10 best fusion guitarists of all time

[pmfan57]

All right fusion heads (not you Five sharp), what did you think of the
10 best fusion guitarists of all time list?

[Justin Harding]

I don't know how the ten best...
but my favorites are Gambale, Holdsworth, and Henderson
"pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1121452927....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

[tomb...@jhu.edu]

There's McLaughlin, and then everyone else. The best fusion
bands--Weather Report, Catalyst, Headhunters--didn't even have a guitar
player.

[david morley]

McLaughlin, Holdsworth, Martino (on a couple of albums) spring to mind

[pmfan57]

Gotta put Holdsworth in there as well.

[Tone]

> the Headhunters

had Blackbird McKnight on guitar, but not on the Herbie record.

[JC McNeil]

the late Shawn Lane

[Steven Bornfeld]

pmfan57 wrote:
> All right fusion heads (not you Five sharp), what did you think of the
> 10 best fusion guitarists of all time list?
>

I'll wait for the list of cold fusion guitarists.

Steve

--
Cut the nonsense to reply

[Greg M. Silverman]

pmfan57 wrote:
> All right fusion heads (not you Five sharp), what did you think of the
> 10 best fusion guitarists of all time list?
>

John Goodsall with Brand X.

[Greg M. Silverman]

[pmfan57]

Your follow up was lovely in its subtlety.

Goodsall was a speed demon but he really didn't say much. Do recall
any solos that really spoke to you????

[Jacques]

I believe our own Mr. Joey G. has quite an excellent body of work in
the fusion idiom.

[Greg M. Silverman]

pmfan57 wrote:
> Your follow up was lovely in its subtlety.

I sometimes like to do that. ;-)

>
> Goodsall was a speed demon but he really didn't say much. Do recall
> any solos that really spoke to you????

It's been a LONG time since I've listened to any of their stuff (I have
a TON of vinyl, but no turntable), but when I was a wee lad it all spoke
to me (probably the speed demonesqueness of it all). I supposee if I
were to listen to it today, I may change my mind to what you say above.
The only tune that comes to mind right now, is the tune with Phil on
vocals and the words "Don't make waves" in the chorus, and some line
like "Don't you play like an asshole." I remember reading an interview
with Eddie VH stating that he loved these guys' stuff, so me also being
a Genesis fan went out and scarfed up all their OOP stuff at the time
(somewhere back around 1982 or so).

--

Here are 2-other votes that no one else will probably come up with:

Tommy Bolin with Billy Cobham (and his solo stuff, especially his Jeff
Beck like excursions on Teaser)

And

Daryl Stuermer with Jean Luc Ponty (Imaginary Voyage, et al.). (Again,
haven't listened to this stuff in a LONG time, but at the time I LOVED
it to the ends of the Earth). I suppose Daryl is kind of in the Goodsall
speed demon school... (I did like him in the touring Genesis band too,
but he ain't no Steve Hackett by any strecth of the imagination)

--

But the MOST BESTEST of the lot of course without question is Jan
Akkerman with Focus. :-)

gms--

>

[pmfan57]

I loved Akkerman in the old days. He burned on that Profile album.
Bolin was cool too. I liked his albums and his live jam with the Good
Rats is the stuff of bootleg legend.

Daryl was OK, but he was pretty overwhelmed on Enigmatic Ocean by the
mighty Holdsworthian one.

[Joey Goldstein]

Jacques wrote:
>
> I believe our own Mr. Joey G. has quite an excellent body of work in
> the fusion idiom.

Thanks Jaques, but, let's get real....

--
Joey Goldstein
http://www.joeygoldstein.com
joegold AT sympatico DOT ca

[Joey Goldstein]

pmfan57 wrote:
>
> All right fusion heads (not you Five sharp), what did you think of the
> 10 best fusion guitarists of all time list?

1. Allan Holdsworth
2. Allan Holdsworth
3. Allan Holdsworth
4. Allan Holdsworth
5. Allan Holdsworth
6. Allan Holdsworth
7. Allan Holdsworth
8. Allan Holdsworth
9. Allan Holdsworth
10. Allan Holdsworth

[Paul Kirk]

how about Karl Ratzer?

and I'd to add Martino to the list, for joyous lake and starbright.

PK

[jeff...@yahoo.com]

Holdsworth is mind-blowingly good.

[Paul Kirk]

And wouldnt jeff beck be on such a list for the blow by blow and that
other record with jan hammer?

PK

[pmfan57]

All right, we'll start with 11 just to make Joey happy. Holdsworth is
disqualified from this list since he occupies positions 1-10.

[Joey Goldstein]

pmfan57 wrote:
>
> All right, we'll start with 11 just to make Joey happy. Holdsworth is
> disqualified from this list since he occupies positions 1-10.

lol

[Greg M. Silverman]

pmfan57 wrote:
> I loved Akkerman in the old days. He burned on that Profile album.
> Bolin was cool too. I liked his albums and his live jam with the Good
> Rats is the stuff of bootleg legend.

Not familiar with Profile. I do LOVE Focus II.

Is the Bolin with Carmin Appice?

>
> Daryl was OK, but he was pretty overwhelmed on Enigmatic Ocean by the
> mighty Holdsworthian one.

Good Dog, I'm going to have to get this on cd (all my Ponty is on vinyl
too). I forgot they played together!

Holdsworth for sure is in my list.

Tull would be fusion too, no? I would then say Martin B. would be in my
top 10, barre none. :-)

And definitely Steve Morse on the old DD recordings...

[Greg M. Silverman]

And my last 2: Jeff Beck (great RH technique!) and Terry Kath from the
early Chicago recordings.

[Greg M. Silverman]

Doh! And Zappa, was a unqiuely talented fusion guitarist when he wanted
to be.

[bob r]

in article pLidnbC4F63...@rogers.com, Justin Harding at
jhard...@msn.com wrote on 7/15/05 3:20 PM:

Scott Henderson would go right beside Holdsworth at the top of my list for
sure.
--
Bob Russell
http://www.bobrussellguitar.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/bobrussell

[paul]

didn't catfish collins play w/the headhunters also?

[Greg M. Silverman]

dig!

[Adam Gottschalk]

1. Allan Holdsworth
2. John Scofield
3. Mike Stern (check Star People and We Want Miles for a couple of
old-school examples of 2 and 3)
4. Bill Frisell (much of his recorded work can properly be considered
fusion)
5. Wayne Krantz
6. John Tropea (electric guitar on L Bonfa's Jacaranda)
7. Wolfgang Muthspiel (esp with EBBB)
8. Brad Shepik
9. David Fiuczynski
10. Neal Alger

[Justin Harding]

I'm surprised not many mentioned Frank Gambale.

[Johnny Asia]

On 15 Jul 2005 12:24:35 -0700, "tomb...@jhu.edu" <tomb...@jhu.edu>
wrote:

>
>There's McLaughlin, and then everyone else. The best fusion
>bands--Weather Report, Catalyst, Headhunters--didn't even have a guitar
>player.

I agree! Mahavishnu & Weather Report are my favorite fusion bands.
+

Johnny Asia, Hippie Guitarist
http://johnnyasia.info

http://www.angelfire.com/art2/painterny/johnny/ja2.jpg

"I say play your own way. Don't play what the public wants. You play what
you want and let the public pick up on what you're doing even if it does take
them fifteen, twenty years." - Thelonious Monk

[Five Sharp]

Heck, I couldn't even name 10!

hehe ... :)

#####

"pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> schreef in bericht

[JOSEPH JEWELL]

"Justin Harding" <jhard...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:gKWdnSSwz9u...@rogers.com...

Not in any order

Jeff Beck

John McLaughlin

Mike Landau

Larry Carlton

Wayne Krantz

Scott Henderson

Robben Ford

Bill Connors

Al Dimeola

Allen Holdsworth

[Edwin Hurwitz]

In article <adam-DD103E.0...@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
Adam Gottschalk <ad...@adamgottschalk.net> wrote:

> 1. Allan Holdsworth
> 2. John Scofield
> 3. Mike Stern (check Star People and We Want Miles for a couple of
> old-school examples of 2 and 3)

Stern also plays some great stuff on Randy Roos' album Mistral. Nice
bass playing on that one too.

Edwin
--
http://www.theetherealplane.com

[pmfan57]

You forgot Allan Holdsworth.

[Jacques]

John Pelosi of Toronto Great emerging Fusion player.

[josh]

definitely fuicynski.

[JOSEPH JEWELL]

"pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote in message

news:1121564887.2...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> You forgot Allan Holdsworth.
>

Nah. That guy sucks. Allen is way better. I DID forget Steve Cahn,
though.

[hogrider]

The Father of fusion Larry Coryell would top my list. The next nine would
be Pat Martino, John Mcloughlin, John Scofield, Ralph Towner, John
Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Allan Holdworth and Bireli Lagrene.

Cheers,

Marc

[pmfan57]

Steve Khan is even better. Although Cahn is his real name since his
father is Sammy Cahn, but you probably allready know that.

[Nil]

On 16 Jul 2005, Edwin Hurwitz <ed...@TAKEMEOUTindra.com> wrote in
news:edwin-B5D42C....@corp.supernews.com:

> Stern also plays some great stuff on Randy Roos' album Mistral. Nice
> bass playing on that one too.

I didn't know anyone else had ever heard this excellent album. I love
Rany'd Playing on this album, especially his fretless guitar playing.
Has the album ever been released on CD? I'd love to replace my beat-up
LP.

I have another Randy Roos album - I forget the title - from the mid-
'90s. It's more of a jazz-lite/new age kind of thing, but with some
nice playing on it. Otherwise, I've rarely heard of Roos since I used
to see him frequently in Boston in the late '70s-early '80s.

[Nil]

On 16 Jul 2005, Edwin Hurwitz <ed...@TAKEMEOUTindra.com> wrote in
news:edwin-B5D42C....@corp.supernews.com:

> Stern also plays some great stuff on Randy Roos' album Mistral. Nice

> bass playing on that one too.

Bass courtesy of Jeff Berlin, I believe.

[Tom Walls]

In article <1121477451....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
pcsa...@gmail.com says...

> didn't catfish collins play w/the headhunters also?
>
>

And Wah-Wah Watson IIRC.
--
Tom Walls
the guy at the Temple of Zeus

[pmfan57]

Wah Wah Watson had more chops, REAL chops, than Bireli and Holdsworth
combined. If you visited Sam Ash in NYC enough you would know this.
;-)

[Tom Walls]

In article <1121710630....@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
jwra...@aol.com says...

Four out of five guitarists loitering at Sam Ash, agree!

[tomb...@jhu.edu]

pmfan57 wrote:
> Wah Wah Watson had more chops, REAL chops, than Bireli and Holdsworth
> combined. If you visited Sam Ash in NYC enough you would know this.
> ;-)

Ever seen Wah Wah live? There is no guitarist in the world who can
bring an audience out of the seats and into the aisles faster than that
guy. Them are real chops, buuuuddy.

[pmfan57]

I don't think Wah Wah wasn't good. I was just poking fun at the guy in
the Bireli thread.

Well, he had the Wah Wah chops, anyway. I remember him on the midnight
special with Herbie Hancock.

[sven]

I think the topic should be "10 most influential fusion guitarists",
There are too many phenomenal ones that are virtually unknown. I think
someone mentioned Scott Henderson. Henderson really deserves a lot of
credit for bringing fusion out of the 70s and refining it as a genre.
He played great fusion through the rocky 80s when "Fuzac" acts like the
Rippintons and Lee Ritinour moved in, and the '70s greats all ran for
cover and started playing acoustic "grown-up" music. Go Scott!

My list would look something like this:

1. Allan Holdsworth
2. John McLaughlin
3. John Scofield
4. Larry Carlton
5. Scott Henderson
6. Frank Gambale
7. Larry Coryell
8. Bill Connors
9. Jeff Beck
10. Robben Ford

[juru...@aol.com]

1. Allan Holdsworth
2. Allan Holdsworth
3. Allan Holdsworth
4. Allan Holdsworth
5. Allan Holdsworth
6. Allan Holdsworth
7. Allan Holdsworth
8. Allan Holdsworth
9. Allan Holdsworth
10. Allan Holdsworth

The top ten reasons I gave up fusion guitar.

I think number seven is incorrect, though. It should be occupied by a
Holdsworth, Allan.

Just wanted to clear that up..

[edspy...@yahoo.com]

Does acoustic count? Strunz & Farah.

Ed S.

[cost...@pop.belmont.edu]

stan lassiter. scary.

[Jack A. Zucker]

and brett garsed

--
Experience a revolutionary way to approach the instrument.
Introducing Sheets of Sound for Guitar
"Let the music govern the way you play guitar instead of the guitar
governing the way you play music!"

Check it out at:
http://www.sheetsofsound.net

"Justin Harding" <jhard...@msn.com> wrote in message

news:pLidnbC4F63...@rogers.com...
>I don't know how the ten best...
> but my favorites are Gambale, Holdsworth, and Henderson

[Jack A. Zucker]

add shawn lane in there too

[daniel_anth...@yahoo.com]

surprised nobody mentioned Rypdal.Not a fusion guy in the cliched
sense, but certainly a jazz-rock player and one of the all-time greats
IMO (a guy with a really original voice too,not something you can say
about a lot of players).

[pmfan57]

Sorry Dan, I hear WAY too much Eddie Van Halen in Terje's playing for
him to qualify as fusion ;-)

All seriousness aside, he is one of my top 10, now that you mention it.
I have all those old ECM albums and enjoy them. I have Odyssey and
Waves(?) on CD and the others on LP.

[Olav]

In <1121477451....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> "paul" <pcsa...@gmail.com> writes:

>didn't catfish collins play w/the headhunters also?

and what about Wah Wah Watson?

-o
--
Pund til pund og frøers mængde - smeden græd da essen brændte.

[ph8te]

On 2005-07-15 18:24:26 -0700, bob r <Someo...@whatever.com> said:

> in article pLidnbC4F63...@rogers.com, Justin Harding at
> jhard...@msn.com wrote on 7/15/05 3:20 PM:

>
>> I don't know how the ten best...
>> but my favorites are Gambale, Holdsworth, and Henderson
>> "pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:1121452927....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>>> All right fusion heads (not you Five sharp), what did you think of the
>>> 10 best fusion guitarists of all time list?
>>>
>>
>

> Scott Henderson would go right beside Holdsworth at the top of my list for
> sure.

Al DiMineola would have to be in there somewhere.
His innovative circular picking technique and the work with
Chick Corea broke a lot of new ground back in the '70's.

[John B]

Jeff Beck

[a.m.]

amusing list but I go for Johnny M as numero uno...hands down.

--
http://tinyurl.com/dvgrd
"John B" <j...@myplace.com> wrote in message news:4305046a$1...@clear.net.nz...

[Keith Freeman]

> amusing list but I go for Johnny M as numero uno...hands down.

Absolutely. And Coryell ought to be on the list.

-Keith

Music samples, tips, Portable Changes at
http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/

E-mail: keith DOT freeman AT wanadoo DOT nl

[pmfan57]

Yup, LC is one of the first fusion guitar players, maybe the first?

Johnny Mac is one of the best, and the most important probably. I'd
put Holdsworth first, McLaughlin second, but the other way would be
fine by me as well.

[Johnny Asia]

On 19 Aug 2005 07:43:52 -0700, "pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote:

>Yup, LC is one of the first fusion guitar players, maybe the first?>>

I read an interview years ago where LC said something to that effect,
that he was doing it before JM. He wasn't dissing JM, whom he praised,
but LC felt he didn't get the recognition he deserved.

>Johnny Mac is one of the best, and the most important probably. I'd
>put Holdsworth first, McLaughlin second, but the other way would be
>fine by me as well.

>> > amusing list but I go for Johnny M as numero uno...hands down.
>> Absolutely. And Coryell ought to be on the list.
>>

Johnny M, hands down, is my vote too.
+

Johnny Asia, Hippie Guitarist
http://johnnyasia.info

Listen to Spanish Dervish:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=78840&songID=2721724

"I say play your own way. Don't play what the public wants. You play what
you want and let the public pick up on what you're doing even if it does take
them fifteen, twenty years." - Thelonious Monk

[Tom Walls]

In article <ibtbg19t9lji80apf...@4ax.com>, Johnny Asia
<poki_pongo at yahoo.com> says...

> On 19 Aug 2005 07:43:52 -0700, "pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >Yup, LC is one of the first fusion guitar players, maybe the first?>>
>
> I read an interview years ago where LC said something to that effect,
> that he was doing it before JM. He wasn't dissing JM, whom he praised,
> but LC felt he didn't get the recognition he deserved.
>
>

Yeah, the stuff that he and Steve Marcus was doing was years before
McLaughlin's tenure with Miles. I would still rate McLaughlin as the
greatest fusion influence, though.

[Johnny Asia]

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 11:33:32 -0400, Tom Walls <tw...@cornell.edu>
wrote:

>Yeah, the stuff that he and Steve Marcus was doing was years before
>McLaughlin's tenure with Miles. >>

I saw LC with Mandell and Steve Marcus at Slugs in the East Village.

Man, that place was a dive, and in a dangerous part of the
neighborhood too.

[pmfan57]

LC has never dissed JM, whom he said he considered the greatest
guitarist in the world when he first saw JM with TW Lifetime.

Although JM was playing in England back then (pre- TW Lifetime), and
doing it his own way.