10 favortie guitarists - in no particular order:
#1 Albert Lee, the master of tone and chicken picking, from England...
Sweet Little Lisa
#2 Charlie Christian, the first great lead guitarist in jazz...
Stompin' At The Savoy (live at Mintons, NYC, 1941)
Carolina in My Mind
James Taylor, Composer
... music to live by ...
Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas
James Taylor
Quintette du Hot Club de France
... music to live by ...
Limehouse Blues
Minor Swing
Django Reinhardt (guitar) & Stéphane Grappeli (violin)
*
Reinhardt is on my short list of favorite guitarists. He is acknowledged as being the music world’s first great jazz guitar soloist. I agree. An injury from a fire left him with only two fully usable fingers on his left hand, yet he developed a style of playing that was phenomenal. For much of WWII, Reinhardt, a gypsy, found himself on the run from Nazi units that had been dispatched to find and kill him. Obviously, they weren’t successful.
Michael Jackson
Billie Jean
... music to live by ...
Gifted, troubled, shapeshifter, introspective to a fault, visionary, dangerous, innovative, pure talent, pure crazy, an absolute force...
Live, Munich
*
1958-2009
Round about Midnight
Thelonious Monk, Composer
... music to live by ...
[Three paths...]
Thelonious Monk
Wes Montgomery, guitarist
*
The song was given a dramatic shift by Bernie Henighen and Clarence Williams, creating a vocalese staple of the jazz world. The title morphed to Round Midnight
Sarah Vaughan & Dizzy Gillespie
Alice in Chains
No Excuses
... music to live by ...
There comes a time
Got no patience to search
For peace of mind
Layin low
Want to take it slow
No more hiding or
Disguising truths I've sold
The Bug
Mark Knopfler, Composer
... music to live by ...
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Dire Straits
Live, 1992
it's a strange old game - you learn it slow
one step forward and it's back to go
you're standing on the throttle
you're standing on the breaks
in the groove 'til you make a mistake
Eyes on the Prize
(Traditional)
... songs to live by ...
Mavis Staples
Bruce Springsteen,
The Seeger Sessions Band, Live in Dublin
*
A song that sings itself ... that is wrapped with history ... that is a breath of something more than words.
Lines from Gary Snyder's "I Went into the Maverick Bar" echo through me:
That short-haired joy and roughness—
America—your stupidity.
I could almost love you again.
Scarborough Fair
(Traditional)
... songs to live by ...
Marianne Faithfull
Hayley Westenra
Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel
John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell
Yer Blues
John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Composers
My mother was of the sky
My father was of the earth
But I am of the universe
And you know what it's worth
Money
Pink Floyd
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I’ll buy me a football team
Run On
(Traditional)
... songs to live by ...
Moby
Johnny Cash
Elvis Presley
*
ah well, well...
Making Pies
Patty Griffin, Composer
... songs to live by ...
We tied our ribbons to the fire escape
They were taken by the birds
Who flew home to the country
As the bombs rained on the world
All the World Is Green
Tom Waits, Composer
... music to live by ...
The moon is yellow silver
Oh the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green
...a post for Mary
Song for a Winter's Night
Gordon Lightfoot, Composer
~
Sarah McLachlan
Gordon Lightfoot
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Composers
... songs to live by ...
Lonnie Johnson
It's too Late to Cry
*
Lonnie Johnson is a neglected blues performer. Most are unfamiliar with his voice & and his work on the guitar – but both are smooth.
I'm So Glad
Skip James, Composer
... songs to live by ...
Beck
(from The Soul of a Man, film, directed by Wim Wenders)
Cream
Skip James
*
James is an original - gifted and haunting - a master of the Delta blues.
Working Class Hero
John Lennon, Composer
... songs to live by ...
John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
There’s room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
