those geniuses, like Keith Richards, who can play very
>> simple chord/note combinations, vary the timing and leave gaps.
> In the days before the California School of Instituional Guitarists
> that used to be what we called being Good !

It's good to see that someone else believes that once rock guitar started being
"taught," that's when it started going downhill


>> what he has played. I have this view about Keith Richard's and some others
>> but not about guys like Jimmy Page, Van Halen, S.R. Vaughan etc., or even
>> about Hendrix. They are technically hard but less stylistic when you
>> consider their total playing - lead and rhythm. When Page plays a chord he
>> does it like anyone
> Page is a bore. You're right except on Hendrix. Hendrix had an almost
> piano-like style playing melodic figures on top of rythym parts. All
> at once I mean, not overdubs. Richards & PT are great ryhtm guitarists.

Major disagree...

1.  SRV was as complete a guitar player as ever was.  If you think he wasn't
stylistic and rhythmically inclined, check out the covers of Buddy Guy's "Mary
Had A Little Lamb," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," or (especially) Hendrix'
"Voodoo Chile."

2.  If you think Page plays a chord like anyone, listen to "For Your Life" on
~Presence,~ or the live version of "Whole Lotta Love."  And how anyone can call
Page unstylistic is completely beyond me...  I've never thought of Page as a
technical guitarist at all, but one who tosses out lines and subjects like a
Jackson Pollack painting.  I'd agree that his producing talents may have some
holes in it, but his (one time) brilliance as a guitarist (albeit a very
different type from PT or Richards) seems to be unquestionable.

And I think Hendrix stole a lot from PT in terms of sound and power; he just
applied a little better lead technique and a different cultural approach (and a
couple keys of herion).

It's taken awhile but PT has developed into a pretty fine lead player -- a
nice example that comes to mind is the very end of "Roadrunner" on TKAA.  I've
never thought of Richards as a great lead player, but (just like George
Harrison) he makes up for it in the feeling he can convey through his rhythm,
syncopation and fills.


OK,
KLW

PS:

1.  I saw the '82 shows in Seattle and Portland (two nights of the Who - it was
ear-splittingly cool) and they didn't play "Athena" either night.  I was
pleased, as I've always thought that song was the weakest on ~It's Hard.~

2.  My copy of Barnes' "Maximum R&B" began shedding its cover after about 3
years of ownership.  I bought it new, so that should give some indication about
what I now refer to as my "leaflets on the Who."