Abaddon wrote: And Stevie Ray Vaughn and Elvis are vastly over-rated.
As for Stevie, ah, I had this ex-gf who LOVED Stevie, but I just didn't get it, whenever I hear him I want to hear Hendrix instead as he just gets on my tits with his (thankfully) unique brand of long-winded intermnable red-neck swamp boogie. Ugh.
Abaddon - I don't know you, don't agree with the above statement, but respect your opinions. At the risk of turning this thread into an argument, I submit the following quotes from other players that I hope you do "get" or respect, especially Eric Clapton (who some have told me I resemble a bit, so perhaps I am biased):
B.B. King
"... not just a loss to music, it's a loss to people as a whole. The only thing that keeps me from crying is knowing the joy he brought us."
"I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie missed on both counts, but I never noticed it."
"... he was always quick to show gratitude to me and other artists who have been around. But when it came to playing the blues he earned plenty of respect himself."
Eric Clapton
"I don't think anyone has commanded my respect more, to this day. The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought, "Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world". I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is. That doesn't happen to me very often, that I get that way about listening to music. I mean, about three or four times in my life I've felt that way, in a car, listening to the radio, where I've stopped the car, pulled over, listened, and thought, I've got to find out before the end of the day, not, you know, sooner or later, but I have to know NOW who that is.
"...and I remember being fascinated by the fact that he never, ever seemed to be... lost in any way. It was as though he never took a breather... or took a pause to think where he was gonna go next, it just flowed out of him. He seemed to be an open channel and music just flowed out. It's going to be a long time before anyone that brilliant will come along again."
Buddy Guy
"It was an honor to have him do [my] tunes, because just like I went to Muddy Waters and paid tribute to him, everyone pays tribute to someone they admired a lot. Music is handed down to the next generation. And he wasn't just some white kid saying, 'I got it.' He told the truth. 'I got this from Buddy Guy or Albert Collins,' or whoever he wanted to talk about. That was some of his greatness."
"Stevie is the best friend I ever had, the best guitarist I ever heard, and the best person anyone will ever want to know. He will be missed a lot."
Bonnie Raitt
"The most lasting memory I have of Stevie is his passion... I don't think there's anyone that tears into a song the way he did. I think Stevie Ray was coming from some place so deep and so beautiful that there's no one you can compare to him."
"To me Stevie Ray was the greatest blues guitarist. For fire and passion and soulfulness, he was untouchable. He was scary to those of us who watched him. But he was so humble and gracious as a friend and he wasn't stuck up about his playing."
Robert Cray
"... for a long time coming there's going to be a lot of frustrated guitar players trying to pick up on Stevie's stuff."
"I'll always remember how he kicked my ass all the time on the guitar. It was inspirational, you know?"
John Lee Hooker
"The first time we met was in Austin, Texas at Antone's, and it was him and his brother Jimmie. That was fifteen or twenty years ago, and at the time he could play tremendously. And I said 'Someday, this kid's going to shake the whole world up.' And he was one of the nicest people. You couldn't help but like him; you couldn't help but love him."
"I never cry, but yesterday when I heard [about Stevie's death], I sat down on my bed and cried like a little baby."
Lonnie Mack
"As I got to know him better, it was easy to see that he had a really good spirit. Stevie was a giver, man - not only to his friends, but to everybody. He was a very spiritual person."
"He played his complete self through the guitar. And he knew that playing music wasn't about who sounded better than who else. It was the style that counted, and it was about having a good time."
Albert Collins
"We jammed many times, and I had so much fun. I really miss him. He did some Jimi Hendrix, some Albert King, a little of me, but he had it together for what he wanted to do. He had a direction and he made it work. The kids really liked his fire."
Gregg Allman
"I remember when he first came out, he was doing [Voodoo Chile], and I heard all these people going 'Ah, he's just trying to do Hendrix.' But he went a lot furher than that. He was absolutely 100-proof pure blues. Albert Collins, Muddy Waters - the essence of that was in everything he played. More than the Allman Brothers, he was straight-down-the-line blues."
"Stevie was always playing. After he'd get offstage, he'd get on his bus. And he had all these Stratocasters hanging there. He'd grab one and start goin'."
Joe Satriani
"As a guitar player, he had an incredible signature tone and an extreme intensity. He played one of the most difficult guitars to play - the Fender Stratocaster - and he played with really heavy strings. And he strung it with high action, which means you have to really work harder than anyone to try to get a sound out. But if you've got what it takes, then what comes out is something very big and bold and original."
"In August of 1988, we opened two shows for him at the Pier in New York, and I got to really listen to him up close. You could tell he was always striving to find that magical point. He was good at reaching for the magic and finding it."
"I think what I'll really remember is the way he stood, you know? Sweat-drenched, with his eyes closed, grabbing some incredible note. Someone has to be totally absorbed to play like that.To play that intensely sort of wreaks havoc on the body - it's sort of a painful ecstasy. He played the blues, you know? I guess I'll remember that most of all."
By the way, your tag line, "Keep on rockin' in the free world" is by the musician that inspired me to pick up a guitar. Neil self-admittedly (is that a word?) is not a great guitar player, but you gotta love his songs, lyrics and the way he keeps reinventing himself.
Makena
more of a "poser" than a player, but getting better with age.