The Yardbirds

Another influential British rock band, th Yardbirds started the careers of three famous guitarists, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. They pioneered guitar effects such as fuzz tone, backwards echo, feedback, and distortion. Clapton was the first lead guitarist in the band, but left over creative differences. Clapton was a blues purist and the Yardbirds were straying into pop territory. Page was propositioned next, but unsure about leaving a lucrative life as a studio guitarist, recommended Jeff Beck who got the job, Page was eventually taken on as well and became lead guitarist after Beck was fired. Page brought in his own style of playing that included the use of a wah pedal and occasionally a cello bow. The Break-up came when the rest of the band wanted to pursue folk and classically inspired music while Page wanted to continue a "harder" style of rock, a la Cream and Jimi Hendix. The Yardbirds where the father of what would Later become Led Zeppelin.

Cream

Well I'm not going to lie, I kind of ran out of guitarists to talk about for now, so I will be talking about one of the most influential bands in Rock and Roll history: Cream.

Cream was formed in the 60's by Ginger Baker (drums), Jack Bruce (vocals and bass guitar) and Eric Clapton (vocals and guitar). They set the format for the standard power trio setup and were the first "super group". They called themselves "Cream" because they were the "cream of the jazz blues musicians". While impressive musicians, Clapton was unaware that Bruce and Baker had quarreled in the past even going so far as to sabotage each other's instruments. The two put their differeneces aside but their egos eventually came to haunt them and ultimately resulted in the band's collapse.

In my opinion, Cream is to Blues and Rock and Roll as Elvis was to Rockabilly and Soul. They took cues from many of the Blues Grandfathers (doing uptempo covers in some cases) and repackaging the blues for a new generation.

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry of fame in Back to the Future as Marvin Berry's cousin and original composer of "Johnny B. Goode" is a true Father of the Blues and Rock 'n' Roll. Chuck berry was the first to popularize "double stops" or paying two trings at the same time while soloing, a must in any guitarist's repertoire today. His sorces of inspiration were Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker. Berry actually got a a chance to meet Muddy Waters when he went to Chicago. Waters told him to look Walter Chess of Chess Records and cut a record. Berry did just that. Berry recorded "Maybelline" and it was his first hit. Berry went on to record other hits such as "No Particular Place toGo", "Nadine", and "You Can Never Tell". Berry was among the first guitarists to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when it First opened in 1986 and was named as on the "Top 100 Guitarists of  All Time". Chuck Berry is 84 and continues to play.  Chuck Berry is about "classic" classic rock and roll as you can get and required listening in my opinion.

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is another underrated blues guitarist. As anyone who plays Guitar Hero knows, he is most famous for his song "Cliffs of Dover". However, Johnson is no one trick pony. His cross string licks and emotive style are legendary.

Johnson was born into a musically gifted family in Austin, Texas. He started playng at age 11 and was inspired by Eric Clapton Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix and Wes Montgomery. Johnson was an admitted perfectionist and actually scrapped much of his work during his career. Hey plays a Stratocaster and Gibson ES 335.

Jimmie Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan's Older and less well known brother is a living legend in his own right. Compared to his brother, Jimmie has a thinner, brighter sound when he plays. His style is simple and straight forward but can really reel you in and is a must for any blues guitarist out there. His biggest influences are “the Kings”, Albert, Freddie, an B.B. But the guitarist he spent the most time studying was Johnny “Guitar” Johnson. Jimmie played a variety of guitars, but he mostly played a stratocaster and has his own custom series.

Jimmie was actually personally coached by Freddie King. He also opened for Jimi Hendrix who broke Jimmie's Vox wah pedal and gave him his touring pedal. He also played with blues legend W.C. Clark who founded a bunch of different blues bands around Austin. After going out on his own, Jimmie later founded “The Fabulous Thunderbirds”. Jimmie left the group in 1989 and made one family album with his brother before Stevie died in a helicopter crash. He continues his solo career to this day and has made appearances at the Crossroads Guitar Festival among others

Here is Jimmie playing “Six String Down”.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk2JWah7LGQ&feature=related

Crossroads Guitar Festival

The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a day long concert put on by Eric Clapton featuring "the past, present and future of music". The first was held in 2004, then in 2007, and again in 2010. The proceeds go to fund the Crossroads center for rehabilitation of those fighting alcohol or drug habits. In addition to the concert, several of Eric Clapton's amps and guitars were auctioned off for a total of 2.5 million (2010)

I think that the Crossroads Guitar Festival is one of the best concert events out there. The Living Legend himself is leading a collaborative colossus. If Eric Clapton invites you to play at his event, you can rest assured that you have just about reached the pinnacle of blues stardom. The guest list ranges from greats like B.B. King and Clapton to the newer generation of blues guitarists. The concert is a veritable smorgasbord of artists.

I think it's important because there are some fine guitarists out there that just aren't that famous. The Festival allows people to get a glimpse of artists they might never have heard of otherwise.

Joe Perry

Alright, so for this post, I'm going to cover Joe Perry. Being the guitarist for Aerosmith, he's not exactly an unknown blues guitarist, but I think it's important for folks to appreciate what a good guitar player he is. Aerosmith is a wonderful band, but I don' think it should overshadow Perry's entire career.

Perry was born in 1950 and was influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, so much so that when Aerosmith first hit the stage, they were bruted about as a "Rolling Stones knock-off". It's true that Perry plays in the "rock" side of "blues-rock", but his playing is still rooted in the blues. The bluesiest album they put out was Honkin' on Bobo. Songs like "Back Back Train" conjure up a deep South atmosphere.

After Aerosmith, Perry launched "The Joe Perry Project". Album sales were decent, but they thrived more as a live act.

Perry also published a solo album where he played every instrument except for the drums, leading to favorable reviews.



Here's a Link to
Let the Music Do the Talking
By the Joe Perry Project

King of the Blues

Alright, So this post isn't about an artist, but rather a competition that Guitar Center puts on every year called King of the Blues.

So the idea is pretty straight forward. The nation is broken up into various districts and three levels of competition weed out all but about 10 or so competitors that go head to head in a final show at the House of Blues in LA. Winners of the various levels win prizes, but the Grand Prize Winner takes home some walkin' around money, a sweet Gibson guitar and a recording contract.

The reason I take the time to write about this is that I think competitions like these keep the blues alive. As I have said, blues seem to have taken a back seat to punk rock and alt rock. Such a major competition gives guitarists an incentive to hone their inner blues man.

In addition, like Ernie Ball's "Battle of the Bands", I think any competition that seeks out the truly talented from amongst the "average Joes" and gives them a foo in the door is a boon to industry. Bands get their music heard and industry execs may just find "the next big thing". Everyone wins and the music industry as a whole benefits from it in my opinion.