I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
don't get me wrong, he's probably my favorite singer/songwriter of all time, but he's not the first who comes to mind when i think 'guitar god.'
I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
don't get me wrong, he's probably my favorite singer/songwriter of all time, but he's not the first who comes to mind when i think 'guitar god.'
i think of him as a better arranger/composer than guitarist.
I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
it aint about the shred, its about the style. yeah, on those solo records from the early 70s his guitar is buried in mounds of effects, but on those impressions records from the 60's (on ABC), his guitar style was so distinctive that all the session guitarists on all the soul records coming out of chicago were emulating his style, like gerald sims and billy butler.
soul guitar is a neglected art form...it's grown out of gospel guitarists like pop staples and sullivan pugh and may be relatively simple, and ive met blues guys who get frustrated hearing those records because the guitar never takes a solo. but as far as rhythm guitar, that sound is unbeatable. besides the impressions' greatest hits, listen to:
- "mercy mercy" don covay - "the jerk" the larks (STRAIGHT-UP impressions impression!) - "i'll always love you" festivals - "here today & gone tomorrow" ohio players (on capitol, before they went funky) - teenie hodges' guitar on the soul records on the hi label (al green, ann peebles, etc.) - marv tarplin's guitar on most smokey robinson records (with and without the miracles) - "how can i tell my mom and dad" patti & the lovelites - "can i change my mind" tyrone davis
simple, yes, but it hits the spot. to me, great guitar doesnt always mean some guitar center employee running through the hendrix songbook.
I also want to give shoutouts to a couple of guitarists from the doo-wop era: lowman pauling (five royales) kermit chandler (sheppards)
and another soul guitarist who i didnt want to include in the earlier roundup because his style is slightly jazzier: bobby womack
I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
it aint about the shred, its about the style. yeah, on those solo records from the early 70s his guitar is buried in mounds of effects, but on those impressions records from the 60's (on ABC), his guitar style was so distinctive that all the session guitarists on all the soul records coming out of chicago were emulating his style, like gerald sims and billy butler.
soul guitar is a neglected art form...it's grown out of gospel guitarists like pop staples and sullivan pugh and may be relatively simple, and ive met blues guys who get frustrated hearing those records because the guitar never takes a solo. but as far as rhythm guitar, that sound is unbeatable. besides the impressions' greatest hits, listen to:
- "mercy mercy" don covay - "the jerk" the larks (STRAIGHT-UP impressions impression!) - "i'll always love you" festivals - "here today & gone tomorrow" ohio players (on capitol, before they went funky) - teenie hodges' guitar on the soul records on the hi label (al green, ann peebles, etc.) - marv tarplin's guitar on most smokey robinson records (with and without the miracles) - "how can i tell my mom and dad" patti & the lovelites - "can i change my mind" tyrone davis
simple, yes, but it hits the spot. to me, great guitar doesnt always mean some guitar center employee running through the hendrix songbook.
I also want to give shoutouts to a couple of guitarists from the doo-wop era: lowman pauling (five royales) kermit chandler (sheppards)
and another soul guitarist who i didnt want to include in the earlier roundup because his style is slightly jazzier: bobby womack
I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
it aint about the shred, its about the style. yeah, on those solo records from the early 70s his guitar is buried in mounds of effects, but on those impressions records from the 60's (on ABC), his guitar style was so distinctive that all the session guitarists on all the soul records coming out of chicago were emulating his style, like gerald sims and billy butler.
soul guitar is a neglected art form...it's grown out of gospel guitarists like pop staples and sullivan pugh and may be relatively simple, and ive met blues guys who get frustrated hearing those records because the guitar never takes a solo. but as far as rhythm guitar, that sound is unbeatable. besides the impressions' greatest hits, listen to:
- "mercy mercy" don covay - "the jerk" the larks (STRAIGHT-UP impressions impression!) - "i'll always love you" festivals - "here today & gone tomorrow" ohio players (on capitol, before they went funky) - teenie hodges' guitar on the soul records on the hi label (al green, ann peebles, etc.) - marv tarplin's guitar on most smokey robinson records (with and without the miracles) - "how can i tell my mom and dad" patti & the lovelites - "can i change my mind" tyrone davis
simple, yes, but it hits the spot. to me, great guitar doesnt always mean some guitar center employee running through the hendrix songbook.
I also want to give shoutouts to a couple of guitarists from the doo-wop era: lowman pauling (five royales) kermit chandler (sheppards)
and another soul guitarist who i didnt want to include in the earlier roundup because his style is slightly jazzier: bobby womack
Not much more to say, but in terms of technicality he was very original. He used a Spanish open tuning in F# (he learned on a guitar laying around that was tuned that way). And the whole idea of partial chords played in sequence with lead licks that Hendrix ("Castles Made of Sand") and Hazel (the quiet sections of "Maggot Brain" that go into those quick ascending octaves) copped is directly influenced from Curtis.
As said, "shredding" is relatively easy for a competent guitarist and really should never be a benchmark in these types of discussions.
Comments
I've always understood Mayfield to be a competent guitarist who kept the right sessioners (upchurch) around. Have I been misinformed? Who's got that footage of him shreaddin?
don't get me wrong, he's probably my favorite singer/songwriter of all time, but he's not the first who comes to mind when i think 'guitar god.'
i think of him as a better arranger/composer than guitarist.
it aint about the shred, its about the style. yeah, on those solo records from the early 70s his guitar is buried in mounds of effects, but on those impressions records from the 60's (on ABC), his guitar style was so distinctive that all the session guitarists on all the soul records coming out of chicago were emulating his style, like gerald sims and billy butler.
soul guitar is a neglected art form...it's grown out of gospel guitarists like pop staples and sullivan pugh and may be relatively simple, and ive met blues guys who get frustrated hearing those records because the guitar never takes a solo. but as far as rhythm guitar, that sound is unbeatable. besides the impressions' greatest hits, listen to:
- "mercy mercy" don covay
- "the jerk" the larks (STRAIGHT-UP impressions impression!)
- "i'll always love you" festivals
- "here today & gone tomorrow" ohio players (on capitol, before they went funky)
- teenie hodges' guitar on the soul records on the hi label (al green, ann peebles, etc.)
- marv tarplin's guitar on most smokey robinson records (with and without the miracles)
- "how can i tell my mom and dad" patti & the lovelites
- "can i change my mind" tyrone davis
simple, yes, but it hits the spot. to me, great guitar doesnt always mean some guitar center employee running through the hendrix songbook.
I also want to give shoutouts to a couple of guitarists from the doo-wop era:
lowman pauling (five royales)
kermit chandler (sheppards)
and another soul guitarist who i didnt want to include in the earlier roundup because his style is slightly jazzier:
bobby womack
Great post--thanks.
-spidey
Not much more to say, but in terms of technicality he was very original. He used a Spanish open tuning in F# (he learned on a guitar laying around that was tuned that way). And the whole idea of partial chords played in sequence with lead licks that Hendrix ("Castles Made of Sand") and Hazel (the quiet sections of "Maggot Brain" that go into those quick ascending octaves) copped is directly influenced from Curtis.
As said, "shredding" is relatively easy for a competent guitarist and really should never be a benchmark in these types of discussions.