Interesting he would say that. Gibbons does amazing textures, though how much of that is studio magic I dunno, as I've never hear ZZTop live. Gibbons sat in on the Letterman show recently, and his lead work used a rather limited musical vocabulary.

Another texturist of note is the guitarist who played with The Police (Andy something?).

Some favorites;

Clapton on "Badge" (very late Cream - album name may have been "The Very Very Best of Cream??). To me this is archetypal Clapton from that period, perfectly architected. Pretty, rather than raw as in his "Crossroads" outing.

Another Clapton cut, pre-Mayall, that I'd like to find again was a tune called "Steppin' Out." Absolutely kicked *ss - a startling advance in blues guitar at the time. Phenomenal technique.

This next one goes waaayyy back, and y'all are gonna call me a PL for mentioning it, until/unless you go hear it. I don't know the guitarist's name, but have you ever heard the solo on "Lipstick on Your Collar" by Connie Francis? The player has to be a studio guy, and a holdover from jazz/big bands, but uses a rock sound. I gotta go find that again too.

But it would be interesting for folks to limit themselves to their top three at most. It's not fair or honest as noted above but like the standard line says, if you could only pick three . . ." Now I gotta think of those three.

Hubert Sumlin's masterpiece on Howlin' Wolf's "Tender Charms" -- you will be impressed. Buy the Chess CD and you won't be disappointed.
Junior Brown, "I hung it up" -- he plays a guitar with two necks: standard six string electric and then a lap steel neck -- simply, simply, amazing.
Stevie Ray Vaughn, "Testify" -- almost four minutes of simply blazin' guitar work

I pick these three because they are the ones I blast to my ears when I just can't get going and they put that four-four beat in my foot and that's all I need. So many others I could choose and want to include but these will hold up very well.

-L8

Ever hear "Driving Sideways" when Mick was with John Mayall in the sixties? Agree on "Can You Hear Me Knockin'".

-L8

The interplay between Paul's harmonica and Mike's guitar is the best call and response (shout and cry?) I've heard, 'cept maybe some Indians doing talbas back and forth at about 1000BPM...

try:

song: Melow Down Easy
guitar: Mike Bloomfield
Band: Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Album: ( band name and album name same same )

And to quote some fan on amazon.com: If you love Butterfield, this is a must have CD. If you are unfamiliar with Butterfield, this is the place to start. In either case, you should own this disc!

The tracks samples on amazon.com aren't half bad:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002GZ1/ref=pd_sim_m_1/103-0541204-8481411?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=5174

Other examples of modern masters playing with their heroes brings to mind Stevie Ray Vaughn playing with Lonnie Mack on Lonnie's "Strike Like Lighting" Album. Check our "Double Whammy". Or check out Lonnie's original early 60s bombshells "Wham!" and "Memphis". I also like his solo on "Stop" from Stike like Lightning, especially the live version, and it's best to hear him play it in person.

And finally, speaking of live guitar solos: If you are ever in Chicago, go to Rosa's Blues Lounge and check out Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band. Melvin is Koko Taylor's nephew. He plays scintillating guitar solos night after night. His covers of Santana (Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va) are jaw-dropping.

And, the whole album, excellent work!

http://forum.myredbook.com/dcforum2/User_files/kyc3l67x17017aa1.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000024X2/qid=1152937597/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-0397235-0287158?s=music&v=glance&n=5174

P&L
hypergolic

that's what comes to mind at the moment

Jack

http://search.music.yahoo.com/search/?p=white+stripes&m=video

You may need a Yahoo log in, but it's a very enjoyable video.

I haven't heard too much of that collaboration yet. I am still stuck on "Van Lear Rose" with Jack WHite and Loretta Lynn. Fucking amazing.

Jack