Back in November, Muligo posted a blog on the forgotten, unknown and underrated rock guitarists. Since then, we have received an overwhelming response from readers on the blog. Many agreed with our selection, some added their own choices, and a few were pissed off their fav guitar-slingers didn’t make the cut. But’s that’s okay. A negative reaction is better than none.
The response to the blog is a true indication of how passionate that people feel about music and the artists who create it. And there is a special place in rock music for guitarists. Without them, there would be a big gaping hole in the musicality. A lot of readers ticked off the names of rock guitarists who made great contributions to this idiom, but many of them did not fit in the category of being unknown, forgotten, or underrated. The rule of thumb used for picking the guitarists for this blog was how much their playing influenced rock music and rock guitar, in particular, but their work faded away as time passed or was just snubbed.
One reader blasted Muligo for not including Jerry Garcia. Really? Last I heard, Garcia’s spirit is alive and well (just ask the millions of fans) and he certainly wasn’t underrated. If anything, the reader should have directed his tirade toward Rolling Stone magazine which excluded Garcia from its recent list of rock’s best 100 guitarists. Also got an earful from another who thought Peter Frampton should have been included in the list. Okay, first, Frampton isn’t unknown, or he would be the first unknown rock guitarist who sold millions of records and packed concert arenas back in his heyday. Second, the British rocker also isn’t forgotten because his music is still an FM radio staple. Lastly, is he underrated as a guitarist? It’s my belief that Frampton wouldn’t have gotten all this attention if his guitar skills were sub-par. In fact, his contributions as the lead guitarist for his former band Humble Pie made the group’s “Humble Pie-Live at the Fillmore” one of rock’s best live albums. Frampton today remains a force of nature (check out his recent work with the Doobie Brothers on a cover of Eric Clapton’s “Let It Rain”).
But to acknowledge the validity of some readers’ claims on their picks, Muligo has included a few other guitarists (including Frampton) as honorable mentions. The other guitarists include Frank Zappa, Roy Buchanan. Terry Kath, Rick Derringer, and Tom Scholz. Here are some brief comments about each of them:
Frank Zappa-Zappa was more known for his eccentric approach to creating music, working outside the margins and probably driving the suits at his record label nuts because he wouldn’t conform to contemporary musical tastes. Zappa, however, did play a mean guitar when he felt the urge.
Terri Kath-The lead guitarist for the band Chicago made his mark during its formative years with songs like “25-to-6-to-4” and the Spencer Davis Group cover “I’m A Man”. Some readers sent notes that Kath was so good that he earned Jimi Hendrix’s stamp of approval. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Chicago went from progressive jazz-rock to Top 40 shlock ‘n roll, and Kath’s inspiring leadwork got lost in the shuffle. Kath may have gotten the chance to resurrect the band’s original sound but that was not to be: he committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the mid’70s.
Roy Buchanan — Roy Buchanan was what I would call a guitarist’s guitarist. His stinging leads on his Telecaster won praises from some of the top guns. Jeff Beck even devoted a song to him on his iconic “Blow by Blow” album. I can confirm that he was a master of the instrument. I was thisclose to Buchanan when he played in a small club years ago, rolling off amazing riffs with abandon. He even killed it on the Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash” (Buchanan was once considered as a replacement for the band’s Mick Taylor). But like Kath, Buchanan’s life ended too soon. He, like Kath, died by his own hand.
Rick Derringer-Muligo actually considered putting Derringer on the Unknown, Forgotten, and Underrated list, but he lost in a coin flip between him and Ronnie Montrose. Derringer, who played with the likes of Johnny and Edgar Winter, Steely Dan and many other bands, had a big hit of his own called “Rock ‘n Roll Hootchie Koo” that was played almost constantly on FM radio.
Tom Scholz -Boston’s founder, lead guitarist and keyboardist earned a coveted spot for his soaring guitar sound on hits like “More Than A Feeling” and “Hitching A Ride”. Scholz, an M.I.T. grad, used his tech wizardry to create his own signature guitar style, although there is still an emotional quality to his playing.