Tag Archive for ‘Guitarists’

If you were asked to name the three most influential guitarists of the past 40 years I wonder what names you would come up with?

Maybe you would say to me Chet Atkins or Chuck Berry or Woody Guthrie, or perhaps it would be Pete Seeger or Frank Zappa.

Well, terrific musicians of course, no arguments there, but they would not be my top three if I was asked.

Who would be my choice? Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, although not necessarily in that order.

Sad to say that Jimi died in 1970, but happily Eric and Jeff are still performing today.

Right then, let me say a bit about these three guitar heros.

First of all, Eric Clapton. Eric was born in 1945, and in 1963 he joined the R&B group, The Yardbirds, but within 2 short years he had left the group as he felt that they were becoming an out and out pop group, and he was right.

After Eric had spent some time with the Yardbirds, and then John Mayall's Bluesbreakers he turned his attention to forming the brilliant group known collectively as Cream.

Cream were a great group, truly a supergroup, but in 1968 they broke up and went their seperate ways. It was at this time that Eric formed the band called Blind Faith.

Following the demise of Blind Faith Eric went on to form his own band, Derek and the Dominos and it was while he was in this band that he wrote what is, in my opinion, his greatest song " Layla".

Unfortunately Eric found himself sinking into drink and drugs and it got so bad that he eventually had to pull out of the music business, at least for a while.

I am happy to say however that Eric eventually managed to control his addiction, and he is now back performing again.

Well next up comes Jimi Hendrix, born 1942, and died 1970. A brief life of just 28 years, but what a name he made for himself.

He is considered by many people to be the greatest rock guitarist of all time, and I would not argue with that.

For a part of his career he was a sideman for such famous name as Ike & Tina Turner, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard, but not surprisingly somebody with his talent and stage presence did not stay in the background for long.

It was not long before Jimi had moved to the big lights of New York, and one night, whilst playing in Greenwich village, he was approached by a member of the British Rock group, the Animals.

And it was suggested to him that he head on over to London, and this he did in 1966.

And my how he played it. A dazzling guitarist, and an electric performer, what a combination.

Hey Joe was his debut single, and it still sounds great today, and in 1967 he cut his first album, Are You Experienced.

To really appreciate his performances you had to see him live on stage. Sometimes he would play guitar whilst it was behind his back, and sometimes he would play it with his teeth.

When you saw a live performance by Jimi, you would never forget it.

When he died in 1970 of a drug overdose the world lost a truly unique musician.

And so on to my final choice. A musician not as well known as Eric or Jimi, but a great guitarist nonetheless, and that person is Jeff Beck.

Jeff spent most of his early career playing with various bands including the Yardbirds, and screaming Lord Sutch. He was born in 1944.

He stayed with the yardbirds until late 1966 when he went on to form his own band the Jeff Beck Group.

And it was here that he spent some time with Rod Stewart until Rod moved on.

Amongst other great names that Jeff has played with is Mick Jagger.

Deservedly, in 1989 Jeff was the recipient of a grammy award for the best rock instrumental in his album Guitar Shop.

Not so long ago I heard Jeff playing live, and even after all these years he is able to thrill his audiences with his skill. If you get the chance, go and hear him for yourself.

This has been the first of a series of articles on great performers. If you would like to be kept updated as new articles come out then please go to my website and email me, asking to be kept updated.