Thinking dark thoughts, playing evil licks.
This is somewhat in relation to my previous post about the Beck/Guy concert (and also a pretty painless, easy way to do a blog post). I’ve finally broken down and written a list, apparently one of the all time favorite compulsive Internet activities. This one is of hot guitarists within their respective genres or fields who I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of seeing perform live. Please note that their numerical order does not reflect their musical virtuosity, but is instead largely arbitrary with names written down as I recalled them. So, without any further ado:
1. Jeff Beck (natch!) I’ve had the good luck to see him two times now at Wolf Trap.
2. Fast Eddie Clark (Motorhead) I saw him in Nuremberg in August of 1981 shortly before he quit the band.
3. Robert Fripp, one time a solo appearance at some nonprofit in Washington, DC, then with King Crimson in ’82 at Nuremberg again, ’84 at Merriwether and then in 2000 in DC.
4. Chris Spedding, backing up Robert Gordon in 2010.
5. Peter Townshend (two nights at the now defunct Capital Center in ’76 and then the football stadium in ’89).
6. Keith Richard (I’ve seen the Stones seven times so I’ll skip the list).
7. Ron Wood (ditto).
8. John Cippolina (not with Quicksilver Messenger Service, but a band called Terry And The Pirates in ’81 in a simply fabulous club in the Monterey Bay area).
9. Buck Dharma (Donald Roeser), BOC guitarist. First time at the Capital Center in ’75, again at Jaxx in the ’90’s (very hard rocking show) and most recently in 2012 at the State Theatre (they stank horribly!).
10. Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys. I saw the Dead Boys too many times to list, but he also played for Texas Terri in Baltimore in ’98 or ’99. Incredibly strong, blistering punk rock.
11. Steve Jones. I saw the Pistols in ’95 and again in ’96, but I also got to see Jones back Iggy Pop in ’88 at the old, stinky 9:30 Club.
12. Daevid Allen. I saw Gong three times, first in Baltimore in ’79 and again two times at the Birchmere in the ’90’s, but never with Steve Hillage.
13. Ron Asheton, with the Stooges in ’04, ’05, and ’10.
14. Dick Taylor (Pretty Things), twice in the early ’00’s.
15. Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) in ’74 and ’75.
16. Greg Ginn (Black Flag), in ’83 in Munich and Charlottesville in ’86.
17. Gary Lee Connor (Screaming Trees), twice, both times at the old 9:30 in the early ’90’s.
18. Stan Lee (Dickies) I’ve seen this band at least four times, usually about once a decade.
19. Ross the Boss (the Dictators) I’ve seen these guys too many times to mention also.
20. Larry Coryell in ’74 playing with the Soft Machine. He was playing dreck at the time, but, hey, he’s still an incredible guitarist.
21. Junior Brown in ’00 at the Birchmere.
22. Bryan Gregory of the Cramps in ’80 at the Keystone in Berkeley, CA, one of the wildest shows I’ve ever seen in my life.
23. Roger Miller (Mission of Burma), once in the ’90’s again in ’10 or ’11.
24. Buddy Guy.
There may well be a few that I’ve left out and if so, I apologize to you, O unnamed, faceless ax wielders. For stinks and grins, I’ve added a list to the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, in case any of you feel like making comparisons:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123