500 Words, The Guitarists of David Bowie
From young folike to alien invader, from Thin White Duke to elder statesman, David Bowie occupies a unique place in musical history. Some people don’t like Bowie because they are turned off by his theatrical artifice. Other people don’t like him due to his sexuality. I say that if you are willing to leave those trappings behind what you’re left with is a bold, creative artist that has been backed up by some of the best guitarists in the business.

Mick Ronson: Despite his feathered hairdo, platform shoes and eyeliner Mick Ronson was the muscular counterpoint to Bowie’s sexually ambiguous flouncing.

Earl Slick: Earl may be one of the great unsung guitar heroes because not only did he fill Ronson’s enormous shoes for the ’74 “Diamond Dogs” tour, he’s also played with Ian Hunter, John Lennon the super groups Phantom, Rocker and Slick, and Stinky Vagabond, and the latest version of the New York Dolls.

Robert Fripp: Guitarist, inventor, and sole constant member of King Crimson Robert Fripp had been an innovative guitarist that has a developed a unique voice with his playing. Despite being best known for his work with King Crimson, Fripp has also worked with Brian Eno, Andy Summers, Toyah Wilcox, David Sylvian (vocalist of the group Japan), Van der Graff Generator, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and Blondie to name a few.

Carlos Alomar: Another unsung great, Alomar has shared the stage with Chuck Berry, James Brown, Luther Vandross, Arcadia, and has guested on albums by Paul McCartney, Simple Minds, Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, and The Pretenders.

Peter Frampton: Before selling a zillion copies of “Frampton Comes Alive”, Peter Frampton was an early member of Humble Pie. Frampton has also lent his talents to Harry Nilsson, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Harrison and John Entwistle. With a lot of well-received solo albums and a revitalized career we can almost forgive him for starring with the Bee Gees in Robert Stigwood’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

Almost.

Reeves Gabrels: Gabrels can be best be described as a “guitarist’s guitarist” because despite being well respected in the music world he’s completely unknown to the general listening audience. When Bowie formed his own super group, Tin Machine, Gabrels became his right hand man. After Tin Machine Gabrels eventually found a semi-permanent home with The Cure and still plays an in demand sessions musician.

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Stevie Ray hardly needs an introduction and his guitar solos on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. It should be noted that when Stevie Vaughn exploded onto the scene blues was almost completely absent on the radio and was nowhere to be found on MTV. After Stevie’s untimely death in 1990 it’s become somewhat popular to bash Stevie. To his critics I’d like to say while there were a handful of blues torchbearers during the early eighties, no one had done more to popularize the genre since Stevie.

Adrian Belew: Belew has also played with a lot of the whose who of popular music including Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, Joe Cocker, Nine Inch Nails, King Crimson, Herbie Hancock and even Cyndi Lauper.

Nile Rodgers: While Rodgers may be better known as a producer he’s also a founding member of Chic. Roger had also played with Screamin’ Jay Hakins, Aretha Franklin, Daft Punk and Prince. Rodgers can also be heard playing counterpoint to Stevie Vaughn on Bowie’s song “Let’s Dance”.

Adam P Hunt is a freelance writer who has previously written for The Library Journal and Premier Guitar Magazine. We are so happy to have him join us here at Guitar Radio Show.com.

http://mjtagedfinishes.com

500 Words: Is Gibson Guitar Finished?

Founded in 1884 by Orville H. Gibson, Gibson Guitars has been so closely associated with the development of American popular music. Orville Gibson’s development of the arch top guitar and innovative mandolin designs proved to be louder and more durable than their contemporaries and quickly became in demand.

From the Gilded Age, through the Jazz Age, the Great Depression and two World Wars Gibson survived numerous ownership changes and changes in the taste of audiences. Gibson even survived a rather bleak period known as the Norlin years that lasted from 1969 to 1986.

Gibson guitars also found their way into the hands of such early rock and roll notables as Chuck Berry and Danny Cedrone.

While Berry’s name should be immediately familiar to any one with a passing knowledge of 20th Century popular music, Danny Cedrone’s may not be. Danny Cedrone was a session musician and has been credited for playing guitar on Bill Haley’s version of “Rock Around the Clock”.

In 1986 three investors, Henry Juszkiewicz, David Berryman and Zebrowski bought Gibson and initially things seemed have looked promising. Under new ownership Gibson seemed to have righted it’s course and addressed many of the quality control issues that plagued Norlin era instruments.

Over the years Gibson has purchased many non-guitar related companies such as Cerwin Vega, Baldwin Pianos and Slingerland Drums. In November 2014 CEO Henry Juszkiewicz announced, “We’re no longer (just) a guitar company any more”.

I’ve intentionally chosen to ignore forum posts concerning Gibson’s quality control because anonymous forum posters aren’t reliable sources of information.

One complaint about Gibson, however, seems to be pretty widespread and that is their shift away from focusing on smaller, independent music retailers, and more on large chain stores like Guitar Center and Sam Ash.

The problem, in part, that GC’s business model was predicated on opening twelve new stores a year. That’s great, if there were a nigh unlimited amount of people that wanted to buy guitars.

Too be fair, Paul Reed Smith has also hitched their wagon to the Sam Ash and GC horse but it’s a good bet that neither Gibson nor PRS had realized that the GC horse had a terminal case of Coccidioidomycosis.

But by both companies limiting their distribution to a small number of retailers they’ve successfully alienated themselves from smaller, independent retailers.

Another problem is that the economic model that existed to support musicians is disappearing. Once upon a time recording artists could expect royalties from record sales and radio airplay but those royalties too have all but evaporated.

A lot of clubs and rehearsal spaces have also vanished so there are fewer venues for small and medium size acts to play.

Gibson isn’t the only one in peril, as musicians we all are.

If musicians can’t support themselves, the future of music looks pretty grim.

I’m pretty sure before things get sorted out at least one major company is going bankrupt.

I’m not 100% who, but I have my guess.

Adam P Hunt is a freelance writer who has previously written for The Library Journal and Premier Guitar Magazine. We are so happy to have him join us here at Guitar Radio Show.com.

Adam P Hunt is a freelance writer who has previously written for The Library Journal and Premier Guitar Magazine. We are so happy to have him join us here at Guitar Radio Show.com. 

500 Words On Pedals

I love pedals and I’ve gone through my share of them. There’s been a handful I bought but later traded away. Even though there are some pedals I wished I had kept while others I regret purchasing in the first place.

I don’t mean this to be a definitive pedal board checklist but more as a guide to a useable, low cost, flexible pedal set up that you could use in a lot of different playing situations.

BD-2 Boss Blues Driver. Even though the Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer is more famous and has a dedicated following, it’s not my favorite boost/drive pedal. Personally I like the Blues Driver better because I think it’s more transparent, you can use it as both a clean boost and a drive pedal.

PWOV Morley Power Wah Volume. I love this pedal partly because it’s two pedals in one. I’ve had a bunch of wah pedals from a well-known company that starts with a “D” and they’ve all crapped out in short order. Phooey, who needs that? My PWOV just keeps on trucking and after twenty years of loyal service I think the PWOV is a viable alternative to a “D” pedal.

A delay. For my needs I like the Electro – Harmonix Memory Toy a lot. I had a popular brand digital delay until one day it gave up the ghost on me. Don’t get me wrong, on a dark sounding amp it added a nice sort of brilliance to the notes as they decayed but other than that it was a little “glassy” for my liking. When I was shopping for a replacement I tried about a half dozen delays and played them back-to-back. I was very surprised that this basic delay stacked up nicely to ones costing two or three times as much. Yeah, it doesn’t have a tap tempo or other advanced features but if you don’t need to switch the delay or feedback rates on fly it’s a cool little pedal.

A compressor. If you lack finesse the way I lack finesse you need a compressor. As the name implies a compressor squeezes the dynamic range an amplified instrument has and evens out some of your playing irregularities. I like the Toadworks Mr. Squishy and Xotic SP compressor equally as well.

E.W.S. Fuzzy Drive. Like the other pedals, the Fuzzy Drive wasn’t my first fuzz box. I’ve tried some classic fuzz pedals and what I like about this it can go from mild to wild and still sound musical. Sure, it’s not as crazy as an Angry Troll or a Big Muff Pi but I think it’s a little more flexible.

With a setup like this you can easily play blues, classic rock, punk, psychedelic and even some country, if you use the right guitar and amp. Your musical likes change as you evolve as a musician, solid foundations will take you far, and so will a solid pedal board. Your needs may be different than mine but this should be a good place for you to start.

The US Department of Transportation finally gave us musicians some respect!!

http:/http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-issues-final-rule-regarding-air-travel-musical

When passion runs deep in a musician, it’s usually noticeable in the first few notes they play. It strikes you immediately. It’s an undeniable vibe, feeling, mojo (call it what you want) that makes you say “More of that please”.

Such as the case with the new release from Scott Gailor.

Technicolor Monochrome is a trip into a passionate guitarists mind as he leads us on a sonic twisting turning adventure of style with a new level of precision and grace not seen in awhile.

From the jaw busting opening track “G Body Shuffle” to the modal woodshedding of the closer “Tribal Redux” this is the disc in 2015 that’s gonna make you want to practice. A lot.

Is Scott Gailor doing what many other guitarists do? Sure, but his passion is the stand out on this ten song, fat toned, heart filled, technical gonzo. You can hear it in every note weaving in and out of varied styles with class and ease. Let’s face it, we all wanna play like this guy.
The stand out track for me is “No Smoking Section”. Just the opening chords, especially the ones coming through the middle speakers is subliminally telling me to “Break Some Furniture!!”
Rock and Roll People!!! Scott Gailor is preaching the word and its time to listen.

Technicolor Monochrome should be in your collection and thanks to Scott we all need to practice more. Scott is trying to have physical copies for the release of the album, so he has started a Kick Starter to fund that part of the project, check it out:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/592786334/scott-gailor-technicolor-monochrome

Mark Daven
Guitar Radio Show

Fo more info go to http://joannaconnorband.com