Overlooked guitarist, bassist, and drummer

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Hombre, Oct 22, 2018.

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  1. Hombre

    Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Choose one guitarist, one bassist, and one drummer who are never mentioned among the best ones despite their fine contributions.

    Guitarist: Johnny Echols (Love). He co-founded Love with his friend Arthur Lee and was a key ingredient of the group's sound in his role of lead guitarist. He didn't play a great amount of guitar solos, but he was responsible for the wild electric side of this ambivalent band (Bryan MacLean usually provided the calm acoustic side). Anyway, when he had the opportunity, he played amazing guitar solos, such as those in "A House Is Not A Motel" (recording two simultaneous lead guitar tracks at the end the song) and "Live And Let Live" (with relatively long lead guitar solos), both from the masterpiece Forever Changes (1967).

    Bassist: Chris White (The Zombies). A very good melodic bass player, perhaps overshadowed by Rod Argent's great keyboard performance. His bass lines really enhanced the sound of the songs right from the band's first single ("She's Not There", 1964). His bass contributions in the Zombies swan song Odessey And Oracle (1968) were certainly an added value, with notorious examples like "Care Of Cell 44", "I Want Her She Wants Me" and "Time Of The Season".

    Drummer: Michael Clarke (The Byrds). The beginning of Clarke as a member of the Byrds was unpromising, because he was actually selected due to his Brian Jones-like look; in fact, he was even inexperienced as a drummer. However, he rapidly learned how to play the instrument and was the actual drummer in most songs of the band's successful debut album (Mr. Tambourine Man, 1965). He may have been an average drummer from a technical point of view, but he was very inventive and added something new for the development of the nascent folk rock. His influence was evident in other californian groups that appeared soon afterwards, such as Jefferson Airplane, Love, and Buffalo Springfield. I think even Ringo Starr took some things from his drumming style, as it can be heard in several songs from Rubber Soul; and another example could be Ringo's beloved drumming in "Rain", which sounds similar to Clarke's work in "Eight Miles High" (1966).
     
  2. Hombre

    Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Johnny Echols (guitar)
     
    SG47, Crimson Witch, JuanTCB and 2 others like this.
  3. Hombre

    Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Chris White (bass)
     
  4. Hombre

    Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Michael Clarke (drums)
     
  5. Black Magic Woman

    Black Magic Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chile
    Overlooked guitarist? John McGeoch wins this thread!
     
    dunkoid, Mumdad, CrombyMouse and 6 others like this.
  6. Black Magic Woman

    Black Magic Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chile
    Okay, I’ll do this:

    Guitarist - James Gurley of Big Brother & the Holding Company. “Father of the psychedelic guitar”. Heck, some people have called him the father of grunge guitar. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he was certainly an original.

    Bassist- Tina Weymouth. Yeah, Psycho Killer is fun, but have you heard her bass?!

    Drummer - Topper Headon. Infectious playing, versatile musician, he made The Clash’s rhythm section cool.
     
  7. DPK

    DPK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern U.S.
    Doug Gillard- guitar
    Simon Gallup- bass
    Brendan Canty- drums
     
  8. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn, Danny Goffey

     
  9. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros, and Dennis Diken.
     
  10. YMC4

    YMC4 EVthing or Nothing

    Location:
    The Valley, CA.
    let's do well-known names for a change :

    Guitar : Jake E. Lee
    Bass : John Taylor
    Drum : Simon Kirke or Phil Collins
     
  11. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Herb Ellis
    Roy Brown
    Ed Thigpen
     
    Fischman, Jazzmonkie, PHILLYQ and 2 others like this.
  12. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    Bass- Peter Cetera. His vocal career has overshadowed the fact that he was a creative and talented bassist.

    Drums- Bobby Elliot. The Hollies’ drummer gets a lot of love on SHTV and from his British Invasion peers, but the general public probably doesn’t know what a rock solid drummer he is. He could have played with any of the Invasion bands and been a terrific asset.

    Guitar- Freddie Stone. The Sly & The Family Stone guitarist is rarely mentioned when Bay Area guitarists of the 60s are discussed, but Freddie played a great blend of rock and soul. His funky and tough playing was perfect for the genre-busting group.
     
  13. Mirror Image

    Mirror Image 200 Years Of Anton Bruckner

    Location:
    United States
    Overlooked guitarist, bassist, and drummer?

    I’ll start with the guitarist (for now):

    Robin Guthrie -

    [​IMG]

    Guthrie’s work with the Cocteau Twins should be studied by every musician. The man simply created a universe all of his own. It seems that Guthrie is regrettably overshadowed by guitarists like The Edge or Johnny Marr (just to throw out some examples), but, IMHO, there’s a haunting quality in his guitar work that not only fascinates me, but resonates deeply with me. His use of effects like delay and chorus really helped pave the way for what is nowadays referred to as shoegaze.
     
  14. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    ^ Notice that Guthrie is gazing at his shoe.
     
  15. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    These three may be overlooked because there is nothing unique about their playing styles. White, for example, was a clone of Paul McCartney, so while he's playing was melodic it was in no way novel.
     
  16. The Lone Cadaver

    The Lone Cadaver Bass & Keys Cadaver

    Location:
    Bronx
    The late Pete Tolson of The Pretty Things was one of the best lead guitarists I've ever heard. Effortless, fast, melodic runs up and down the fretboard.
    Wally Waller also of The Pretty Things is an excellent bass guitarist - very creative and again, melodic. He's also a terrific acoustic guitarist.
    And finally Skip Alan of The Pretty Things was a great drummer until heart problems forced him to retire. Very intuitive - he knew how to drive the band but could also color a soft or slow song with perfect percussion.
    Honorable mention - Viv Prince of The Pretty Things. Totally nuts but an amazing drummer and he was the inspiration for Keith Moon.
     
  17. The most overlooked drummer I can think of is the late Bruce Gary of The Knack.
    He was completely incredible, but of course the band gets no respect (still) so people overlook him.

    For the other two instruments -

    for guitar Link Wray should be a household name,
    and most people don't even know who he is.
    Disgraceful (as is the rock and roll hall of shame). The greatest guitarist of all time.

    And Donald "Duck" Dunn is a greatly overlooked bassist.

    My favorites of each instrument.
     
  18. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Guitar: Larry Carlton
    Bass: Glen Cornick r.i.p.
    Drums: Clem Burke
     
  19. AudiophilePhil

    AudiophilePhil Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Guitar - Terry Kath - he was increasingly being mentioned among the best ones but he needs more recognition as a guitarist, a team player and vocalist
    Drummer - Danny Seraphine, Bobby Colomby - they need to receive more praises that they deserved. They are among the pioneers of jazz drumming chops on rock music.
    Bass - Peter Cetera - his bass lines from the Terry Kath-era Chicago were incredible. It's hard to play incredible bass when you were among the three lead vocalists of the band.
     
  20. DPM

    DPM Senior Member

    Location:
    Nevada, USA
    Guitar: Martin Barre (Jethro Tull)

    Martin was never what one would call a shredder, and that tends to keep him out of "great guitarist" discussions. But his knack for short little stinging guitar fills and solos is evident throughout Jethro Tull's discography. Minstrel In The Gallery in particular shows Martin's special ability in this regard. And having just watched a recent live performance of Martin and his band I have to say he plays even better now than in his years with Tull.

    Bass: Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree)

    Colin came up with some great bass lines in P.T. The man knows what to play and when to play it. He helped elevate those tunes.

    Drums: Brian Downey (Thin Lizzy)

    Brain Downey makes playing the drums look easy as he is smooth as silk. The man flows like water around the kit.
     
  21. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Guitar: Lindsey Buckingham
    Bass: Gene Simmons
    Drums: Micky Waller (Jeff Beck Group, Rod Stewart)
     
  22. arthurprecarious

    arthurprecarious Forum Resident

    Location:
    North East England
    Just off the top of my head...

    Guitar - Steve Winwood. Often thought of a singer and keyboard player first. He's a phenomenal guitarist too. Listen to "Uninspired" from Traffic's "On The Road".

    Bass - Norman Watt-Roy. Just listen to his fluid jazzy grooves with Ian Dury & The Blockheads. I think he also was the bass player on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut too.

    Drums - Ritchie Haywards late of Little Feat was just superb. Unpredictable and funked up funky.
     
  23. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Guitarist - Kevin “Geordie” Walker (Killing Joke)

    Bass player - Mark Sandman (Morphine)

    Drummer - Robert Heaton (New Model Army)

    Unfortunately, two out of three I mentioned are deceased :(
     
  24. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Gene Simmons, huh? I’d agree, but I’m curious as to why you chose him. He’s definitely a very melodic player and plays interesting lines. Maybe that’s why?
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  25. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Hell yes to Brian Downey. If Robert Heaton wasn’t my all-time favorite drummer I would have chose Downey, too.

    All your picks were good!
     
    DPM likes this.
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