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by Smitty
Dustbury notes a web poll crediting noted Seattleite Jimi Hendrix as having the best guitar riff ever.
I'd like to throw in a vote for Joe Satriani, who admits to being a Hendrix disciple. Here, in probably my favorite track by Joe, he takes the brutally simple figure "da-duh da-duh", and sets it on fire. The whole thing is incinerated by 2:00 into the track.
Then, just to show you what a genius he is, Joe brings it back and works it at a medium pace. The second half of this track seems (to the non-guitarist) to pick up right where Hendrix's reading of "All Along the Watchtower" left off.
"Chords of Life" is off of "Strange Beautiful Music", which is a desert island release, as far as I am concerned.
Update: from the comments, Trio Rypdal does indeed set standards:
WTF? Seven hours after woman is burned to d-ath by illegal alien, Communist
governor Kathy Hochul brags about subway safety
-
I don’t know if Hochul is just trolling the family of the woman here, or
just plane stupid… But seven
The post WTF? Seven hours after woman is burned to ...
5 hours ago
Not even a close second to Machine Gun
ReplyDeleteBand of Gypsys: Live at the Fillmore East
Joe's having fun quoting and playing off a bunch of classic leads in that. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteBut all time riff-master is of course Jimmy Page. In fact, he recorded the track that will preserve ROCK in its darkest days. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/unreleased_jimmy_page_guitar_riff
Two words: Terje Rypdal!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb6onuxiKHw
Have you guys watched any Allan Holdsworth videos online yet?
ReplyDeleteThis is the guy Van Halen raves about.
Akira Takasaki, my friend. Akira Takasaki. I rest my case.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7XCGf-3Qo
(PS: Joe Satriani is fricking awesome, too. No beef about that.)
You folks are close but the winner is Al DiMeola. here is a link to his work with Chick Corea and Return to Forever, the greatest Fusion Jazz band of all time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lObVilGPjHc&feature=related
A great guitar riff: (1) every note counts [see: Jimmy Page]; there are no throwaways or notes that are merely there for show [see Eddie VanH and his clones]. (2) it must so penetrate the soul that it repeats in the head [Ex: Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore are masters], and (3) it must be the main creator of the mood the song is trying to capture and succeeds in doing so [Ex: Kashmir].
ReplyDeleteSatriani is doing variations on a theme; this is not a riff, though, as we've come to expect from him, it is a masterful set of variations on a theme.
Ronsonic is absolutely right that Jimmy Page is the greatest of the greats [Ex: Black Dog, Whole Lotta Love, Living Loving Maid, The Rover, Kashmir, Dazed & Confused, How Many More Times, Heartbreaker, Houses Of The Holy, Nobody's Fault But Mine, etc.]
I cannot come up with a #1 riff, but I think the best of the best are: Black Dog [Page/Jones], Supernaut [Iommi], Smoke On The Water [Blackmore], Train Kept A Rollin' [various], Louie Louie [Richard Berry], Layla [Clapton], Jumpin' Jack Flash [Richards].