Posts
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:
Mike Waltz lied! Says he never met Goldberg, yet stood next to him during
2021 moderated by Goldberg
-
At the very minimum, Alex Wong has to be fired, and he still hasn’t been…
But if anyone else needs
The post Mike Waltz lied! Says he never met Goldberg, ...
14 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].