Mahavishnu Orchestra – “Birds of Fire.”
Former session guitarist and Miles Davis collaborator John McLaughlin put together a jazz-rock group he called Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971. Sometimes more rock and other times more jazz, the band arguably set the stage for every guitar-based fusion group to follow. Mahavishnu's most significant recording was "Birds Of Fire," released in 1972. It immediately changed many guitarists' thoughts on the possibilities of the electric guitar as McLaughlin roared through intricate time signatures, blistering riffs, and key changes with incredible fluidity and ease.
Mahavishnu went through several lineup changes, with McLaughlin as the centerpiece. With a half dozen albums (including live and bootleg editions) to their credit, the group left behind a small body of work, but the singular effect of "Birds Of Fire" on popular music has cemented the band's historical legacy--and McLaughlin's--for more than a generation.
The Rolling Stones – “Sticky Fingers.”
Released in 1971, this album marked the official debut of new lead guitarist Mick Taylor into the Stones' lineup, a change that made "Sticky Fingers" the most guitar-intense record in the group's history.
From the locomotive force of "Brown Sugar" and "Bitch" on to the sinister guitar lines of "Sister Morphine," all the way to the pure acoustic shine of "Wild Horses" and Delta blues of "You Gotta Move," Taylor and Keith Richards covered a wide range of guitar territory that encompassed hard rock, country, blues, and even a little jazz.
Taylor shines on the quasi-Latin break in "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and on "Moonlight Mile" (which he cowrote), proving that he was the right man for the job after Brian Jones had been tossed out. Trading riffs and solos, Richards and Taylor were the best guitar duo the Stones ever produced, and this was their finest album together.
THE JOURNEY EAST: Raga Bop Trio
by Pete Prown
Ex-Journey drummer Steve Smith has been releasing fusion albums for many years now and he's back with Raga Bop Trio. Featuring guitarist Prasanna and tenor man George Brooks, this CD is one of those great “east-meets-west” projects that has its roots in Indian fusion of Shakti and other landmark John McLaughlin recordings.
Playing a PRS guitar, Prasanna is more than up to the task, mixing slick bop licks with the slippy/slidey fretting work reminiscent of a sitar or sarod. His deft chops are impecable and super-tasty, too. Like McLaughlin, electric-mandolinist U. Srinivas, and fusioneer Fareed Haque, Prasanna can jump back and forth between eastern and western musical ideas with ease. It's an amazing skill.
Ultimately, it's hard to argue with this kind of jazz—it's irresistible on many levels, as there's an uncanny kinship between Indian classical music and jazz. Learn more about the Raga Bop Trio here.
Ex-Journey drummer Steve Smith has been releasing fusion albums for many years now and he's back with Raga Bop Trio. Featuring guitarist Prasanna and tenor man George Brooks, this CD is one of those great “east-meets-west” projects that has its roots in Indian fusion of Shakti and other John McLaughlin landmarks. Playing a PRS guitar, Prasanna is more than up to the task, mixing slick bop licks with the slippy/slidey fretting work reminiscent of a sitar or sarod. Ultimately, it's hard to argue with this kind of jazz—it's irresistible on many levels, as there's an uncanny kinship between Indian classical music and jazz.
DVD Alert: ELO’s “The Early Years”
Electric Light Orchestra, "LIVE: The Early Years" DVD (on Eagle Vision)
The Electric Light Orchestra is a band that doesn't get much respect--in fact, most of us take them for granted as a hit-making pop machine of the '70s. But as this DVD proves, ELO was a crack outfit that created a singular pop sound. Certainly, their sound was based on the Beatles and Beach Boys, but they added some significant new touches from the classical and prog genres as well. Plus ELO was just damn fun.
LIVE: The Early Years is a compendium of three smokin' concerts: a college gig from 1973, a German TV performance from 1974, and a full-scale '76 concert just as they were breaking into the bigtime. Playing a goldtop Les Paul with P-90s, frontman Jeff Lynne ably leads the band through a mix of their pop hits like "Showdown," "Can't Get it Out of My Head" and "Evil Woman," as well as rocked-out classical pastiches from Mussorgsky and Grieg.
Pay particular attention to the evolution of the band behind Lynne. At the '73 and '74 shows, the emphasis is more on a progressive-rock sound and the combined impact of violinisht Mik Kaminski, a pair of cellists, and the excellent keyboardist Richard Tandy. Cellist Hugh McDowell frequently liked to pick up his instrument and duck-walk around the stage like Chuck Berry. It's terrific stuff.
In '76, however, the spotlight has moved to Lynne and co-vocalist/bassist Kelly Groucutt, as well as good-looking drummer Bev Bevan, whose pop-star looks were put to use winning new fans (especially since Jeff Lynne was no pinup). Groucutt, who died last year, played a pivotal role during this era, as his soaring tenor voice was a huge part of that classic ELO vocal sound. It's also telling to note that the ELO string section was far more restrained at the '76 gig and, indeed, look like they were having far less fun than in the early days. The balance of power had clearly shifted from classically-infused rock to hit-making pop.
On guitar, Jeff Lynne also gets a few chances to show off his rock 'n' roll guitar chops in this DVD. Sure, he was no Beck or Page, but he had a few hot, rockabilly licks and put them to good use in ELO rockers like "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" and "Great Balls of Fire." Plus you can enjoy his goldtop and try to pick out the cool backline of amps--ELO being a British band, the use of Laney amps is not surprising.
In all, LIVE: The Early Years is a revealing look at a '70s band we should all think about a little more about. Highly recommended.
--Pete Prown
Why Guitar Players Should Listen to Sax Players
by Pete Prown
The Definitive Sonny Rollins 2-CD set
There's an old truism that says great art is made when an artist crosses into other creative forms and blends outside influences with what they're currently doing. The Impressionist painters did it by getting ideas from Japanese art and Picasso by borrowing ideas from African tribal art. And Elvis did it by combining country music and pop with black R&B and blues singing. Voila—an instant artistic breakthrough.
One way for guitarists to break out of the box is to listen to musicians who play other instruments. If you're an improvising lead guitarist, one great place to start is in the world of jazz saxophone. Like lead players, the sax guy lives to take solos, showing off their proficiency, taste and soul through their choice of notes, tone, and technique. And like the guitar, saxophonists can derive long, sustainy notes and even bend notes smoothly—in fact, the earliest guitar improvisers were imitating the sax and trumpet sounds of early jazzmen about 70 to 80 years ago.
One of the critical reasons to listen to jazz, however, is to develop your non-diatonic choice of notes—that is, notes outside the given scale—and weave them into your solos. Trained jazz musicians do this in their sleep, but a lot of guitarists, especially rockers, have trouble stepping outside the key they're playing in. But once you start analyzing some jazz licks, you'll be able to use flatted fifths, slurred notes, and quick atonal runs that can spice up your leads.
To get started, begin with the venerable Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Bird, as he was popularly known, was an alto sax player whose influence began just as World War II was ending and he is regarded as one of the fathers of bebop—the jazz style that saw the genre pulling away from danceable “swing” music and into a more serious form of musical art. And in terms of improvisation, Bird was a blinding virtuoso, able to make his solos virtually leap into flight, raising the bar of improv to staggering new heights. Unfortunately, Parker also lived a fast, reckless life, drugs and alcohol claiming him at age 35.
For guitarists, the key musical lesson from Bird is to understand how free and unbridled your improvisation can be. Use your solos to express the joy of music, just like he did. And certainly, jazz guitarists have been learning his solos for decades—it's a basic part of learning how to play bebop.
The Definitive John Coltrane, a new compilation CD on Concord Music
With Parker's death, the tenor saxophone became the dominant sax in jazz. Among its most powerful players was John Coltrane, who along with trumpeter Miles Davis, helped usher in the “modal jazz” era of the late 1950s and '60s. Unlike the sweet tone of Bird's alto sax, Trane's tenor had a harsh, nasally tone that drilled into the music with violent urgency. Furthermore, his playing was far more “out” than Bird's, hitting non-diatonic, atonal notes and using modes to add daring flavors to static chord progressions.
Two classic Coltrane albums are Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and his own Blue Train, and there's also a fine new compilation on Concord Music called The Definitive John Coltrane. Listen to these albums and think about how you can push the harmonic frontiers of your own playing. Take a chance and play some notes outside of the key of the song—likely, you'll find it an exhilarating and liberating experience.
Once you get the feel for the mastery of Bird and 'Trane, you can keep going with great tenor players like Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter, among others. You may be surprised to realize how much these jazz players inspired “jam bands” like the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers, as well as fusion acts like the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever (Shorter was also a key member of the jazz-rock band, Weather Report).
Ultimately, listening to sax can be inspiring to guitarists, as we learn to jam, improvise, and create electrifying, emotion-laden solos. Trust us, it'll be something to toot your horn about.
THE GREAT SOLOS: The Eagles’ “One of These Nights”
by Pete Prown
Interestingly, many of the greatest guitar solos of the '70s were not on FM "album-oriented" rock stations, but on good ol' AM pop radio. And in late summer of 1975, you couldn't turn on an AM radio without hearing the Eagles' mega-smash "One of These Nights," as slick a piece of radio pop as has ever been concocted. In hindsight, this LA band had a knack for blending styles like nobody's business, in the process winning a vast audience of both young males and females--the much-coveted recipe for truly giant hits.
"One of these Nights" was a departure from the Eagles' earlier country-rock sound. Instead of the twangin' banjos and steel guitars of earlier hits, they now mixed a sly disco beat with soft-rock chord changes and a sexy lyric to bring in the big male/females audiences. The capper was a red-hot rock solo from lead guitarist Don Felder, again challenging the notion of the Eagles as a country-fueled act. Instead, Felder adopted a face-melting tone and a melodic attack that wouldn't have been out of place on a Jeff Beck record. Yet in the Eagles' new sound, the ability to mix seemingly divergent styles and ideas was all part of their master plan for global pop domination.
A year and a half later, the band put out their magnum opus, Hotel California, and brought this formula to new heights (selling over 16 million copies in the US alone), but Felder's lead on this remarkable, uncanny song proves that the Eagles were already well on the road to global glory in '75.
Click here to enjoy a modern-day picker executing a note-for-note version of this guitar solo. It's a keeper.
: Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson perfected the "dual lead" formula for hard rock guitarists with this 1976 release. Songs such as the title track, "Emerald," "Cowboy Song," and "Warrior," showcased the duo's expertly crafted harmony lines and solo tradeoffs.
Gorham and Robertson employed Les Pauls, overdriven tone, and a heavy use of wah wah pedals in the pursuit of concise and memorable riffs that still permeate radio to this day. Gorham would pair with other guitarists during his stint in Lizzy (including Gary Moore, Snowy White, and John Sykes), but he and Robertson created a style of guitar interplay that has rarely been equaled. The album's one debit is its "thin" recording quality--even frontman Phil Lynott wondered "what happened to my bass parts?" Fortunately, subsequent remastering brought out more of the bass and, even better, all the great songs from Jailbreak were eventually given the royal treatment on Thin Lizzy's live-in-the-studio concert album from 1978, Live and Dangerous.
: Stevie Ray Vaughan – “Couldn’t Stand The Weather.”
With the release of his second album in 1984, SRV proved that not only were the blues back with a vengeance, but the blues sounded like SRV with a beat-up Strat. After garnering attention for his debut, which sounded as much like his influences as it did SRV himself, Vaughan used "Weather" to show that he was a guitarist unlike any of his peers.
The title cut alone proved that Stevie Ray was the logical heir to the electric blues that had flourished in the late 60s. Cuts like "Voodoo Chile" showed that Stevie had his heart in Hendrix-fused rock, while "Cold Shot" was pure classic blues from start to finish.
From this point forward, SRV wouldn't be compared to any other guitarist; those that followed would be compared to him.
DUAL COOL: 8 Killer Twin-Guitar Bands
by Pete Prown
Who are the best two-guitar bands of all time? Heck, there are too many to choose from, but here are a few of our favorites:
The Ventures: With Bob Bogle, Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards trading off on guitars and bass, the Ventures veritably defined "instro"--the sleek sound of instrumental rock in the early '60s. Interestingly, they were also one of the biggest bands in Japan, where they sold more albums than the Beatles.
The Allman Brothers Band: Between 1969 and 1971, the Allmans took blues-rock in fresh direction, adding in jazz improv, R&B soul, and a shot of what became known as Southern rock. On guitar, Duane Allman became rock's first bottleneck master, while Dickey Betts created a melodic jazz- and country-fueled style that was eons ahead of most other US pickin' peers.
Wishbone Ash: Hailing from the UK, guitarists Andy Powell and Ted Turner (later replaced by Laurie Wisefield) spun magical harmonies over the Ash's driving blues-rock. 1973's Argus is their classic album. These guys were also quite influential on...
Thin Lizzy: This powerful quartet took the Wishbone Ash/Allman-style guitar harmony to the next level, polishing up long melodies to complement their kick-ass hard rock material. Whether it was Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson or Gorham wailing with Gary Moore on 1979's Black Rose, Lizzy was an unstoppable, almost primordial guitar force. And on 1983's Thunder and Lightning, Gorham and young shredder John Sykes pretty much burned the whole damn house down.
Boston: Known more for their fat, Marshall-stoked guitar tone than their solos, Boston axemen Tom Scholz and Barry Goudreau redefined FM rock in the later '70s. To get started, listen to Scholz's thick leads and harmonies on "More Than a Feeling" or "Peace of Mind," or Goudreau's thrilling "chainsaw solo" on "Long Time." And on 1978's Don't Look Back, you can hear Barry laying down slide on the title track, while Tom shoots into the melodic stratosphere on the underrated anthem "The Man I'll Never Be." Hey, maybe these two actually were great players....
Night Ranger: For a moment in the mid '80s, Night Ranger was the best guitar band in rock. With Jeff Watson playing spidery 8-fingered tapping licks and Schenker-styled leads, and Brad Gillis going to tremolo town left and right, the band scored pay dirt on several hits, notably "Sister Christian" with its famous whammy lead from Gillis. And "You Can Still Rock in America" lit up the radio with freakish tapping breaks from Watson. With Night Ranger, shred-guitar had finally arrived on pop radio.
Pearl Jam: Classified as a "grunge band," but really more '70s rock than anyone would like to admit, Pearl Jam dominated '90s rock with its angst-fueled anthems and slacker posturing. With Stone Gossard laying down colorful chords and Mike McCready adding deft, if rather predictable, Hendrix licks on top, PJ was a hard band to beat for earthy hard-rock goodness. In fact, they still are.
The Darkness: In 2003, the Darkness stormed out of nowhere with the Queen-tinged single "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", proclaiming that Classic Rock was back and now standing triumphantly on the corpse of grunge and alt-rock. And for a while we believed it--their debut album, Permission to Land, was a pop-rock masterpiece and parody rolled into one, and axemen Dan and Justin Hawkins milked just about every lick in the Brit-rock riff book. But two years later, the Darkness' followup CD tanked and the band disintegrated in acrimony. For one brief moment, however, these two young wiseasses were the millennium's best new guitarists.
Now, tell us about your favorite death-defying, dual guitar bands.
: Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd.”
The 1973 debut by Lynyrd Skynyrd showcased three guitarists--Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King--who were able to combine rock, country, and blues like no one else. From the roots rock of "Gimme Three Steps" to the quasi-ballad "Simple Man," the three guitarists created a multi-guitar attack that came to be an essential element of Southern rock.
The perfect-pitched, gritty harmonies that Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitarists executed--usually with Les Pauls and Explorers--were unique in that they were precision timed, yet sounded raw and even laid back.
While it may be a cliché now, "Free Bird" was a tour de force when it was released. The entire solo was double-tracked by Allen Collins alone, and few soloists have ever created the same level of tension and excitement as he did on the original studio version.