RITCHIE BLACKMORE
Ritchie Blackmore, circa his post-Deep Purple outfit, Rainbow. East West style leather jacket, pilgrim hat, and the mighty Ronnie James Dio as co-conspirator. Visceral like a knife fight in a dive bar. Somewhat of an afterthought of the British blues rock scene of the late 60’s, Blackmore seemed to always have something to prove and frequently took solo lengths as well as showboating histrionics to the extreme. But this didn’t stop him from becoming one of the most agile and virtuosic axe men of the 70’s. What he may have lacked in soul or melody, he more than made up for in his pummeling leads, armageddon tones, and over the top monster riffs. Case in point, Smoke on the Water…
MICK RONSON
Mick Ronson, Spider from Mars. The grimace of Mick Ronson in full rock mode is as intense as it gets (and easily Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap’s main inspiration). His bristling leads were always deceptively simple but as perfect a lead as any song he ever played needed (recommended listening: “I’m So Free” by Lou Reed, “Just Another Night” by Ian Hunter, and “Moonage Daydream” by Herr Stardust). Similar to Mick Ralphs in that they were both able to shave any fat off of anything they played resulting in a style both fundamental and Goliath-sized. Ace in the hole band member for David Bowie, Lou Reed, Ian Hunter, and Bob Dylan. With that kind of resume, you must be doing something right. Talking ’bout Monroe and walking on snow white…
JEFF BECK
Jeff Beck cut his teeth playing blues with the Yardbirds. He split from the group to go it alone but eschewed any fame and fortune he could have easily slipped into his back pocket like some groupie’s phone number. Instead, he developed a highly inventive and immediately identifiable guitar style, abandoned having singers in the band (for the most part), and created a fervent cult of fusion rock fans that still go see him live. Few other blues guitarists of his generation can claim to have as much integrity or success as a solo artist while also keeping away from the charts, the super groups, the reunion tours, or by having a style even close to anyone else’s. Here he mugs for Antonioni’s camera in the late 60’s cult gem “Blow Up”:
PETE TOWNSEND
An amazing rhythm player and song writer, Townsend was brilliantly sloppy when it came to lead guitar. Eddie Van Halen even called him up once to compliment him on the mistakes he made on the “Live at Leeds” album. Part of Townsend’s inconsistent yet incendiary lead playing is due to the fierce competition he had with Jimi Hendrix, most famously illustrated at the Monterrey Pop Festival where Jimi buried the Who’s somewhat lackluster performance after losing a coin toss to them as to who (no pun intended) would go on last. With that kind of sparring partner you either up your skills overnight or get killed on the spot. Despite this competition, and perhaps because of it, Townsend was always able to channel his demons properly when it came time to walk the walk. Townsend explains:
DAVID GILMOUR
David Gilmour took Syd Barrett’s place in a Pink Floyd that was still struggling for an existence, let alone a sound, after the crazy diamond was given the ax. By the time “Meddle” and “Dark Side of The Moon” were released, they not only had achieved both, but were a bonafide nation unto themselves. Gilmour’s style was blues based but tinged with a little bit of the mind expansion and madness of which their lyrics also referenced. He also owned some of the meanest, most Mephistophelian guitar tones ever to grace an ear drum. When this sound was backing singer Roger Waters’ eviscerating lyrics the effect was a journey through the maelstrom, head long into the unknown and at the mercy of a ferryman with devious aims. Here Gilmour and co. let loose a broadside in the ruins of Pompeii…
TONY IOMMI
There are few guitarists you can trace multiple whole genres back to (heavy metal, grunge, stoner rock, etc.). And while Tony Iommi was yet another of the English blues caste of the late 60’s, his take on the black American folk music idiom sounded slowed down and dumb to most of the rock critics and faux cerebral rock cognoscenti of the time. Fans of the heavier blues bands however, especially the white teenaged males, took to the sound like an army charging behind a flag. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple followed a similar path and though Zeppelin’s guitarist flirted with Crowley and wizard-like outfits, Iommi and his motley cohorts full-on signed the contract. And what they brought out of that infernal brokerage was nothing short of the wickedest of heavy blues and stonedest of followings, not to mention one of the more successful careers of evil. Watch Iommi own it in Paris, 1970:
JIMMY PAGE
Jimmy Page was a studio legend before shacking up with the Yardbirds as a bassist. Little did they know he would end up taking over the entire band and rename the whole thing after a gag phrase Keith Moon rattled off one night. By the time the mighty Led Zeppelin lifted off, Page’s style was perhaps the truest form of a completely English heavy blues pedigree as well as the most fearsome. His leads were like pages from a master strategist’s playbook, a book no doubt written while providing lead work for hit singles by Them, the Kinks, Marianne Faithful and the Who. Feigning with slower, more traditional blues riffs and motifs, he can suddenly overwhelm with blitzkriegs of notes and runs as dexterously executed as they are tastefully precise of direction. Watch Pagey toy with the prey…
Stay tuned for more lists, other decades, other genres. In the meantime, stay evil…
the modicum 