Disappearance of Brit Guitar Heroes, an Unsolved Tragedy

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Hard to believe, but in a far-distant era England was synonymous with cutting-edge individual instrumental brilliance. Plank-spankers everywhere looked to the land of Marvin, Townshend, Beck, Page, (fucking) Cl*pton, Hendrix-by-adoption, Blackmore, Howe, Ronson, Fripp - not to mention Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, Derek Bailey, Keith Rowe etc. No longer! Look at the pathetic pretenders to the guitar-hero throne from the last two decades. Johny Marr? John Squire? Bernard fuckin' Butler? Spineless pastiche-artists, museum waxwork parodies who haven't produced an interesting air-gtr moment between them. Why?

No use blaming punk, either - Keith Levene was the last great UK guitarist with an individual style. (I think it's because you're all poor nowadays, any alternate theories?)

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the last great UK guitarist with an individual style? I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but....

.....Kevin Shields!

― Dr. C, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Vini Reilly has an individual style.

― MarkH, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it's all turntables and samplers round here that's why.

― Billy Dods, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kevin Shields is not from the UK though - he was raised in America until his early teens when his family moved to Ireland.

― Damian, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Surely Jonny Greenwood qualifys? His style's pretty individual, no matter what you think of it. Shame he doesn't get to play much anymore.

― John Davey, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Re 'samplers and turntables', I suppose that makes sense. After all, they ARE easier to steal.

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sean Cook, shame he's now in Lupine Howl, they're very shite.

― Ronan, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Erm, isn't Sean Cook a bass player?

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ARE BASS GUITARS NOT GUITARS? IF YOU STAB A BASS PLAYER DOES HE NOT BLEED?

― Nick, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was going to say Stuart Zender but then despite being technically good I don't like any Jamiroquai. Why not a bass player by the way?

― Ronan, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If you stab a bass player and all he does is 'bleed', you're not doing it properly.

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Basses aren't real guitars because they only have four strings.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Except 6-string basses, obviously. Step forward Peter Hook.

― MarkH, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

IMO, albums like "Loveless" helped shift the focus from soloist to orchestral backdrop, thereby making the concept of a traditional guitar hero irrelevant. This doesn't mean lots people aren't making cool contributions in music with the instrument, but they're certainly not of the same ilk as Page, Clapton, et al.

― dleone, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Peter Hook - this is exactly what I'm getting at! I mean he's hardly Stanley Clarke, is he?

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Soon there will be no bass players, only harmonica players.

I think guitar virtuosity is overrated. Guitars are part of music, and should never be treated with more respect than, say, the keyboard.

― emil.y, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Overrate by whom? A tiny minority of pony-tailed shop assistants on Denmark Street? I think amateurism and 'tastefulness' is overrated, myself, or is 'Be Here Now' the new standard?

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Simplicity can be a wonderful thing. Look at Ryan Adams for instance. And harmonica is the most under-rated instrument around.

― Ronan, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The problem here is that guitarists can be seen as muso wankers, hence no one is going to claim they are the new guitar hero. Especially not in the new breed of simple acoustic based bands like Coldplay, Starsailor etc.

― Bill, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bill Steer was pretty awesome. I'd say Fast Eddie Clarke outlasted Keith Levene in usefulness as well.

― Kris, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

People realize that we're treading down the path that leads to a Yngwie Malmsteen revival, right?

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

BRING FORTH THE FAT BLOATED SWEDE AND LET HIM ROCK AGAIN.

*feedback explosions, rent-a-vocalist steps up* "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

You can't reinvent the first time people started really abusing their guitars (which happened in America anyway, yay Link Wray).

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No need to panic Dave G (and back away from the Keith Levene choice slowly...). Graham Coxon of Blur qualifies as a great and original guitar player. I have never heard Johnny Marr, J. Macis, ska and Robert Fripp combined before (and never imagined the combonation) until Coxon.

― Brent, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....maybe.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......no.

― Dr. C, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Even thinking that Graham Coxon qualifies as a guitar hero is exactly the problem Dave Q. is taking about, isn't it? You could easily ask the same question about the US though. I'd guess the most popular American guitar player right now is Wes Borland, who doesn't do anything except look strange. Even American indie-rock in the 80s had guitar heroes: Ginn, Stinson, Mould, Sage, Mascis, Moore/Ranaldo. What the hell happened since then?

― Kris, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

was richie blackmore really that much more exceptional than johnny marr, peter hook, bernard sumner, or kevin shields?

i do not agree that jonny greenwood is a great guitar hero in this way.

kris: hey, maybe that's why i don't like much current indie.

― sundar subramanian, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Blackmore is responsible for a whole strand of guitar players, from Finn prog to technical brazil death metal. Whether or not you dislike any of thesee styles (anything with any classical modes that doesn't sound like Steve Howe, say), they can be traced directly back to Blackmore, as he created his own niche. Whereas one can't imagine someone 'sounding like Johny Marr', if they did't also sound like Roger McGuinn, or Glenn Frey.

― dave q, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one month passes...

WHAT ABOUT NICK MCCABE.

― SIMON JONES, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Glenn Frey as in the Eagles?

I'm still not convinced the guitar playing on Machine Head really stands out, as much as I enjoy most of the record. Do other DP records strike you as more exceptional in this regard?

― sundar subramanian, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom Cullinan of Quickspace/Faith Healers has style to burn.

― Dan Regan, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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