Guitar gods
The Salinas Californian, CA
March 21, 2007
Rock 'n' roll heroes from Jimi Hendrix to Jack White
Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his Fender Stratocaster. Pete Townshend windmilling his arm through power chords. Jimmy Page stroking his Gibson Les Paul with a violin bow. Eric Clapton rampaging through "Crossroads." Joe Satriani playing 1,000 notes a minute.
Since Chuck Berry cooked up his "duck walk" and classic riffs in the mid-'50s, guitar players have been trying to top him, and the image of the guitar hero keeps evolving.
An elite group of players has managed to combine vision, technique, onstage swagger, unforgettable music and other elements to earn the title guitar hero.
Rock fans are getting a chance to see three artists who have attain-ed that status as Townshend and the Who, Clapton and Satriani (with his G3 collaboration) tour nationwide.
There are heroes in all fields, from athletics to the military to entertainment to politics to regular people doing admirable things. But according to one national expert on popular culture, "the guitar player in America is in a class all his own."
"There's a whole iconography, a repertoire of moves," says professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. "It's so seductive, and you so much want to imitate it. ...There are a lot of people in this country who the only instrument they play is air guitar. And they play it pretty well."
Air-guitar maestros have several prototypes to choose from.
Guitar greats like Hendrix and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers interact with their instruments in a way that makes them seem like an extension of their body.
Hendrix, who died in 1970, worked the neck and body of his guitar in a manner that exuded sexuality.
During Super Bowl XLI in February, Prince raised eyebrows with some sensual guitar moves at halftime.
Others, like Townshend and AC/DC's Angus Young, seem to want to pound their guitars into submission. Listen to Townshend bash his way through "Summertime Blues" or Young play "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)," and it's clear no prisoners are being taken.
"There is a sense that it is a weapon, a sex toy and a partner all at once," Thompson says.
Satriani, G3 alumnus Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen are content to let their lightning-fast fingers take their music to incredible heights. They're known as "shredders" for the way they assault the guitar's strings and fret board, the flat part of the neck where notes and chords are fingered. Exhibit A? Van Halen's mind-blowing work on "Eruption."
And one group, including Clapton, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and blues master B.B. King, have reached the point where less becomes more. This guitar hero is not out to impress with speed, but rather to express emotions through measured, flawless playing.
"What makes B.B. King so incredible is he can play one note, and it's got 70-odd years (of experience) in there," says Chuck Hall, an Arizona-based blues guitarist who has toured the Southwest and Europe. "You can hear it."
Recipe for stardom
Some common factors run through the work of all guitar heroes, according to some respected players.
"Guitar heroes don't have to be virtuosos; they have to arrive in a timely way with a particular style or attitude," Satriani says. "Take a guitar player like Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), who you wouldn't say could play like Steve Vai. But he's ... arrived on the scene with a look, a great voice, some cool songs, along with some really cool guitar-playing."
"You have to be a leader with a clear vision of where you are going, so you take people with you," Hall says. "Jimi Hendrix broke such new ground." Players with that vision end up producing sounds that are instantly identifiable.
A bombastic surge? Page. Crazy yet precise? Van Halen. Rock-edged blues? Stevie Ray Vaughan. Latin-flavored majesty? Carlos Santana. Rock meeting funk? Aerosmith's Joe Perry. Aggressive slide guitar? Duane Allman, who died in 1971.
On the horizon
Although a bumper crop of guitar heroes took flight in the '60s, '70s and '80s, the more recent appearance of players like White and John Mayer shows that the guitar hero isn't dead.
March 21, 2007
Rock 'n' roll heroes from Jimi Hendrix to Jack White
Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his Fender Stratocaster. Pete Townshend windmilling his arm through power chords. Jimmy Page stroking his Gibson Les Paul with a violin bow. Eric Clapton rampaging through "Crossroads." Joe Satriani playing 1,000 notes a minute.
Since Chuck Berry cooked up his "duck walk" and classic riffs in the mid-'50s, guitar players have been trying to top him, and the image of the guitar hero keeps evolving.
An elite group of players has managed to combine vision, technique, onstage swagger, unforgettable music and other elements to earn the title guitar hero.
Rock fans are getting a chance to see three artists who have attain-ed that status as Townshend and the Who, Clapton and Satriani (with his G3 collaboration) tour nationwide.
There are heroes in all fields, from athletics to the military to entertainment to politics to regular people doing admirable things. But according to one national expert on popular culture, "the guitar player in America is in a class all his own."
"There's a whole iconography, a repertoire of moves," says professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. "It's so seductive, and you so much want to imitate it. ...There are a lot of people in this country who the only instrument they play is air guitar. And they play it pretty well."
Air-guitar maestros have several prototypes to choose from.
Guitar greats like Hendrix and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers interact with their instruments in a way that makes them seem like an extension of their body.
Hendrix, who died in 1970, worked the neck and body of his guitar in a manner that exuded sexuality.
During Super Bowl XLI in February, Prince raised eyebrows with some sensual guitar moves at halftime.
Others, like Townshend and AC/DC's Angus Young, seem to want to pound their guitars into submission. Listen to Townshend bash his way through "Summertime Blues" or Young play "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)," and it's clear no prisoners are being taken.
"There is a sense that it is a weapon, a sex toy and a partner all at once," Thompson says.
Satriani, G3 alumnus Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen are content to let their lightning-fast fingers take their music to incredible heights. They're known as "shredders" for the way they assault the guitar's strings and fret board, the flat part of the neck where notes and chords are fingered. Exhibit A? Van Halen's mind-blowing work on "Eruption."
And one group, including Clapton, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and blues master B.B. King, have reached the point where less becomes more. This guitar hero is not out to impress with speed, but rather to express emotions through measured, flawless playing.
"What makes B.B. King so incredible is he can play one note, and it's got 70-odd years (of experience) in there," says Chuck Hall, an Arizona-based blues guitarist who has toured the Southwest and Europe. "You can hear it."
Recipe for stardom
Some common factors run through the work of all guitar heroes, according to some respected players.
"Guitar heroes don't have to be virtuosos; they have to arrive in a timely way with a particular style or attitude," Satriani says. "Take a guitar player like Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), who you wouldn't say could play like Steve Vai. But he's ... arrived on the scene with a look, a great voice, some cool songs, along with some really cool guitar-playing."
"You have to be a leader with a clear vision of where you are going, so you take people with you," Hall says. "Jimi Hendrix broke such new ground." Players with that vision end up producing sounds that are instantly identifiable.
A bombastic surge? Page. Crazy yet precise? Van Halen. Rock-edged blues? Stevie Ray Vaughan. Latin-flavored majesty? Carlos Santana. Rock meeting funk? Aerosmith's Joe Perry. Aggressive slide guitar? Duane Allman, who died in 1971.
On the horizon
Although a bumper crop of guitar heroes took flight in the '60s, '70s and '80s, the more recent appearance of players like White and John Mayer shows that the guitar hero isn't dead.
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