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Guitar Legends.
by Univideit Gauitin
http://www.guitarsuniverse.com
Mutual agreement on greatness could be very subjective.
Individual choices may vary if one tries to compile a list
of guitar legends. Different people would have different
yardsticks of greatness per season. But an attempt to make
a list would be quite interesting.
The blues guitarist Robert Johnson features on many lists.
He has the added attraction of a shadowy legend all his own.
The story goes that he was a pretty average, even bad
guitarist, but in just one year he became phenomenal...
Where had this new talent come from? Nobody wanted to
believe it was just practice and hard work, so the tale
started that Johnson had made a pact with the Devil.
The deal had been done, so the story goes, at a crossroads
somewhere in the Deep South. Johnson himself immortalized
the meetings, probably ironically, in songs like Crossroad
Blues and Me And The Devil Blues. These were some of the few
tracks he was able to record before his death in 1938 at the
tender age of 27. To this day no one knows if he was stabbed
or poisoned or if the devil himself came to claim what he
was owed.
It is a coincidence that the other great guitarist after
Johnson also had an early death. This great was Jimi
Hendrix, considered by many as the greatest guitarist to
ever grace the Earth and the man who revolutionized the art
of playing guitar. However, he was popular for his other
activities also,which included playing solos behind his back
or with histeeth and famously setting his guitar on fire.
It is believed that he was oblivious of the fact that what a
great musician he was.
Hendrix was a great innovator. Being left handed, he
re-strung his guitar upside down for ease of play. He had
all types of music in his bouquet like blues, rock or jazz.
His talent could be gauged from the fact that he gave live
concerts with support from just a bassist and drummer.
All legends have lots of controversies associated with them
and Hendrix was no exception. He has been blamed for
covering other bands songs in concert and on record. Once
he did the Beatles 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club
It is believed that he could
play a song after listening to it for just once. He is
also credit to have pleased the stubborn Miles Davis with
his music.
The guitar player takes central stage in so many forms of
music that the guitar greats in most people's minds aren't
just rock or bluesmen. Jazz players like Django Rheinhardt,
classicists like John Williams, or flamenco guitarists like
Paco de Lucia feature on many lists. Is it any wonder no-one
can really agree?
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