Conference napalm::guitar

    The ultimate virtuoso: Roy Clark
    
    Mike

    -1
    
    Naaa, the ultimate virtuoso is Mark O'Conner!

>               <<< Note 1736.2 by FACVAX::BUCKLEY "Get Real!" >>>
>
>    -1
>    
>    Naaa, the ultimate virtuoso is Mark O'Conner!

Ditto!  Anything Roy can do, Mark can do better.  Honest.

    I'll second the vote on Roy Clark - switching from electric guitar
    ("Under The Double Eagle") to banjo ("Foggy Mountain Breakdown")
    to fiddle ("Orange Blossom Special") to trumpet (???) ("Mack The
    Knife") and back to 12-string acoustic ("Malaguena") calls for a
    sizeable amount of mental gearshifting, and my hat's off to him!
    
    I remember a loooooong time ago seeing Hank Williams Jr. in concert
    playing virtually every instrument on the stage: fiddle, banjo,
    guitar, drums, piano, dobro, lap steel ..... come to think of it,
    he was doing that on a recent Showtime special as well.....
    
    Or how about Barbara Mandrell?  She's known primarily as a singer,
    but she plays a mean pedal steel...and bass....and banjo...and saxa-
    phone (?!?!)
    
    					--Eric--
    
    P.S. (What about me? I play bass, pedal steel, banjo (not so well),
    guitar ..... nyuk nyuk nyuk ;-)   ;-)    ;-)

    re: Buck
    
    Never heard of Mark O'Connor!  What inst's does he play?  What kind
    of music?
    
    Mike

    
    Mark O'Connor was a child prodigy on the fiddle, winning many fiddle
    contests around the country while still in his early teens, and
    releasing a number of recordings as well.
    
    When he was 17, he recorded "Markology" (Rounder), which had him
    playing *guitar* and trading licks with Tony Rice, Dan Crary, Doc
    Watson, etc.  Sheesh.
    
    Then at 18, he joined the David Grisman Quintet, replacing Tony Rice. 
    He's only on "Quintet 80" (Warner Bros).
    
    Then, he replaced Allen Sloan in the Dregs (honest) and also got to
    whip out some Les Paul alongside Steve Morse.  He only made it to the
    final Dregs album, "Industry Standard" (Arista) and the Dregs CD3 that
    Ensoniq issued, although he has appeared on some Steve Morse solo
    albums doing guest spots.
    
    More recently his solo recordings have been more in the "new age" vein,
    plus he is now the most in demand fiddle/mandolin session man in
    Nashville.  
    
    The guy is armed and definitely dangerous.
    
    						Brian

    Yep,
    
    Glad to see Barbara Mandrell listed.  Somewhere in here I described
    what she did on her HBO special - switching instruments every couple
    of bars and playing them ALL like a virtuoso.  She played about
    6 different instruments in the space of one piece and she was
    amazing on all six!
    
    Another name perhaps is Tony MacAlpine.  He's one of those "Varney
    style" guitar shredders, but his albums usually contain some very
    impressive (if not original) keyboard chops.
    
    I *LOVE* Kerry Livgren's music and his playing (in fact, I'm reading
    his autobiography), but he really isn't much of a technical monster
    on either keyboards or guitar, least not like some of the folks
    mentioned (Mandrell, Clark, MacAlpine, O'Connor).  However, he may
    be a more inventive interesting musicians than ANY of these other
    guys.
    
    	db

    db, I agree on Kerry Livgren.  He's also a decent lyricist as well as
    composer.
    
    How do you like the book?  Do you recommend it?
    
    Mike

    I'm finding the book very interesting.
    
    It jumps between "stuff about me as a musician and Kansas" and
    "my spiritual enlightenment".
    
    Although I'm sure Livgren would say that his music and his spiritual
    enlightenment are inseparably bound, perhaps even the same, and though
    the book is clearly oriented towards the emerging spirit... well...
    call me a spiritual philistine, but I just ain't into that.  Or rather,
    it's not what I want to read in this book.
    
    However, there's enough non-spiritual stuff to keep me interested.
    You can also tell when he's about to wax philosophical and skip.
    
    Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the book is hearing
    his explanation of the lyrics and the state of mind that evoked
    them.
    
    Actually, I think he's far more than a "decent" lyricist, but you
    probably wouldn't disagree with that.
      

>    Actually, I think he's far more than a "decent" lyricist, but you
>    probably wouldn't disagree with that.
    
    Yeah I'll be nice. ;-)
    
    I love the way he uses what is known as ".25� college words" that
    nobody else even attempts to use.
    
    Mike

Roy Clark is a good ole boy and Barbara Mandrell is a good ole girl, but
they couldn't carry instrument cases in Mark O'Connor's league.  Roy and Barb
are not virtuosi.  They are capable of learning and executing a few showcase
tunes on several instruments, but Mark can take each of those instruments 
and *improvise* mega-showcase tunes with flawless technique.  He is NOT human.

Bob

    Another one who comes to mind is Albert Lee.  Known primarily for
    his hot Telecaster work (Jerry Lee Lewis, Everly brothers, Eric
    Clapton, Emmylou Harris)  I recall seeing his name playing piano
    on a couple of Emmylou's songs ("Bad Moon rising" is one) and letting
    Frank Reckard do the out-of-sight Tele stuff.  Maybe Albert Lee
    is no piano virtouso, but he sure sounds like he's having a fun
    time at it....!
    
    					--Eric--
    
    Re. 12  OK, OK, so Mark is great; but let's not put down Roy Clark
    and Barbara Mandrell as "good ole boy (girl)" please.  Doing even
    "showcase" tunes by rote requires no small amount of technique,
    and I commend them for it.  Besides, I suspect that anyone who will
    go to the trouble of learning "showcase" tunes will want to learn
    more of them (all banjo players HAVE to learn "Foggy Mt. Breakdown"
    but probably enjoy "Reuben" and "Cumberland Gap" as well.)  

    
    Albert Lee also tickles the ivories throughout "Money and Cigarettes" by
    Eric Clapton because Ry Cooder happens to be playing second guitar.
    
    Caught that tour and saw Albert do a few tunes at the piano alongside
    ex-Cocker keyboardist Chris Stainton on B3.
    
    							Brian

    
    .8
    
    I agree with you about Tony MacAlpine, he's even hotter on keyboards
    than he is on guitar.  Tony is from Springfield, MA and was my guitar
    teacher a couple years back.  His speed is incredible, but sometimes I
    wish he'd slow it down some.  Tony has classical roots and really shows
    it on keyboards/piano.  But he definitely likes the limelight to show
    what he can do.  He's a good guy and very talented.
    
    Rick (new noter in guitar)
    

    	 "CIRLING THE NEXUS IN A FEVERED DANCE WITH FATE"
    
    ONE VOTE FOR DAN FOGELBERG WHOSE ALBUM CREDITS INCLUDE VARIOUS 
    GUITARS (ELECT,ACOUSTIC,SLIDE,12 STRING),PIANO,ORGAN,BASS,SYNTH,
    BASS AND VOCALS.  HE'S ALSO RECORDED ALBUMS IN VARIOUS ROCK,POP,
    FOLK,CLASSICAL AND COUNTRY STYLES.
    NOTE: I LOVED MARK O'CONNOR'S WORK ON NANCI GRIFFITH'S ALBUMS BUT
    THEN AGAIN I LOVE EVERYHING ABOUT HER.

There are many musicians who are multi-talented, and record every or most 
instruments on their solo albums. Some names that come to mind are Prince, 
Lindsey Buckingham, John Fogerty, and Tom Scholtz. I admire all of these guys 
as guitar players, writers, producers, and overall music ability.

Alan S.

    Don't Sell Barbara Mandrell short. I have seen her do some jazz work on 
    Pedal Steel and she sounded real good.

    The number of guitar players who also do their own bass on records
    is quite large.
    
    However, many of them play bass like a guitar.  I'm fortunate enough
    to be working with a guy now who is both a great guitar player and
    bass player, and NOT a "guitar player who also happens to own a bass"
    like most such people I've met who claim to play either.
    
    	db

    Dave, I've heard such sentiments echoed by others.  I'm not sure
    I know what is meant by a bass player who plays bass "like a guitar".
    Can you expound on this for me??
    
    I mean there's Jaco
    and there's Jack Bruce -- these guys are bass players, right?
    
    Who/what are some examples of the "other" type?
    
    	joe.

	In response to the original note, the late Brian Jones immediately
    	comes to mind. 
    
    	Alan

    
    
    Re: .20
    
    	One guitarist (who "plays" the bass) is Yngwie. His played
    bass on some of his recordings and I didn't like it at all..
    
    -Tom
    

    Jerry Garcia comes to mind, too.  I believe he was responsible
    for the pedal steel work on CS&N's "Teach Your Children Well."
    
    Mick Jagger plays guitar...and blues harp, and piano.  In a 
    fairly recent guitar magazine interview, Keith Richards identifies
    Mick as the player on some guitar parts the interviewer mentions.
    
    The interviewer is scornfully disdainful.  
    
    That kind of cracks me up.  A kid takes up guitar at 12 or 13
    and by 18 or so, he can be pretty damn good.  What's that, five
    or six years?  Mick has been around some great guitar players for
    nearly 30 years, but he's not supposed to be any good because he
    is the singer, or has an obnoxious (to some) demeanor?
    
    Sometimes perception has nothing to do with fact....
    
    Brian

    does Paul McCartney play guitar?  I know he plays bass and keys.
    
    Mike

    McCartney played a great deal of the instruments on Side 2 of "Abbey
    Road" (as well as tons of other Beatles and solo material, especially
    his first solo album where I think he played every instrument).
    
    On "The End" where Harrison, McCartney, and Lennon are trading of
    licks (in that order I think), some of the tastier ones belong to
    Mr. McCartney.
    
    	joe.

    I believe that Stevie Wonder played every instrument on "Music of
    My Mind" except for guitar..., but I could be wrong.
    
    	joe.

	comes to mind as one of those play-it-all kind of guys.

	I often feel like the opposite of a guitarist who happens to
	play bass - for a long time I was a bassist who happened to
	play guitar (there's a couple of us in here, eh Sam?)

	My guitar playing has a very distinct mark of somebody that's
	lived in the rhythm section for a while and I feel funny when
	I see a guitar-as-first-instrument player play. Like I'm
	claimin' to play guitar.

	My opinion (humble or otherwise) is that most guitarists have
	little concept of how to play bass. While it is strung just
	like the 3-6 strings of a guitar, the expression one makes on
	those strings is very different.

	Funny thing that Jimi Hendrix Experience had a guitarist as it's
	bass player and that was exectly what was needed to counter the
	strong rhythmic concepts in Jimi's playing.

	- you should see me play drums. gag aga gag aga

    A few other names pop to mind of players noted for work on both bass
    and guitar:
    
    -  Hamish Stuart (AWB, currently touring with McCartney on guitar)
    -  Mike Rutherford
    -  Ron Wood
    
    I think Woody's work on the first Jeff Beck Group album is a good
    example of a guitar player mentality applied to bass; as with Noel
    Redding, I like it and think it works (at least in that context).
    
    /rick

    George Harrison has covered; country, rock-a-billy, rockn' roll, pop,
    acid rock, Jazz, Indian, and Classical. He can sit down with Chet Atkins,
    Paul Simon, Eric Clapton,Late Roy Orbison, Carlos Santana, Tom Scott
    And Jam his Heart Out!!!! Not to mention his more major accomplishmants
    with Paul John and Ringo. A good singer too!
    
    How about David Bromberg for country/rock versitility ? I've seen
    him live and he plays fiddle, electric and slide guitar, blues harp,
    saxophone, And lead vocals too.
    
    Tom

    > I'm not sure I know what is meant by a bass player who plays bass
    > like a guitar.  Could you expound on this for me.
    
    In my book, the bass guitar and the guitar have different roles
    in bands.   You've been around long enough to know what I mean
    by that.
    
    A guitar player playing bass like a guitar is probably best described
    as a guy who doesn't change roles when he puts the bass on.  It
    includes both "style" and "function".
    
    	db - who can play bass guitar, but does not claim to be a "bass
    	     player"
    
    p.s.  How in the hell could I forget Stevie Wonder?  I guess it's maybe
          because as many instruments as he plays, I don't think he plays
    	  guitar and this is the GUITAR conference...
    
    	  But he amazes me about as much as anyone mentioned thus far.
    
    p.p.s  Bonnie Raitt plays a bunch of different instruments (guitar,
    	   bass, keyboards, etc.)

    Another guy who's quite versatile is Steve Stills. In addition to
    playing excellent electric and acoustic guitar, he did the bass on the
    recordings for a lot of the CSNY hits, like Suite Judy Blue Eyes. I
    think his bass style is interesting and distinctive. He also plays
    keyboards, at least piano and organ. It's my understanding that he laid
    down most of the instrumental tracks for the studio versions of their
    songs. He used to sing pretty good too, before he croaked out on too
    much alcohol.
    
    - Ram

    
>    Re. 12  OK, OK, so Mark is great; but let's not put down Roy Clark
>    and Barbara Mandrell as "good ole boy (girl)" please.  Doing even
>    "showcase" tunes by rote requires no small amount of technique,
>    and I commend them for it.  

OK, I didn't mean to put them down (where I live, "good ole boy" is a
compliment), and I commend them too.  

Bob

    Didn't Tod Runddegrun(help sp?) play all of the instruments ie. drums,
    base, Guitar and keys and vocals on his first album.  I heard that he
    could not afford to hire the musicans so he played it all himself.
    I don't know the album enough to rate him though.

    Well, last night I got assigned bass duty for one of the tunes we're
    doing.  The guitar player really knew the tune, I didn't, there was
    no keyboard part so I saw "what the ____ - I'll give it a shot?"
    
    Let's put it this way, if you want to hear what a "guitar player
    playing bass sounds like", come to our next gig and watch me.
    
    Now if you want to hear a guitar player who can REALLY play "real" bass,
    watch Fred.
    
    	"Big Bottom" Blickstein

	How about Ralph Towner? Not only a hell of a classical/12-string
	acoustic guitarist, but a pretty fair piano player too. 

	And speaking of ECM, Egberto Gismonti also covers both
	guitar and keyboards pretty well.

	Mike