Question..I just had an argument with someone who claims B.B. King is the Best Blues Guitarist of all times..I just don't agree..I really don't have anyone in particular in mind for myself..but B.B. just doesn't do "it" for me (yeah..he's a "Legend"..but still...)..as far as standing there playing..it seem's he sings..picks a few notes..(lot's a bending..)..his band plays most of the sone....and on it goes...What am I missing?..What's the experienced out there have to say?..Thanks!
I like B.B. but I agree with you, he's not the best blues guitarist IMHO. Most people are going to disagree with me but I think SRV is my favorite blues guitarist (and just plain guitarist) :)
Stairway to Freebird!
Depends on what you mean by "best."
B.B. isn't the most commercially successfull, isn't the most musically gifted, and isn't the most technically innovative.
But, he has done it at a consistantly high level for longer than anyone.
Was Dan Marino less a QB than Elway 'cuase he never won a super bowl? Same thing here I think . . . B.B.'s the man. It's possible to argue that others are too . . .but you can't fault someone for laying claim to King.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I think the three kings are probably the most important, albert, bb, and freddie.
The best blues guitar playing I think belongs to Mr. Hendrix...Red House. Bleeding Heart, ect, need I say more?
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
- Jimi Hendrix
I always think of Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters. But maybe that should be in the blues songwriting category.
Dave
Sometimes in life you get shown the light,
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Not innovative? he was one of the pioneers of bending way back before worldwar II. While I love SRV, I just don't really see him as a bluesplayer. A few of my farourites:
BB King
Albert King
John Lee Hooker
Jimi Hendrix
Albert Collins
Eric Clapton
Robert Johnson
Muddy Waters
Howlin' Wolf
Gary Moore (yes, marshall, LP, fat distortion, but got some awesome blues jams with some of the folks above)
Rory Gallagher. :-D
Henry Garza, Saul Hudson, and Darrell Abbott could not be here tonight, but they all had sex and are proud to announce the birth of their two-headed baby, Rodya S. Thompson.
- Paraphrased from the Tenacious D series
T-bone Walker :lol:
"Failure is the key to success" Lee Wen; Champ vs Champ
Good Blues come from the heart.....not the technique.
I live in Memphis TN, and worked on Beal Street (home of the Blues)
for a couple years, so I've heard lots of blues. When I think of the blues I dont think of the big names and major productions, I think about that old man or little lady playing on the street and telling thier personal story, Thats the blues to me...
You gotta live the blues to play the blues...
Or, you gotta have had some sad experiences.
Eric Clapton goes to my number one spot.
Clapton has certainly had his share of tough times. I guess he Qualifies.
Well I wouldn't call myself an expert in blues, but
I'd add Ry Cooder to the list
"Things may get a whole lot worse/ Before suddenly falling apart"
Steely Dan
"Look at me coyote, don't let a little road dust put you off" Knopfler
SRV put on the best blues performance I've ever seen.
Otis Rush often seems to get overlooked. I dig Albert the most of all the Kings.
Not innovative? he was one of the pioneers of bending way back before worldwar II.
I didn't say he wasn't innovative. I said he wasn't the most technically innovative.
If I say that Shaq isn't the tallest center to play basketball do you think I mean that Shaq isn't tall?
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
